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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. Strictly speaking, any collegiate society whose affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects are kept secret from the public can be called a secret society. College fraternities, "social fraternities," singing groups, newspaper editorial boards, and other organizations sometimes meet this definition, but are not discussed here as such.

Collegiate secret societies often have names that are derived from one element or two elements in their emblems, such as Wolf's Head Society or Skull & Bones Society, both 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." Within some universities, "final clubs" are also regarded as secret societies.

The original 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 no longer public, but often continues to be called tapping.


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.[2] 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.

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.[3] 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."[3] 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.[4][5]


University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Main article: 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.[6][7] 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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[8]

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.[8]

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.[10][11]

University of Virginia

Main article: Secret societies at the 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.[12] 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.[13]

The first truly "secret society" was the Seven Society, founded circa 1905.[14] 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,[15] 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;[16][17] 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".[18][19] 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.

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,[4] 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.[20]

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.[21][22] 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.[23]

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."[24] Several societies were cited in the Official Preppy Handbook, including Skull and Bones, Elizabethan Club, Scroll and Key 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[25] 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).

List of North American Collegiate Secret Societies

Name Year Established College or University Location Member Limit Active or Honorary
Franklin Society 1824 Brown University Providence, RI, United States Active
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 Honorary
Wren Society 1832 College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA, United States Honorary
Sphinx Head 1890 Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States Senior Class Society
Quill and Dagger 1893 Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States Senior Class Society
The Sphinx 1886 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior Class Society
Casque and Gauntlet [26] 1887 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior Class Society
Dragon Society 1898 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior Class Society
Phrygian 2005 Dartmouth College Hanover, NH, United States Senior Class Society
ANAK Society 1908 Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA, United States Senior Honorary
Chi 1900 Longwood University Farmville, VA, United States
Red Dragon Society 1898 New York University New York, NY, United States Senior Society
Eucleian Society 1832 New York University New York, NY, United States Latin Society
St. Anthony Hall 1847 Princeton University Princeton, NJ, United States Senior Class Society
Order of Angell 1902 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI, United States Senior Active
QEBH 1897 University of Missouri–Columbia Columbia, MO, United States Senior Active
Mystical Seven 1907 University of Missouri–Columbia Columbia, MO, United States Senior Active
LSV Society[27] 1907 University of Missouri–Columbia Columbia, MO, United States Senior Women Active
Episkopon 1858 University of Trinity College Toronto, ON, Canada All Class Society
Eli Banana 1878 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
Mystical Seven[28] 1837 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT, United States
Theta Nu Epsilon 1870 Wesleyan University Middletown, CT, United States Sophomore Class Society
Skull society[29] [30] 1911 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA, United States Senior Class Society
Skull and Bones 1832 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
Scroll and Key 1842 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
Berzelius 1848 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
Book and Snake 1863 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
St. Anthony Hall 1867 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Three Year Society
Wolf's Head 1883 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
Elihu 1903 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
Manuscript Society 1952 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society
Sage and Chalice Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior
Mace and Chain 1956 Yale University New Haven, CT, United States Senior Class Society

References

  1. ^ Bagg, Lyman Hotchkiss (1871). Four Years at Yale. New Haven: Charles C. Chatfield & Co. pp. 87–105.
  2. ^ {{cite web|url=http://cornellsun.com/node/21711%7Ctitle=The Secret Life of A.D. White
  3. ^ a b "Senior Societies". Trustees of Dartmouth College. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  4. ^ a b Scott Meacham (1999). "Halls, Tombs, and Houses: Student Society Architecture at Dartmouth". Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  5. ^ Gomstyn, Alice (2001-05-18). "Secret societies remain veiled in mystery". The Dartmouth. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ West, Elliot (2006-10-31). "HALLOWEEN: Secret Society In Chapel Hill Owns Gimghoul Castle". Raleigh Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  7. ^ "Gimghoul Castle". Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  8. ^ a b c "Inventory of the Order of Gimghoul Records, 1832-2006 (bulk 1940-1997)". University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  9. ^ "The Legend of Gimghoul". Ghost Stories of North Carolina. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
  10. ^ Oppenheim, Gabe (2006-08-11). "The Jekyll and Hyde of ZBT". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  11. ^ Ghiselli, Margherita (2003-01-14). "Mystique of secret societies no secret among college students". The Daily Pennsylvanian. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  12. ^ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1921). History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man. Vol. IV. New York: Macmillan. pp. 97–99, 338.
  13. ^ Bruce, Philip Alexander (1922). History of the University of Virginia: The Lengthening Shadow of One Man. Vol. V. New York: Macmillan. p. 283.
  14. ^ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. pp. 305–306. ISBN 081390904X.
  15. ^ Bruce, IV:100.
  16. ^ "P.U.M.P.K.I.N.'s To Make Yearly Roll". Cavalier Daily. 1970-10-30.
  17. ^ Dabney, 502.
  18. ^ Dabney, 501.
  19. ^ Steer, Jay (1968-09-11). "Noted For Eccentricity, Mysteriousness: Societies Beneficial to University". Cavalier Daily.
  20. ^ "Yale's Lost Landmarks".
  21. ^ "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. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  22. ^ Francis-Wright, Tim (2001). "These are Charities? The Seamy Side of Yale's Most Exclusive Clubs". Bear Left!. 1. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  23. ^ "Buildings and Grounds". Yale University Office of Facilities. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  24. ^ Branch, Mark Alden (2001). "Yale's Lost Landmarks: Delta Kappa Epsilon "Tomb," 1861-1927". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  25. ^ Heer, Jeet (2008-12-28). "School for spies: What the CIA learned (and mislearned) in the groves of academe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  26. ^ http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Library_Bulletin/Apr2000/Good.html
  27. ^ "Honors Societies". University of Missouri–Columbia Department of Religious Studies. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  28. ^ Wyatt-Greene, Benjamin. "Mystical 7: A History". Wesleyan History Project. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  29. ^ http://users.wpi.edu/~skull
  30. ^ http://www.wpi.edu/About/Tour/skull.html

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.

External links

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