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90-490: The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society , founded in 1842 at Yale University , in New Haven, Connecticut . It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies at Yale, along with Skull and Bones and Wolf's Head . Each spring the society admits 15 rising seniors to participate in its activities and carry on its traditions. Scroll and Key

180-628: A Bonesman , is said to have encouraged the formation of a "secret society" on campus. In the early years, all 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, except for the Sigma Phi Society on campus. 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

270-414: A Sheffield Scientific School society). Regarding the tomb's distinctive appearance, Pinnell noted that "19th-century artists' studios commonly had exotic orientalia lying about to suggest that the painter was sophisticated, well traveled, and in touch with mysterious powers; Hunt's Scroll and Key is one instance in which the trope got turned into a building." Later, undergraduates described the building as

360-594: A fraternal organization , secret society or religious order , or graduation from school or recruit training . A person taking the initiation ceremony in traditional rites, such as those depicted in these pictures, is called an initiate . William Ian Miller notes the role of ritual humiliation in comic ordering and testing. Mircea Eliade discussed initiation as a principal religious act by classical or traditional societies. He defined initiation as "a basic change in existential condition", which liberates man from profane time and history. "Initiation recapitulates

450-529: A "striped zebra Billiard Hall" in a supplement to a Yale yearbook. More recently, it has been described by an undergraduate publication as being "the nicest building in all of New Haven". Scroll and Key taps annually a delegation of fifteen, composed of men and women of the junior class, to serve the following year. Membership is offered to a diverse group of highly accomplished juniors, specifically those who have "achieved in any field, academic, extra-curricular, or personal". Delegations frequently include editors of

540-518: A Harvard affiliation, and it operates in the building of Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, overlooking Boston Common . Other secretive social groups include the Hasty Pudding Club and The Seneca . James Madison University has two known secret societies. The first is called IN8 (pronounced /ɪˈneɪt/). The name references the college's founding in 1908 and the emblem of the organization consists of an infinity sign with an ‘I’ and ‘N’ embedded within

630-405: A closed 'family' which absorbs in members, who are often formally accepted, generally after a form of trial or hazing . In addition, there can be similar rites of passages associated with parts of naval and military life, which do not constitute true initiations as the participants are already and remain members of the same community. One such rite is associated with crossing the equator on board

720-536: A date as 1860, Keys had great difficulty in making up its crowd, rarely being able to secure the full fifteen upon the night of giving out its elections." However, the society was on the upswing: "the old order of things, however, has recently come to an end, and Keys is now in possession of a hall far superior...not only to Bones hall, but to any college-society hall in America." In addition to financing its activities, Scroll and Key has made significant donations to Yale over

810-507: A form of initiation, also known as "sex in", though they may also be "jumped-in" like their male counterparts. One study shows that female members who were "sexed-in" as part of gang initiation were thereafter viewed with lower respect than those that were "jumped-in", even when promised they would become full-fledged members. Another study found that sexed-in members face greater risks of sexual exploitation and abuse by fellow male members. Tribes often have initiations. The initiation done in

900-423: A fourth organization, "The Robert E. Lee Fraternity" was concurrently active which would go on to merge with today's Kappa Alpha Order . For this reason, Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity's official flower is today, the rose, their sweetheart is called the rose and one of the group's most cherished songs is "The Rose Song". The rose and "sub-rosa" concepts are present in the group's esoteric literature and rituals. Furthermore,

990-568: A golden emblem. These two organizations competed with each other until 1934 when they merged to create the Konosioni senior honor society, now called Tredecim Senior Honor Society. Tredecim is no longer a secret society but is now seen as a leadership society. The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia , was home to the first known secret collegiate society in the United States,

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1080-411: A member of its legislature, which led to a trial presided by the student judicial council. The accusatory plaintiff claimed that members of the secret society, who allegedly held positions in student government and various student organizations, attempted to sway the elections in their favor and secure positions for their members. The student judicial council ruled in the plaintiff's favor and disqualified

1170-538: A naval ship, but it can even be taken by passengers on board a cruise liner , who are not and do not become members of anything but the so-called "equator crossing club". Another form, "Kissing the Royal Belly" or "Royal Baby", calls for initiates to kneel before a senior member of the crew, who wears a mock diaper. This "Baby" usually has a huge stomach covered with greasy materials ranging from cooking oil to mustard, shaving cream, eggs, and oysters. Junior sailors must lick

