Officers and sponsor stand at rear in this order: treasurer. president, sponsor, vice-president. and secretary. initiates form a semi-circle opposite. facing the table. Initiation chairman presents initiates.
(The table is arranged as shown in picture and officers are in position before the initiation begins.) Members form the audience. Candidates march to soft, dignified music into the initiation room following the chairman of the initiation committee, all remaining standing.
CHAIRMAN OF THE INITIATION COMMITTEE: Mr. (Madam) President, I present to you these students of __________ (School), on this ______ day of _______________ 19 ______, as candidates for membership in the __________ Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma. Each one of them has established an official 3.25 (or equivalent) or better average in 90 quarter hours (60 semester hours) of college work. They are (states names of all initiates).
PRESIDENT: Members of _________ Chapter of Alpha have assembled here to receive into this honorary scholastic candidates. To them we wish to give recognition for their record and to enlist their help in promoting high scholarship learning on our campus. Is it your wish that they be so received?
MEMBERS: It is.
PRESIDENT: Alpha
Phi Sigma, national scholastic fraternity, was founded on February 26, 1930, by Byron
Cosby, of the Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, Missouri, with the
installation of the Alpha Chapter on that campus.
The purpose of the fraternity is to recognize scholarship and to
encourage a continued love of learning.
Will you now repeat after me the pledge of loyalty to the fraternity: I
DO
SOLEMNLY PROMISE/ THAT AS A MEMBER OF _______ CHAPTER OF ALPHA PHI SIGMA/ I WILL BE LOYAL
TO THE PURPOSES OF THE SOCIETY/ AND DO MY UTMOST TO ENCOURAGE HIGH SCHOLASTIC STANDARDS/
ON THE CAMPUS OF _______ (School).
The motto of Alpha Phi Sigma is "Joy (Vice-President lights one
candle), Vision (Vice-President lights second candle), Service (Vice-President lights
third candle)," suggesting that these are the essentials of a truly successful life:
joy for oneself and in helping others, vision of the opportunities of the future, and
service to mankind.
Alpha Phi Sigma would call your attention to some of the great
philosophers of ancient times who might well serve as models for the attainment of high
ideals.
TREASURER: Socrates, a Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C., whom Plato, his pupil, called "the wisest, the justest, and the best of all men whom I have ever known," linked virtue and knowledge together and took as his motto, "Know thyself. . Let thy life be ruled by ideals that will bear examination." Cicero said that Socrates was "the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and to set her in the cities of men, bringing her into their homes and compelling her to ask questions about life and morality and things good and evil." Socrates admonished us to examine ourselves and our standards of life, to keep open minds, and to analyze logically and weigh the values of life.
SECRETARY: Aristotle, a pupil of Plato and the teacher of Alexander the Great, a generation later, gave science to mankind and taught how one shall find happiness and fulfillment. He said that happiness lies in the life of reason. "We choose honor, pleasure, intellect. . because we believe through them we shall be made happy." "Virtue will depend on clear judgment, selfcontrol, symmetry of desire, artistry of means" in a fully developed being. The road to virtue and happiness is the Golden Mean. The noblest external aid to happiness is friendship. "A friend," he said, "is one soul in two bodies." True friendship requires "duration rather than fitful intensity." The ideal person "never feels malice, and always forgets and passes over injuries. . .He does not speak evil of others, even of his enemies, unless it be to themselves."
VICE-PRESIDENT: Zeno, in the third century B.C., influenced by oriental thought, founded the philosophy of Stoicism. He maintained that "to be tranquil of soul and indifferent to pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow," is an ideal virtue. He believed that happiness comes not from seeking pleasure but from doing right. He taught his students to rise above their emotional feelings or passions and to act with reason. Self-reliance, self-denial, self-control were watchwords in his school of Stoicism. If the way is hard, one's mental attitude can lighten the burden, but continued complaint only makes a heavier load.
PRESIDENT: Epicures, another Greek philosopher contemporary with Zeno, is said to have regarded pleasure as the supreme good on earth, but to him the greatest pleasure meant the joy that comes as a result of intellectual contemplation and from achievements that benefit society. "We must not avoid pleasures, but we must select them." He exalted the joys of intellect rather than those of sense; he warned against pleasures that excite and disturb the soul which they should rather quiet and appease. We should, he said, "seek the pleasure of tranquillity, equanimity, and repose of mind."
SPONSOR: Jesus of Nazareth, whose birthday divides the Christian and pre Christian eras, was the founder of Christianity, said to be the most idealistic philosophy which the world has yet known. He taught the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." He also taught unselfishness, forgiveness, the brotherhood of man, the worth of the individual, respect for individual freedom, and tolerance of others. He blessed the "merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness." He said, "Love your enemies. . .do good to them that hate you," and "Judge not that ye be not judged." Christianity teaches three great virtues-faith, hope, and charity but the greatest of these is charity.
PRESIDENT: The official key of Alpha Phi Sigma bears on a gold background the lamp of learning, symbolizing enlightenment and dispels the darkness of ignorance; three emeralds, symbolizing the need of continuing growth; and the three raised letters Alpha Phi Sigma. Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, signifies the beginning of the search for the true values of life; Phi, the love of learning; and Sigma, service to mankind. You will now receive your official key and your membership card. (Treasurer gives each his pin and his card, naming each initiate.) (Distribution of card and pin at initiation is optional.)
VICE-PRESIDENT: The official flower of the fraternity is the yellow rose, and the official colors of the fraternity are green and gold.
SECRETARY: Will you please sign your names on the roll as members of _______ Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma? (They sign alphabetically by surname.)
PRESIDENT: I now declare you members of Alpha Phi Sigma with all the honors and privileges attaching to membership. We of _______ Chapter welcome you. (The sponsor, officers, and members form a line to greet each initiate.)
