(Raps gavel three times.)

This Association meeting will please come to order. My name is (insert name), President of the (insert name of chapter) Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu. [Preferred, but optional] I shall now introduce the officers of the (Insert name of chapter) Chapter.

[Option A] In honor of the great 19th Century thinkers that built the scientific foundation upon which today's Electrical and Computer Engineering is based, our induction panel will assume the last names of five of them and speak in the spirit of these great thinkers for this ceremony. They are Wheatstone, Babbage, Ampere, Ohm, and Volta. Our Web Correspondent (state the name of that officer) will be controlling the lighting. Today, I will be speaking in the spirit of Wheatstone.

[Option B] Today, I am Wheatstone.

Members of Eta Kappa Nu and guests, I am informed that there are present (insert number of candidates present) candidates for admission into this association.

[Option A] Vice President (Name of Vice President) will be speaking in the spirit of Babbage. Babbage, are these candidates worthy and well qualified?

[Option B] Babbage, are these candidates worthy and well qualified?

They are. Their qualifications have been reviewed, and I can vouch that each possesses the three necessary qualifications of a successful electrical or computer engineer.

What are these three qualifications?

First, Scholarship; including outstanding traditional academic abilities – but they must also have a good supply of common sense to make use of the knowledge, information, and ideas they may acquire.

Second, Character; They must be of unimpeachable character, have sound judgment, and possess the capacity and willingness for hard work.

Third, Attitude; They must have a positive outlook on life, a congenial nature, and the adaptability for working in harmony with all sorts of people.

The qualifications are correct.

Wheatstone and members of Eta Kappa Nu, I now present the candidates for induction into the (name of chapter) Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu. Candidates please stand.

These candidates, having been elected by this chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, have expressed their desire to become members of this association.

Candidates, your records have been examined, and the members of this chapter of Eta Kappa Nu have observed your conduct. You have been found to possess the three requirements necessary for membership in this association. We meet here together to inform you of these requirements and to instruct you in the purposes, objectives, and ideals of this association. In admitting you into Eta Kappa Nu, we are conferring upon you the highest honor that is within our power to bestow. Please be seated.

The purpose of this organization, known as Eta Kappa Nu, is best stated in the words of the preamble of our constitution:

"To encourage excellence in education for the benefit of the public by: Marking in a fitting manner those who have conferred honor upon engineering education by distinguished scholarship, activities, leadership and exemplary character as students in electrical or computer engineering, or by their attainments in the field of electrical or computer engineering[...]."

It was for that reason that Maurice L. Carr, a student at the University of Illinois, together with nine others who shared his faith in such aims, founded the first chapter of Eta Kappa Nu at Urbana, Illinois, on October 28, 1904. That these purposes were valid is evidenced by the growth of Eta Kappa Nu. It now has chartered more than 200 chapters and inducted approximately 200,000 members. The belief in the high ideals, of which you are soon to hear, as requisites for success in the professions of electrical or computer engineering, and for happiness in one's life as a whole, caused the founders and succeeding officers and members of Eta Kappa Nu to exert themselves toward making this association the important and worthwhile organization we hold it to be. Eta Kappa Nu demands that its members possess three qualifications.

[Option A] Treasurer (Name of Treasurer) will be speaking in the spirit of Ampere regarding the first requirement.

[Option B] Ampere, please instruct the candidates regarding the first requirement.

The first step taken in ascertaining the eligibility of persons for membership in Eta Kappa Nu is that of determining their scholastic record. Our Constitution requires that candidates considered for election must be in the upper one-fourth of their junior ECE class or in the upper one-third of their senior ECE class. Scholastically, you have proved yourselves to be more than ordinary students, but grades are not a perfect test of a person's character, intelligence, or common sense.

Eta Kappa Nu searches even further into people for this quality of common sense once they have passed the scholastic test. How do they conduct themselves in situations that are strange to them? How do they proceed to use their equipment and tools in performing their work? Do they have ingenuity? Are their ideas practical and feasible? Do they have the necessary imagination for visualizing the complex problems of electrical or computer engineering and for seeing new solutions to those problems? Do they have the communication skills to articulate their solutions to their organizations?

You have been measured by these questions, and we have concluded that you have a good supply of common sense. But now is not the time for resting on your laurels. That time will never come. Now is the time to improve your methods of thinking, to improve your resourcefulness, to improve your scholastic record; for Eta Kappa Nu wishes that you continue to add to your present good supply of common sense and develop yourselves toward the objective of excellence in your future professional careers.