1260-512: A nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. There are also several strongly rumored secret societies with less documentation including The Magnolia Society, which has formed within the past decade and taps men and women from all classes into something like an elitist supper club. Magnolians, as they are called, can be identified only on their way to or from a "happening" by the sweetgrass rose they wear on their breast. The Black Swan or Paladin Brotherhood

1350-714: A robust alumni network with regular reunions and influence in the university. Founded in 1837, the Parthenian Sodality was transferred to Fordham, which was founded in 1841, from St. Mary's College in Kentucky when the Jesuits took over the administration of Fordham from the Archdiocese of New York in 1846. Approval of the transfer was granted by the Roman Prima Primaria in 1847. The Roman Sodality , under whose guidance

1440-477: 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 and no longer secret, Phi Beta Kappa has grown to become the nation's premier academic honor society. Although the pressures of the American Civil War forced several societies to disappear, many were revived during the 20th century. Some of

1530-551: A secret society by the student body, the Stewards have claimed to be a predominantly alumni-built organization. The original organization was founded in 1982, eventually going public in 1988. The Stewards would continue to operate until the mid-1990s when the organization broke apart and the original group became defunct. Following this schism, the organization formed The Second and later the Third Stewards Societies, although

1620-501: 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. The society was 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,

1710-523: A shadow on plaques six or seven feet away that designates the time.” Initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role. Examples of initiation ceremonies might include Christian baptism or confirmation , Jewish bar or bat mitzvah , acceptance into

1800-465: A shepherding process where those who are at a higher level guide the initiate through a process of greater exposure of knowledge. This may include the revelation of secrets, hence the term secret society for such organizations, usually reserved for those at the higher level of understanding. One famous historical example is the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, thought to go back to at least

1890-583: Is a famous landmark for many of the students, was donated by the group. IN8 hosts a website bearing their emblem which states “The IN8 Foundation is a benevolent charitable organization supporting the James Madison University community.” The IN8 Foundation was mentioned in The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2009. Writing on student involvement at James Madison University, Insider Guides states that IN8

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1980-449: Is associated with many secret societies, maintaining a pretense of great seriousness, and clubhouses are often called "tombs". Some historic secret societies are now considered honorary or senior societies. Phi Beta Kappa is the best-known such example, where it originally operated on a secret chapter basis, and sometime after its secrets were made public in the 1830s, Phi Beta Kappa continued as an honorary. The membership of these groups

2070-423: Is held every year. Some of these state that they are honoraries; others seek to perpetuate the image of a continuing active society where there is none. There are several common traits among these societies. For example, many societies have two-part names, such as Skull and Bones or Scroll and Key . Many societies also limit their membership to a specific numerical limit in a class year. Extensive mortuary imagery

2160-400: Is no issue with being a member of a secret society and a fraternity, because they are not considered similar organizations or competing organizations. Many secret societies exist as honoraries on one campus and may have been actual meeting societies at one time, 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

2250-687: Is no strict rule on the categorization of secret societies, although a secret membership role is key. Secret societies can have ceremonial initiations , secret signs of recognition (gestures, handshakes , passwords), formal secrets (the 'true' name of the society, a motto, or society history). Traditional college fraternities or sororities, literary societies, honorary groups, and pre-professional fraternal can have similarly secret rituals but do not keep their membership secret. Some secret societies have kept their membership secret until graduation; others never reveal membership until death. Some, like Skull and Bones at Yale, have published their membership lists in

2340-523: Is not secret but their rituals may be. The first collegiate secret society recorded in North America is that of the F.H.C. Society , established on November 11, 1750, at The College of William & Mary . Though the letters stand for a Latin phrase, the society is informally and publicly referred to as the "Flat Hat Club"; its most prominent members included St. George Tucker , Thomas Jefferson , and George Wythe . The second-oldest Latin-letter society,

2430-446: Is occurring, initiation is not taken so seriously as before, although there are still certain areas which still perform initiations. In some African tribes, boys take about 3–4 months participating in initiation rites and girls take about 1–2 months. Australian Aboriginal tribes usually had long periods of time to help prepare adolescent boys, teaching them traditional lore before they were ready to attend large elaborate ceremonies at

