Collegiate secret societies in North America

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.

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 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.

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.

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."

Tapping

The archetypical selection process for entry into a collegiate secret society began at Yale University by a process called tapping. 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. Formal tapping days used to exist at Berkeley, and still exist in a much more formal setting at Missouri.

History

The F.H.C. Society, founded at the College of William & Mary on November 11, 1750, is considered the first of the college secret societies. Included among its earliest members was U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. In 1776, Phi Beta Kappa was also founded as a secret society at the College of William & Mary. The society did have a rudimentary initiation, and there was some expectation of secrecy about its transactions. That society had its secrets exposed in the mid 1830's by students at Harvard University acting under the patronage of John Quincy Adams. It has operated since the 1840s as a non-secret society. It is true that the spread of Phi Beta Kappa to different institutions did cause competitors to be established. Some of these competitors, like Kappa Alpha (1825) developed into what are known today as college fraternities. There was a second strain of development. At Yale University, Chi Delta Theta (1821), and Skull & Bones (1832), were founded and they became the antecedants of a different 'family tree' of societies properly 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."

Kappa Sigma Theta, Phi Theta Psi, Delta Beta Xi, Delta Sigma Phi, were all sophomore societies at Yale, and the two large freshman societies of Delta Kappa and Kappa Sigma Epsilon lived until 1880. 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 and Dartmouth. 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.

Significant individual institutions

Auburn University

Auburn University is home to the secret society known to few as the Spade Society. Founded in 1915, the Spade society is mostly composed of high ranking individuals in the Student Government Association and the Inter-Fraternity Council, as well as other student organizations. According to its 1915 charter, the purpose of Spade is to work for the betterment of the university. The organization "taps" ten new members each year. These ten members are all seniors that are being recognized for their popularity and involvement on campus.

Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green State University plays host to the secret society known as Sic Sic. SICSIC was founded in 1946 and is the oldest continuous organization at the university. The society was founded on Saturday, October 5 at 12:45am by the third President of the University (Dr. Frank Prout) and six prominent students on campus and then subsequently announced to the public from the roof of Hayes Hall at 3:00am. The group aims to uphold the history and traditions of the university and promote campus spirit. They are most known for the posting of cryptic signs throughout the campus as well as appearing masked at important campus events. The society is composed of six members; two sophomores, two juniors, and two seniors. Each spring the identities of two senior members are revealed and two freshmen members are selected for membership.

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida is the home to the secret society known as The Roundtable. The Roundtable was founded in 2006, and has members involved in all aspects of UCF life, including Student Government, the Office of Student Involvement, Housing and Residence Life, Orientation and Greek Life. When members are accepted is still unknown.

Columbia University

Columbia University has three secret societies. One, St. A's (short for St. Anthony Hall), is not as secret, as they host public parties and are known for their members' extraordinary wealth. The St. A's are, in fact, the first (alpha) chapter of the nationwide organization. The other two secret societies, the Sachems and the Nacoms, consist of 15 members each and do not publicly release their names; however, some former members openly declare their former association with the groups. Both the Sachem and Nacom societies are primarily philanthropic organizations that seek to include members who have shown considerable commitment to the university. Members are often student leaders on campus.

In addition to the three existing organizations, Columbia University was home to the Ax and Coffin society, the oldest Secret Society in the Ivy league. Members wore a pin that consisted of a coffin, opened to reveal a skull, with an ax lying across the top diagonally. The group is now widely believed to be defunct, and few records exist of their club activities, although the Columbia University library maintains a membership roster and a copy of the society's rituals. In recent times, however, some have begun to suspect that The Order of the Ax and Coffin has not been defunct, but severely reduced in order to seem inactive. If true, the Ax and Coffin would be the oldest running secret society.

Cornell University

Quill and Dagger Tower on the Cornell campus

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 the Kappa Alpha Society - a "secret society" on campus. "The founding of Kappa Alpha Society at Cornell was arranged with White prior to the opening of the university." 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 three organizations operate on campus: Kappa Alpha Society (founded in 1825 - the oldest Greek-letter social fraternity in the United States), 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.

