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Collegiate secret societies in North America
There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate secret society makes a significant effort to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public.
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 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 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 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 sees to it that an annual initiation 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. Historically, most collegiate secret societies were open only to white males, although this began to change in the late 20th century with a greater emphasis being placed on diversity. Many societies also limit their membership to a specific small number and recruit members at the end of their junior year. Most societies maintain secrecy, even at the alumni level, regarding membership, rituals, and traditions. Extensive mortuary imagery is associated with many secret societies, maintaining a pretense of great seriousness. Their clubhouses are often called "tombs", based on a tradition started at Yale University.
Some historic secret societies are now considered honorary or senior societies. Phi Beta Kappa is the best-known 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 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, 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 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.
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Collegiate secret societies in North America
There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate secret society makes a significant effort to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public.
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 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 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 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 sees to it that an annual initiation 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. Historically, most collegiate secret societies were open only to white males, although this began to change in the late 20th century with a greater emphasis being placed on diversity. Many societies also limit their membership to a specific small number and recruit members at the end of their junior year. Most societies maintain secrecy, even at the alumni level, regarding membership, rituals, and traditions. Extensive mortuary imagery is associated with many secret societies, maintaining a pretense of great seriousness. Their clubhouses are often called "tombs", based on a tradition started at Yale University.
Some historic secret societies are now considered honorary or senior societies. Phi Beta Kappa is the best-known 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 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, 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 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.