2520-621: Is the most visible society on campus today, as its members are seen walking around campus wearing black graduation gowns and sunglasses on certain days of the year. They follow a set pattern, holding their arms in symbols in the air and routinely stopping and shouting " Eruditio et Religio ." A November 2007 edition of Rival Magazine quoted Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Sue Wasiolek T'r76, claiming that "the Old Trinity Club has died, or at least in terms of its original manifestation. The way it manifests today

2610-519: Is the oldest known secret society and honors society 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 founded as

2700-514: Is then thought to produce feelings of strong group attraction among initiates after the experience, because they want to justify the effort used. Rewards during initiations have important consequences in that initiates who feel more rewarded express stronger group identity. As well as group attraction, initiations can also produce conformity among new members. Psychology experiments have also shown that initiations increase feelings of affiliation . A spiritual initiation rite normally implies

2790-948: Is to enact random acts of kindness around GW's campus to create a better environment for all students. Georgetown’s leading secret society is the Society of Jesus founded as an all-male fraternity of would-be Catholic priests at the University of Paris (the Sorbonne) in 1534. When the Jesuits were suppressed by the Pope in 1773, they stayed organized secretly in Maryland. In 1789, the suppressed Jesuits helped staff Georgetown College, later Georgetown University, for its founder, Archbishop John Carroll . The Jesuits were hostile to college fraternities and societies that tried to form at Georgetown like at other colleges in

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2880-505: Is very different than when it was at its finest." It is said that students do not take society seriously, viewing it more as a social fraternity than a secret society. For years, there were rumors of a secret society called "TS" on campus, as a continuation of the Order of the Red Friars' original mission. Only recently has it come to light that "TS" stands for Trident Society . This society keeps

2970-430: Is “Not necessarily the most popular but one of the most famed among these [student groups] is IN8, JMU’s secret society. Every year, it gives out eight letters to students and faculty who have significantly impacted their society to let them know that their work does not go unnoticed. In addition, in 2003, they donated a human sundial, a spot in the middle of campus where a person stands on a particular month’s mark and casts

3060-555: The Blueprint ; The Technique newspaper, and Tech's Student Government Association – as well as several lasting Georgia Tech traditions . The society also claims involvement in several civil rights projects, most notably in peacefully integrating Georgia Tech's first African-American students in 1961, preventing the Ku Klux Klan from setting up a student chapter at Georgia Tech. Harvard University does not have secret societies in

3150-786: The Yale Daily News and other publications, artists and musicians, social and political activists, athletes of distinction, entrepreneurs, and high-achieving scholars. Mark Twain was an honorary member, under the auspices of Joseph Twichell , Yale College Class of 1859. Photographer Collegiate secret societies in North America Some collegiate secret societies are called "class societies", which restrict membership to one class year. Most class societies are restricted or limited to senior class members, and are therefore called senior societies on many campuses. Some include junior class members, hence, upperclassmen and women. There

3240-455: The Bapedi tribe of South Africa is normally regarded as a stage where a boy is to be taught manhood and a girl to be taught womanhood. In many African tribes, initiation involves circumcision / genital mutilation of males and sometimes circumcision / genital mutilation of females as well. Initiation is considered necessary for the individual to be regarded as a full member of the tribe. Otherwise,

3330-623: The Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows . There is evidence of a group known as the Legion of Hidden Loyalty , operating in the 1930s and 1940s but there is no evidence of its continued existence. Until 1992, Furman University was, to varying degrees, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention which banned social organizations of all kinds. This drove students to seek such groups underground. The most notable of these early secret societies

3420-594: The Democratic National Committee . Fr. Leo McLaughlin S.J. founded the Fordham Club in 1954. Membership is reserved to about thirty members of the Fordham College at Rose Hill senior class "recommended by their prominence and influence in extracurricular endeavors during their first three college years, having contributed in a significant and preeminent way to the vibrant spirit of Fordham." They have

3510-597: The Guru and also implies that the Chela (student or disciple) agrees to the requirements (such as living an ethical lifestyle, meditating, etc.) One of the most recognized religious initiation rites is Baptism within Christianity . Christian Baptism is seen as both part of the individual's faith and conversion as well as their initiation into the Church. In unionised organizations ,