Dartmouth College

The tomb of the Sphinx secret society at 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. 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." 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.

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.

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.

Florida State University

Florida State University plays home to the secret society known as the Burning Spear Society. This organization was originally founded in 1993 and was first called the Charlie Ward for Heisman Coalition. Burning Spear is fully integrated and has a strong history of inclusion of persons of different gender and race.

University of Georgia

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Greek Horsemen leaders, 1968

University of Georgia is home to at least five secret societies — Gridiron Secret Society, Order of the Greek Horsemen, Order of the Acropolis, Palladia Secret Society and Trust of the Pearl.

Gridiron Secret Society, founded in 1900, has been described as a fraternal 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 in the state of Georgia such as the current U.S. Senators from Georgia and the current Governor of Georgia. Gridiron has extensive alumni participation, with well-attended banquets held in Athens at least twice each year.

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. Order of the Acropolis is a secret society composed of approximately 30 members from 12 fraternities and sometimes confused with Order of the Greek Horsemen. Acropolis is rumored to play a large role in the leaders of the IFC system.

Palladia Secret Society is the female equivalent of the Gridiron Secret Society. 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 outstanding women each year. 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 and known as the female equivalent of the Order of the Greek Horsemen. 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 and requirements for selection are unknown. Members often wear black and a strand of pearls when gathering in public.

Georgia Institute of Technology

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Crest of the ANAK Society, circa 1940

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Crest of the ANAK Society, circa 2008

The ANAK Society is the oldest known secret society and honor society based 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". 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 Jimmy Carter (honorary), Bobby Dodd (honorary), Ivan Allen Jr., and most of Georgia Tech's presidents. Membership in the ANAK Society has long been considered the highest honor a Georgia Tech student can receive.

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; 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 and preventing the Ku Klux Klan from setting up a student chapter at Georgia Tech (The clan resorted to setting up a chapter at the University of Georgia).

Harvard University

Main article: Final club

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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.

There are also six female clubs: The Pleiades Society, The Seneca, La Vie, Sabliere, The Isis, and The Bee.

University of Illinois

The University of Illinois has the Ma-Wan-Da Senior Society.

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

Ma-Wan-Da, now honorary, used Native American symbolism. Emblems include the bronze arrowhead and the white carnation flower, Dianthus caryophyllus. 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.

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". There is a secret society just for engineering students, the Vulcan Senior Engineering Society. The Phoenix Senior Honor Society, comprised 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.

University of Missouri

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Alpha Theta of Theta Nu Epsilon in 1917

Phi Kappa Psi established its Missouri Alpha chapter in 1869, and it would spawn one of the largest Greek life systems in North America as well as a large secret society system. In 1870, Zeta Phi was established as the first independent secret society on the Missouri campus, but the society soon affiliated with Beta Theta Pi Fraternity after its first few years. 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 revealed in 1898 and is the oldest secret society that still remains active on campus. Mystical Seven was revealed 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 soon sprang up, 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. 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 served as caretaker of the Indian War Drum trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Border War football game between Missouri and Kansas.

Mount Olive College

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Terpsichorean Society

Mount Olive College is home to a number of upperclassmen eating clubs. Though these organizations are not secret societies per se, they function analogously to such organizations with secret rituals, a confidential selection process, and emphasis upon elite involvment. Seven eating clubs exist at Mount Olive College. Five of these clubs are lottery clubs: Alcove Club, Carolinian Club, Hyperion Club, MacIntosh Lodge, and Vernon House. These clubs select their membership through a specialized lottery process. Two clubs, Serp Club and Terpsichorean Society, are bicker clubs and select their members in secret. Similar to the eating clubs of Princeton University and final clubs of Harvard University, the eating clubs of Mount Olive College are designed to provide meals and social functions to the wealthy and elite students of the College.

New York University

New York University had two major societies. The Eucleian Society which began in 1832 and the Red Dragon Society which began in 1898. Both societies continue to flourish today.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

University of Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma's most well known secret societ is PE-ET. PE-ET (“pay-et”) is the secret honor society for the outstanding seniors at the University of Oklahoma. The prestigious honor of membership in PE-ET, bestowed upon only the university’s finest students, is a time-honored tradition since 1910. Students selected to PE-ET exhibit the highest ability in scholarship, leadership, and original work among the men and women of the University of Oklahoma. Ten student are asked to join after an application and interview process during the end of their junior year. The group is most known for the lavish pranks they play on the university.

