A small group of students recently received provisional approval from the administration to form a seventh senior society, the first new society since Phoenix gained recognition in 1982.
The new society, named Griffin, will become the first anonymous, coeducational senior society on campus. According to one of its founding members, who asked to remain anonymous, Griffin's purpose is to "integrate."
The students who originally formed the society tapped an eclectic group of about 30 other members of the Class of 1996 last week to fill out Griffin's membership, according to the source.
"In addition to campus leaders, the founding delegation counts athletic, artistic, academic and altruistic talent, as well as the less traceable qualities of fellowship, humor and good cheer among its membership," the source said.
According to the founding member, Griffin "is headed by a single purpose, which is the integration of the various corners of the Dartmouth campus."
The mission of the new senior society is "to improve the quality of life at the College and enrich the Dartmouth experience of its membership," the source said.
The society's membership will be anonymous, the source said, because "we wish to promote the mission of the society and not the society itself."
However, "should the members of the society ever wish to discard its anonymity, it will do so," the source added.
The idea to form Griffin originated last year, according to Dean of Residential Life Mary Turco.
Turco said the group of students approached administrators last spring to discuss the possibility of creating a seventh senior society.
Turco said she felt "the creation of another coed organization would be a good thing."
The Griffin member said Turco consulted with her colleagues and the administration then granted Griffin "provisional" recognition this summer for one year, at the end of which the society will pursue permanent College recognition.
Turco confirmed that the College had granted provisional recognition to Griffin.
The recognition of Griffin means that "there is one more student organization, and a particular part of its mission will be to perform a service project to benefit the Dartmouth community," Turco said.
The source said one of Griffin's contributions to the community will be a "year-long service project."
The source said this year's seniors will then tap new members in February at the same time as the other six senior societies.
The source said even though the members of the society will remain anonymous, they can still publicly contribute to the College and maintain open lines of communication with the administrators.
"It doesn't hide its mission from the student body and faculty," the student said.
Turco said there is no physical location set aside for Griffin, but she anticipates the society will petition for one at some point.
Griffin's founding members chose Associate Admissions Director Betsy Winslow to be one of its two advisers. The source said Griffin is currently seeking a male co-adviser, but has not selected him yet.
As Griffin's adviser, Winslow said she will provide members with advice and guidance, will supervise their activities and will help them to come up with project ideas.
Winslow said she wanted to become an adviser because the group "both in writing and verbally stressed the fact that this will be an opportunity for men and women to relate and support each other."
"They have indicated that there will be a service project of some sort -- a giving back to the College," she said. She added that the students who "approached me were some that I knew and respected."
Senior societies have been at Dartmouth since 1886, when the first, Sphinx, was created. Sphinx is an all-male secret senior society, as is Dragon, which was founded in 1898. Casque and Gauntlet and Fire and Skoal are coed, and their memberships are public. Cobra and Phoenix are all-female secret societies.
