List of Yale University student organizations

There are a number of student organizations at Yale University.

The Yale Political Union, the oldest student political organization in the United States, is often the largest organization on campus, and is advised by alumni political leaders such as John Kerry and George Pataki.

The university features a variety of student journals, magazines, and newspapers. The latter category includes the Yale Daily News, which was first published in 1878 and is the oldest daily college newspaper in the United States. Dwight Hall, an independent, non-profit community service organization, oversees more than 2,000 Yale undergraduates working on more than 60 community service initiatives in New Haven. The Yale College Council manages several agencies that oversee campus activities and student services.

The campus also includes several fraternities and sororities. The campus features at least 18 a cappella groups, the most prominent of which is The Whiffenpoofs. A number of prominent secret societies, including Skull and Bones, are composed of Yale College students.

Fraternities and sororities

The fraternity system in American education was developed at Yale. In 1738, Yale students founded the first selective college organization, a debating society named Crotonia; two competitors sprang up soon after, Linonia (1753) and Brothers in Unity (1768). In 1780, a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (a secret academic society begun at the College of William and Mary four years earlier) was instituted.

In 1832, Phi Beta Kappa's evolution from a secret academic society into a public one occasioned the formation of the Society of Skull and Bones. Secret and senior societies proliferated, and with them, fraternities. Originally most of these were an interrelated system of socially or academically elite junior, sophomore, and even freshman societies, which fed into the prestigious senior societies. Other types of fraternities, however, were also formed.

In 1932, the Yale opened 10 residential colleges. These included elaborate facilities for living and dining and became centers of social life. The underclass fraternities began to wither as a result.

They became increasingly unpopular in the 1960s, due to the atmosphere of social equality and Yale's adoption of mandatory full meal plans for undergraduates. Around 1973, the last two surviving fraternities -- Delta Kappa Epsilon and The Fence Club (associated with Psi Upsilon) -- closed and sold their facilities to the University.

As the social and political atmosphere became more moderate and the Connecticut drinking age was changed from 18 to 21, old fraternities began to reopen and new ones were formed; however, these generally bore little resemblance to the old Yale fraternities, as most did not have elaborate houses or the atmosphere of social and campus elitism. Yale’s first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was formed in 1985.

Several fraternities and sororities have chapters at Yale, including:

• Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity
• Alpha Rho Lambda Sorority Inc./Alianza de Raices Latinas
• Sigma Chi Fraternity
• Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity
• Sigma Nu Fraternity
• Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity
• Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity
• Beta Theta Pi Fraternity's Yale Chapter was disbanded by the General Fraternity at the 168th General Convention in Orlando, Florida, August 4, 2007.
• Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority
• Pi Beta Phi Sorority
• Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority
• Alpha Phi Alpha
• Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity
• Zeta Psi Fraternity
• Psi U Fraternity
• Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority

Cultural organizations

• Arab Students Association
• The Yale African Students Association
• AIESEC
• Association of Native Americans at Yale (ANAAY)
• Black Student Alliance at Yale (BSAY)
• Chinese American Students' Association (CASA)
• Korean-American Students at Yale (KASY)
• Cuban-American Undergraduate Student Association (CAUSA)
• Despierta Boricua (Puerto Rican Undergraduate Student Association at Yale)
• Dominican Student Association: Quisqueyalies (DSA)
• Graduate Poets Reading Series
• Yale Hellenic Society (HeSo)
• International Students Organization (ISO)
• Kasama: Filipino Students at Yale
• Korean American Students Organization at Yale (KASY)
• Lion Dance Troupe at Yale
• Malaysian and Singaporean Association (MASA)
• Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán at Yale (MEChA)
• Vietnamese Students Association
• Society for Intellectual Growth and Reinvigoration (SIGAR)
• Taiwanese American Students (TAS)
• Yale European Undergraduates (YEU)
• Yale Muslim Students Association
• Yale South Asian Society (SAS)
• Yale Hindu Students Council (HSC)
• Yale Hellenic Society

Service/outreach organizations

• Amnesty International: Yale College Student Chapter.
• Dwight Hall, an umbrella community service organization overseeing more than 300 community service and social justice initiatives
• The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, an undergrad group that assists and advocates for Iraqi Refugees in New Haven and the Middle East.
• The Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project, an undergrad group that runs eight poverty-related projects.

