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Collegiate secret societies in North America

Collegiate secret societies in North America

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There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their levels of secrecy and independence from their universities. As the term is used in this article, a secret society is a collegiate society where significant effort is made to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public.
Some collegiate secret societies are referred to as 'class societies', which restrict membership to one class year. Most class societies are restricted to the senior class, and are therefore also called senior societies on many campuses.

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[edit] Categorization

There is no strict rule on the categorization of secret societies. Secret societies can have ceremonial initiations, secret signs of recognition (gestures, handshakes, passwords), formal secrets, (the 'true' name of the society, a motto, or a society history); but, college fraternities or "social fraternities" have the same, and some of these elements can also be a part of literary societies, singing groups, editorial boards, and honorary and pre-professional groups. Some secret societies have kept their membership secret, for example, Seven Society and Gridiron, and some have not, like Skull and Bones (the Yale societies had published their membership lists in the yearbooks and the Yale Daily News).
One key concept in distinguishing secret societies from fraternities is that, on campuses that have both kind of organizations, one can be a member of both, (that is, membership is not mutually exclusive). Usually, being a member of more than one fraternity is not considered appropriate, because that member would have divided loyalties; however, typically, there is not an issue being a member of a secret society and a fraternity, because they are not considered similar organizations or competing organizations.[1]
An especially difficult problem is the degree to which any one society is an actual society or is simply an honorary designation. Phi Beta Kappa, for example, was a true secret society, until after its secrets were divulged, the society continued on. It claims today to still be an actual society that has meetings, conducts its affairs, and is a living social entity, however membership for most members consists of one evening's initiation, and no more, which would make the society completely an honorary in most people's eyes.
Many such societies exist which operate as honoraries on one campus, and which may have been at one time actual meeting societies, and which are kept alive by one or two dedicated local alumni or an alumni affairs or Dean's office person, who see to it that an annual initiation are held every year. Some of these frankly state that they are honoraries, other seek to perpetuate the image of a continuing active society where there is none.
While there are some guideline criteria for the neutral observer to understand what sort of society any given organization is, much of the analysis reverts to what any one society has been traditionally understood to be. There are additional means, such as societies that were more or less explicitly established in emulation of some previous secret society, or using historical records to show that society X was created out of society Y.

[edit] Common traits

There are several common traits among these societies. The pattern for many of these societies has been set by practices at Yale. For example, many societies have two part names which follow the pattern set by Yale's Skull and Bones or Scroll and Key. The Yale societies also limited their membership to 15, sometimes 16, in a class year, and it is common to find similar numerical limits in many of these societies. Extensive mortuary imagery is associated with many secret societies, maintaining a pretense of great seriousness, and, again following Yale, clubhouses are often called "tombs."

[edit] Tapping

The archetypical selection process for entry into a collegiate secret society began at Yale University by a process called tapping.[1] On a publicly announced evening, Yale undergraduates would assemble informally in the College Yard. Current members of Yale's secret societies would walk through the crowd and literally tap a prospective member on the shoulder and then walk with him up to the tapped man's dorm room. There, in private, they would ask him to become a member of their secret society, of which the inductee had the choice of accepting or rejecting the offer of membership. During this process, it was publicly known who was being tapped for the coming year. Today, the selection process is not quite as formal, but is still public.[2] Formal tapping days used to exist at Berkeley, and still exist in a much more formal setting at Missouri.

[edit] History

Phi Beta Kappa, is considered the first of the college secret societies, and was founded in 1776 by students attending William & Mary. The society had a rudimentary initiation and maintained a certain level of secrecy. Its secrets, however, were exposed in the mid 1830s by students at Harvard University acting under the patronage of John Quincy Adams. Since the 1840s, Phi Beta Kappa has operated as a non-secret, academic honor society. The spread of Phi Beta Kappa to different institutions likely sparked the creation of other competing societies such as Kappa Alpha (1825) - the antecedant of American college fraternities. Yet, there was also a second strain of development, when at Yale University, Chi Delta Theta (1821) and Skull and Bones (1832) were founded - ultimately serving as antecedents for what would become known as class societies.
Skull & Bones aroused competition on campus, bringing forth Scroll & Key (1841), and later Wolf's Head (1883), among students in the senior class. But the prestige of the senior societies was able to keep the very influential fraternities Alpha Delta Phi and Psi Upsilon from ever becoming full four year institutions at Yale. They remained junior class societies there. There were also sophomore and freshman societies at Yale as well. A stable system of eventually eight class societies (two competing chains of four class societies each) was in place by the late 1840s.
Delta Kappa Epsilon is actually a highly successful junior class society, founded at Yale in 1844. None of the 51 chapters the parent chapter spawned operates as a junior society, but DKE did come from the class society system. Likewise, Alpha Sigma Phi started out as a Yale sophomore society and now has 68 chapters, (although, again, none of Alpha Sigma Phi's chapters have remained sophomore societies).
The development of class societies spread from Yale to northeastern campuses. Seniors at neighboring Wesleyan established a senior society, Skull & Serpent (1865), and second society, originally a chapter of Skull and Bones, but then independent as a sophomore society, Theta Nu Epsilon (1870), which began to drastically increase the number of campuses with class societies. William Raimond Baird noted in the 1905 edition of his Manual that "In addition to the regular fraternities, there are in the Eastern colleges many societies which draw members from only one of the undergraduate classes, and which have only a few features of the general fraternity system." [3] From Wesleyan, the practice spread across the northeast, and there were full systems in place at Brown, Rutgers, and other institutions.
Kappa Sigma Theta, Phi Theta Psi, Delta Beta Xi, Delta Sigma Phi,[4] were all sophomore societies at Yale, and the two large freshman societies of Delta Kappa and Kappa Sigma Epsilon lived until 1880.[5] Delta Kappa established chapters at Amherst, the University of North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Dartmouth College, and Centre College. Kappa Sigma Epsilon had chapters at Amherst, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Dartmouth.[5] Other class societies existed at Brown, Harvard, Syracuse, Colgate, Cornell, and other Northeastern institutions.
Theta Nu Epsilon spread to about 120 colleges and universities, but many of its chapters operated as three year societies where operating as a class year society was inappropriate.
It is from this class society historical base, and the desire to emulate the most well-known of all the class societies, Skull & Bones, that senior societies in particular began to spread nationally between 1900 and 1930. There are also junior class, sophomore, and freshman class societies to be found at campuses across the country today.