3600-491: The Mycenaean period or " Bronze Age ". In the context of ritual magic and esotericism , an initiation is considered to cause a fundamental process of change to begin within the person being initiated and its "evolution operates within both the material world and the spiritual world". The person conducting the initiation (the initiator ), being in possession of a certain power or state of being, transfers this power or state to

3690-429: The University of Pennsylvania . The Nacoms and Sachems are senior societies of fifteen members each. Though efforts have been made by the university's student body to force them to abolish their secrecy and register with the administration, efforts have been unsuccessful. Cornell University has a long history of secret societies on campus. Andrew Dickson White , the first president of Cornell University and himself

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3780-556: The Urapmin people used to practice a type of male initiation known in Urap as ban . These elaborate rituals were a central part of Urapmin social life. The ban was a multistage process which involved beatings and manipulation of various objects. At each stage, the initiate was offered revelations of secret knowledge (Urap: weng awem ), but at the next stage these would be shown to be false (Urap: famoul ). These initiations were abandoned with

3870-521: The "Final Dinner" are analogous to "Tap" at Yale. Harvard Lodge is a university Masonic lodge, founded in 1922 by Harvard Law School Dean/Professor Roscoe Pound , members of the Harvard Square & Compass Club, and members of the Harvard Masonic Club (which included Theodore Roosevelt ). It is the oldest academic Masonic lodge in North America, its membership is restricted to males with

3960-455: The "initiation" is typically no more than a brief familiarization with basic procedures and the provision of a copy of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement that governs the work performed by members of the union. Some unions also charge a one-time initiation fee, after which the joining person is officially deemed to be a member in good standing. Some communities on board a military vessel and also of military soldiers tend to form

4050-439: 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 period. 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". Six of the eight senior societies keep their membership secret, while

4140-422: The 19th century because they could not control them, but the hostility had waned by 1920. One century later, Georgetown has several fraternities and sororities, independent of the university, and a few all-male, all-female, and co-ed secret societies. The Stewards Society , or The Stewards at Georgetown is an anonymous, all-male service fraternity , often considered a secret society . While generally considered

4230-612: The Baby's navel area, while the "baby" grabs and shakes their head to better smear the goo onto their faces. Gangs often require new members to commit crimes before accepting them as part of the gang. New members may be physically beaten by fellow gang members to demonstrate their courage, also known as "beat-in" or "jump-in", which occasionally results in a fatality. One study indicates that young people are more likely to be hurt in gang initiation than they are by refusing to join. Female members may be required to have sex with male members as

4320-463: 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 is publicly nicknamed the Flat Hat Club. William & Mary alumnus and third American president, Thomas Jefferson , was perhaps the most famous member of

4410-588: The F.H.C. Society. The best opinion is that the society did not survive the British invasion of Virginia at the end of the American Revolution . Going dormant during the American Revolution , the society was revived in 1916 as the Flat Hat Club . William & Mary students John Heath and William Short founded the nation's first collegiate Greek-letter organization, Phi Beta Kappa , on December 5, 1776, as

4500-483: The P.D.A. Society ("Please Don't Ask"), in 1776 refused entry to John Heath, then a student at the college; rebuffed, he in the same year established the first Greek-letter secret society at the college, the Phi Beta Kappa , modeling it on the two older fraternities (see the Flat Hat Club ). The Phi Beta Kappa society had a rudimentary initiation and maintained an uncertain level of secrecy. Those secrets were exposed in

4590-561: The Parthenian Sodality was, was first founded in Rome in 1584. Though no longer held to the Roman sodality after Vatican II , the organization is said to exist in some form to this day under the name The Second Sodality, at which point it transitioned to being more identifiable as a secret society: hiding membership, meeting at odd times, and communicating through codes and riddles. The chapel atop

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4680-449: The administration building, now known as Cunniffe House , listed over a hundred years of members, but this practice ended around when the sodality went covert. They leave clues in the form of sonnets around campus and in the student newspapers to attract members. They tap around 25 members per year, of whom half usually figure out the clues. Meetings are usually held in the various chapels around campus, with important ceremonies happening in

4770-492: The adoption of Christianity, and the Urap have expressed relief at no longer having to administer the beatings which were involved. The Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil use intentional bullet ant stings as part of their initiation rites to become warriors. Among the various Austronesian peoples , head-hunting raids were strongly tied to the practice of tattooing . In head-hunting societies, tattoos were records of how many heads