Political organizations

• The Yale Political Union (The largest undergraduate organization on campus)
• The Yale College Democrats (The largest activist organization on campus)
• The Yale College Republicans
• The Yale College Libertarians
• The Yale International Relations Association [1]
• The Yale Chapter[2] of the Roosevelt Institution, a student think tank
• The Whitney Students Association (WSA), an advocacy group
• Yale Model Congress
• Yale Law Federalist Society[3]
• Yale Debate Association [4]
• Yale Mock Trial Association [5]

The Yale International Relations Association and the Yale Debate Association both boast nationally ranked competitive teams and host highly regarded Model UN and Debate conferences, respectively.

Dance groups

• Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Yale
• DanceWorks
• A Different Drum
• Freestyle eXpressions Crew
• Fusion: Modern Belly Dance
• Groove Dance Company
• Irish Dancers
• Konjo
• Lion Dance Troupe
• Phoenix Dance Troupe
• Rhythmic Blue
• Steppin' Out
• Taps
• Yale Ballroom Dance Team
• Yale Belly Dance Society
• Yale Jashan Bhangra Team
• Yaledancers
• Yale Swing & Blues
• Yale Tango Club

Musical groups

Student musical groups include four university-sponsored organizations composed primarily of undergraduates:

• The Yale Concert Band[6].
• The Yale Precision Marching Band[7], a scatter band that performs at home football games and many hockey and basketball games. They are known for their comedic halftime shows and arrangements of popular music.
• The Yale Jazz Ensemble[8], an 18-piece big band/swing band
• The Yale Glee Club[9]. Founded in 1863, the Glee Club today includes about 80 men and women who sing baroque, classical, modern, and folk tunes.
• The Yale Symphony Orchestra[10], a full orchestra that performs classical and modern pieces.
• In addition, the student-run Davenport Pops Orchestra[11], Saybrook College Orchestra[12], Berkeley College Orchestra[13], Jonathan Edwards Chamber Philharmonic[14], and Bach Society[15] all provide free concerts of symphonic masterworks.
• The Yale Tango Club [16], host of the Yale Tango Fest [17].
• The Yale University Guild of Carillonneurs [18], the student-run group responsible for playing the Yale Memorial Carillon in Harkness Tower.

A cappella singing groups

Undergraduates also sing in at least 18 a cappella groups.

All men

• The Whiffenpoofs[19] began the tradition of college a cappella singing groups in 1909. The group is limited to male seniors; each spring 14 juniors are selected ("tapped") for membership. Admission to the group is highly competitive. Alumni include Cole Porter and Fenno Heath.
• The Yale Alley Cats[20], founded in 1943, has become one of the most internationally renowned of the American collegiate vocal ensembles.
• The Duke's Men of Yale[21], founded in 1952, sing all-male a cappella. "Da Doox" tour internationally, compete nationally in a cappella competitions, and sing for famous people, most recently Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Dan Brown, and Vanna White.
• The Spizzwinks(?)[22], founded in 1913, is Yale's oldest underclassman a cappella group.
• The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus[23], founded in 1938, is Yale's oldest continually active underclassman a cappella group.
• The Baker's Dozen[24], founded in 1947, tours annually, and has performed at the White House. It has a house on campus and is known as the "most social" of the a cappella groups.

• The Yale Russian Chorus[25], founded in 1953, is a predominantly male group of students and community members who sing liturgical and folk music of Russia and other Eastern European lands.

All women

• Whim 'n' Rhythm[26] is a seniors-only group, founded in 1981 to launch a tradition similar to the Whiffenpoofs'.
• The New Blue of Yale[27] was established in 1969, when Yale College first admitted women undergraduates. Its members were the first females to step inside of Mory's.
• The Yale Women's Slavic Chorus[28], founded in 1969, sings Eastern European folk songs. It is also the only female organization officially endowed by Yale.
• Proof of the Pudding[29] was founded in 1975.
• Something Extra[30] was founded in 1977.

Mixed

• Redhot & Blue[31], founded in 1977 as Yale's first co-educational a cappella group, is known for the intricate and challenging arrangements of its jazz-based repertoire.
• Living Water[32], founded in 1979, calls itself "Yale's Christian a cappella group."
• Mixed Company of Yale [33], founded in 1981, is known for its eclectic repertoire and many "schticks," or skits.
• Out of the Blue[34], founded in 1987, is Yale's "only co-ed, pop-rock a cappella group."
• Shades of Yale[35], founded in 1988 to sing the music of the African diaspora (including R&B and gospel).
• Magevet[36], founded in 1993, is Yale's "first, best, and only Jewish a cappella singing group."
• The Yale Gospel Choir[37], founded in 1973, whose stated purpose is to "to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through the ministry of song."