[edit] Significant individual institutions

[edit] The College of William & Mary

7 Society plaque located inside the university's Sadler Center
The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia was home to one of the nation's first known college secret societies, the F.H.C. Society (founded in 1750). The initials of the society stand for a Latin phrase, likely "Fraternitas, Humanitas, et Cognitio" or "Fraternitas Humanitas Cognitioque" (two renderings of "brotherhood, humaneness, and knowledge"), but it has always been jokingly known as the 'Flat Hat Club.' William & Mary alumnus and third U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson, is perhaps the most famous member of the F.H.C. Society.[6] Other notable members of the original society include Col. James Innes, St. George Tucker, and George Wythe.[7] Jefferson noted that "When I was a student of Wm. & Mary college of this state, there existed a society called the F.H.C. society, confined to the number of six students only, of which I was a member, but it had no useful object, nor do I know whether it now exists."[8] The best opinion is that the society did not survive the invasion by British forces during the Revolution.[6] The society was revived as the Flat Hat Club from 1916 to 1943 and again in 1972.[9]
William & Mary students John Heath and William Short (Class of 1779) founded the nation's first collegiate Greek-letter organization, Phi Beta Kappa, on December 5, 1776 as a secret literary and philosophical society. Additional chapters were established in 1780 and 1781 at Yale and Harvard.[10] With nearly 300 chapters across the country, Phi Beta Kappa has grown to become the nation's premier academic honor society.[11] Alumni John Marshall and Bushrod Washington were two of the earliest members of the society, elected in 1778 and 1780, respectively.[12]
Although the pressures of the American Civil War forced several societies to disappear, many were revived during the 20th century. Some of the secret societies known to currently exist at the College are: The 7 Society, 13 Club, Alpha Club, Bishop James Madison Society, Flat Hat Club, The Society, The Spades, W Society, and Wren Society.[6][13]

[edit] Cornell University

Cornell University has a rich history of secret societies on campus. Andrew Dickson White, the first President of Cornell University and himself a Bonesman, is said to have encouraged the formation of a "secret society" on campus.[14] In the early years, the fraternities were called the "secret societies," but as the Greek system developed into a larger, more public entity, "secret society" began to refer only to the class societies. In the early twentieth century, Cornell students belonged to sophomore, junior, and senior societies, as well as honorary societies for particular fields of study. Liberalization of the 1960s spelled the end of these organizations as students rebelled against the establishment. The majority of the societies disappeared or became inactive in a very short time period, and today, only two organizations operate on campus: Sphinx Head (founded in 1890) and Quill and Dagger (founded in 1893).[15][16]

[edit] Dartmouth College

The tomb of the Sphinx secret society at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College's Office of Residential Life states that the earliest senior societies on campus date to 1783 and "continue to be a vibrant tradition within the campus community." Six of the eight senior societies keep their membership secret, while the other societies maintain secretive elements. According to the college, "approximately 25% of the senior class members are affiliated with a senior society."[17] The college's administration of the society system at Dartmouth focuses on keeping track of membership and tapping lists, and differs from that of Yale's, though there are historical parallels between the two colleges' societies.[18][19]

[edit] Dickinson College

The Raven's Claw is an all male senior honorary society at Dickinson College. It was founded in 1896, making it the first society unique to Dickinson College and one of the oldest in the country. Membership is limited to seven senior men who are selected by the seven previous members. The new members are chosen based on a variety of factors, these include: campus leadership, a solid academic record, and athletic participation. New members are inducted in a "Tapping Ceremony" which is held on the "Old Stone Steps of Old West." The ceremony is traditionally conducted during commencement weekend. They are called "claws" or "white hats", denoting the white caps they wear around campus to signify unity and loyalty. The Raven's Claw Society is very loyal and has been a part of Dickinson's history for over 100 years. While the members of the group are known, the majority of their actions and traditions are concealed. The group prides itself in serving the Dickinson College and Carlisle, Pennsylvania communities through discrete service activities The group's alumni organization is also responsible for founding one of the college's largest scholarship funds and the McAndrews Fund for athletics. Additionally, Dickinson College has named several buildings on campus after Raven's Claw members in recognition of their generous service and/or financial contributions to the school.
Wheel and Chain is Dickinson College's Senior Women's Honorary Society. Founded in 1924, members are elected in the spring of their junior year on the basis of participation in campus activities, service to the college and community, leadership skills and personal character. Membership is limited to ten senior women. New members are inducted in a "Tapping Ceremony" which is held on the "Old Stone Steps of Old West" in April. In May, each incoming Wheel and Chain class ceremoniously rings the bell in Denny Hall during Commencement ceremonies. Colloquially known as the "blue hats", members are known to the public; however, the society's activities remain secret.

[edit] Emory University

Emory University has four secret societies—the D.V.S. Senior Honor Society, the oldest society, founded in 1902; Ducemus; the Order of Ammon; and the Paladin Society. D.V.S. has provided the university mace that is used each year at the Convocation and Commencement ceremonies. The Paladin Society endeavors to make positive contributions to Emory's "spirit" anonymously and confers the Knights of Emory Spirit Award on two members of the Emory community each semester. The societies have been populated by many of Emory's best, including university and student group leaders, members of the Board of Trustees and recipients of Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships. In addition to the societies on the Atlanta campus, several secret societies exist on Emory's Oxford campus as well. These societies have strong alumni networks.

