Greeks and Secret Societies
 

My campus is semi-known for having a lot of secret societies, especially for our size. We have at least 4 major ones that are "active," and probably more that are just more successful at keeping their society an actual secret. I was talking to a friend of mine about Greeks being in secret societies. Her org. does not allow collegiate members to be members of secret societies because there could potentially be a conflict of interest. Mine, to my knowledge, does not have any such policy. I can see both sides as having pros/cons.

So I'm curious about your thoughts on this. Were secret societies popular on your campus? Did you have brothers/sisters in them? Do you think membership in this type of organization could cause a conflict of interest?

I think if you do a search of "secret society/ies" in thread titles (or look at the box below), you'll find other threads on the subject.

Thanks MysticCat! I had actually seen those earlier today, which is what sparked my post. Those threads seem to be about secret societies in general. I'm more interested in what people think of the notion that membership in a secret society might somehow compromise your allegiance to your Greek organization. I haven't found a thread like that on GC, but that doesn't mean it's not out there! :) If I missed it in my search, please let me know!! Otherwise, I'd love to hear what people think about this!

I'm sure if the secret societies are a big deal on campus that her org lets it go. And duh...they're secret, so how would her HQ know she was in it anyway?

Members of secret societies, at least the ones on my campus, usually wear a specific article of clothing or jewelry to signify membership. Some are more secretive than others, but their purpose and activities are secret, hence secret societies.

Hmmm. In the collegiate secret societies with which I'm familiar, membership is secret -- or at least not advertised. That is to say, you might informally know (or guess) that your friend was inducted into the society, but membership lists are not published and members do not publically acknowledge that they are members -- at least not until long after they leave school. One group I know of keeps all membership records secret for 50 years, so you won't be acknowledged as a member of the group until you're in your 70s . . . or dead.

The ones at Yale have their own buildings in prominent locations, and you can see anybody walking in the front door...the secret part is what the society is all about and what they do in their (windowless) building.
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Art On The Hill Condo

True. I probably should have been a little more specific and said that in most of the collegiate secret socities I'm familiar with, membership is secret.

I feel like a Greek letter organization which forbids its members from belonging to secret societies needs to read up on the Greek movement in general. Neither of my organizations forbid it and I would have a major problem if they did.

My campus has at least two secret societies for men and at least one for women. The latter was SO SECRET that I didn't know it existed until this past summer when I was visiting with a friend and APO brother who was a member.

The organizations which exist(ed) on my campus basically believe in service and/or philanthropy "in stealth." As far as the group for women, they are SO STEALTHY that there are some projects on campus which people assume to have been performed by the men. As my friend told me "Come on -- do you really think boys could do that?"

In the early to mid-1990s, there was some controversy (to say the least) about whether my APO chapter had been used as a breeding ground for members of one of the male secret societies. There were campus editorials, threats of lawsuits, and more. We eventually got over it, but there are still hurt feelings about it to this day.

I am not a member of a secret society, but I don't knock the hustle.

I see your point completely. Not all secret societies are the same, though. There is the case of Theta Nu Epsilon, which has been discussed on GC before. I think many, many fraternities and sororities banned their members from joining Theta Nu Epsilon.