Theatrical organizations

• The Yale Dramatic Association[38], founded in 1900, is the second-oldest college theatre company in the country; "The Dramat" has featured the work of such noted Yale graduates as Cole Porter, Thornton Wilder, and Stephen Vincent Benet. It typically produces seven productions a year, including two full-scale musicals in the University Theater. Smaller-scale productions are mounted on the stage of the Yale Repertory Theatre and the School Of Drama's black box theatre. Former Dramat members include Sam Waterston, Austin Pendleton, George Roy Hill, John Badham, and Cheryl Henson.

Other groups include:

• The Control Group, Yale's experimental theatre troupe, puts on two to four productions a year.
• Heritage Theatre Ensemble, founded in 1979 (HTE), supports Black theater on campus and elsewhere in New Haven.
• Sacer Ludus, a small dramatic group formed in 2009.
• Teatro de Yale supports Latino/Latin-American theatre on campus and elsewhere in New Haven.
• The Yale Drama Coalition[39] promotes the theater community and improves communication between the 20-plus student-directed and -produced plays each semester. These plays are generally funded by the Sudler Funds of each residential college, which award up to $1,200 to mount art shows and theatrical productions by members of that college.
• The Yale Gilbert and Sullivan Society [40] produces one operetta per year.
• The Yale Undergraduate Musical Theater Company, YUMTC, [41] produces musical theater.

Comedic organizations

Humor publications

• The Yale Record, America's oldest college humor magazine [42]
• Rumpus Magazine, The campus tabloid

Improvisational comedy troupes

• Just Add Water -Yale [43]
• The Ex!t Players [44]
• The Purple Crayon
• The Viola Question [45]

Sketch comedy groups

• Red Hot Poker
• The Fifth Humour
• Sphincter Troupe

Senior societies

History and structure

In the 19th Century, the Yale social structure became dominated by a unique network of societies, many of them secret, open only to seniors. They are called "senior societies" collectively, but secret senior societies also carry the sobriquet "secret societies". Invitations to join were (and in many cases, are today) extended late in junior year on "tap day".

Secondary to the proliferation of senior societies, societies of underclassmen sprang up. Most of these were limited to members of a single class (junior, senior, freshman). The underclass societies entirely died out with the formation of the residential college system in the 1930s, but most of the senior societies still exist.

Commonly, senior societies have 15 members and, once initiation is finished, they are members for life. Some have imposing, nearly-windowless buildings on campus, known as "tombs" or "halls" [46].

The structure and rules of the societies vary extensively. Journalists have attempted to ferret out the goings-on inside the secret societies, especially concerning Skull and Bones, due to both the mystery of the society and the prominence of its members. The degree of their success is difficult to assess, as members are generally unwilling to speak about it and access to meetings (or even the inside of the tombs) is difficult to obtain. Thus, verification of facts is difficult.

The secret societies have regular weekly meetings and it is known that meals are served, either by eyewitness account or by the presence of food delivery trucks regularly seen at side doors. Skull and Bones apparently forbids alcohol, although others do not. Most reputable commentators state that meeting include both outright silliness and serious discussions.

Yale's senior societies differ significantly from the final clubs at Harvard and even more from Princeton's eating clubs. Harvard's final clubs are not limited to seniors; however, they are not known to be "secret", have a more pronounced social function, and traditionally place more emphasis on family connections. Harvard also maintains a large society for underclassmen, "Hasty Pudding", from which most final club members are recruited. Princeton's eating clubs are more similar to non-residential fraternities

Current societies

• Skull and Bones, the oldest and most famous[47]
• Scroll and Key, second oldest and wealthiest, occupies Moorish Beaux-Arts building. [48].
• Wolf's Head, third-oldest; largest compound on campus. [49]
• Book and Snake [50], occupies a replica Greek temple.
• Berzelius, founded as the Colony Club in 1848 at the Sheffield Scientific School; tapped first African-American captain of an Ivy League football team.
• Elihu began in 1903. It occupies a federal-era house on the perimeter of the New Haven Green. Elihu was the first non-secret "senior society."[51]
• Manuscript Society occupies a modern building and garden by noted architects.
• Mace and Chain youngest tomb society. Founded in 1956, it occupies a 180-year-old house near campus. [52]
• St. Elmo's founded as Delta Phi Omicron in 1889
• Calliopean Society, a literary and debating society, founded 1819.
• Aurelian Honor Society, founded 1910, first society to tap women.
• Linonian Society. Members include undergraduates and graduate students from Yale Law School, Yale Graduate School and Yale School of Management. Originally founded in 1753, it was reconstituted after merging with the Yale Political Union in 1934, and stores its literary collection in Yale's Sterling Memorial Library.
• D.S.G. (aka "Drunk Senior Girls") , Oldest all-female secret society at Yale
• St. Anthony Hall, founded 1867, only remaining three-year society. Although outsiders may enter the building and attend social events, part of the building is closed and retains the earmarks of a Yale secret society. The current (its third) building, when donated by a Vanderbilt in 1913, described by The New York Times as "the most expensive and elaborate secret society building in the United States."[53]

