Collegiate Secret Societies
There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their levels of secrecy and independence from their universities. As the term is used in this article, a secret society is a collegiate society where significant effort is made to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public.
Some collegiate secret societies are referred to as 'class societies', which restrict membership to one class year. Most class societies are restricted to the senior class, and are therefore also called senior societies on many campuses.
Read more about Collegiate Secret Societies: Categorization, History, List of Notable North American Collegiate Secret Societies, Bibliography
Famous quotes containing the words secret and/or societies:
“It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but only retire from sight and afterwards return again.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The mere fact of leaving ultimate social control in the hands of the people has not guaranteed that men will be able to conduct their lives as free men. Those societies where men know they are free are often democracies, but sometimes they have strong chiefs and kings. ... they have, however, one common characteristic: they are all alike in making certain freedoms common to all citizens, and inalienable.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)