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I read this in From Here to Fraternity, a mediocre book about Greek life by Robert Egan
"UVA, designed by Thomas Jefferson, is one of the country's most beautiful campuses, buth what strikes a visitor most is not the classically styled red brick buildings, but the symbols 7, Z, and IMP painted all over them. They remain there, not because UVA is too busy to sandblast them, but because UVA is a very Greek and a very tradition-minded school, and they are the symbols for its most traditional and exclusive secret societies.
No one knows who the 7s are. (They might even be graduates.) All they know is that when one dies, the chapel bell rings seven times in the middle of the night. Rumor also has it that when the group makes a donation to a chairity or the school, the numbers are always in sevens (i.e.,$7,777.77).
The Zs and IMPs are less secretive (their names are published and they wear initialed rings), but no one knows exactly what they do. It is knowns that 1. most members are either Greeks or distinguished independents; 2. whenever Z is mentioned, any Zs present must leave the room; 3. the IMPs 'tap' their members by going to their houses in davil costumes, carrying tridents; and 4. any frathouse with a Z or IMP painted on the front has one or more members of that group in it."
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"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O, Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." - Voltaire
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