4860-466: The allegedly Ducemus-backed candidates. The Burning Spear Society is a secret society at Florida State University . Burning Spear was founded on July 14, 1993. Though not much is publicly available on the dealings of the organization, members often cite the provision of political, professional, and financial support of FSU community members and efforts that strengthen the university's traditions as two of their most basic ambitions. Fordham University

4950-639: The base of the James B. Duke statue on West Campus are their calling card, and even that they have uninhibited access to the Duke University Chapel for their Initiation Rites. Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia has five secret societies, including the Paladin Society , Ducemus, Speculum , and Order of Ammon . In 2021, Ducemus was accused of attempting to manipulate Emory's student government elections by

5040-495: The country today. Tiger Brotherhood is an honorary service fraternity at Clemson University . It was established in 1924 as a non-secretive student group but soon went defunct. It was reformed in 1928 and encourages standards of social and ethical conduct and a commitment to Clemson. Although most of its members are unknown, former members include two Clemson president— E. Walter Sikes and James Frazier Barker —and Clemson football coach Frank Howard . The university suspended

5130-450: The curve. Most notably, IN8 is known for its laud of eight students per semester who have outstanding college careers and fulfill the organization's 8 supposed core values: Loyalty, Benevolence, Service, Justice, Integrity, Intellect, Character, and Spirit. However, this is not their only known function, IN8 also provides philanthropic gifts to the university. The sundial located by the Quad, which

5220-524: The fraternity for three years in 2017 for hazing. Although there have been many underground organizations at Colgate University , the first secret honor society on record is the Skull and Scroll Society founded in 1908. Members of the Skull and Scroll wore white hats with a black skull and scroll added to them. The Gorgon's Head was founded in 1912 and chose people for traits such as character, distinguished service, and achievement. Its members wore black hats with

5310-462: The fraternity's chapter at Furman carries a unique flag that bears a red rose in the upper right-hand corner. On campus today, the only known active secret society is The Quaternion Club , although many are rumored to exist. Quaternion, which dates back to 1903, taps four juniors and four seniors each year in the late winter or early spring. The selection process is guarded but is thought to be controlled by current Quaternions currently in residence at

5400-605: The group had outlived its usefulness. However, rumors surrounding its continued, albeit modified, form exist today. Two current secret societies - the Trident Society and the Old Trinity Club - are both thought to have been founded in the wake of the disbanding of the Order of the Red Friars. The Old Trinity Club is rumored to have started when an editor-in-chief of the Duke Chronicle was passed up for membership and decided to create his own, rival society. The Old Trinity Club

5490-472: The groups are not connected organizationally. The organization would put out public addresses in 2001 and 2020, claiming several service activities and defending their existence. In 2013, and 2020, the Stewards were the subject of a series of leaks, indicating that undisclosed members of the organization were part of student government. The group has been criticized for pushing a conservative agenda on campus and for its exclusion of women. The Anak Society

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5580-427: The importance of the bells are still unknown. The Order of the Red Friars was founded in 1913 with the initial purpose of promoting school spirit. Later, the group changed its mission to focus more on fostering loyalty to Duke University. The Order, as it was colloquially known, was semi-secret. This is because the selection of new members, known as tapping, was held on the steps of Duke Chapel in broad daylight. As

5670-399: The individual may not be allowed to participate in ceremonies or even in social rituals such as marriage. A man will not be allowed to marry or have any special relationship with a woman who did not go to an initiation, because she is not considered to be a woman. Initiation may be thought of as an event which may help teens prepare themselves to be good husbands and wives. Where modernization

5760-502: The mid-1830s by students at Harvard University acting under the patronage of John Quincy Adams . Since the 1840s, Phi Beta Kappa has operated openly as an academic honor society . The spread of Phi Beta Kappa to different colleges and universities likely sparked the creation of such competing societies as Chi Phi (1824), Kappa Alpha Society (1825), and Sigma Phi Society (1827); many continue today as American collegiate social fraternities (and, later, sororities). Sigma Phi remains

5850-420: The northeastern States. Seniors at neighboring Wesleyan established a senior society, Skull & Serpent (1865), and a 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

5940-513: The oldest continuously operating national collegiate secret society; it may have declined the founding members of Skull & Bones a charter before they formed their society. A second line of development took place at Yale College , with the creation of Chi Delta Theta (1821) and Skull and Bones (1832): antecedents of what would become known as class societies. Skull & Bones aroused competition on campus, bringing forth Scroll and Key (1841), and later Wolf's Head (1883), among students in

