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. In the traditional secret society, for example at Yale University, meetings (typically held twice a week) focus on personal revelation and can involve arcane rituals.[1] Because many of these societies limit their membership to college seniors, they are also commonly referred to as senior societies on many campuses. Other types of collegiate organizations, such as honor societies, college fraternities, "social fraternities," singing groups, newspaper editorial boards, and other organizations may meet parts of this definition, but are not within the scope of this article.

Collegiate secret societies often have names that are derived from elements in their emblems, such as Wolf's Head Society, Book and Snake, or Skull & Bones Society, all of which are at Yale University. Secret societies typically have emblems that identify membership. Death-inspired imagery is associated with many secret societies, and clubhouses are often called "tombs."

The original selection process for entry into a collegiate secret society began at Yale University by a process called tapping.[2] 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 no longer public, but often continues to be called tapping.

Contents

[edit] Big Ten Universities

The industrial and technological growth of the 19th century, and the Morrill Act, by which government funding was given to establish agriculture and technology universities, which would eventually make up the Big Ten, attracted top students from all over the U.S. who became interested in such fields. Several Big Ten schools are "Public Ivies." UIUC College of Engineering and the Purdue University College of Engineering are top-ranked engineering schools, and the University of Michigan has a secret society just for technology students, the Vulcan Senior Engineering Society.

Over the years, many noted secret societies have been established within Big Ten schools. Ohio State University is noted for its Sphinx Senior Society. Penn State University is known for the Skull and Bones Senior Society[3] and the Lion's Paw Senior Society. The University of Iowa has an all-female secret society, The Tennyo, while the University of Michigan's group was known as Michigamua. The University of Illinois continued with Ma-Wan-Da Senior Society.[4]

Today, most elite Big Ten secret societies were forced to become honor societies or go completely sub rosa. This was the result of the Greek system having too much influence over regulations on campus groups. Purdue has an enormous Greek system, and the University of Illinois has the largest in the nation.[5]

Dianthus caryophyllus, a symbol of Ma-Wan-Da, represents "true endeavor" when in white
Dianthus caryophyllus, a symbol of Ma-Wan-Da, represents "true endeavor" when in white

The Big Ten's most noted secret societies have little documented information that can be verified by outsiders. All that can be known, for certain, is that the following groups are officially recorded to have existed. The secret societies of the University of Michigan and the University of Illinois all have a unique and highly complex organization. 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".[6][7] The secret society of the University of Illinois, Ma-Wan-Da, now honorary, used Native American symbolism similar to Michigamua. Emblems include the bronze arrowhead and the white carnation flower, Dianthus caryophyllus.[4] Each spring, only 15 of the most prestigious campus leaders were invited to join, after which, their names were inscribed onto an arrowhead-shaped plaque and hung on the Ma-Wan-Da Tree. This tradition continued until 1959 before the tree was cut down to make room for the Illini Union.[4][8]

[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 system on campus.[9] 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). Each society seeks to honor the top 1% of the rising senior class for significant leadership, service to Cornell University and the community, and good character. Membership is mutually exclusive between the two organizations.

[edit] Dartmouth College

Main article: Dartmouth College student groups

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." Abaris Society and Cobra Society are two such examples.[10] 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."[10] The college's administration of the society system at Dartmouth focuses on managing membership and tapping lists, and differs from that of Yale's, though there are historical parallels between the two colleges' societies.[11][12]

[edit] University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Main article: Order of Gimghoul
Hippol Castle, headquarters of the Order of Gimghoul
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.[13][14] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.[15]

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.[15]

[edit] University of Pennsylvania

There are several "secret societies" at the University of Pennsylvania. At UPenn, the term "secret society" generally denotes a social club that is independent of any official organization. For this reason, the society cannot be regulated by the university, and is not accountable to a national fraternal or sororal organization. Most of the all-male secret societies, such as "Owl Society," "OZ," and "THEOS," were founded by former members of fraternities after the fraternity to which they belonged had had been suspended by the university for disciplinary reasons. But other societies, such as the all-female "Tabard Society" (founded 1987), were founded by students who were not affiliated with any particular Greek organization. At UPenn, secret societies are smaller than their Greek counterparts, and tend to vary in degree of secrecy.[17][18]