[edit] Georgia Institute of Technology

Crest of the ANAK Society, circa 1940
Crest of the ANAK Society, circa 2008
The ANAK Society is the oldest known secret society and honor society at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1908, ANAK's purpose is "to honor outstanding juniors and seniors who have shown both exemplary leadership and a true love for Georgia Tech."[20] The society's name refers to Anak, a biblical figure said to be the forefather of a race of giants.
Although not originally founded as a secret society, ANAK has kept its activities and membership rosters confidential since 1961. Membership is made public upon a student's graduation or a faculty member's retirement. The ANAK Society's membership comprises at least 1,100 Georgia Tech graduates, faculty members, and honorary members. Notable members include Bobby Dodd (honorary), Ivan Allen Jr., and most of Georgia Tech's presidents.
The society has been influential in the history of Georgia Tech. ANAK played a major role in establishing several of Georgia Tech's most active student organizations – including Georgia Tech's yearbook, the Blueprint; Georgia Tech's student newspaper, The Technique,[21] and Georgia Tech's Student Government Association – as well as several lasting Georgia Tech traditions. The society also claims involvement in a number of civil rights projects, most notably in peacefully integrating Georgia Tech's first African American students in 1961, preventing the Ku Klux Klan from setting up a student chapter at Georgia Tech.

[edit] Harvard University

Clubhouse of the Fly Club, a final club at Harvard University
Harvard does not have secret societies in the usual sense. Some assert that 'Final Clubs' are analogous to secret societies, some disagree.
The groups are secretive about their election procedures, and they have secret initiations and meetings. However, there is little secrecy about who is a member. They are larger than secret societies generally are, (approximately sixty students per club). Guests are admitted under restrictions. However the Owl Club, the Porcellian and the Delphic are somewhat stricter than the others, having rules against admitting non-members to most areas of their buildings. "Punch Season" and the "Final Dinner" is analogous to "Tap" at Yale.
Final Clubs at Harvard include the Porcellian (1791, originally called The Argonauts); The Delphic Club (1846); Fly Club, (1836), a successor of Alpha Delta Phi; The Phoenix - S K Club (1897); Owl Club, originally called Phi Delta Psi, (1896); The Fox Club (1898); and the Spee Club. The Signet Society, a Harvard literary club rather than a Final Club, is also regarded on campus and by members as a "semi-secret" society. Sigma Alpha Epsilon (1893), a semi-secret fraternity on campus predates all but three of the clubs.[22][23] Other secretive social groups include the Alpha Club, Hasty Pudding Club, Hellfire Club, Oak Club, Rose Club, and Snail Club.
There are also six female clubs: The Bee, The Sabliere Society, The Pleiades Society, The Seneca, La Vie, and The Isis.

[edit] Norwich University

Norwich University banned all secret societies in the late 1990s, citing controversy regarding hazing and abuse of students. Prior to the ban Norwich was home to a handful of long standing secret societies such as the Night Riders and Skull and Swords.[2][3][4]

[edit] Penn State University

Penn State University is known for the Skull and Bones Senior Society,[24] Parmi Nous Senior Society and the Lion's Paw Senior Society. Lion's Paw has extensive alumni participation, and strong links to the alumni affairs office of the university, thus making it somewhat different than other societies included here.

[edit] Princeton University

Colonial Club
Princeton's eating clubs are not fraternities, nor are they secret societies by any standard measure, but they are often seen as being tenuously analogous.
Additionally, Princeton has secret societies; the most visible is a chapter of St. Anthony Hall, the literary society. The 21 Club and HAF, all-male drinking societies, are also semi-notorious Princeton secret societies, though the 21 Club is much more well known compared to the obscure HAF club, which is made up of Princeton lacrosse players who meet up once a year to drink a trophy full of beer .[25][26] Princeton also has a long tradition of underground societies. While secret society membership is relatively public at some schools, Princeton's historical secret society rolls are very secretive because of Woodrow Wilson's ban on clandestine organizations and his threat to expel secret fraternity members from Princeton. One such society is Phi (pronounced ),[citation needed] a society dating to 1929 when members of the Whig society splintered off after the merger of the Whig and Cliosophic debating societies. Phi's membership is secretive and difficult to discern, because no more than 10 active "Phis" exist at one time: Phis usually receive offers at the end of their 3rd year. As an adaptation to Princeton's stringent anti-society rules, each active class does not meet the preceding class that selected it until the 1st of June (after their first Reunions and before graduation). 1.6... is the Golden Ratio, hence the name Phi.[27]

[edit] Rutgers University

Cap and Skull (1900) Class of '19; Paul Robeson at far left.
As one of the oldest colleges in the United States, Rutgers University has had several secret societies on campus. Documented societies date as far back as 1872 with the establishment of the Sword and Serpent. At the turn of the 20th century, Rutgers had developed two full sets of class year societies based on the Yale model,[28] down to the freshman societies such as the Serpent and Coffin.[29] The senior class societies at Rutgers included the Brotherhood of the Golden Dagger (1898–1940), Casque and Dagger (1901) and Cap and Skull (1900).
Of these, only Cap and Skull is still known to be in operation; however, after a reorganization in 1982, it is became university-sanctioned and had shed much of its secrecy. Today, it is more generally an honor society although members still engage in the society's long-standing traditions. In its early days, members of Cap and Skull had also engaged in later "attacks" of the infamous Cannon War with Princeton. Cap and Skull class year pictures were often taken with members standing around the buried cannons.[28] Today, less than one-half percent of Rutgers students are tapped for Cap and Skull membership.