6030-461: The order by the seven members of the White Duchy from the previous year. Members were known by the white carnation they wore on specific days of the year. Throughout the 1960s, both societies faced charges of elitism and struggled to tap students at an increasingly hostile university. In 1968, the White Duchy disbanded, and in 1971, the Order of the Red Friars was disbanded by alumni who determined that

6120-508: The other societies maintain secretive elements. According to the college, 25% of the senior class members join a senior society. The college's administration tracks membership and tapping lists, and differs from that of Yale's, though there are historical parallels between the two colleges' societies. Duke University has hosted several secret societies. The Tombs was founded in 1903. Its members were known to tie bells around their ankles. Details regarding its purpose, selection of members, and

6210-524: The person being initiated. Thus the concept of initiation is similar to that of apostolic succession . The initiation process is often likened to a simultaneous death and rebirth, because as well as being a beginning it also implies an ending as existence on one level drops away in an ascension to the next. Initiation is a key component of Judaism , Sufism and Shiism , Vaishnavism , Sant Mat , Surat Shabd Yoga , Vajrayana Buddhism , Wicca , and similar religious gnostic traditions. It denotes acceptance by

6300-502: The regular fraternities, there are Eastern college societies which draw members from only one of the undergraduate classes, and which have only a few features of the general fraternity system." From Wesleyan, the practice spread more widely across the Northeast, with full systems soon in place at Brown, Rutgers, and other institutions. Kappa Sigma Theta, Phi Theta Psi, Delta Beta Xi, Delta Sigma Phi, were all sophomore societies at Yale, and

6390-579: The sacred history of the world. And through this recapitulation, the whole world is sanctified anew... [the initiand] can perceive the world as a sacred work, a creation of the Gods." Eliade differentiates between types of initiations in two ways: types and functions. These can be broken into two types: In the study of certain social forms of initiation, such as hazing in college fraternities and sororities, laboratory experiments in psychology suggest that severe initiations produce cognitive dissonance . Dissonance

6480-605: The school. The initiation ritual and all group meetings take place in the Old College, the original building where James Furman taught the university's first courses in Greenville in 1851. Upon initiation, Quaternions are given lifetime access to this building which houses the controls for the 59 bell Burnside Carillon inside Furman's bell tower. Famous Quaternions have included U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley , South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford , and Clement Haynsworth ,

6570-553: The secret societies known to currently exist at the college are: The 7 Society , 13 Club, Alpha Club, Bishop James Madison Society , The Cord, Flat Hat Club , The Spades, W Society , and Wren Society . Three secret societies were formed at Columbia University : St. Anthony Hall (1847) and the Nacoms and Sachems (1898 and 1915, respectively). St. Anthony Hall is now a traditional fraternal organization and literary society that has ten other chapters, notably at Yale , Princeton , and

6660-399: 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 sophomore and freshman societies at Yale as well. A stable system of eight class societies (two competing chains of four class societies each)

6750-403: The strictest silence about its membership and mission. As such, its members are not well-known on campus. The secrecy around this group drove Samantha Lachman to investigate the society in 2013. Her subsequent article, "Trasked with Secrecy", revealed many of the secrets of the group. She discovered the names of several prominent members, that the red roses & white carnations sometimes found at

6840-508: The time of initiation when they were finally recognized as full-fledged men in their society. Most tribes had circumcision and scarification as part of the male initiation rituals, while many Central Australian tribes also practiced subincision . A salient shared cultural feature of the Min peoples of the New Guinea Highlands is initiation into a secret male religious cult. For example,

6930-586: The two large freshman societies of Delta Kappa and Kappa Sigma Epsilon lived until 1880. Delta Kappa established chapters at Amherst College , the University of North Carolina , University of Virginia , University of Mississippi , Dartmouth College , and Centre College . Kappa Sigma Epsilon had chapters at Amherst, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Dartmouth. Other class societies existed at Brown, Harvard, Syracuse, Colgate, Cornell, and other Northeastern institutions. At universities such as Colgate University, these secret societies have evolved and morphed over

