On Honors Nominations
In the past several days we have had our 2020 Advisory Council kickoff phone calls and a few questions about honors. Several of you saw the Ambassador email that said honors nominations are due April 1, 2020, but states may have some earlier deadlines. So we are clear, in New York we must have your honor nomination by March 1, 2020. There are also some guidelines in the SOP that need to be observed (you can see these at the bottom)
I have also had several questions from people about who I would consider or not consider for honors, and a few other things. I wanted to put down on paper some of my basic thoughts.
Honors in General:
- Honors MUST be secret. A Chapter I was serving with we had someone leak that a person was going to receive an honor to the nominee's loved ones. Something happened and it was not approved by the Supreme Council. It put those of us on the advisory council in an awkward position when nominee did not receive it.
- Every year that we do honors I feel a sense of regret that there are brothers who *should* have been honored but were not. Some of them have passed before their time and we missed the chance to recognize them for their outstanding work. One of these brothers I found out later was under consideration but a few people felt he was “too young” for it. “The time was not right.” If a person does work that is worthy of an honor, please honor them.
- We should not be out there asking for money to spend on honors. Honors are not cheap. $125 for a Cross of Honor, $125 for a Legion of Honor, and $50 for a Chevalier. It is in poor form to have chapters ask sponsoring bodies or other groups to fund honors. If there is someone who we should honor and we cannot fund, let me know and we can always figure out something.
- A majority vote of the Advisory Council is required, NOT a unanimous vote for a nomination to come from a chapter. In addition to advisory councils, honor bodies and Past State Master Councilors may make recommendations to me for honors.
- If asked for, it must be refused. If a person has asked for an honor we are not allowed to give it to them.
What about criteria?
I am frequently asked about what one needs to do for an honor etc. Some states have strict rules that you have to have a Blue Honor Key for a chevalier, or you have to be a Past Master for an LOH. I don’t have strict rules, but I have some thoughts.
Chevalier: This honor is for Active DeMolays and Senior DeMolays for conspicuous service on behalf of the Order of DeMolay. It’s not a prize for being a state officer, or being Master Councilor. What we are looking for are young men who have put a lot of effort into DeMolay, they’ve shared DeMolay, they’ve done work with our programs and projects. Young men who have selflessly gone ‘above and beyond’ what has been asked of them, or expected of them. Yes, you can get it at 17 but that will probably be the exception, not the rule. Do you need the RD for it? Do you need the LCC? I would not say those are rules, but I would expect someone who is taking DeMolay seriously to have picked those up during his time as a DeMolay. If you put someone forward for this honor you need to be prepared to discuss what the person’s impact is and why they are worthy of it.
I have had a few questions from some people who feel that someone was “passed over” when they were younger and could I reconsider the nomination. I am always happy to have a conversation about this but make no promises or guarantees.
Cross of Honor: This award is a BIG DEAL, it’s for providing conspicuous service as an advisor. Yes, you need to have been an advisor for three years before you can get it, but that does not mean that you get it at three years. I’ve known advisors who have labored for over a decade before getting this. I also really like this honor because it is one the young men give.
Legion of Honor: The Legion of Honor is for service to humanity. Period.
Yes, service to DeMolay is an example of service to humanity, but it could also be being a doctor, a public school teacher, a religious education teacher, a business leader, a non-profit leader. A loving father, a volunteer sports coach. You name it.
With Legion of Honor holders, I want to be able to point to them and say to an active DeMolay: “Brother, with DeMolay you can be like this person!”
You do NOT need the Chevalier to get the Legion of Honor. You do NOT need the Cross of Honor. One of our masonic bodies requires that you have to have one honor to get to the next. That’s not a DeMolay rule. There may be a Senior DeMolay who is doing amazing things for humanity but is not a chevalier recognize him with the appropriate honor.
I want to see a better ratio of red cords to white cords. There are so many Senior DeMolays out there that are doing exceptional work for humanity. Let's make sure we honor them and recognize them for their service.
