-Caveat Lector- --Bush, who attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., had friends ranging from prep school students to international students who came to Yale on financial aid. Roy Austin '68, a Davenport student, was one of these friends, as he came to Yale from Saint Vincent and The Grenadines. One classmate said Austin was difficult to relate to for many because of he was significantly older than other Yale students in the class of 1968, but Bush had no problem forging a friendship. Austin also said that he experienced some discrimination at Yale, but never any from Bush. "I think he is a very nice person, as many people seem to realize," Austin said. "He could get along with anybody, and maybe that is why I was able to get along with him." The fact that Austin and Bush were in the same senior society, Skull and Bones, of course helped their friendship along. And according to Dieter, Bush spent much of his senior year at Skull and Bones. Here Bush also forged a strong relationship with Donald Etra '68, who again commented on Bush's willingness to interact with anyone and not restrict himself to either the jock side or the intellectual side of the college. Etra was a big consumer advocate and worked with current presidential candidate Ralph Nader when he left college, and he is also a criminal defense lawyer, often representing people on death row. And yet, despite his strong political differences with Bush, he still is supporting him in the presidential election. "I wrote a letter to the whole class [encouraging support for Bush] because I think George has a terrific track record for what he did in Texas," Etra said. "I was incredibly impressed with the relationship he has established between Texas and Mexico, especially compared to the California relationship with Mexico." Etra added that the letter led many in the class to contribute to Bush's campaign, and that the class has been very supportive. But while Bush spent all this time forging friendships in the class and getting to know people, he did not spend much time hitting the books. "He's not an academic kind of person," said Dieter, who is a professor of criminal law and trial advocacy at the University of Colorado.-- ===== -- http://www.med.yale.edu/yaxis/res_coll.html The exception to the rule of residential college-sponsored social events are the fraternities and secret societies which will throw an occasional mixer. Due to the strength of the college system, fraternities and sororities have traditionally been absent from Yale but the last few years have seen a strong resurgence in Greek activity. Most weekends will find one or more frats throwing a party; good ones include the Zeta Psi Buffet Bash and Sigma Nu's Octoberfest. And everyone should experience the hedonism of DKE Tang at least once. With colorful names like "Skull and Bones," "Book and Snake," and "Wolf's Head," the secret societies (unof cially, seven in all) are housed in those windowless, tomb-like buildings which you may see here and there around campus. Membership in each is limited to 12 15 seniors, most of whom are prominent and accomplished members of the class. Although membership in societies is supposed to be secret, it is also a status symbol and provides access to a valuable "old boy" network of society alums (ask George Bush about "Skull and Bones"). Society members usually throw one or two often-extravagant parties per year in their exotic tombs, but the invite-only policy tends to be strictly enforced. ===== http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/Article.asp?type=live&AID=14002 Published Wednesday, December 13, 2000 Secret societies add to Yale mystique BY ALICE DONG Contributing Reporter Founded in the early 19th century, the secret societies at Yale have since been a trademark of the University. As has been tradition since 1832, when Skull and Bones, Yale's first secret society, was founded, a select group of prominent juniors are initiated into this underground world annually. But unlike Tap Night for freshmen, there are no loud celebrations on Old Campus or whole-hearted congratulations from friends. New members are instead whisked away in the silence of the night; they are sworn to secrecy about the world they are about to enter. This underground world was built at a time when students were looking for a stronger sense of a close-knit community at Yale. The need for societies During the early years at Yale, students were looking to distinguish themselves in the highly regulated atmosphere. At the time, all were required to live in the same building, eat in the same dining hall, perform chores together and to live relatively similar lives. Amongst the organizations established at Yale during that time was Phi Beta Kappa. Upon initiation to Phi Beta Kappa, members were sworn to secrecy. "During the 1830s to 1850s, there was a great fad for secret societies," history professor Gaddis Smith said. During that period America consisted of "mobile societies. ... People felt uprooted; they were looking for roots and a sense of community." When administrators at Harvard found out about Phi Beta Kappa, they sent a representative named Edward Everett, a Unitarian Massachusetts minister and a future president of Harvard, to visit the secret meeting at Yale, according to Brooks Mather Kelley's "Yale: A History." He spoke to the