7020-457: The usual sense, though it does have final clubs , fraternities , sororities , and a variety of other secret or semi-secret organizations. Final clubs 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, with approximately forty students per club. Guests are admitted under restrictions. "Punch Season" and

7110-524: The warriors had taken in battle, and was part of the initiation rites into adulthood. The Sande society in West Africa initiates girls into adulthood by rituals including female genital mutilation . Chinese boys, under the Rites of Zhou , initiate their adulthood when they are 20 years old (加冠) and girls when they are 15 (及笄). Yili (儀禮), a text in the chapter of the rites(?) (士冠禮) describes various details of

7200-459: The yearbooks and the Yale Daily News . One key concept in distinguishing secret societies from traditional fraternities and sororities is that, on campuses that have both kinds of organizations, one can be a member of both. That is, membership is not mutually exclusive. Usually, being a member of more than one traditional fraternity or sorority is not considered appropriate, because that member would have divided loyalties. However, typically, there

7290-488: The years went on, the rites of tapping became more elaborate; in the final and most traditional form of the rite, a red-hooded and robed figure publicly tapped new men into membership on the steps of the chapel. President Richard M. Nixon was a member of the order The Order of the White Duchy was founded in May 1925 by the Order of the Red Friars as an organization for outstanding females. From 1925 on, new members were tapped into

7380-492: The years. Theta Nu Epsilon spread to about 120 colleges and universities, but many of its chapters operated as three-year societies where a class-year society was inappropriate. It is from this class society's historical base and the desire to emulate the best-known of all the class societies, Skull & Bones, that senior societies in particular began to spread nationally between 1900 and 1930. Junior, sophomore, and freshman class societies also are to be found at campuses across

7470-618: The years. The John Addison Porter Prize , awarded annually since 1872, and in 1917 the endowment for the founding of the Yale University Press , which has funded the publication of The Yale Shakespeare and sponsored the Yale Younger Poets Series , are gifts from "Keys". The society's building, called a "tomb", was designed in the Moorish Revival style by Richard Morris Hunt and constructed in 1870. A later expansion

7560-507: Was a darker organization rumored to have operated on and off from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s, utilizing the unfinished attic of Judson dormitory for occult rituals. George Washington University president Stephen Joel Trachtenberg brought together student leaders from all parts of the university to create The Order of the Hippo as a way to support fellowship, make GW a better university, and behave in slightly frivolous ways. The secret society

7650-443: Was called The Star and Lamp; it is known today on more than 100 campuses as Pi Kappa Phi . Founded at The College of Charleston in 1904, Pi Kappa Phi operated "sub-rosa", or under the rose of secrecy, for much of the twentieth century to hide their activities from the university's Baptist administrators. During this time Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Tau Kappa Epsilon operated respectively as "The Centaur" and "The Knights Eternal" while

7740-455: Was completed in 1901. Architectural historian Patrick Pinnell includes an in-depth discussion of Keys' building in his 1999 history of Yale's campus, relating the then-notable cost overruns associated with the Keys structure and its aesthetic significance within the campus landscape. Pinnell's history shares the fact that the land was purchased from another Yale secret society, Berzelius (at that time,

7830-563: Was established by John Addison Porter , with aid from several members of the Class of 1842 (including Leonard Case Jr. and Theodore Runyon ) and a member of the Class of 1843 (William L. Kingsley), after disputes over elections to Skull and Bones Society . Kingsley is the namesake of the alumni organization, the Kingsley Trust Association (KTA), incorporated years after its founding. Lyman Hotchkiss Bagg wrote that "up until as recent

7920-506: Was in place by the late 1840s. Delta Kappa Epsilon is 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 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 other campuses in

8010-517: Was long accused of being involved with secret societies and covert activities due to anti-Catholic and nativist sentiments against the Irish and Italian immigrants it historically served. John Kelly , successor to Boss Tweed as Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall , was the nephew-in-law of Cardinal John McCloskey , the first president of Fordham, and many Fordham students and alumni were involved with Tammany Hall, including Edward Flynn , 20th-century chair of

8100-460: Was named after a bronze statue of a hippo, also known as the River Horse (sculpture) , displayed prominently in the center of campus. The Order takes its oath from a plaque located on the front of the hippo statue, which reads, "Art for wisdom, Science for joy, Politics for beauty, and a Hippo for hope." The Order has a ritual book, which is passed down from year to year and the main aim of the group

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