[edit] University of Georgia

University of Georgia is home to at least four secret societies — Gridiron Secret Society, Order of the Greek Horsemen, Palladia Secret Society and Trust of the Pearl.
Gridiron Secret Society, founded in 1908, has been described as a highly-secret society connected to the University of Georgia. Its membership is all male but not limited to the Greek system. Its alumni include a number of prominent business and political leaders from throughout the United States, such as President Jimmy Carter, Attorneys General (such as Griffin Bell), past and current U.S. Senators throughout the country and each Governor of Georgia since the 1930s along with other of the country's Governors. Gridiron has extensive alumni participation, with well-attended banquets held in Athens twice each year, but its purposes and activities remain a closely guarded secret.
Order of the Greek Horsemen, founded in 1955, is composed of fraternity men and annually inducts five new members from among the male leaders of the Greek system. It is considered the highest honor a fraternity man at UGA may attain. It's selection criteria remains a mystery, and its members are not revealed until the end of each school year. New members are always active students, but honorary alumni members have been selected by the group.
Palladia Secret Society is the female equivalent of Gridiron. Palladia was founded in the early 1960s and is known as "the highest honor a woman may attain at the University of Georgia." Palladia inducts approximately 12 women each fall. Palladia has an extensive network of alumni, including administrators of the University of Georgia and prominent female leaders across the state.
Trust of the Pearl, founded when the first sororities were chartered at UGA, is a secret society for sorority women. The Trust of the Pearl is considered the highest honor a sorority woman may attain at UGA and inducts five new members each spring. Pearls are rumored to play a heavy role in selecting future leaders of the Panhellenic System but the purpose of the society is unknown. Members often wear black and a strand of pearls when gathering in public.

[edit] University of Michigan

Michigan's society, Michigamua, has been inspired by the rituals and culture of the Native Americans of the United States. Since its founding, it has evolved into the Order of Angell, which first used the tower of their campus union as their "tomb".[30][31] There is a secret society just for engineering students, the Vulcan Senior Engineering Society. The Phoenix Senior Honor Society, composed of undergraduate senior students, exists to work to address issues that face students on campus and to elicit positive change for all students by leading through example.

[edit] University of Missouri

Alpha Theta of Theta Nu Epsilon in 1917
In 1895, the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Theta Nu Epsilon sophomore society was founded under the guidance of faculty member Luther DeFoe. DeFoe also served as a mentor to the founding members of the QEBH senior men's society, which was founded in 1898. Mystical Seven was founded in 1907 and has become the second most well known society on campus. Some have suggested that Missouri's Mystical Seven was modeled after Virginia's Seven Society, which had been established just a couple years earlier. Other secret societies followed, including Society of the Hidden Eye for junior/senior men, LSV for senior women, Thadstek for freshman/sophomore men, Tomb and Key for freshman/sophomore men, Steinmetz for senior engineers, and Kappa Kappa whose membership composition was unknown. During this period of rapid expansion of secret societies, a network of sub-rosa inter-fraternity organizations also established itself on campus with no purpose other than socializing and mischief making. This network, known commonly as the "Greek Underworld" included organizations such as Seven Equals, Kappa Beta Phi, Sigma Phi Sigma, Kappa Nu Theta, and Sigma Alpha Beta.
QEBH at Tap Day 2006
Mizzou is currently home to at least six secret honor societies that still participate in annual public Tap Day ceremonies at the end of each spring semester. QEBH, Mystical Seven, LSV, Alpha Xi Chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, Friars Chapter of Mortar Board, and Rollins Society each use the Tap Day ceremony at the conclusion of the year to reveal the members who were initiated over the past year. Missouri is one of few remaining institutions in which the local Omicron Delta Kappa and Mortar Board chapters carry out much of their work in secrecy. In addition to Tap Day activities, several of the societies maintain a public presence during some athletic events. QEBH is the caretaker of the Victory Bell, along with Nebraska's Society of Innocents, awarded to the winner of the Missouri–Nebraska Rivalry football game each year. The Friars Chapter of Mortar Board exchanges a gavel with Nebraska (The Black Masque Chapter of Mortar Board) at each MU-UNL football game, symbolizing the rivalry between the Universities. Mystical Seven and Oklahoma's Pe-et Society were likewise entrusted with the Peace Pipe trophy that was awarded to the winner of the biennial Missouri-Oklahoma football match. Omicron Delta Kappa previously served as caretaker of the Indian War Drum trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Border War football game between Missouri and Kansas.[32][33]

