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#6 Collegiate Clubs

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Last updated over 1 year ago
17 questions
The Delphic Club
Skull and Bones
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Question 1
00:26
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Question 2
00:49
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Question 3
00:57
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Question 4
01:27
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Question 5
01:34
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Question 6
01:58
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Question 7
04:23
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Question 8
05:51
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Question 9
06:02
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Question 10
08:00
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What is Skull and Bones?

It’s the oldest and most impenetrable of Yale University’s several “secret societies,” a fraternal club ostensibly dedicated to forging young men (and now women) into leaders in all walks of American life. Only 15 students are selected for membership each year. For much of the society’s history, the chosen few were the elite of the elite—top athletes, campus newspaper editors, the leaders of student organizations, wealthy scions of high breeding. The 2,600 “Bones” alumni include President William Howard Taft, diplomat W. Averell Harriman, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, Time magazine founder Henry Luce, conservative patriarch William F. Buckley Jr., both Presidents Bush, and Sen. John Kerry. This elite roster, coupled with its persistent secrecy, has bred intense speculation about the group’s power to determine world events.
Question 11
11.

How did it get started?

The group was founded in 1832, by a Yale senior named William Russell. At the time, hush-hush fraternal organizations like the Masons were all the rage in the U.S. But the Masons’ popularity and power generated a backlash among people who resented their elitism; dark rumors arose about the group’s secret rituals. Anti-Masonic sentiment grew so strong, in fact, that Phi Beta Kappa, the national academic honor association, distanced itself by renouncing its own oath of secrecy. Offended that Phi Beta Kappa would succumb to such populist passions, Russell responded by forming an even more secret society with 14 other students. He called it the Eulogian Club, after the Greek goddess of eloquence. The Eulogians adopted as their symbol a foreboding death’s-head, and that skull and bones eventually became the society’s name.
Question 12
12.

Is there an initiation ceremony?

Yes, though for decades it was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, rumors circulated that initiates were stripped, beaten, and forced to lie in a coffin while relating their sexual history, thus baring their souls to their new comrades. But as Alexandra Robbins related in her 2002 book Secrets of the Tomb, the modern-day ceremony is far less dramatic—and far more sophomoric. Initiates are led to the group’s unmarked, Greco-Egyptian vault, in New Haven, where the clocks run five minutes fast. There, in rooms filled with shabby furniture, stuffed animals, and old engravings, they are met by members dressed as outlandish figures, like the devil and Don Quixote. At various points they are blindfolded, jostled violently, given a secret oath, and forced to drink “blood” (some say it’s Kool-Aid, others Gatorade) from a skull called a “Yorick.” Eventually, the neophytes kiss the toe of a member dressed as the pope and are dubbed “Knights of Eulogia.”
Question 13
13.

Why do they do this?

It’s all part of the bonding process. “It was an opportunity to build friendships with 14 people whom I otherwise wouldn’t have come across in college years,” one member told Robbins. The camaraderie is reinforced by weekly meetings and bizarre traditions. Bonesmen refer to nonmembers as “barbarians,” employ cryptic references to the club’s totemic number of 322, and deliberately leave the room if any barbarian mentions their society’s name. Bonesmen vow to take care of their brothers after Yale, as they move into positions of wealth and power. Some say a Bonesman, once initiated, is virtually guaranteed wealth and security for life.
Question 14
14.

Is that true?

Not exactly, but the Bones has served as one of the nation’s most effective old-boy networks. President George W. Bush stands as a case in point. He partly bankrolled his first oil company, as well as his run for Texas governor, with loans and donations from fellow Bonesmen. Five of them, including SEC head William Donaldson, now serve in his administration. It’s this tight web of influence that has fueled a host of conspiracy theories.
Question 15
15.

Such as?