[edit] University of Virginia

Main article: Secret societies at the University of Virginia
North Steps of the Rotunda, with Z Society logo
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.[19] 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.[20]

The first truly "secret society" was the Seven Society, founded circa 1905.[21] 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 century, such as the Z Society (formerly Zeta), who were founded in 1892,[22] 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;[23][24] 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".[25][26] 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] Yale University

Main article: List of Yale University student organizations

The term "Secret society" at Yale University encompasses organizations with many shared but not necessarily identical characteristics. The oldest surviving undergraduate secret societies at Yale derive from various 19th c. fraternal organization traditions, rooted in the Enlightenment society-founding boom,[11] and therefore the term "secret society" at Yale encompasses a variety of models: senior-only versus three-year, with or without Greek letters, affiliated with other campus chapters or stand-alone entities. 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, further enriching (and complicating) the picture.[27] In the Yale traditional secret society, meetings (typically held twice a week) focus on personal revelation and can involve arcane rituals.[1]

Skull and Bones "tomb" at Yale University
Skull and Bones "tomb" at Yale University

Yale's history contains numerous fraternal organizations that have become defunct, those remaining survived owing to confluences of endowments, real estate, and the vigor of their respective alumni organizations and their charitable Trusts.[28][29] Across this spectrum, common features of Yale secret societies are that they (usually) have fifteen members per class, they own their "tomb" which is wholly or partially closed to non-members (unlike a club such as the Elizabethan Club whose members may bring their guests). Secret societies at Yale "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 -- in contrast to Yale's singing groups which also "tap," but whose members may also join a society. As hybrids like Sage and Chalice and St. Anthony Hall demonstrate, it is not possible to draw clear distinctions between these secretive organizations. Yale's Buildings and Grounds Department refers to some as "senior societies" in its online architectural database.[30]

The Yale Alumni Magazine contains historical references to fraternities also possessing "tombs." A series of articles on Dartmouth and Yale secret society architecture provides an overview of the buildings as "a uniquely American representation of the joining spirit, (that) are crucial to an understanding of the organizations they represent."[31] Several societies were cited in the Official Preppy Handbook, including Skull and Bones, Elizabethan Club, Scroll and Key, Book and Snake and St. Anthony Hall.

As an aside, the linguistic tendency at Yale for mortuary-themed concepts, i.e., tombs (read silence of a tomb), and the prevalence of Yale men in the creation of the U.S. intelligence community[32] may be why the term "spook" (an undergraduate society member) became a colloquialism for a spy. (For more on Yale secret society members' influences on intelligence agencies, see the book Cloak and Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939-1961 by historian Robin W. Winks).

[edit] List of selected North American collegiate secret societies

Name Year Established College or University Location Member Limit
Franklin Society 1824 Brown University Providence, RI, United States
Bishop James Madison Society 1812 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States
Flat Hat Club 1750 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States Senior
Wren Society 1832 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States
Sphinx Head 1890 Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States Senior
Quill and Dagger 1893 Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States Senior
The Sphinx[33] 1886 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Casque and Gauntlet[33][34] 1887 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Dragon Society[33] 1898 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Fire & Skoal[33] 1975 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior
Wingless Angels 1905 Denison University Granville, OH, United States
Raven's Claw Society 1896 Dickinson College Carlisle, PA, United States Senior
D.V.S. Senior Honor Society 1902 Emory University Atlanta, GA, United States
Burning Spear Society 1939 Florida State University Tallahassee, FL, United States Senior
ANAK Society 1908 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA, United States Senior
Chi 1900 Longwood University Farmville, VA, United States
Red Dragon Society 1898 New York University New York, NY, United States Senior
Eucleian Society 1832 New York University New York, NY, United States
St. Anthony Hall 1847 Princeton University Princeton, NJ, United States Senior
Cap and Skull 1900 Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ, United States Senior
Khoda 1909 Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ, United States Senior
Order of the Golden Bear[35] 1900 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA, United States Senior
Petal and Thorn 1927 University of Delaware Newark, DE, United States Senior
Ma-Wan-Da[4] 1912 University of Illinois Urbana, IL, United States Senior
The Senior Skull Honor Society[36] 1906 University of Maine Orono, ME, United States Senior Men
Order of Angell 1902 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI, United States Senior
QEBH 1897 University of Missouri Columbia, MO, United States Senior
Mystical Seven 1907 University of Missouri Columbia, MO, United States Senior
LSV Society[37] 1907 University of Missouri Columbia, MO, United States Senior Women
Coffin and Keys[38] 1916 University of Nevada, Reno Reno, NV, United States Senior
Order of Gimghoul 1889 University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC, United States Senior
Friars senior society[39] 1901 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, United States Senior
Friar Society[40] 1911 University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, United States Senior
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
IMP Society 1902 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Seven Society 1905 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Z Society 1892 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 ca. 1967 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA, United States
Mystical Seven[41] 1837 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT, United States
Theta Nu Epsilon 1870 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT, United States Sophomore
Skull society[42] [43] 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
Elihu 1903 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Manuscript Society 1952 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Sage and Chalice Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Mace and Chain 1956 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior

[edit] Similar collegiate organizations

Although not secret societies in the sense defined above, organizations with some similarities to the traditional secret society exist on other campuses. For example, at Harvard and Princeton, organizations known as "final clubs" and "eating clubs" play, in some ways, a roughly similar role as secret societies on other campuses.

[edit] Harvard University

Main article: Final club
Clubhouse of the Fly Club, a final club at Harvard University
Clubhouse of the Fly Club, a final club at Harvard University

Harvard University contains its own variant of historic and secretive undergraduate fraternal (there are also sororal) organizations. The Final Clubs are not referred to in Cambridge as "secret societies" only because in the Harvard context, that appellation is unnecessary to convey characteristics identical to collegiate "secret societies" elsewhere. Principal amongst these are secretiveness about their respective selection/election procedures, which has always prompted debate about elitism, total opacity with regard to their initiation and meeting rituals, avoidance of public posting of full membership lists, and maintenance of their buildings by alumni trust organizations. The notable variation is in their size, approximately sixty students per club (Yale societies have 15-16 seniors only). Furthermore, several do permit non-members inside their buildings in the company of members at specified times of the week (or only let in guests of the opposite sex but not of the same sex of the members). However the Porcellian and the Delphic never allow any non-member undergraduates inside their buildings, and non-member Harvard faculty only in very rare instances. "Punch Season" and the "Final Dinner" is analogous to "Tap" at Yale.

Final Clubs at Harvard include the Fly Club, (1836), a successor of the fraternity Alpha Delta Phi; The Phoenix - S K Club (1897); Porcellian (1791, originally called The Argonauts), and the 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.[44][45]

[edit] Princeton University

Main article: Eating clubs (Princeton University)
Colonial Club
Colonial Club

The majority of upperclassmen at Princeton University take their meals in one of ten eating clubs, which are private organizations resembling both dining halls and social houses. Nearly three-quarters of upperclassmen (third- and fourth-year students) at Princeton take their meals at the eating clubs, the clubs are private institutions and are not affiliated with Princeton University. Each club occupies a large mansion. The primary function of the eating clubs is to serve as dining halls for the majority of third- and fourth-year students. Unlike fraternities and sororities, to which the clubs are sometimes compared, all of the clubs admit both male and female members, and members (with the exception of some of the undergraduate officers) do not live in the mansion.

Currently, there are ten eating clubs. Five clubs — University Cottage Club, Cap and Gown Club, The Ivy Club, Tiger Inn ("TI"), and Princeton Tower Club (in addition to Cannon Club, which will reopen in spring 2008[46]) — are selective, choosing their members through a process called "bicker." Five clubs - Cloister Inn, Princeton Charter Club, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, and Terrace Club - are non-selective. These clubs' members are chosen through a lottery process called "sign-in."