[edit] University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Hippol Castle, headquarters of the Order of Gimghoul
The library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill contains the archives of the Order of Gimghoul, a secret society headquartered at the Gimghoul Castle.[34][35] The order was founded in 1889 by Robert Worth Bingham, Shepard Bryan, William W. Davies, Edward Wray Martin, and Andrew Henry Patterson, who were students at the time.[36]
The society is open to "notable" male students (rising juniors and higher), and faculty members by invitation. The society centers itself around the legend of Peter Dromgoole, a student who mysteriously disappeared from the UNC campus in 1833.[37] The founders originally called themselves the Order of Dromgoole, but later changed it to the Order of Gimghoul to be, "in accord with midnight and graves and weirdness," according to the university's archives.[36]
Tradition has it that the order upheld the "Dromgoole legend and the ideals of Arthurian knighthood and chivalry." From all accounts, the order is social in nature, and has no clandestine agenda. Membership is closed and information about the order is strictly confidential, as is access to archives which are less than 50 years old.[36]
The Order of the Gorgon's Head, another secret society at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was founded in 1896 by Darius Eatman, Edward Kidder Graham, Ralph Henry Graves, Samuel Selden Lamb, Richard Henry Lewis, Jr., and Percy DePonceau Whitaker. Membership has always been limited to male members of the junior, senior, professional, and post-graduate classes along with male faculty members. Inductees may not be members of other societies. Officers include Princeps (chief officer), Quaestor, and Scriptor. The purpose of the Order is to promote friendship, good will, and social fellowship among its members. The Order of the Gorgon's Head was one of two "junior orders" established at the University in the 1890s. The two orders had written agreements that they would not attempt to recruit freshmen or sophomores. Each order had a lodge (the Gimghouls later built a castle), where members gathered for meetings and events. Each had secret rituals based on myths. Those of the Order of the Gorgon's Head centered on the myth of the Gorgons, three monstrous sisters prominent in ancient Greek and Roman lore.
The University's library also contains the archives of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. The Societies were founded in 1795 by some of the first students to attend the University, and are the oldest public school societies in the nation. While at first maintaining strict secrecy in their proceedings, the Societies' meetings are now generally open to the public; however, the Societies reserve the right at all times to call an "Executive Session", at which point all non-members are escorted from the chambers. All undergraduates may attempt to join one of the two societies by petitioning, but only a select few are admitted, upon mutual agreement between current Society members.

[edit] University of Pennsylvania

At UPenn, secret societies are smaller than their Greek counterparts, and tend to vary in degree of secrecy.[38][39] There are three senior honorary societies. The Sphinx Senior Society and the Friars Senior Society were both founded at the turn of the 20th century, while The Mortar Board Senior Society was founded in 1922. None of these societies were intended to be secret, in that their undergraduate and alumni membership were and continue to be publicly known, they share many of the characteristics of undergraduate secret societies of the time; they tap a diverse group of campus leaders to become members during their senior year, organize social and service activities throughout the year, and maintain an extensive network of successful and notable alumni. Alumni of Friars, for example, include Harold Ford Jr. and Ed Rendell; the Sphinx alumni roster boasts Richard A. Clarke and John Legend. In addition, there are several other groups called "secret societies". These groups generally denote a social club that is independent of any official organization. For this reason, the society is not regulated by the university and is not accountable to a national organization. Many of the all-male secret societies, such as "Owl Society," (founded 1992), "THEOS," (founded 1998) and "OZ," (founded 2004) were founded by former members of fraternities after severing ties to a national organization. Most of these groups have members from a variety of class years and are more similar to single chapter fraternities. Other societies, such as the all-female "Tabard Society" (founded 1987), were founded by students who were not affiliated with any particular Greek organization. Also on campus is Omega, the "Greek Leader" senior society—however, few juniors are also members.

[edit] University of Virginia

North Steps of the Rotunda, with Z Society logo
Secret societies have been a part of University of Virginia student life since the founding of the Eli Banana society in 1878.[40] Early secret societies, such as Eli Banana and T.I.L.K.A., had secret initiations but public membership; some, such as the Hot Feet, now the IMP Society, were very public, incurring the wrath of the administration for public revels.[41]
The first truly "secret society" was the Seven Society, founded circa 1905 in response to rival VPI's young developing secret society.[42] Nothing is known about the Seven Society except for their philanthropy to the University; members are revealed at their death. A few other societies that flourished around the turn of the 20th century, such as the Z Society (formerly Zeta), who were founded in 1892,[43] the IMP Society, reformulated in 1913 after the Hot Feet were banned in 1908, and Eli Banana, are still active at the University today.
New societies have periodically appeared at the University during the 20th century. The most notable are the P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society, a secret group that rewards contributions to the University and which was founded prior to 1970;[44][45] and the Society of the Purple Shadows, founded 1963, who are only seen in public in purple robes and hoods and who seek to "safeguard vigilantly the University traditions".[46][47] Many of the secret societies listed contribute to the University either financially or through awards or some other form of recognition of excellence at the University.

[edit] Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Known nationally as Virginia Tech, VPI has chapters and circles of both omnicron delta kappa and phi beta kappa which both allow applications throughout the academic school year.
In the early 1900s a group of cadets modeled a senior society based on Yale University's Skull and Bones. Both the membership and initiation was kept hidden, as the university had banned all secret college societies and associations. As time passed, this Skull and Bones society absorbed the less prominent and public Scorpions Club, and merged names to become Skull and Scorpion. This senior secret society taps nine member of VPI's Corps of Cadets each spring before their senior year during a time known as Military Weekend. in the late 1960s the society changed its name officially to the Order of the Pylons, in order to more accurately represent it's military history, as well as the recognize the recent monument that had been erected on VPI's campus.
Also considered secret society in its early history, the German Club, a club unique to Virginia Tech has since stopped tapping candidates and has begun allowing applications to be prospectives for membership. The German Club still contributes significant financial and philathropic service to the University and community as a whole.

[edit] Washington and Lee University

Cadaver Logo Spray Painted on Wilson Field
The Cadaver Society is a secret society of students at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, United States. The group's membership and organizational structure are unknown. Cadaver has been in continuous operation since its founding in 1957. The Cadavers have a bridge that bears their name, connecting the main campus to Wilson Field, as well as their symbol in many prominent places throughout the campus. The society has been criticized for their secrecy and many of their activities which include running around dressed in all black and masks late at night as well as drawing their symbol all over campus.[48] They have been known to run through the Sorority houses, talking in high voices and attempting to wake everyone in the houses up.

