Everyone is aware of secret societies at Dartmouth, whether they are in one, have friends in them or pass the Sphinx Tomb on the way to the gym. A fairly large proportion of our senior class, almost a quarter, is involved in them. Dating back to 1783 with the formation of the first class societies, Dartmouth's system has since grown to 10 senior societies, with eight of them secret.
The range of societies on campus includes those that exist to develop alumni networks and welcome alumni back to campus in their incredible physical plants. Some groups simply enjoy each other's company at weekly pub crawls, and a few have clearly defined agendas in their dedication to community service or even in reforming the administration. In the past few months, there has been a resurgence of senior societies sponsoring events and reaching out to campus. However, there is still much more that these well-funded groups could be doing, given their diverse pool of talent and leadership that bridges campus communities and alumni networks.
Some societies, like the Phrygian Society, which was exposed in the pages of The Dartmouth last term, have political goals in mind as they support conservative trustee candidates and push administrative reforms in targeted alumni mailings. Palaeopitus started as a secret society but opened up to campus 100 years ago to better pursue its mission of service to students and the administration. While other societies have faced the same pressures and gone temporarily public, some remain in a limbo that stalls any work towards a more expansive mission. The rest of the secret societies don't seem to have campus agendas and are not so much into serving students and administrators; rather, they are social networking organizations that occasionally branch out into the campus at large.
Recently, I've noticed societies stepping up, sponsoring activities and getting involved in the campus public arena. For example, during Dartmouth Wellness Week, one society planned and executed an entire dinner event, even going so far as to rotate shifts managing the dinner. Just last week, the "Sphinx Foundation," unaffiliated with the College, sponsored a well-attended lecture by Dartmouth History Professor Emeritus Jere Daniell about Dartmouth's founding and early years. Professor Daniell, advertising the lecture at a previous event I attended, expressed surprise that the group was opening up, though definitely conveyed it was a good thing for campus.
More importantly, senior societies are rousing the imaginations of the newest members of the Dartmouth community. During the most recent Dimensions weekend, I was asked to lead an "After Dark Tour," sponsored by the admissions office. First we explored the Lone Pine and observatory by flashlight, telling the prospective freshmen stories of favorite Dartmouth figures and the more mysterious traditions. Arriving at Casque and Gauntlet, the group was instantly attracted to the story of Dartmouth's senior societies, and questioning went from "What kind of community service do you do?" to something like "Is it true you all carry swords around campus under your cloaks and control the campus?" How great would it be if societies took advantage of this fascination and welcomed select incoming students to campus with orientation programming, or even grants and scholarships to help them through their Dartmouth transition?
Later, a group of all-female society members organized a stop in Rauner Library, complete with a multimedia presentation to discuss the history of women at Dartmouth -- a topic fitting for groups originally formed to encourage solidarity amongst the early classes of women at the College. Senior societies represent and carry on some of the oldest traditions at the College, and have a unique position to educate the rest of the campus, perhaps in pamphlets, books or other mediums that need not expose them to the public spotlight, yet immensely benefit the campus.
Societies can maintain their veil of secrecy while benefiting campus in larger ways than they do now, whether in channeling alumni donations to scholarships for underclassmen, holding events on campus through proxies or even making their voices heard in the pages of The Dartmouth and other media outlets. In the end, I feel that this will bring an entirely new and interesting dimension to campus life.
