What is CERES?
CERES (pronounced "Series"):
the Roman Goddess of agriculture (grains, harvest, fruit, flowers, and
fertility of the Earth), represents the historical involvement in and the
importance of the role of women in agriculture.
Ceres is an agricultural women’s fraternity; however, members study a variety of
academic fields including Agriculture, Education, Engineering, Business, Arts,
and Science
Our
The object of our Fraternity is to build
the whole person, to effect bonds of sisterhood, and to unify Ceres as a
comprehensive entity. Ceres is committed to building qualities of
leadership, to building meaningful fellowship, and to building a desire for
scholastic achievement. Our commitment to Ceres is predicated on the
values and ideals descriptive of a rural environment and offers lifelong
sisterhood to women with an appreciation of agriculture. Membership in
Ceres may at times require the sacrifice of time, pleasures, and comforts.
The Five Attributes
of CERES
Commitment-Represented
by the "C" on the pledge pin. The first attribute our pledges are
taught, is commitment. We stress commitment to CERES and our sisters.
Agriculture-Represented
by the wheat stalks on the pledge pin. CERES is an agriculturally based
fraternity. This is evident in our name, CERES, the roman goddess of
agriculture. Even though CERES is agriculturally based, members do not need to
be majoring in an agricultural field.
Leadership-Represented
by the Pearls on the active pin.
Leadership is certainly an attribute we could not live without. Members of
CERES learn to be an inspiration as well as effective leaders.
Fellowship-Represented
by the sterling silver rose on the active pin- Along with stressing commitment
to our sisters, we also stress sisterhood. Sisterhood is life long, not just
until you graduate from college.
Scholarship-Represented
by the scroll on our active pin- It is our desire for a higher education that
brought us to college, and eventually brought us together. We strive to obtain
the highest GPA among Greeks every semester.
Why is CERES a Fraternity and not a Sorority?
1)
Ceres is Agriculturally based since we branched out of
Farmhouse. The founding sisters wanted to keep some of those ties to Farmhouse,
and therefore decided to keep the Fraternal
name.
2)
Webster's dictionary defines a "Fraternity"
as a group of people associated or formally organized for a common
purpose, interest, or pleasure. While sorority is
defined as a woman's organization that is formed chiefly for social purposes
and has a name consisting of Greek letters. CERES was not formed as a
social organization.
3)
There are really only six true Sororities, and the rest are Fraternities. They
just don't know it.