THE
P H0 E N I X
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • November 1, 1 ~ 14 NUHBER 1 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•
VOLt]ME L
PHOENIX is from a Greek word that has four meanings. One . meaning is 'Crimson• which is one of the colors of Alpha Sigma Al pha. A second is 'Palm', which is the sorority tree. A third is 'Cithara', a musical instrument, which legend says that Hermes invented by stretching strings across a tortoise shell. Hermes is the patron g od . of the s orority. The PBOENIX was also used to designate a fabled bird, which upon attaining a certain age built itself a nest to which it set fire and within which it was consumed. Out · of the warm ashes there arose a new phoenix, more beautiful than before. Alpha Sigma Alpha reached the point, in the early part of 1914, when it realized that it could no longer exist according to its first plan, so it put an end to all but the undying spirit of the organization and from its altar fires of sacrifice there rose a new, and we believe, a stronger sorority, that has for its goal the symmetrical development of its members, and which hopes to become an ins pirational force in every school t hat it enters.
,. * * *
The first Convention of the reorganized sorority , and t he one t hat will really ratify all the plans made and diScus sed .during the summer and fall, will be called at Miami University, Oxford , 0., on Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving week. Tne Miami Chapter has not yet completed all its arrangement~ but delegates are exp ected to arrive on ~hanksgiving Day, leaving Friday and Saturday free for business sessions. Delegat es shoul4 look up train sc hed ales care f ully and notify t he Secretary of the Miami Chapter of t he ho ur of t heir arrival and the road over which they are to come. In the suitcas e should be packed all the various material on Ritual and Constit ut i on submitted to date from t he Central Office. Along with this material f or serious consideration, please take a light heart and a pretty evening gown. The Miami girls are plann ing some delightful affairs. ~or
those who are not famili ~r with Miami, it. may be well to state that t he university is a State institution, as well as college with a not dble past. It was op ened in 1824. Women were not admi tted until 1892. At pre s ent there are more wome n t han men, due to the fact prob ably that Miami offers not only t he regular colle ge cours e, but also has a Normal Department tha t att racts many girls. 'rat ernities have layed a large part in the student life of t his famous old cmllege for more t han three-q~arters of a century, f or Miami had a chapter of Al pha Delta Phi as early as 1835, and a t a time, wh en save for it, there were no fraternities outside of New York and New England. The establishment of Alpha Delta Phi led later to t he foun di ng at iami of Beta Theta Pi in 1839, of Phi Delta Theta in 1848 , of Sigma Chi in 1 8 55, which three are known as t .b e "Miami Triad 11 • I n addi t i on t o t t.:.es e,
t liere are chap te r s of Delta Ka ppa Epsilon and Del t a Ups i l on e tablis h ed in 1652 and 1 868 . The national s ororities are Del ta Zet a-1 9 2, Delta Delta Delta-1 911, and Chi Omega-1 912, Sigma Sigma S igma-1 ~ 1 2 , t he last being confined to the Normal Department, and . like ASA one of t he four sororities founded at the Virginia State Normal School. It had also been i n the 'hybrid' class, but ma de the decision to become a professional s orority in 1911. CONVENTION PROGRAM
Friday 9-12 2-4
Business Session "
"
8-1~
Model Initiation
9-12
Business Session
Saturday 2-4
"
Constitution Regulations
"
~h e Convention will be called to order by the Pr es ident of t he Miami Chapter. ~he first work will be to select a Convention President and Secretary. As soon as these have taken their places, the meeting should proceed to the discussion of the Don~titution, article by article, and after being accepted, it must be ado pted as a whole. Each Chapter, t herefore, s hould study care f ully the copy in its possession so that its delegate may be able to discuss intelligen tly concerning the viewpoint and needs of her own particular group . There is one change that t he Central Office wants to make at this time and t hat is in Article V, where the National Officers a r e listed. If the sorority s hould decide to purc has e the Rotos peed and so bring out a weekly "PHO ENIX", an Edit or is hardly necessary. Rat her would it be the part of wisdom to have t he Weekly edited by the Council. ~here is an Officer, however, that seems to be gr eatly needed, an Eisto r ian, one wbo lo6ks into the Records of ASA, as it was d uring t he f irst 13 years of its existence, and writes an enthusiastic acc ount befo re t he past gets beyond our grasp. There were many charming ASAs in t he dead chapters, girls who will never have any other sorority affiliati on , girls to wh om ASA can be made very dear. ~h ey ought n ot be allowed to slip away fr om the sorority. ~he Historian is one who could att en d to t his matter as a part of her wo rk. The Central Office, therefore, reqommends the substitution of an Historian ins tead of an Editor.