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Yale Herald article accessed 2008-06-01
  2. ^ Bagg, Lyman Hotchkiss (1871). Four Years at Yale. New Haven: Charles C. Chatfield & Co., 87-105. 
  3. ^ Skull and Bones Senior Society (Home Page). Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
  4. ^ a b c d Ma-Wan-Da Home. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  5. ^ Greek System Stories: Fact or Fiction (2007-05-15). Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  6. ^ Michigamua Image Gallery. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  7. ^ Michigamua Exposed. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  8. ^ Ma-Wan-Da Plaque. University of Illinois Archives. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  9. ^ Earle, Corey. "The Secret Life of A.D. White", Cornell Daily Sun, 2007-02-28. 
  10. ^ a b Senior Societies. Trustees of Dartmouth College. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
  11. ^ a b Scott Meacham (1999). Halls, Tombs, and Houses: Student Society Architecture at Dartmouth. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  12. ^ Gomstyn, Alice. "Secret societies remain veiled in mystery", The Dartmouth, 2001-05-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. 
  13. ^ West, Elliot. "HALLOWEEN: Secret Society In Chapel Hill Owns Gimghoul Castle", Raleigh Chronicle, 2006-10-31. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. 
  14. ^ Gimghoul Castle. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  15. ^ a b c Inventory of the Order of Gimghoul Records, 1832-2006 (bulk 1940-1997). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  16. ^ The Legend of Gimghoul. Ghost Stories of North Carolina. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  17. ^ Oppenheim, Gabe (2006-08-11). The Jekyll and Hyde of ZBT. The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  18. ^ Ghiselli, Margherita (2003-01-14). Mystique of secret societies no secret among college students. The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  19. ^ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1921). History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man IV. New York: Macmillan, 97-99, 338. 
  20. ^ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1922). History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man V. New York: Macmillan, 283. 
  21. ^ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 305-306. ISBN 081390904X. 
  22. ^ Bruce, IV:100.
  23. ^ "P.U.M.P.K.I.N.'s To Make Yearly Roll", Cavalier Daily, 1970-10-30. 
  24. ^ Dabney, 502.
  25. ^ Dabney, 501.
  26. ^ Steer, Jay. "Noted For Eccentricity, Mysteriousness: Societies Beneficial to University", Cavalier Daily, 1968-09-11. 
  27. ^ Branch, Mark Alden (2001-03). "Yale's Lost Landmarks". Yale Alumni Magazine. 
  28. ^ "Tombs and Taps: An inside look at Yale's Fraternities, Sororities and Societies" (2001). Light & Truth: The Yale Journal of Opinion and Investigative Reporting 8 (1). 
  29. ^ Francis-Wright, Tim (2001). "These are Charities? The Seamy Side of Yale's Most Exclusive Clubs". Bear Left! 1. 
  30. ^ Buildings and Grounds. Yale University Office of Facilities. Retrieved on 2008-05-09.
  31. ^ Branch, Mark Alden (2001). "Yale's Lost Landmarks: Delta Kappa Epsilon "Tomb," 1861-1927". Yale Alumni Magazine. 
  32. ^ Heer, Jeet. "School for spies: What the CIA learned (and mislearned) in the groves of academe.", The Boston Globe, 2008-12-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-09. 
  33. ^ a b c d Dartmouth list of senior societies accessed 2008-05-16.
  34. ^ Good, Jonathan (2000-04). "King Arthur made new knights": The Founding of Casque & Gauntlet. Dartmouth Library Bulletin.
  35. ^ Frost, Jacqueline (Summer 1999). "Order of the Golden Bear". Berkeley Magazine. 
  36. ^ Senior Skull Honor Society. University of Maine Alumni Association. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  37. ^ Honors Societies. University of Missouri–Columbia Department of Religious Studies. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  38. ^ Coffin and Keys Home Page. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  39. ^ Friars Senior Society of the University of Pennsylvania (Home Page). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  40. ^ The Beginnings of the Society: Friar Society History. Friar Society (Home Page). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  41. ^ Wyatt-Greene, Benjamin. Mystical 7: A History. Wesleyan History Project. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
  42. ^ The Skull (Home Page). Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  43. ^ Virtual Tour: Skull Tomb. WPI Virtual Tour. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
  44. ^ "Facts on Final Clubs", The Harvard Crimson, 1999-03-03. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  45. ^ Yee, April H.N.. "Cutting Final Clubs Out of the Picture", The Harvard Crimson, 2004-11-04. Retrieved on 2008-05-10. 
  46. ^ Cannon to reopen in Spring 2008. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.

[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. 

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