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80-575: The Bizango are secret societies active in Haiti. Many of their practices are associated with Haitian Vodou . They have been termed "one of the most important of the secret societies of Vodou". Bizango groups are widespread throughout Haiti, and play an important role as arbiters in peasant social life. The anthropologist Wade Davis reported that the Bizango were involved in poisoning individuals and then providing them with an antidote to leave them in

160-640: 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

240-565: A Catholic (or Christian or "white") form of Freemasonry . Other critics label Opus Dei as "Holy Mafia" or "Santa Mafia" The National Christian Association (1868–1983) is an example of an organization opposed to secret societies. Because some secret societies have political aims, they are illegal in several countries. Italy ( Constitution of Italy, Section 2, Articles 13–28 ) and Poland, for example, ban secret political parties and political organizations in their constitutions. Many student societies established on university campuses in

320-526: 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

400-423: 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,

480-586: 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,

560-711: A major role in Chinese affairs for centuries. They were a key aspect of the Anti-Qing sentiments of the 20th century. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, they were tacitly supported by and actively collaborated with the Nationalist government. Having played prominent roles in history, they were targeted by the anti-secret society campaigns of the newly established government of the People's Republic of China during

640-411: 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

720-518: 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

800-414: A pliant state, which he associated with zombification . In Davis' view, this was how the Bizango enforced their social codes against those who transgressed them. The Bizango's practice of capturing zombis is often taken as evidence of these societies' malevolent nature. In Haitian folklore, a recurring fear is that the Bizango can transform themselves into dogs or other animals, in which form they walk

880-447: A public presence. The exact qualifications for labeling a group a secret society are disputed, but definitions generally rely on the degree to which the organization insists on secrecy , and might involve the retention and transmission of secret knowledge, the denial of membership or knowledge of the group, the creation of personal bonds between members of the organization, and the use of secret rites or rituals which solidify members of

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960-748: 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

1040-485: 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

1120-566: 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

1200-501: 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,

1280-604: 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

1360-449: 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

1440-423: 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

1520-400: 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

1600-687: 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

1680-530: 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,

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1760-596: Is that of The Philomaths , which is now a legitimate academic association founded on a strict selection of its members. While their existence had been speculated for years, Internet-based secret societies first became known to the public in 2012 when Cicada 3301 began recruiting from the public via Internet-based puzzles. The goals of the society remain unknown, but it is believed to be involved in cryptography . The following contemporary and historic secret societies formed in Africa, by country: Secret societies played

1840-629: 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

1920-532: 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

2000-751: Is the secret society of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers . Notable examples in Canada include Episkopon at the University of Toronto 's Trinity College , and the Society of Thoth at the University of British Columbia . Secret societies are disallowed in a few colleges. The Virginia Military Institute has rules that no cadet may join a secret society, and secret societies have been banned at Oberlin College from 1847 to

2080-866: 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

2160-515: 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

2240-430: 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

2320-566: 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

2400-566: The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Seventh-day Adventists . California drought manipulation Collegiate secret societies 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

2480-642: 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

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2560-619: 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

2640-807: The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders , defines a secret society as an organization that: Historian Richard B. Spence of the University of Idaho offered a similar three-pronged definition: Spence also proposes a sub-category of "Elite Secret Societies" (composed of high-income or socially influential people) and notes that secret societies have a frequent if not universal tendency towards factionalism, infighting, and claiming origins older than can be reliably documented. Spence's definition includes groups traditionally thought of as secret societies ( Freemasons and Rosicrucians ) and other groups not so traditionally classified such as certain organized crime cabals (

2720-429: 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

2800-517: The group . Anthropologically and historically, secret societies have been deeply interlinked with the concept of the Männerbund, the all-male "warrior-band" or "warrior-society" of pre-modern cultures (see H. Schurtz, Alterklassen und Männerbünde , Berlin, 1902; A. Van Gennep , The Rites of Passage , Chicago, 1960). A purported "family tree of secret societies" has been proposed, although it may not be comprehensive. Alan Axelrod , author of

2880-537: 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

2960-731: The 1950s. Examples of Chinese secret societies include: Secret societies in India include: Secret societies in Japan include: Secret societies in Malaysia include: Secret societies in the Philippines include: Secret societies in Australia include: Several secret societies existing across Europe, including: Other organizations are listed by country. Secret societies in Canada that are non-collegiate include: Secret societies in

3040-439: 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

3120-422: 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

3200-862: The 19th century. British universities have a long history of secret societies or quasi-secret clubs, such as The Pitt Club at Cambridge University , Bullingdon Club at Oxford University , the Kate Kennedy Club , The Kensington Club and the Praetorian Club at the University of St Andrews , and the 16' Club at St David's College . Another British secret society is the Cambridge Apostles , founded as an essay and debating society in 1820. Not all British universities host solely academic secret societies; both The Night Climbers of Cambridge and The Night Climbers of Oxford require both brains and brawn. In France, Vandermonde

3280-588: The Exam Ethics Project lobby group estimated that 115 students and teachers had been killed between 1993 and 2003. The Mandatory Monday Association is thought to operate out of a variety of Australian universities including the Australian Defence Force Academy . The Association has numerous chapters that meet only on Mondays to discuss business and carry out rituals. The only secret society abolished and then legalized

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3360-470: 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

3440-609: 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

3520-636: The Mafia ), religious groups ( Order of Assassins and Thelema ) and political movements ( Bolsheviks and Black Dragon Society ). Historian Jasper Ridley says that Freemasonry is "the world's most powerful secret Society". The organization " Opus Dei " ( Latin for "Work of God") is portrayed as a "secret society" of the Catholic Church . Critics such as the Jesuit Wladimir Ledóchowski sometimes refer to Opus Dei as

3600-490: 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

3680-578: 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

3760-542: The United States have been considered secret societies. Perhaps one of the most famous secret collegiate societies is Skull and Bones at Yale University . The influence of undergraduate secret societies at colleges such as Harvard College , Cornell University , Florida State University , Dartmouth College , Emory University , the University of Chicago , the University of Virginia , Georgetown University , New York University , and Wellesley College has been publicly acknowledged, if anonymously and circumspectly, since

3840-574: The United States that are non-collegiate include: The Catholic Church strongly opposed secret societies, especially the Freemasons . It did relent somewhat in the United States and allowed membership in labour unions and the Knights of Columbus , but not the Masons. Some Christian denominations continue to forbid their members from joining secret societies in the 21st century. Others example,

3920-449: 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

4000-466: 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

4080-665: 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

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4160-495: 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

4240-454: 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

4320-528: 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

4400-462: 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

4480-619: 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

4560-472: 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

4640-427: 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

4720-502: 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

4800-420: 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

4880-513: 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

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4960-467: 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

5040-508: 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

5120-478: The present, and at Princeton University since the beginning of the 20th century. Confraternities in Nigeria are secret-society-like student groups within higher education, some of which have histories of violence and organized crime. The exact death toll from confraternity activities is unclear. One estimate in 2002 was that 250 people had been killed in campus cult-related murders in the previous decade, while

5200-507: 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

5280-617: 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 ,

5360-557: 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

5440-399: 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)

5520-399: The streets at night. Secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain

5600-403: 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

5680-586: 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

5760-457: 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

5840-522: 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

5920-491: 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

6000-492: 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

6080-511: 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

6160-443: 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

6240-506: 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

6320-521: 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

6400-466: 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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