In recent years, a list of members is published in The Daily Collegian and La Vie, said Andrew Miller, a Lion's Paw member who is also involved with the Penn State chapter of Amnesty International, Students for a Democratic Burma and Skull and Bones, another society. Some of the secrets the group holds include the specifics of how new members are selected, the group's legend and symbol and the initiation ceremony, Miller said. The group is more private than secret, said Doug Popovich, a former Lion's Paw and Skull and Bones member who graduated in 1989. Miller was the only current member of Lion's Paw who would talk at length to The Daily Collegian about the society. Ed Kilpela, 1996-97 USG vice president, was a member of the group last year.
Students can only be in the group for one year.
Membership in the society has changed over the years. Until 1972 the group did not admit women. This year, half of the 12 members are women, Miller said. One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Lion's Paw is what the group actually does. Since 1945 the Lion's Paw Alumni Society has been working to preserve Mount Nittany and now owns 525 acres.