[edit] Yale University

The term "Secret society" at Yale University encompasses organizations with many shared but not identical characteristics. The oldest surviving undergraduate secret societies at Yale parallel various 19th century fraternal organizations.
In the traditional Yale system societies were organized by class year.[49] There were two, (then three), senior societies, three junior societies, two sophomore societies, and two freshman societies. All the societies were independent, all had their own traditions, and each class-year pair or trio shared common traits appropriate to their class year; the freshmen societies were rambunctious and owned little real property, the sophomore and junior ones were progressively more elaborate, (the sophomore ones regularly maintained live theater in their halls), and the senior ones were extremely small and elite, and with quite expensive property and celebrations.
Each of the societies had a link to a society in the class year before it and after it; that is, members of one freshman society would all get elected to the same sophomore society year after year, and so on, so that there were two or three parallel sets of linked societies. From time to time, there would be a coup, and one society would break the pattern, forcing the other societies to likewise change election strategies, or cause the creation of a new society. Delta Kappa Epsilon, a junior society, was created in reaction to a botched election process to the junior class societies in 1844.
This process held from the 1840s to the 1910s. This system kept Yale out of the more typical intercollegiate college fraternity system, although some regular college fraternities were created out of the Yale system. Yale-type class societies also extended across northeastern colleges.
Class year[50] Society years
Senior Skull & Bones 1833–present
Senior Scroll & Key 1841–present
Senior Wolf's Head 1883–present
Junior Alpha Delta Phi 1836–1873, 1888–1935, 1990–present
Junior Psi Upsilon 1839–1934, 2004–present
Junior Delta Kappa Epsilon 1844–present
Sophomore Kappa Sigma Theta 1838–1857
Sophomore Alpha Sigma Phi 1846–1864
Sophomore Phi Theta Psi 1864 - ?
Sophomore Delta Beta Xi 1864–1875
Freshman Kappa Sigma Epsilon 1840–1880
Freshman Delta Kappa 1845–1880
Freshman Sigma Delta 1849–1860
Freshman Gamma Nu 1860 - ?
This system has not survived the introduction of regular fraternities and other changes. The senior class societies continue prosper today without any of the lower class societies. A similar system was introduced at Wesleyan University in nearby Middletown, Connecticut, but with a pair of societies in each class year and dual memberships between class societies and college fraternities, so that most class society members were also fraternity members. The older societies survived because of their endowments, real estate, and the vigor of their respective alumni organizations and their charitable Trusts.[51][52]
In the past century, the size of Yale has allowed for a wider variety of student societies, including regular college fraternity chapters, and other models, so that it can be difficult to categorize the organizations. And there are societies like Sage and Chalice and St. Anthony Hall which cross ordinary categories.
There are typical attributes of the Yale societies. The are often restricted by class year, especially the senior class. They usually have fifteen members per class year. They "tap" their members, mostly on the same "Tap Night," and a member is off-limits to recruitment by another secret society, (i.e. reciprocal exclusivity) The normal pattern now is that a group of secret societies places an advertisement in the Yale Daily News in early spring that informs students when Tap Night is taking place and when students should expect to receive formal offers (usually 1 week before official Tap Night). Tap Night is typically held on a Thursday in mid April; the most recently held Tap Night was April 15, 2010.[53]
From 1854-1956, "'Sheff'," the Sheffield Scientific School was the sciences and engineering college of Yale University, and it also had a fraternal culture that differed in some respects from the humanities campus.[54]
Skull and Bones "tomb" at Yale University
Many societies have owned meeting halls, with different accommodations. Following the example of Skull & Bones, the halls are often referred to as 'tombs'. A series of articles on Dartmouth and Yale secret society architecture provides an overview of the buildings.[55] Societies that own tombs or halls are sometimes known as 'landed' societies. The three oldest landed societies are Skull and Bones (1832), Scroll and Key, (1841) and Wolf's Head, (1883). The surviving landed Sheffield societies are Berzelius (1848) and Book and Snake (1863), and St. Elmo (1889), (senior societies), and St. Anthony Hall (1867), which calls itself a "final society".[56] Three newer societies that own property include Elihu (1903) – whose building is the oldest of the senior society buildings at Yale – Manuscript Society (1952), and Mace and Chain (1956). Yale's Buildings and Grounds Department lists the societies with halls in its online architectural database.[57]
There may be any number of unknown or underground secret societies at Yale. Any group of students may self-constitute themselves as a society at any time. Certainly there have been many which did not last long enough to leave any significant records. Indeed, the Yale Rumpus has in recent years published names of students it believes are in various secret societies.[58] According to the Rumpus, in addition to the secret societies listed in this wikipedia page, numerous other societies (such as Spade and Grave, Ox, Truth and Courage, Llama and Cardigan, Red Mask, Ceres Athena, Gryphon, Fork and Knife, Ink and Needle, etc.) are either active or have been active recently. They typically meet in off campus apartments, fraternity common rooms, classrooms, and other available spaces. Some groups have enough resources to rent a permanent meeting space. Given the extracurricular zeal and competition for society spots evident in the Yale student body culture, a definitive list of secret societies that exist on the campus (or on any campus) can change year by year.

