<p>Yale juniors were recently tapped by secret senior societies (Skull & Bones, Book & Snake, Scroll & Key, etc.). Does anyone know if the societies are so secret that if our junior has been tapped, he couldn't tell us? Thanks for any insights!</p>
<p>secret society!?!?!</p>
<p>Ask, maybe? You know your kid.</p>
<p>Yes, but if it’s truly secret, would a tap even admit to being in one?</p>
<p>Unless there has been a huge change in recent years, the answer is no. Some of what goes on in some of the societies is supposed to be secret (really mainly only Bones, Key, and Wolf’s Head), but the membership has never been secret. Old yearbooks have pictures of that year’s class in each society. The tapping has always been semi-public. (In olden days, the whole Junior class stood out in the Old Campus, so everyone saw who was tapped by whom. That hasn’t happened for a long time, but a lot of the tapping happens in public.) Bones members are supposed to be ultra-prissy about any discussion of the society, but among my cohort that was more honored in the breach than in the observance, and I’m sure it never extended to not telling your parents that you had been tapped.</p>
<p>“…but among my cohort…”
…well, that’s cool. I didn’t know that about you.</p>
<p>YALE HAS SECRET SOCIETIES??? WHAT?!? Why did nobody ever mention this on this board before?!?</p>
<p><em>high fives southeasttitan</em></p>
<p>Ivy Gate Blog dot com will run profiles on all of those who are tapped. Usually, the headline will be something like, “Look for these people to be particularly smug this week…”</p>
<p>Also, as far as I know, the Rumpus has been printing the names for years now. Remember Benjamin Franklin’s quote about secrets?</p>
<p>My kid used to tell me that “so and so” was in this society or that society. What’s the point of being chosen if other people don’t know it in terms of the prestige factor? My kid wished that Yale didn’t have secret societies even though she loved Yale.</p>
<p>Yale and the secret societies. That is one thing that everyone should know</p>
<p>Just to be clear – I wasn’t in any secret society. By “my cohort” I was referring to my contemporaries, some of whom of course were. I had one good friend (and several other more distant ones) in Bones; he maintained a pretty good balance between not blabbing about it and not antagonizing everyone else he knew by refusing to acknowledge that it was part of his life. As it happened, three of my closest friends were in one not-very-secret-at-all society. There were only a few hours per week when nonmember friends like me weren’t welcome to hang out with them in their clubhouse, and their membership didn’t affect our friendship at all. </p>
<p>I knew at least a couple of people at all of the societies except one – and I think most reasonably social people had similar ties. The Yale societies, at least back then, were pretty democratic. All of them had some pure legacies, but most of the members were there because they were nice, outgoing, leader types and interesting people, regardless of wealth or class background, who (unlike me) wanted to be members. The societies were all a little precious and weird – and involved a lot of getting drunk on school nights. The vast majority of students didn’t care one way or the other about them.</p>
<p>As for places like Bones or Key: If your son were a legitimate candidate for getting tapped there, you would know it. Essentially, there were three categories of members: legacies, officeholders (Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Daily News, football team captain, Whiffs pitch), and very public talents (singers, actors, politicians, pranksters) who had generally mounted some sort of long-term campaign to get noticed and tapped.</p>
<p>“and involved a lot of getting drunk on school nights.”</p>
<p>Still sounds a lot like a frat, but just one limited to seniors who are of those three categories.</p>
<p>I will just note as contrast to JHS’s experience (which I think may be roughly contemporary with mine), that I didn’t know a single person that I knew for a fact was in any of the secret societies, and they basically never impinged on my consciousness much at all.</p>
<p>JHS, are women ever tapped for Bones or the other longer-established societies?</p>
<p>is it possible to enlarge ones chances to get in such a society at all? I mean, if somebody wants to get in somewhere can he do anything about it?</p>
<p>Sure - as JHS said, become editor-in-chief of the YDN. </p>
<p>And riverrunner, yes, women do get tapped.</p>
<p>Yeah, Hunt and I seem to have overlapped a bit. I guess I was more of a social butterfly.</p>
<p>I believe that all of the societies are co-ed now. All of them were co-ed 30 years ago except Bones, Key, and Wolf’s Head.</p>
<p>Some non-legacy strategies for getting tapped 30 years ago:</p>
<p>– As Booklady said, become Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Daily News, or captain of the football team, or pitch or business manager of the Whiffenpoofs
– Be an Olympic athlete, even in an obscure sport
– Set Ivy records for receptions and touchdowns scored
– In general, be an acknowledged leader on a large athletic team, even if you are not a big star
– Be the really sexy, cool gay guy on the Whiffs who does all the exciting solos (or the female equivalent)
– Be an establishment campus politician who sucks up to powerful officers of the university administration who are members of one of the societies
– Be an attractive, sexy, exotic rebel political leader who doesn’t take himself too seriously
– Be president of any large, established campus organization, like the Glee Club, Dwight Hall, or the Dramat (The Liberal Party didn’t count, though. The Party of the Right may have.)
– Be the boyfriend or girlfriend of a member from the class ahead of you
– Be good friends with a number of members from the class ahead of you (It is especially helpful if you take a year off to make this work.)
– Perform a series of large, outrageous, clever public pranks over a period of years
– Be great at anything and be recognized for it
– Be a really nice, smart, laid-back person who does a lot of different things and knows a lot of people</p>
<p>Some things were irrelevant, like grades. Conspicuous displays of wealth were a complete no-no (although maybe that has changed). Being a jerk, or taking yourself too seriously, or being too craven in your sucking-up to the members of the class ahead of you could negate any positive qualification.</p>
<p>Also, people often said “no”, although usually if a society was interested in anyone who they thought might decline the invitation, the person was sounded out in advance.</p>
<p>Another way to be tapped – know someone who was in one of the societies and wants to see you in it.</p>
<p>Yes, they let women in Skull and Bones. But it was a huge, huge deal when women broke the glass ceiling there and let’s just say that change did not come graciously.</p>
<p>JHS, thanks for the highly amusing list. You never fail to entertain. Why can’t I just admit that when I need a lift, I just take a stroll through your recent posts? The remark about the unfortunate Princeton black and orange was priceless, on the heels of your cogent analysis of Princeton’s stengths. Do you also have a blog somewhere, or is this it?</p>