National Ritual Celebration Week!

This week, we the collegians will join the thousands of Alpha Chi Omega alumnae scattered across the US, and beyond as we leave Tallahassee for Spring break..

But we'd like to encourage you to celebrate

National Ritual Celebration Week!

Alpha Chi Omega is very pleased to announce that we will be participating in the second annual National Ritual Celebration Week, March 4-10. Collegians and alumnae are encouraged to take time each day that week—either by participating in collegiate or alumnae chapter activities or personally—to reflect on the meaning of our Ritual and how living our Ritual improves your life and your chapter.

To get you excited for the week and in honor of our seven founders, here are seven suggestions for celebrating our Ritual to get you and your chapter started planning:

1. Organize a Service Day activity. This can be with your chapter, a group of sisters, your family or friends. If you don’t have time to volunteer this week, reflect on the opportunities you have to give in the upcoming year.
2. Reflect on the meaning of the The Symphony of Alpha Chi Omega. Re-read The Symphony at least once during the week. How does it relate to where you are in life right now? What is your favorite part of it? Why? Also, put a framed photo on your desk at work or home and share The Symphony with others.
3. Connect with a sister you haven’t spoken to for awhile. Go to lunch. Have a phone date. Send a card. Write a text. Make time one day this week to reach out to and tell her why you’re glad she’s your sister. If there is a sister that you have lost touch with over the past couple of years, please feel free to contact headquarters to see how we can help the two of you reconnect.
4. Participate in National Panhellenic Conference’s International Badge Day on March 5. Wearing your badge to work, on campus, to your community gatherings not only honors Alpha Chi Omega, but gives you a chance to connect with other sorority women in your area and celebrate the history of women’s fraternities. The VP Ritual and Fraternity Appreciation handbook has great tips for appropriate badge attire.
5. Change your Facebook profile picture, timeline cover photo or recent photos to the Ritual Celebration Week logo. Also, post your Ritual reflections and other Alpha Chi Omega stories and thoughts as your status updates and on the Alpha Chi Omega Facebook page. In addition, tweet your Ritual reflections during the week. Use #AXORitualWeek at the end of your tweet and follow that hashtag throughout the week to see what sisters are saying on Twitter.
6. Reflect on how you personify Alpha Chi Omega’s values of Wisdom, Devotion and Achievement. Consider a conversation about one of these ideals with a non-Alpha Chi and tell him or her why you value your Alpha Chi Omega experience so much. Also, the Ritual Best Practices (available in the resource section) has Ritual discussion questions on Wisdom, Devotion and Achievement. Talk about your answers with your chapter and sisters.
7. Perform the Rededication of the Bond Ceremony (in the green Ceremonies binder) at your chapter meeting. Collegians: Invite area alumnae to your chapter meeting that week and perform the ceremony for both collegians and alumnae. Alumnae: If you don’t live near a collegiate chapter or don’t have an alumnae club, take time one day to reflect on your Initiation ceremony. Are you living the life you pledged to live that day? If so, how else could you show that every day? If not, there is no time like the present to start!

This year Alpha Chi Omega will be hosting guest bloggers each day to share their Ritual stories with our members. Please visit our website (alphachiomega.org) each day during the week to learn about and celebrate our Ritual, sisters and history. Alpha Chi Omega will also share daily Ritual thoughts on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you, Alpha Chi Omega Headquarters, for these great thoughts, excerpted from the February Flyre, the monthly collegiate officer newsletter.