You have heard the words of AMPERE. Heed them well. The requirements for a member of Eta Kappa Nu are rigorous. They are meant not only as a test for membership, but as a guide for future conduct, as well.

[Option A] Speaking in the spirit of Ohm, our Corresponding Secretary (Name of Corresponding Secretary) will instruct you on the second requirement – character, and the capacity and willingness for hard work.

[Option B] Ohm, please instruct the candidates on the second requirement Ð character, and the capacity and willingness for hard work.

To make a success of any project, whether it be an honor society, a college education, or a professional job, requires one thing common to all – character – which includes honesty, ethical behavior, sound judgment, and hard and occasionally disagreeable work. There lies the reason for establishing this principle as a requirement for membership in Eta Kappa Nu.

Remember that no full and permanent success can ever be attained by sliding along the path of least resistance. You may achieve temporary and seemingly desirable results by slovenly methods, by taking credit not quite due you, and by refusing to assume the responsibility of a task properly yours, but do not forget that deceit, slothfulness, carelessness, and irresponsibility in your character are nearly always discovered.

One purpose of the informal induction and pledge duties you have performed was to determine whether you possessed the capacity for hard work. Do not make the false assumption that the world owes you a living. On the contrary, by virtue of your superior talents and extensive education and training, you owe it to society to aid and assist whenever the need for something exists that is within your power to give. Do not immediately complain about an uninteresting or routine job.

Make the most of the materials you have at hand and strive always to produce as creditable a product as is possible. In Eta Kappa Nu, you will be asked to share the work and responsibilities of running the organization. You will find this an opportunity to gain new experience and new confidence in yourself – an opportunity to improve your association, your community, and yourself. Cultivate your character and your capacity and willingness for hard work!

Ohm has explained the second requirement for membership in our association. With these two is a third, equally important, requirement – a positive attitude with a congenial nature and the adaptability for working in harmony with all sorts of people, whether as a leader, team member, or individual contributor.

[Option A] Our Recording Secretary (Name of Recording Secretary) will be speaking in the spirit of Volta to instruct you concerning this requirement.

[Option B] Volta will instruct you concerning this requirement.

You are, for the most part, as others see you. The successful professionals – the ones who reflect positively on their Alma Maters and their profession and present a wholesome picture to their associates – are well groomed and neatly attired. They are congenial, modest, and dependable. They are tolerant of the ideas and practices of others. They are unselfish. They display tact in their dealings with their colleagues. They are good listeners, as well as skillful communicators.

These attributes reflect your attitude on life. All people have these qualities to some degree, but, unfortunately, many do not cultivate or chose to apply them. It is our hope and belief that you have most of them, but if you are weak or lacking in any one of them, it is time for you, who from this induction onward will be closely watched, to effect an improvement. Perhaps you should spend more time in the company of others. Perhaps you should think more carefully of how and what you speak. Perhaps you should consider your fellow worker just a little more. Above all, remember that you are not just "living" – you are "living with others".

Eta Kappa Nu expects nothing of you that you cannot in honor give to it.

In no manner does it seek to take the place or function of any other society or organization. You honor Eta Kappa Nu by proving yourself worthy of the honors that other organizations have to bestow. You have been elected to membership with confidence that yours are safe hands into which to commit the direction and leadership of this chapter when it is left to you. You have been elected to membership with confidence that you are and will continue to be worthy of the honor.

By your influence and example, lead other members of our association. Display the emblem of our association with modesty, as a sign that you have passed the three basic qualifications of membership and as a reminder to yourself and to other members of the responsibilities of each member of Eta Kappa Nu.

You now have another channel for effecting better cooperation between faculty and student leaders in the work of improving our electrical engineering and computer engineering department, our school, our community, and also the profession. You now have an added opportunity to develop closer relations with outstanding electrical and computer engineers. Above all, you have a new way in which to improve yourself.

Fulfill the obligations imposed upon you by your admission into Eta Kappa Nu. By so doing, you will make yourself a better engineer and citizen.

Babbage, please explain the various elements of our coat of arms and our emblem, and their historical significance to our association.

The Caduceus (pronounced ka-du'-se-us), wand of Mercury, who was the messenger of Jupiter, was preferred by our founder, Maurice Carr, as the symbol for this association. But another and older profession already had selected this symbol.

Therefore, upon the honor point of the shield is placed the Caduceus as a memorial to him who organized this society, in which so many now enjoy membership. Its field is scarlet, symbolizing the zeal with which Maurice Carr projected his idea.

The mighty hand of Jupiter was selected as being symbolic of the founding chapter with a blade of lightning for each of the ten founding members. The field is blue, typifying the loyalty with which they performed their tasks.