It’s whispered, for instance, that Skull and Bones helped underwrite Hitler’s rise to power. In fact, Hitler’s financier once stashed $3 million in the Union Banking Corp., whose directors included Prescott Bush, father of the first President Bush and a Bonesman himself. Similarly, several Bonesmen in the FDR administration, including Secretary of War Henry Stimson, were key players in the Manhattan Project; from this, some have deduced that the dropping of the atomic bomb was a Bonesmen plot. The society has also been blamed for the Bay of Pigs fiasco and for plunging the U.S. into Vietnam—because Bonesmen like William and McGeorge Bundy held prominent foreign-policy posts during the Kennedy and Johnson years.
Question 16
16.

So does the society run the world?

Not quite. It’s true that Bonesmen have occupied top-tier positions at an impressive array of powerful institutions, like the CIA, the Council on Foreign Relations, Morgan Stanley, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Federal Reserve. But the same could be said of Yalies in general, or Harvard graduates, or other Ivy Leaguers. And in future years, Skull and Bones is likely to be far less influential than it has been in the past.
Question 17
17.

Question 1
1.
Members of Ivy League secret societies are often considered to be the _______ among the _______ and many secret societies members go on to become _______ .
Question 2
2.

Question 3
3.
Three core reasons why someone would choose to join a secret society include _______ , _______ , and _______ .
Question 4
4.

Question 5
5.
Many Ivy League secret societies started at a time when Americans were growing suspicious of other secret societies like the _______ .
Question 6
6.

Question 7
7.

List four reasons why Ian Smith was shocked when he was asked to join a secret society at Harvard in 1988.

Question 8
8.

Explain how being a member of an Ivy League secret society gives you a long-term advantage in life.

Question 9
9.

Question 10
10.

Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
Skull and Bones only selects 15 members per year but has over 2,600 alumni from over the years.
We believe that many powerful people have been members of Skull and Bones but no one knows their true identities.
Most of the people who are chosen to be part of Skull and Bones are those who are campus leaders and members of wealthy and powerful families.
Skull and Bones is a secret society at Yale University.
Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
Skull and Bones was called the Eulogian Club at its founding.
Skull and Bones was established at a time when many Americans were skeptical of secret societies.
Skull and Bones has been in existence for almost 200 years.
Skull and Bones was originally affiliated with the Freemasons.
Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
There is an initiation process to get into Skull and Bones.
We know for sure what all of the initiation processes have been over the years.
A 2002 book claims that new members are forced to drink "blood" (which is not actually blood).
The Skull and Bones initiation process has changed over the years.
Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
Nonmembers are referred to as barbarians.
Once they leave Yale, members of Skull and Bones never speak to each other again.
Skull and Bones members meet weekly and have strange traditions.
Some say that being a member of Skull and Bones means you are guaranteed security and wealth for life.
Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
Skull and Bones members tried to help George W Bush run for Texas governor but were blocked by the federal government.
Former president George W Bush belonged to Skull and Bones.
George W Bush gave at least five high-level government jobs to Skull and Bones members.
Members of Skull and Bones helped George W Bush start his first oil company.
Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
Some people believe that Skull and Bones helped Hitler rise to power.
No one has ever been able to prove that there was a connection between Hitler's regime and Skull and Bones.
Some Skull and Bones members were part of the Manhattan Project, the group responsible for developing the atomic bomb.
Some Skull and Bones members were in the JFK administration and helped plan U.S. strategy for the Vietnam War.
Select the statement that is NOT TRUE.
Many Skull and Bones members hold influential positions in powerful institutions.
Many Yale graduates, even those not in Skull and Bones, hold influential positions in powerful positions.
Yale is the only Ivy League school with secret societies or powerful graduates.
It is believed that being a member of Skull and Bones will be less influential in the future.
Other examples of secret societies include the earliest version of Christianity, the Freemasons, and the Mafia.
True
False
George W Bush and his father were both members of Yale's most famous secret society Skull and Bones.
True
False
Most Ivy League secret societies were created for white men from established and wealthy families.
True
False
The Harvard Delphic Club is believed to have been founded by JP Morgan, one of the richest men in the world in the late 19th century.
True
False
Harvard University encourages secret societies on campus.
True
False