Eclectic Society
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The Eclectic Society was also an 18th/19th century evangelical Christian group in London connected with John Newton and Richard Cecil.
Eclectic Society is a coed college fraternity with only one existing house, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. At one point a second Eclectic House existed, at Ohio Wesleyan University, but it has since closed.
The Eclectic Society was founded in 1838 in North College, making it one of older fraternal college organization in the United States. It adopted the Greek letters Phi Nu Theta and operated under both names.
The society eventually moved into a house at a site now occupied by Cross Street, then, in 1906, hired Henry Bacon of the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to design a Greek revival structure at 200 High Street.
The backbone of the early society was the dining club, called the Alpha.
Noted alumni of Eclectic include Chris Wink, co-founder of Blue Man Group; Jem Cohen, an independent film maker who has worked with R.E.M. and Fugazi, professor Edward M. Kennedy Jr., Walter Wriston, who presided over the development of modern consumer banking and the ATM while serving as president and CEO of Citibank, now known as Citicorp, the Congressman and banker Fredrick Morgan Davenport and Joss Whedon, creator of such TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.
Many buildings on Wesleyan University's campus are named after prominent Eclectic members, such as Crowell Concert Hall, Olin Memorial Library, Hall and Atwater Labs, the Zilkha Gallery and the Van Vleck Observatory.
The alumni organization was incorporated by the Connecticut legislature as the Socratic Literary Society.
In 1970, the undergraduates broke ranks with their predecessors, shortly thereafter allowing women to enter the society and selling off the antique furniture that once filled the house. In recent years, the students living in Eclectic have attempted to rebuild connections to the older alumni with events during Homecoming and Family Weekend and Reunion and Commencement Weekend.
The script for the film PCU was written by Eclectic members Adam Leff and Zak Penn.