underclassmen yet to be initiated in the society against the oath of secrecy, stating that "the students at Harvard had such conscientious scruples as to keep them from taking the vow of secrecy." Appealing to their consciences, Everett persuaded many not to join. Everett's appeal was widespread; Phi Beta Kappa began to decline thereafter. But in reaction to the loss of Phi Beta Kappa, Yale seniors Alphonso Taft and William Huntington Russell decided to form their own secret group. Creating the skulls Russell, who had gone abroad to Germany for a year, became a proponent of Hegellianism, the theories of University of Berlin Professor Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegel believed that citizens' first priority was service to the state. While in Germany, Russell became associated with one of the societies there based on Hegellianism and obtained permission to establish the 322nd chapter -- and first in America -- at Yale. The society Russell formed with fellow Yale senior Taft was the Order of Skull and Bones, which they established in 1832 in the back room of what was the Courant Building on Chapel Street. Its objective was to shape its members into prominent, successful members of society. The first members joined perhaps because they were inspired by the president at the time, Andrew Jackson, a self-made man, to take a leading role of the still developing nation. The early years At first, the society' s initiation night required a society member to carry with him a human skull and bone to a nominated junior and ask, "Do you accept?" These founding society members established traditions such as the bonding rituals. Every member of Skull and Bones is assigned a Sunday night during which to tell his or her life history to fellow members who are sworn to secrecy, Smith said. Members also have "Connubial Bliss" nights during which a member divulges all sexual experiences with fellow Bonesmen. >From the very first Skull and Bones' circle, members' photos are framed and hung on a wall of the Skull and Bones now located at High Street. Archives of all meetings are also stored in what many call the "tomb" because of its spacious area and boarded up windows. But while those details are not known, much about the society's activities was a mystery then and remains one now. Students' reaction In response to Skull and Bones, which many considered a group composed of the elite of Yale, resentful students formed the Scroll and Key society in 1841. The founders were students who were in contention for admission to the Skull and Bones but not accepted. This new society modeled itself after the Skulls with the same initiation and meeting times. Wolf's Head would soon follow in 1883, and Book and Snake society was founded in 1863, but waited until 1933 before converting into a senior society. Over the years, there were periods when the clout given to members of many of these societies provoked animosity among those in the student body who were not initiated into this secret world. Others attempted to form societies that would model the success of those before them, but received little attention and quickly died. These societies included Sword and Crown, Star and Dart and Spade and Grave in the late 1850s and early 60s. None of these managed to gain the prominence of the societies before them. Instead, students formed mock societies such as Bowl and Stones, whose purpose was to ridicule the practices of these societies. Students would follow society members on their way to meetings, jeering at them and singing their society songs. During such times, some of the societies, such as Spade and Grave, had problems even filling their 15 openings. Here to stay But despite a range of opinions from students both then and now about the societies, they are undoubtedly here to stay as a tradition unique to Yale. "There always was a certain amount of ridicule toward the societies, but they also became very powerful," Smith said. To this day, juniors wait with anticipation, hoping to be tapped into one of the societies. These societies have consistently selected members who over the years have made their mark on the world. ===== http://www.yaledailynews.com/opinion/Article.asp?type=live&AID=13369 GUEST COLUMN | MOLLY WORTHEN The screw-your-nation presidential election ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MOLLY WORTHEN Published 10/31/00 Recently, two things in my life that I once found theoretically enjoyable, even exciting, have become huge pains in the neck. These are: First, screw-your-roommate dances and second, the presidential election. And I am convinced that these things have more in common than the fact that they irritate me. In the never-ending quest for a meaningless and somewhat inaccurate analogy, I will tell you why. As prefrosh, we heard of these provocatively-named screw-your-roommate affairs; before we got here, they sounded fun and exciting. They were a rite of passage, not unlike the prospect of turning 18 and casting our first ballots. Just as universal suffrage is the inalienable right of all American citizens, so is the screw an integral part of the Yale experience. So we thought in our youthful, idyllic minds. And now the screws and the elections are here. We page through the facebook and try to evaluate what we see, but -- just like the candidates' rosy policies promising