Bush, Paul Giamatti, John Kerry, David McCullough, William F. Trivia: Senator Joe Lieberman was invited but declined a tap and joined senior society Elihu instead.ДЇamous Members: George H.W. Some say it's for March 22, others think it pays homage to the death year of the Greek orator Demosthenes, and still others believe it refers to the year it was founded, in 1832. Weird Rumor: Skull and Bones is associated with the numbers 322, although legends abound as to what the numbers mean. It's by no-means Yale's only secret society: others include Scroll & Key, Wolf's Head, and St. Bonesmen, as they're known, aren't only men-women were admitted in 1992, and new classes are reportedly ethnically diverse, putting paid to the popular notion of an old boys' club. Once initiated, members meet twice a week thereafter. Each year, 15 new members receive a knock at their doors on 'Tap Day' with an invitation to join-although there's also a Pre-Tap, akin to Greek rush, where prospective members find out whether they're likely to be accepted (and societies find out who's likely to reject their offer). Weird Rumor: During initiation week, new members are passed down a staircase, the men naked, the women in their underwear.ДЇamous Members: Lauren Bush-Lauren, James Baker, Woodrow Wilson, Michael Lewis.ДЄ tomb on New Haven's High Street holds America's most famous secret society, Skull and Bones. As a result, eating clubs like Ivy operate above ground. Trivia: Secret Societies are officially banned at Princeton, a decree going back to Woodrow Wilson. As of the late 1990s, when the New York Times wrote an extensive piece on the group, membership cost $5,660 per year, which includes entrГ©e into not just the club's three-story brick mansion behind iron gates on Prospect Avenue, but also one of the most powerful alumni networks in the world. All 130 men and women vote, and if even one rejects the candidate, he is 'hosed,' in Ivy Club parlance. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, prospective candidates must sit for 10 rigorous one-on-one interviews before undergoing the blackballing process. Senior societies at Princeton are known as 'eating clubs,' and the most elite by far is the Ivy Club. From Princeton to Cornell, here's your guide behind the curtain of the secret societies (and exclusive clubs) of the Ivy League. Some are so clandestine and tight-lipped that we were barely able to gather information (despite knowing members personally), while others take the word 'secret' as a casual suggestion, focusing more on the 'society' aspect. Whatever the outcome, there's no denying the enduring appeal and mystique of these secret societies, at least one of which-Yale's Skull and Bones ( above)-is a household name. However, in a world where both students and faculty are increasingly sensitive to accusations of sexism, racism, and classism, the question remains: is there still a place for these societies? When Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana sent a letter this spring to university President Drew Faust calling its storied men-only clubs antiquated and exclusionary, it triggered a passionate debate about the place, if any, privileged single-sex clubs like Harvard's Porcellian and Dartmouth's Sphinx have in the modern Ivy League.ДЄfter all, as long as there have been students enrolled at elite institutions, there have been secret societies-often male-only-practicing wild initiation rituals, carrying out elaborate pranks, and employing metaphorical velvet ropes to keep out the riff-raff.

Skull and bones member list