[edit] List of notable North American collegiate secret societies

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Bagg, Lyman Hotchkiss (1871). Four Years at Yale. New Haven: Charles C. Chatfield & Co.. pp. 87–105. http://ia350625.us.archive.org/2/items/fouryearsatyale00bagguoft/fouryearsatyale00bagguoft_djvu.txt. 
  2. ^ Yale Herald article accessed 2008-06-01
  3. ^ Wm. Raimond Baird (1905). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. A descriptive analysis of the fraternity system in the Colleges of United States, with a detailed account of each fraternity. The Alcolm Company. p. 426. http://books.google.com/?id=BwMTAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:0k7RWXtROuULLMfMYl0SvLb. 
  4. ^ Wm. Raimond Baird (1905). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. A descriptive analysis of the fraternity system in the Colleges of United States, with a detailed account of each fraternity. The Alcolm Company. p. 428. http://books.google.com/?id=BwMTAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:0k7RWXtROuULLMfMYl0SvLb. 
  5. ^ a b Wm. Raimond Baird (1905). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities. A descriptive analysis of the fraternity system in the Colleges of United States, with a detailed account of each fraternity. The Alcolm Company. p. 429. http://books.google.com/?id=BwMTAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:0k7RWXtROuULLMfMYl0SvLb. 
  6. ^ a b c Milfeld, Becca (2004-11-04). "Shhh! The Secret Side to the College’s Lesser Known Societies". http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
  7. ^ "F.H.C. Society," University Archives Subject File Collection, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary
  8. ^ Hastings, William T. (1965). Phi Beta Kappa as a Secret Society with its Relations to Freemasonry and Antimasonry Some Supplementary Documents. Richmond, Virginia: United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. pp. 38–39. 
  9. ^ Flat Hat Club
  10. ^ "Phi Beta Kappa: The First Fraternity". Sigma Chi/Brief History of Fraternities. http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/frat_hist.html. Retrieved 2008-07-09. 
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  33. ^ http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2007/10/11/case-missing-peace-pipe/
  34. ^ West, Elliot (2006-10-31). "Halloween: Secret Society In Chapel Hill Owns Gimghoul Castle". Raleigh Chronicle. http://www.raleighchronicle.com/2006103100.html. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
  35. ^ "Gimghoul Castle". http://www.welcometonc.com/detail/252.cfm. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
  36. ^ a b c "Inventory of the Order of Gimghoul Records, 1832-2006 (bulk 1940-1997)". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/uars/ead/40262.html. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
  37. ^ "The Legend of Gimghoul". Ghost Stories of North Carolina. http://www.ibiblio.org/ghosts/gimghoul.html. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 
  38. ^ Oppenheim, Gabe (2006-08-11). "The Jekyll and Hyde of ZBT". The Daily Pennsylvanian. http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2006/11/08/Opinion/Gabe-Oppenheim.The.Jekyll.And.Hyde.Of.Zbt-2446294.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-10. 
  39. ^ Ghiselli, Margherita (2003-01-14). "Mystique of secret societies no secret among college students". The Daily Pennsylvanian. http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2003/01/14/News/Mystique.Of.Secret.Societies.No.Secret.Among.College.Students-2156078.shtml. Retrieved 2008-05-10. 
  40. ^ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1921). History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man. IV. New York: Macmillan. pp. 97–99, 338. http://books.google.com/?id=ns0zAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA97&lpg=PA97&dq=%22eli+banana. 
  41. ^ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1922). History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man. V. New York: Macmillan. p. 283. http://books.google.com/?id=i68VAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:0QijWlKe5gOccv#PPA283,M1. 
  42. ^ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 305–306. ISBN 081390904X. http://repo.lib.virginia.edu:18080/fedora/get/uva-lib:178665/uva-lib-bdef:100/getFullView. 
  43. ^ Bruce, IV:100.
  44. ^ "P.U.M.P.K.I.N.'s To Make Yearly Roll". Cavalier Daily. 1970-10-30. http://scripta.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-textwg/cavdaily.pl?str=pumpkin&offset=35976732&fileid=19701030. 
  45. ^ Dabney, 502.
  46. ^ Dabney, 501.
  47. ^ Steer, Jay (1968-09-11). "Noted For Eccentricity, Mysteriousness: Societies Beneficial to University". Cavalier Daily. http://scripta.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-textwg/cavdaily.pl?str=purple%20shadows&offset=9700607&fileid=19680911. 
  48. ^ http://media.www.thetrident.org/media/storage/paper467/news/2002/09/18/Opinion/Letters.To.The.Editor-276495-page3.shtml
  49. ^ "Four Years at Yale," Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg, ’69, (New Haven, Conn.: Charles Chatfield & Co.), 1871, pgs. 87 - 105.
  50. ^ http://google.com/search?q=cache:pdnTQncLVxgJ:www.library.yale.edu/mssa/YHO/ExtracurricularandSocialOrganizations.pdf+%22delta+beta+psi%22&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
  51. ^ "Tombs and Taps: An inside look at Yale's Fraternities, Sororities and Societies". Light & Truth: the Yale Journal of Opinion and Investigative Reporting 8 (1). 2001. http://web.archive.org/web/20020306142114/www.yale.edu/lt/archives/v8n1/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  52. ^ Francis-Wright, Tim (2001). "These are Charities? The Seamy Side of Yale's Most Exclusive Clubs". Bear Left! 1. http://www.bear-left.com/original/2001/0506yale.html. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  53. ^ "Juniors get tapped, then get crunk". Yale Daily News. http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2010/04/16/juniors-get-tapped-then-get-crunk/. Retrieved 2010-04-19. 
  54. ^ Branch, Mark Alden (2001-03). "Yale's Lost Landmarks". Yale Alumni Magazine. http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/01_03/popup/landmarks/22.html. 
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  59. ^ [1]
  60. ^ SICSIC: How to apply
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  63. ^ http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/0906web/traditio.html
  64. ^ Longwood Magazine Winter 2001
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  68. ^ Brownstein, Sandra. Revival of the 'Society of the Golden Rose'?. 
  69. ^ Sigma Sigma at the University of Cincinnati accessed 2009-04-13.
  70. ^ Men of METRO directory listing at the University of Cincinnati accessed 2009-04-14.
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  78. ^ "Sphinx Senior Society of the University of Pennsylvania". Archived from the original on 2008-05-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20080524135411/http://dolphin.upenn.edu/~pharisee/. Retrieved 2008-07-02. 
  79. ^ "Friars Senior Society of the University of Pennsylvania (Home Page)". http://www.friarsseniorsociety.com. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 
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  81. ^ http://www.dailytexanonline.com/election-board-co-chairman-campaigned-for-candidates-1.1601392
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[edit] Bibliography

  • Robbins, Alexandra (2004). Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. New York, NY: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-8859-8. 
  • Winks, Robin W. (1996). Cloak and Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939-1961. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 2nd edition. ISBN 0-30006524-8. 