every American 95 percent tax cuts, plenty of drugs, education and our very own pony -- the picture in the facebook might be a far cry from what the guy will be like once we choose him. For example, last year we picked out this date for my suitemate, and he was a regular facebook Adonis. But it must have been one of those high school senior portraits in which they make you lean seductively against a faux ivy trellis and then go to town with the air brush. He turned out to be about four-feet tall and looked vaguely like Handsome Dan after shock therapy. And with these presidential candidates, I mean, who knows. Texas Gov. George W. Bush might get into office, and instead of investing most of NATO in the stock market -- which I have read he wants to do -- he might sell the plains states to Cuba in exchange for a decent pitcher for the Rangers. He might even invade Canada or reverse Roe v. Wade or something outlandish and impossible like that. It's frustrating because it seemed like early on we had all these great choices with enticing qualities, such as a nice smile and lots of friends in our college or campaign-finance reform. But somehow, now that we really need these guys, it turns out they're all "out of town," have a bad headache for the rest of the week or wimped out of the contest altogether. They are standing in the background of another guy's stage, clapping and trying to get us to choose him. Our older pals tell us of the wonderful screws of the past, in which their dates wrote the Declaration of Independence, freed the slaves or at least had sexy nicknames like "Tippecanoe" or "Bull Moose." Where are they now? The choices that remain are pretty depressing. And it's tough not to feel like, hey, I'm not making this choice for myself. My roommate is the one who's going to have to spend the night listening to his bad puns and smelling his garlic breath. Similarly, it's tough to feel sometimes like this presidential election will make much of a difference in our own day to day lives. But trust me, it will. If we make a bad choice, we doom ourselves to hours of sitting in the common room, our ears blistering from complaints. It's just a matter of whether it's our roommate or Jim Lehrer who's doing the yelling. Next, consider our varying attitudes toward screws and elections. There are those of us who believe, secretly, that screws present the chance to meet the man or woman of our dreams. Likewise, some people think that electing the right president could end up being the panacea for the world's problems. Others see the screws and the election for what they probably are: One-night (or four-year) stands, which will come and go the same as all the others and make no significant difference in our lives. For just these reasons, some of us want to protest the system by just going with a good friend or voting for Nader. But in both cases, we're missing the point of the screws and the election in the first place. With all this stress involved, we might be tempted to forget the screw, forget the vote and just hole up in our rooms and study or go out cavorting. How selfish and ungrateful. There are millions of people in Third World nations who suffer in the iron grip of fascist regimes and have never even heard of a screw. What they would give for the chance to have freedom, choice and blind dates. And here we are, thinking of throwing it all away for shame. I admit, there are a few minor differences between finding screw dates and deciding for whom you are going to vote for. For example, if my roommate told me she was screwing me with a DKE guy who's in Skull & Bones and dabbles once in a while in illicit narcotics, I'd be pretty excited. But I don't know if I want this character sitting in a leather armchair at Camp David chatting with Barak and Arafat. The moral of the story is that we should appreciate the screw and the election for what they are and take them with a sense of humor. In the end, no matter who you choose to send to Washington or the Jonathan Edwards dining hall, you're screwed. Molly Worthen is a sophomore in Jonathan Edwards College. ===== http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/Article.asp?type=live&AID=12503 Published Wednesday, September 13, 2000 Bush pleases the crowd at Yale BY MICHAEL HORN YDN Staff Reporter YDN ARCHIVES George W. Bush '68On the Yale intramural tackle football fields of the late 1960s, young men dripped with sweat. With no one watching, competition and fun drove the young men to fight for the honor of their respective residential colleges. And on the Davenport intramural tackle football team, no one stuck out more than the squad's middle linebacker -- George W. Bush '68. Whether it was the linebacker's hard-hitting, fearless competitive drive or the fact that he was the only player wearing Yale varsity football pants as opposed to the traditional khaki football pants, Bush was a presence on campus. And it extended beyond the football field, as Bush was one of the more widely known people on campus, classmates said. And Bush, the current governor of Texas and the Republican party's nominee for President, did not attain this high profile by participating in established campus organizations of the day -- he had no role in either the Yale Political Union or the Yale Daily News, for example. 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