** **
路 The discussion of Chapter By-Laws brings up immediately t he question of the method to be employed in naming f uture chapters. The Central Office has a new suggestion to make, and it is that 'AL PHA~ belong to the Mother Chapter in Virginia and that the others re pres ent ed at Convention be named with some 'Al pha' combinat i on . Fo r i n stance, Miami mi ght be Alpha Al _ha, Kirksville Al pha Beta, Iowa Al pha Gamma, and Pe nn . Al pha Delta. ~his will give t he idea of 'ALPHA' develo ping into 4 additional chapters. ~he Central Office, in eas e of t he adoption of such ruling, would recommend t hat no other combina tion of ' AL PHA ' ever again be us ed, t hat letter being consider ed the absolute pro perty of t ho se t hat were associated with the new foundation. Perha ps it will be well, si n ce we are planning to claim as our own all t hat ASA has of part history, to hold as sacred to the dead chapt ers those letters t hat ho.ve alr eady been employed. This would eliminate Beta , Gamma, Del ta , Eps i lon , Zeta, ~ t a, Iota, Mu and Xi. Pleas e note t hat it is ne cessary t o go int o de t a il r egar ding t he
duties of C hap t ~ r Officers in Article IV, as t hose were not touc hed upon when the first draft was made. ~he follo wi ng paragraphs, therefore, are submitted for discussion. Sec.l. It s hall be the duty of t he President to preside at all meetings, to call all special meetings, to a pp oint all officer and committees not otherwise provided for and to have a ge~eral supervision of the chapter. Sec.2. ~ h e Vice President shall assist t he President i n t he duties of her office, and in her absence sball asswne that position with full power to act for the time b~ing. She s hall also have charge of the sponsoring of the pledges and new ~nitiates, and s hall superintend their preparation for the ~ual so r ority examination. Sec.~. !he Secretary shall carry on all t he corres pondence, shall kee p a file of all important letters, shall kee p true, clear and intelligent minut es of all meetings and transactions, and s hall perform any other duties that may devolve upon such a position. ~ec.4. ~he Treasurer shall retain in her custody such funds as are not otherwise invested or ordered, pay al J. drafts ordered by the Chapter, take a proper recei pt for the same, keep a corre ct account of all receipts and expenditures, and submit a written re port of t he fi nancial condition of t he chapter at the first regular meeting of each term. Sec.5. ~he Hegistrar shall attend to the card catalogue and shall make every effort to keep the alumnae in touch with the c hap ter, the college or school, and the general sorority. Sec.6. ~he Historian shall write all chapter letters called f or by t he Central Office for publicati on in the "PHOENIX ", and s hall at t he close of t he school year write an interes ting account of t he cha pter's activities. She s hall also have charge of the Chap~er Scrap Book, into which shall be pasted souvenirs, snaps hots, newspaper cuttings, and any ot her material deemed worthy of pre s erva tion. Sec.7. The Librarian shall be in charge of all books, purc has ed, donated, or loaned. If local conditions are f avorable, she shall es t ablish a loan library to sup ply members with text-books tha t are in regular use i n t he school. Sec.s. The Chanlain s hall have a general superv i sion over the morals of the Chapter, and shall consult with the Vice President concerning t he a ppo intme nt and work of the s ponsors. Under Ar ticle V the Central Office suggests "Social Meetings" for Section (4). Under Celegrations it mi ght be well to decide· whether November 15, when ASA was founded or Thanksgiving Week, when it was reorganized, is he proper season for ~ounder•s Day. ~here are some advantages and some disadvantages about both dates. May 25th, it will be remembered, was the day on which were held by Greeks and Homans special celebrations in honor of Hermes.