Honors Nominations
Nominations for DeMolay International Honors (Chevalier, Cross of Honor, and Legion of Honor) may only be submitted to DeMolay International by the Executive Officer. DeMolay Chapter Advisory Councils, Chevalier Courts, Legion of Honor Preceptories and Past State Master Councilors are hereby granted the privilege of making recommendations to the Executive Officer for his consideration. Nominations are within the sole discretionary authority of the Executive Officer alone and are not subject to review by any person or body except DeMolay International.
The individual under consideration is NOT to know about the recommendation, and absolute secrecy regarding the submission of recommendations to the Executive Officer must be maintained, or the recommendations will be rejected, and nominations to DeMolay International will be withdrawn. In order to preserve the integrity of these honors, the following guidelines have been established.
These basic requirements should be met in order to submit a recommendation for any DeMolay International Honor, include:
• Chapter/Court/Preceptory Officer report is current.
• Previous fiscal year’s Chapter/Court/Preceptory Financial report is filed by deadline (No later than 2/1/2020)
• Chapter Advisory Council Registrations (ACR) filed by deadline. [November 30]
• Chapter Insurance Fees paid by deadline. (if applicable): NOTE: The Grand Lodge is covering this fee this year.
• Chapter has achieved its membership goal for the previous year as established by New York DeMolay and the chapter.
• A Legion of Honor Preceptory or Chevalier Court must document its services to the Order of DeMolay as performed by the group, e.g., sponsored pages in the Convention Ad Journal, conferred Legion of Honor or Chevalier Degrees, hosted Chapter members at annual observances, contributed to DeMolays attending State Convention and/or Leadership Training Conference, visited local Chapters as a group, sponsored initiation fees for new members in need, etc. The Preceptory or Chevalier Court must have filed their annual report to New York DeMolay on time. [December 1 for Courts, April 1 for Preceptories, For 2020 Preceptories must have their filed by 2/1/2020]
The absolute deadline for ALL Honor submissions is March 1st of each year. Recommendations received after that deadline will be held for consideration until the following year. Other requirements may be established by the Executive Officer from time to time.
In the past several days we have had our 2020 Advisory Council kickoff phone calls and a few questions about honors. Several of you saw the Ambassador email that said honors nominations are due April 1, 2020, but states may have some earlier deadlines. So we are clear, in New York we must have your honor nomination by March 1, 2020. There are also some guidelines in the SOP that need to be observed (you can see these at the bottom)
I have also had several questions from people about who I would consider or not consider for honors, and a few other things. I wanted to put down on paper some of my basic thoughts.
Honors in General:
- Honors MUST be secret. A Chapter I was serving with we had someone leak that a person was going to receive an honor to the nominee's loved ones. Something happened and it was not approved by the Supreme Council. It put those of us on the advisory council in an awkward position when nominee did not receive it.
- Every year that we do honors I feel a sense of regret that there are brothers who *should* have been honored but were not. Some of them have passed before their time and we missed the chance to recognize them for their outstanding work. One of these brothers I found out later was under consideration but a few people felt he was “too young” for it. “The time was not right.” If a person does work that is worthy of an honor, please honor them.
- We should not be out there asking for money to spend on honors. Honors are not cheap. $125 for a Cross of Honor, $125 for a Legion of Honor, and $50 for a Chevalier. It is in poor form to have chapters ask sponsoring bodies or other groups to fund honors. If there is someone who we should honor and we cannot fund, let me know and we can always figure out something.
- A majority vote of the Advisory Council is required, NOT a unanimous vote for a nomination to come from a chapter. In addition to advisory councils, honor bodies and Past State Master Councilors may make recommendations to me for honors.
- If asked for, it must be refused. If a person has asked for an honor we are not allowed to give it to them.
What about criteria?
I am frequently asked about what one needs to do for an honor etc. Some states have strict rules that you have to have a Blue Honor Key for a chevalier, or you have to be a Past Master for an LOH. I don’t have strict rules, but I have some thoughts.
