Sphinx (senior society)
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The Sphinx is the oldest of eight senior societies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The Sphinx Tomb, constructed in 1903 on East Wheelock Street, was designed by Manchester, N.H. architect William M. Butterfield and reflects the Egyptian Revival architectural style popular during the mid-nineteenth century. The interior of the Sphinx was replaced after a fire started in the building's furnace destroyed it in 1931. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Sphinx was founded as a class society by 14 Dartmouth juniors in 1886. It continues to select a small number of men during the winter and spring of their junior year in a process known as "tapping". Borrowing traditions from Mardi Gras celebrants in New Orleans, the society's annual delegations are known as krewes and its members address each other as "frater." The identities of the members are kept secret until Commencement, when graduating members carry identifying canes.
Many rumors surround the Sphinx. There have been stories of students who have scaled the walls of the building, finally reaching the roof with its skylight to find a masked man awaiting them wielding a cane. It is also said that the tomb routinely has the highest water bill of any building on campus and that a passageway connects the Sphinx to the basement of Alpha Delta fraternity. The group's clandestine operations are rumored to include everything from providing anonymous community service to stealing $12,000 worth of artwork from the College in a traditional scavenger hunt. There are rumors of a mystic library and Cleopatra's swimming pool.
The Sphinx is similar to the societies found on other Ivy League campuses, such as Skull & Bones, located at Yale University. The Sphinx is not related to the later group of the same name at the University of Pennsylvania.