* * "' * Fri day P. M. Business Session session, as planned, is to be devoted to a discussion of t he Regulations. Those which deal with the s ubject of badges will need much discussion. Of the thr ee uins sent t o t he Cent r al Offi c e by ~et ting, the one s et with 4 rubi es, one at eac h point, and 12 pearls i s in every way the most attractive and t he most in kee ping wit h t he t hought concealed wit hi n t he bad ge, for t he rubies emphasize the 6 cardinal virtues, which ASAs are t o strive to attain. The plai n pi n i s always nermiss i ble, and in many fraternities is t he only official one. Arrangement s ho uld be made to permit the use of either t he plain pin, or so me sp ecial jeweling. ~ he
4.
At t bie po i nt t he Central office make~ the sugges tion t hat it would be singularly appropriate, if after t he adoption of Constit ution and Regulations the Presiding Off icer should be able to announce, just as the cloth strikes "FOUR", t he establishment of the reorganized ASA. Possibly, however, such proclamation before t he Conven tion delegates had better be deferred to Saturday, the 28t h , at 4 o'clock .
* *
**
model initiatiop is assigned to Friday evening , but later plans may modify this somewhat, as it may seem best to hold the initiation service on ~hanksgiving night. ~hat time would be markedly appropriate for the first official performance of the Service, but local cond i tions may preclude such arrangement. Ruth Duffey is making t he gowns to be worn on the occasion, and with the carrying out of plans made to date, the ceremony ought to be singularly beautiful. Delegat es will doubtless receive many excellent suggestions while watching Miami's methods. ~he
* * be * *devoted to reports from committees Saturday Sessions will that may be ap pointed by the Chair, or to unfinished business, and to the election of National Of ficers. All delegates should go to Convention supplied with notebooks and should take copious notes for t he benefit of t heir respective chapters. ~he Conve ntion Secretary will be expected to send the official minutes to the Central Office very soon after the convention is over, in order that the "PHOENIX 11 may put Convention decisions and r ulings before the membership at once. As soon as the Central Office is in receipt of this material, arrangements will be made to distribute Rotospeed copies of t he Constitution and carbon copies of t he Initiation Service for the use of chapt ers. The commercial sheet does not seem to be the correct size for this purpose, as somet hing smaller would be more satisfactory for use on the altars. !he Central Office would like the chapters to decide which would be the more convenient size for Rituals, 8 x 8, or 4 x B. The 8x8 would give a square b ook and has much to recommend it, but the other may prove better in actual use~ Anothe r ruling;:, that the Convention shoulhd make is wit h regard to the Sorority's National Income, (1) as to when it shall be paid in, and (2) as to how it s hall be a pportioned. If t he Central Office , to do all that it should~ and if the Council is to be able to plan for efficiency from the very moment of its election, there should be路 a National Treasury to draw upon for immediate nece s sities. Under the head of 'i:nmediate' come stationery and stamps. Every officer needs an adequate sup ~ ly of paper and envelopes, or her work must suffer in eonsequence, especially in so far as e f fectivene s s is concerned. There is no need for engraved stationery or for expensive paper, as somet hing simple, provided it is in good taste, will serve t he purpose. Just as soon as the Council is elected a nd there is a stock of stationery on hand, a campaign will be st ar t ed for new chapters. One of the recent visitors at the Central Office called attention to an excellent opening in the Normal College of t he City of New York and to another in the State Teachers College at Albany, N.Y. The principals of all first class Normal Schools in the country can be ap proached just as soon as the sorority has an a ctual existence. Mere promi s es of what is going to be makes little impression. One must pro duce tangible evidence. That is why it is so important to have a thoroughly efficient business organization. No s orority can ho pe to be a force, no matter how lofty its ai~s and princi ples, unless it is on a bus iness basis. The next " PHO ENIX" will take up the subject of National Dues and t heir a9po rtionment, and will touc h also on other matters of great importance at t his time, so that chapters may di s cus s t hes e t 1 ings prior to oendin g on t heir dele 5ates t o the Convention .