Chevalier: This honor is for Active DeMolays and Senior DeMolays for conspicuous service on behalf of the Order of DeMolay. It’s not a prize for being a state officer, or being Master Councilor. What we are looking for are young men who have put a lot of effort into DeMolay, they’ve shared DeMolay, they’ve done work with our programs and projects. Young men who have selflessly gone ‘above and beyond’ what has been asked of them, or expected of them. Yes, you can get it at 17 but that will probably be the exception, not the rule. Do you need the RD for it? Do you need the LCC? I would not say those are rules, but I would expect someone who is taking DeMolay seriously to have picked those up during his time as a DeMolay. If you put someone forward for this honor you need to be prepared to discuss what the person’s impact is and why they are worthy of it.
I have had a few questions from some people who feel that someone was “passed over” when they were younger and could I reconsider the nomination. I am always happy to have a conversation about this but make no promises or guarantees.
Cross of Honor: This award is a BIG DEAL, it’s for providing conspicuous service as an advisor. Yes, you need to have been an advisor for three years before you can get it, but that does not mean that you get it at three years. I’ve known advisors who have labored for over a decade before getting this. I also really like this honor because it is one the young men give.
Legion of Honor: The Legion of Honor is for service to humanity. Period.
Yes, service to DeMolay is an example of service to humanity, but it could also be being a doctor, a public school teacher, a religious education teacher, a business leader, a non-profit leader. A loving father, a volunteer sports coach. You name it.
With Legion of Honor holders, I want to be able to point to them and say to an active DeMolay: “Brother, with DeMolay you can be like this person!”
You do NOT need the Chevalier to get the Legion of Honor. You do NOT need the Cross of Honor. One of our masonic bodies requires that you have to have one honor to get to the next. That’s not a DeMolay rule. There may be a Senior DeMolay who is doing amazing things for humanity but is not a chevalier recognize him with the appropriate honor.
I want to see a better ratio of red cords to white cords. There are so many Senior DeMolays out there that are doing exceptional work for humanity. Let's make sure we honor them and recognize them for their service.
Honors Nominations
Nominations for DeMolay International Honors (Chevalier, Cross of Honor, and Legion of Honor) may only be submitted to DeMolay International by the Executive Officer. DeMolay Chapter Advisory Councils, Chevalier Courts, Legion of Honor Preceptories and Past State Master Councilors are hereby granted the privilege of making recommendations to the Executive Officer for his consideration. Nominations are within the sole discretionary authority of the Executive Officer alone and are not subject to review by any person or body except DeMolay International.
The individual under consideration is NOT to know about the recommendation, and absolute secrecy regarding the submission of recommendations to the Executive Officer must be maintained, or the recommendations will be rejected, and nominations to DeMolay International will be withdrawn. In order to preserve the integrity of these honors, the following guidelines have been established.
These basic requirements should be met in order to submit a recommendation for any DeMolay International Honor, include:
• Chapter/Court/Preceptory Officer report is current.
• Previous fiscal year’s Chapter/Court/Preceptory Financial report is filed by deadline (No later than 2/1/2020)
• Chapter Advisory Council Registrations (ACR) filed by deadline. [November 30]
• Chapter Insurance Fees paid by deadline. (if applicable): NOTE: The Grand Lodge is covering this fee this year.
• Chapter has achieved its membership goal for the previous year as established by New York DeMolay and the chapter.
• A Legion of Honor Preceptory or Chevalier Court must document its services to the Order of DeMolay as performed by the group, e.g., sponsored pages in the Convention Ad Journal, conferred Legion of Honor or Chevalier Degrees, hosted Chapter members at annual observances, contributed to DeMolays attending State Convention and/or Leadership Training Conference, visited local Chapters as a group, sponsored initiation fees for new members in need, etc. The Preceptory or Chevalier Court must have filed their annual report to New York DeMolay on time. [December 1 for Courts, April 1 for Preceptories, For 2020 Preceptories must have their filed by 2/1/2020]
The absolute deadline for ALL Honor submissions is March 1st of each year. Recommendations received after that deadline will be held for consideration until the following year. Other requirements may be established by the Executive Officer from time to time.
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