University of Pennsylvania

The Philomathean Society is the oldest of the secret societies at Penn and was founded in 1813. Though it does not claim to be secret, little is known about their rituals or alumni network. The Philos occupy the entire top floor of College Hall. The Sphinx Senior Society and the Friars Senior Society were both founded at the turn of the 20th century. While neither societies were intended to be secret, in that their undergraduate and alumni membership were and continue to be publicly known, both share many of the characteristics of undergraduate secret societies of the time (e.g., Skull and Bones); both 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. There are several other groups called "secret societies" at the University of Pennsylvania. These groups that use the term "secret society" to generally denote 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," (founded 1992), "THEOS," (founded 1998) and "OZ," (founded 2004) were founded by former members of fraternities after the fraternity to which they belonged had been suspended by the university for disciplinary reasons. These groups tend to not follow the senior society model (i.e. tapping leaders going into their senior year). Most of these groups have members from a variety of class years and are more similar to single chapter fraternities than true senior / secret societies. 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.

Penn State University

Penn State University is known for the Skull and Bones Senior Society, 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.

Princeton University

Main article: Eating clubs (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. 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 fē), 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.

Rutgers University

As one of the oldest colleges in the United States, Rutgers has had several secret societies on campus as far back as 1872 with the establishment of the Sword and Serpent. Others secretive societies at Rutgers included the Brotherhood of the Golden Dagger (1898-1940), Casque and Dagger (1901) and Cap and Skull (1900-1969, 1982-present). Only Cap and Skull is still in operation. However, it is now university-sanctioned, has shed much of its secrecy, and is more generally an honor society. Today, less than one-half percent of Rutgers students are tapped for Cap and Skull membership.

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. 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.

The first truly "secret society" was the Seven Society, founded circa 1905. 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, 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; 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". 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.

Washington and Lee University

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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 Cadaver's 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. They have been known to run through the Sorority houses, talking in high voices and attempting to wake everyone in the houses up.

The College of William and Mary

Main article: Secret societies at the College of William & Mary

The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia was the home of 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. Other notable members of the original society include Col. James Innes, St. George Tucker, and George Wythe. 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." The best opinion is that the society did not survive the invasion by British forces during the Revolution. The society was revived as the Flat Hat Club from 1916 to 1943 and again in 1972.

File:Sevenplaque.jpg

7 Society plaque located inside the William & Mary Sadler Center

John Heath and William Short (Class of 1779) founded the nation's first collegiate greek-letter organization, the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at William & Mary on December 5, 1776 as a secret literary and philosophical society. Additional chapters were established in 1780 and 1781 at Yale and Harvard.. With nearly 300 chapters across the country, Phi Beta Kappa has grown to become the nation's premier academic honor society. Alumni John Marshall and Bushrod Washington were two of the earliest members of the society, elected in 1778 and 1780, respectively.

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.

Westminster College of Salt Lake City

Westminster College has one known secret society, called "Prima Netagum." "Netagum" is the biological term "Mutagen" spelled backwards, the name of the society being stylized in Latin. Although its origins are unclear, it is known that the society chooses approximately 15 members per year, usually during Fall semester. The society makes various physical, biological, and mathematical references, especially to Chaos Theory; the idea perhaps being that members of the society focus on making a small change (a "mutation"), to affect a large system. Membership is mostly comprised of high-profile science students and student government members. The selection process for "Alphas," or new members, is unknown. Unlike the sometimes arcane rituals of similar collegiate societies, alumni of Prima Netagum- or "Omegas"- have reported that the focus is more on personal revelation & affecting positive change on campus and the greater community. However, according to one Omega, Alphas must go through an intellectually demanding initiation process in order to become Omegas. The organization notably uses the Lorenz attractor, the butterfly, and mathematical constants in their symbols.