The band of silver has been charged with three cubes of magnetite to represent and thus remind us of our three great requirements.

The shield is crested with a Wheatstone bridge with the association's colors of scarlet and navy blue entwined beneath.

Our emblem is the Wheatstone bridge. The Wheatstone bridge is an accurate precision electrical instrument capable of determining the value of an unknown element when knowing the values of the three other bridge elements. The significant analogy, which we draw from it for Eta Kappa Nu, is that only when the bridge is adjusted to be in perfect balance is the desired solution obtained. This is what we strive for as members of Eta Kappa Nu: to lead a balanced life, a life in which scholarship, character, and attitude are jointly developed.

In using the Wheatstone bridge, an unknown quantity can be determined when the other three elements are known. The three qualities that we know about you are SCHOLARSHIP, CHARACTER, and ATTITUDE. When these three are properly balanced, then the unknown, SUCCESS, is determined.

At the center of the bridge is the galvanometer that senses when the balance is achieved. It bears the early Greek form of the letters Eta, Kappa, Nu. Remember then, when you look at the Eta Kappa Nu emblem, that the Wheatstone bridge is symbolic of a balanced person.

In early Greece, there was a philosopher, a scientist in our day, who discovered that if a piece of amber was rubbed with a cloth the philosopher experienced a phenomenon that could not be explained. We know it as static electricity.

The Greek name for amber is elektron, spelled

Eta Lambda Epsilon Kappa Tau Rho Omicron Nu

From this word, the English language derives the word 'electricity'. From this word, physicists and electrical or computer engineers derive the words 'electron' and 'electronic'. And from this word, we derive our name. We use the first, the fourth, and the last letters – namely,

'Eta' 'Kappa' 'Nu'.
H K N

Today, the practice is to use the English capital letter 'H' for 'Eta'. Therefore, when abbreviating Eta Kappa Nu, do not use 'EKN' (which is Epsilon Kappa Nu) but rather HKN.

The emblem of Eta Kappa Nu is the Wheatstone bridge. The aspect ratio of the HKN Bridge symbol is 1.414, in recognition of the importance of the square root of the number 2 in the ECE field. The bridge is formed into a "Key" by adding a top loop and a bottom stem, as shown on this projected image. The bridge may be displayed as a "Key" and also displayed in a form without the top loop and bottom stem as jewelry or in print.

Candidates please stand and remain standing.

You have heard the three requirements of a successful electrical or computer engineer. You have met the SCHOLARSHIP, CHARACTER, and ATTITUDE requirements.

I now ask you to promise that, to the best of your ability, you will:

• Continue to develop your intelligence and common sense in college and in your practice as a professional.
• Continue to develop your character in positive ways: always practice honesty and ethical behavior, develop good judgment, always work hard, and never slide along the path of least resistance.
• Continue to develop your positive attitude about life: always be congenial, tolerant, tactful, and respectful.

Do you (state first candidate's full name) promise these things? If so, please raise your right hand and answer, "I do".

Do you, candidates, promise these things? If so, as individuals, one after the other, beginning with (first person from left in front row), please raise your right hand and answer, "I do".

Now that you have signified your willingness to measure up to our three requirements, I will administer the binding pledge that is required of every member of Eta Kappa Nu. (The candidates remain standing.) Hold up your right hand, and repeat after me:

"I sincerely promise that I will live up to... in word and in deed... the principles for which Eta Kappa Nu stands.... To the members now and to those to come after... I bind myself to the faithful observance of these promises.... I give my solemn word of honor."

Candidates, please be seated.

Babbage, please conduct the candidates so they may sign the membership book. Then bring them to me to receive the symbols of membership: our emblem [optional], the Wheatstone bridge, and the sealed certificate of membership. Also, I will officially extend to each of them the right hand of fellowship and declare them a fully inducted member of Eta Kappa Nu.

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of this chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, I declare you duly inducted members of our association. In token of your membership, I have placed in your hand a certificate that bears the seal of the association and the signatures of the proper officers testifying to your induction into our association.

Members of Eta Kappa Nu remember well what has transpired here this (fill in as appropriate: morning, afternoon, or evening) and see that it is faithfully transmitted to future generations of members of the (Name of chapter) Chapter.

We welcome you into Eta Kappa Nu. This (Month Date, Year) Induction Ritual of the (name of Chapter) Chapter of Eta Kappa Nu is now adjourned. I thank all of you for your participation in this ceremony. Will all members please come forward and join me in welcoming the new members to Eta Kappa Nu.