Recently, New York DeMolay made some changes to our Representative DeMolay Form:
1) Copies of Report Cards: A concern was raised about why New York DeMolay is collecting report cards, how they were being maintained, and overall concerns about privacy. There were good questions. In consultation with “Dad” Schneider and “Dad” McMorris, it was determined that we will no longer be asking for or collecting report cards as part of the Representative DeMolay process. In reviewing our practice, report cards were sent in and once the RD was approved were shredded. We feel that the current questions on the form about academics are sufficient for the purposes of the Representative DeMolay.
The awarding of a Representative DeMolay is not based on your academic performance. The reason why the Representative DeMolay asks about grades is to allow the DeMolay to evaluate where they are and if there is room to improve. Are you being the best person you can be? Are there areas for improvement?
2) Updating the Obligation Card Requirement: Back in the 20th century an obligations card was required to become a Representative DeMolay, and the Leader’s Resource Guide on page 113 still reflects that requirement because it has not been updated since 1995. However, in the late 1990s, the Supreme Council modified the requirements and that is no longer in statute. The form has been updated to reflect this change by our Supreme Council.
We do strongly encourage all of our young men to earn their obligations proficiency, we are here to help you!
3) There were a few other text changes to reflect changes in language and updating some roles, for example Guy of Auvergne was still on the application.
As a reminder, in New York we use our New York application to determine the Representative DeMolay. Any other form is not accepted and we have had to send several back for using the wrong form.