Yale University

Main article: List of Yale University student organizations

The term "Secret society" at Yale University encompasses organizations with many shared but not 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, 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. In the Yale traditional secret society, meetings (typically held twice a week) focus on personal revelation and can involve arcane rituals.

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. 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. Typically, 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 16, 2009.

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.

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."

Societies that own real property 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". Three newer societies that own property include Elihu (1903), Manuscript Society (1952), and Mace and Chain (1956).

The certain existence of societies without physical real property (Sage and Chalice) suggests that there may be any number of unknown secret societies at Yale. 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. According to the Rumpus, in addition to the secret societies listed in this wikipedia page, numerous other societies (including "Spade and Grave," "Ox," "Truth and Courage," "Ceres Athena," "Gryphon," "Fork and Knife," "Ink and Needle," etc.) are either active or have been active recently. Many of these societies are called "underground" societies, given their lack of physical space. 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. These societies vary in age; some were founded in the 19th, 20th, or the 21st century. 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. While newer societies may appear trivial to the outside observer, it is important to note that yesterday's "underground" society can become tomorrow's landed society (as the example of Mace and Chain proves) and that even young societies can draw in prominent members (see Sage and Chalice).

The secret society tendency for mortuary-themed concepts, and the prevalence of Yale men in the creation of the U.S. intelligence community is often suggested to 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 discussion in the article on Skull & Bones.

List of notable North American collegiate secret societies

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
The Turtle Mound Society	1901	Beloit College	Beloit, Wi, United States	Senior Men
Sic Sic	1946	Bowling Green State University	Bowling Green, OH, United States	Freshmen
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	Three Year
Sphinx Head	1890	Cornell University	Ithaca, NY, United States	Senior
Quill and Dagger	1893	Cornell University	Ithaca, NY, United States	Senior
Sphinx	1886	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Casque and Gauntlet	1887	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Dragon Society	1898	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Fire & Skoal	1975	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Arabis	Unknown	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Phoenix	Unknown	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Gryphon	Unknown	Dartmouth College	Hanover, NH, United States	Senior
Cobra	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
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 Society of Phitotmists	1896	Johns Hopkins University	Baltimore, MD, United States	Honor Society/Men Only
Chi	1900	Longwood University	Farmville, VA, United States
1540	1998	Loyola University New Orleans	New Orleans, LA, United States
Rho Mu Beta	1979	Mercyhurst College	Erie, PA, United States	Male
Eucleian Society	1832	New York University	New York, NY, United States
Mufti	1940	Pomona College	Claremont, CA, United States	Women
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	1900	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA, United States	Senior
The Gun Club	1912	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA, United States	Third Year
Society of the Golden Rose	1942	University of California, Berkeley	Berkeley, CA, United States	Women, Juniors/Seniors
Sigma Sigma	1898	University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH,United States	Men, Junior/Senior
Men of METRO	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	1912	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Urbana, IL, United States	Senior
The Senior Skull Honor Society	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	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	1904	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill, NC, United States	Senior
Order of the Grail-Valkyries	1920	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Chapel Hill, NC, United States	Senior
The Loyal Knights of Old Trusty	1920	University of Oklahoma	Norman, OK United States	Engineering
The Philomathean Society	1813	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pa United States	50
Sphinx Senior Society	1900	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA, United States	Senior
Friars senior society	1901	University of Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, PA, United States	Senior
Friar Society	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
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	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	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	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
Mace and Chain	1956	Yale University	New Haven, CT, United States	Senior
Sage and Chalice	20th c.	Yale University	New Haven, CT, United States	Senior
FNK (Fork and Knife)	20th or 21st Century	Yale University	New Haven, CT, United States	Senior
D.S.G.	20th or 21st Century	Yale University	New Haven, CT, United States	Senior

See also

• High school secret societies
• Secret societies

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

• "How the Secret Societies Got That Way", Yale Alumni Magazine (September 2004)
• "Halls, Tombs and Houses: Student Society Architecture at Dartmouth"
• "Four Years at Yale" A late 19th century contemporary account of fraternal societies at two Connecticut Universities: Yale & Wesleyan (courtesy of Google Books)
• The Peter Dromgoole legend