Other notable clubs

Private clubs at Yale exhibit a range of membership models: all-student, student-faculty, or student-faculty-alumni, and a gamut of topical interests or organizing missions. Some are almost as well known as famous secret societies and some share characteristics including selective membership, endowments, noteworthy buildings, characteristic traditions, or on-campus historical antecedents as 19th c. or 20th c. fraternal organizations. Clubs located within the campus area are woven into the fabric of Yale life, even though most do not have any formal affiliation with the University. Several were cited in the Official Preppy Handbook.

• The Yale Anti-Gravity Society is a fun loving group of people that practice juggling and related skills.
• The Elizabethan Club is a literary discussion club, with a reciprocal relationship with the Signet Society at Harvard. Researchers may request access through Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library to items in "The Lizzie's" private collection of Shakespeariana and other British historico-literary material. Reference: The Elizabethan Club of Yale University and Its Library, Stephen Parks; Introduction by Alan Bell, Yale University Press, 1986, ISBN: 0300036698
• Mory's is a dining club for alumni, faculty and student members. Its carved paneling, silver cups, Yale memorabilia and atmosphere make it an echt-Yale venue for the Whiffenpoofs and other singing groups' performances.
• The Chai Society, founded in 1996, is a private dining and social club occupying a brownstone on the Yale campus, adjacent to several properties which it also owns, and into which it is gradually expanding. Founded on principles of Jewish leadership and communal identity at Yale and in the world at large, its membership is open to all students and faculty regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds. In 2006, the trustees of the Chai Society, Inc., the 501c3 non-profit which supports the activities of the Yale student club, legally changed its name to Eliezer, Inc. [54]
• The Fence Club was the historical name for the Psi Upsilon fraternity at Yale. In 1934, Psi Upsilon, by then a venerable junior fraternity, renounced its national affiliation and became the Fence Club, in honor of the Yale Fence. It was a very prestigious house at Yale and many of its members went on to become members of Skull and Bones, including George H. W. Bush. However, in the mid-1970s, the Fence Club went defunct when the University required a mandatory meal plan for all students. Its reputation led to its demise being noted in the Official Preppy Handbook in 1980. During the 80s, the Fence Club was restarted as a coed organization, but collapsed again after only a few years. Then, from 2004-2007, the Psi Upsilon fraternity reestablished an all-male chapter on campus, with fewer than 25 members. In 2007, the chapter severed all ties to the Psi Upsilon fraternity after a dispute with the national organization, retaining only the name Psi U, and in 2008, Psi U admitted its first female "brothers"; in 2009, after threats of legal action from the national Psi Upsilon fraternity, Psi U reverted back to Fence Club. In addition to other leading U.S. government figures, former CIA Director Porter Goss and Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte were members. The former clubhouse at 220 York St., designed by James Gamble Rogers is used by the University as classrooms.[55] In 2009, Fence Club moved its clubhouse to 401 Crown St, and in 2010, moved again to a more permanent location, at 15 High St. After the second-semester tap, in January 2010, Fence Club was a co-ed organization with over 60 members, highlighting the changes that this iteration of the group has undergone over its short lifespan.
• The Yale Society for the Exploration of Campus Secrets (or YSECS) is a club devoted to uncovering and archiving the history of Yale's campus. The society is said to possess knowledge of the entirety of Yale's rooftops, tunnels, and hidden places. Unlike the senior societies, members are chosen through an application process. Their public motto is Omnia Arcana Illustrabuntur (OAI), or "all secret things will be revealed." They have described themselves as being the ones that remember Yale's forgotten past. All members are said to have a group-mandated mark somewhere on their bodies.
• The Rockingham Club (1981-1986) was founded by British-born Yale undergrad Lord Nicholas Hervey as a social club for Yale student descendants of royalty or aristocracy, a requirement later modified to allow membership by offspring of the "super-wealthy." The club survived only five years and the clubhouse (privately purchased by a small group of members including Hervey and Salem Chalabi) was an off-campus clapboard building housing a full length portrait of Lord Hervey, Lord Hervey himself (he took six years to graduate), as well as a ballroom and chandelier and held parties whose invitations were in demand by a certain demographic of Yalies and their guests (predominantly homosexuals, bisexuals, arts majors, and those aspiring to attend formal balls and/or socialize with by-gone title-heirs and the exceptionally wealthy).
• The Corsair Club, The Zodiac Club, The Kittens Club, and the Round Table. Dining clubs that appear to have existed at Yale in the 19th century. (See researcher's reference at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/exlibris/2003/01/msg00017.html)
• Yale Mountaineering Club