[edit] External links

This list is limited to societies with a) their own wikipedia articles, or b) with independent third-party citation links. Editors are invited to add to this list as long as they can provide adequate verifiable citations. The list is not exhaustive; many known societies are not included because they currently lack verifiable citations.
Name↓ Year Established↓ College or University↓ Location↓ Member Limit↓
The NoZe Brotherhood 1924 Baylor University Waco, TX, United States
CARBON 20th or 21st Century Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA, United States Senior Men[59]
Sic Sic 1946 Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH, United States Freshmen [60]
The Franklin Society 1824 Brown University Providence, RI, United States
Seven Society, Order of the Crown & Dagger 1826 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States Senior Men
Flat Hat Club 1916 originally 1750 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States Senior
Bishop James Madison Society 20th c. originally 1812. College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States
Wren Society 20th c. originally 1832 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States
St. Anthony Hall 1847 Columbia University New York, NY, United States Four Year new members are tapped every semester with no regeard to class/age
Sphinx Head 1890 Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States Senior
Quill and Dagger 1893 Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States Senior
Sphinx[61] 1886 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Casque and Gauntlet[61][62] 1887 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Dragon Society[61] 1898 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Fire & Skoal[61] 1975 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Arabis[61] Unknown Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Phoenix[61] Unknown Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Gryphon[61] Unknown Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Cobra[61] Unknown Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Raven's Claw Society 1896 Dickinson College Carlisle, PA, United States Senior Men
D.V.S. Senior Honor Society 1902 Emory University Atlanta, GA, United States
Order of the Torch 2003 (date unknown) Florida International University Miami, FL, United States
The Fontaneda Society 2010 Florida International University Miami, FL, United States select fraternity and sorority leadership; athletes
Burning Spear Society 1993 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL, United States Senior
ANAK Society 1908 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA, United States Junior/Senior
The Pithotomy Club[63] 1896 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD, United States Honor Society/Men Only
Chi[64] 1900 Longwood University Farmville, VA, United States
1540[65] 1998 Loyola University New Orleans New Orleans, LA, United States
Eucleian Society 1832 New York University New York, NY, United States
Mufti 1940 Pomona College Claremont, CA, United States
Cap and Skull 1900 Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ, United States Senior
Khoda 1909 Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ, United States Senior
Stickers 1898 Texas A&M University College Station, TX, United States Senior
The Machine 1888 University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL, United States select fraternities & sororities
Order of the Golden Bear[66] 1900 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, United States Senior
The Gun Club[67] 1912 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, United States Third Year
Society of the Golden Rose[68] 1942 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, United States Women, Juniors/Seniors
Sigma Sigma[69] 1898 University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, United States Men, Junior/Senior
Men of METRO[70] 1946 University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, United States Men
Petal and Thorn 1927 University of Delaware Newark, DE, United States Senior
Florida Blue Key 1923 University of Florida Gainesville, FL, United States All
Order of the Greek Horsemen 1955 University of Georgia Athens, GA, United States Fraternity Men
Ma-Wan-Da[71] 1912 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL, United States Senior
The Senior Skull Honor Society[72] 1906 University of Maine Orono, ME, United States Senior Men
Iron Arrow Honor Society 1926 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL, United States Honor Society
Order of Angell 1902 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI, United States Senior
St. Anthony Hall 1855 University of Mississippi University, MS, United States Men Only'
QEBH 1897 University of Missouri Columbia, MO, United States Senior
LSV Society[73] 1907 University of Missouri Columbia, MO, United States Senior Women
Mystical Seven 1907 University of Missouri Columbia, MO, United States Senior
OBC Unknown University of North Carolina at Asheville Asheville, NC, United States
Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies 1795 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, United States
Order of Gimghoul 1889 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, United States Senior
Order of the Golden Fleece[74][75] 1904 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, United States Senior
Order of the Grail-Valkyries[76] 1920 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, United States Senior
Pe-et
University of Oklahoma Norman, OK United States Senior
The Loyal Knights of Old Trusty[77] 1920 University of Oklahoma Norman, OK United States Engineering
The Philomathean Society 1813 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pa United States 50
Sphinx Senior Society[78] 1900 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, United States Senior
Friars senior society[79] 1901 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, United States Senior
Mortar Board[80] 1922 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, United States Senior
The Eyes of Texas[81] 1975 University of Texas Austin, TX, United States All
Friar Society[82] 1911 University of Texas Austin, TX, United States All
Episkopon 1858 University of Trinity College Toronto, ON, Canada All
Eli Banana 1878 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
T.I.L.K.A. 1889 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Z Society 1892 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
IMP Society 1902 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Seven Society 1905 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Society of the Purple Shadows 1963 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
P.U.M.P.K.I.N. Society 1967 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Thurtene Honorary 1904 Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO, United States Junior
Cadaver Society 1957 Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA, United States
Mystical 7 1867 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT, United States Senior
Theta Nu Epsilon 1870 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT, United States Sophomore
Skulls of Seven[83] 1898 Westminster College Fulton, MO, United States Senior
Mountain 1867 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV, United States Senior
Iron Cross 1902 University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI, United States Junior/Senior
The Skull[84][85] 1911 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA, United States Senior
Skull and Bones 1832 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Scroll and Key 1842 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Berzelius 1848 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Book and Snake 1863 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
St. Anthony Hall 1867 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Three Year
Wolf's Head 1883 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
St. Elmo 1899 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Elihu 1903 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Manuscript Society 1952 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior

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