Student publications

• The Yale Anglers' Journal, bi-annual undergraduate journal devoted to "angling and the natural world," founded 1996.
• The Yale Banner, the nation's college yearbook, founded 1841. Also publishes several other campus publications, including The Old Campus freshman facebook, first published in 1939.
• The Yale Daily News, or YDN, the nation's oldest daily college newspaper, founded 1878.
• The Yale Economic Review, semiannual journal of popular economics.
• The Yale Entrepreneur, focuses on local, national, and international entrepreneurship; sponsored by the Yale Entrepreneurial Society (YES).
• The Yale Epicurean, founded 2009, promotes discourse on gastronomy and the culinary arts at Yale and in New Haven.
• Five Magazine, a progressive, call-to-action magazine that speaks urgently of the need for activism today. website
• The Yale Globalist, quarterly international affairs magazine.
• The Gaze, a journal of photography.
• Wheel: Yale Undergraduate Sustainable Development Journal, a publication devoted to policy, economics, and the environment, founded in 2009 and available at postgreen.org.
• The Yale Herald, weekly student newspaper, founded 1986.
• The Yale Israel Journal, publishes articles and essays regarding Israel's history, politics, and culture.
• Yale Law Journal, an academic review published by Yale Law School.
• The Yale Literary Magazine, the nation's oldest literary review, founded 1836; bi-annually publishes Yale undergraduate poetry and fiction.
• The New Journal, Yale's oldest and largest-circulating undergraduate magazine, covering both the university and New Haven, founded 1968.
• The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (YJBM), first published in 1928, is the oldest medical student publication still in print.
• The Yale Journal of Medicine and Law, bi-annual undergraduate journal addressing health care.
• Perspecta: The Yale Architectural Journal, the nation's oldest student-edited architectural journal.
• The Yale Philosophy Review, an annual journal of undergraduate philosophy.
• The Yale Politic, quarterly political journal dating to 1947.
• The Yale Record, the nation's oldest campus humor magazine, founded 1872.
• The Yale Journal of International Affairs, a biannual graduate publication devoted to international relations and contemporary politics. [56]
• Rumpus Magazine, an irreverent monthly tabloid covering campus gossip; annually features a list of "Yale's 50 Most Beautiful."
• The Yale Scientific Magazine, the nation's oldest undergraduate scientific publication, founded 1894 and published quarterly.
• The Yale Standard, an independent Christian campus publication since 1969, published by students and alumni. website

Other organizations

The Yale Entrepreneurial Society is a student-run nonprofit dedicated to encouraging entrepreneurship and business development in the New Haven area.

The Yale Friends of Israel is a non-partisan umbrella organization for everything relating to Israel at Yale. The group is dedicated to furthering understanding of and support for Israel through cultural, political, and educational programming across the political spectrum.

The Yale College Student Investment Group[57] is the largest investment group among the Ivy League schools.

Bulldog Productions is the only undergraduate film production company at Yale University, one of the few companies of its kind in top-tier American liberal arts universities.

The Yale Engineering Design Team, founded in 2003, is a student-run organization that helps students work on engineering projects and competitions. They are noted for running the annual Junk Yale Wars where students take a day to build something out of junk that fits some set of design specifications.

The Yale Anime Society is a group dedicated to the study and enjoyment of anime and manga. It has public showings and discussions that are open to all members of the Yale college system.
YTV is the student-operated, closed-circuit cable channel that broadcasts 24 hours a day.

The Crotonia Literary Society is a workshopping and exhibition group noted for being a literary organization without an emphasis on publication.

The Yale Undergraduate Business Society publishes a semiannual magazine, Business Sphere Magazine, which focuses on all aspects of business both internationally and domestically.