page_title: Collegiate secret societies in North America
section_title: Cornell University
hierarchical_section_title: Collegiate secret societies in North America / Individual institutions / Cornell University
caption_attribution_description: English: en:Quill and Dagger Tower, part of Lyon Hall and the War Memorial, on en:Cornell University's West Campus. This photograph was taken by Cornellian24.
context_page_description: There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their levels of secrecy and independence from their universities. As the term is used in this article, a secret society is a collegiate society where significant effort is made to keep affairs, membership rolls, signs of recognition, initiation, or other aspects secret from the public.
  Some collegiate secret societies are referred to as 'class societies', which restrict membership to one class year. Most class societies are restricted to the senior class, and are therefore also called senior societies on many campuses.
context_section_description: Cornell University has a rich history of secret societies on campus. Andrew Dickson White, the first President of Cornell University and himself a Bonesman, is said to have encouraged the formation of a "secret society" on campus. In the early years, the fraternities were called the "secret societies", but as the Greek system developed into a larger, more public entity, "secret society" began to refer only to the class societies, except for the Sigma Phi Society on campus. In the early twentieth century, Cornell students belonged to sophomore, junior, and senior societies, as well as honorary societies for particular fields of study. Liberalization of the 1960s spelled the end of these organizations as students rebelled against the establishment. The majority of the societies disappeared or became inactive in a very short time period, and today, the four organizations which operate on campus are: Sphinx Head (founded in 1890), Der Hexenkries (founded in 1892), Quill and Dagger (founded in 1893), and Order of Omega (founded in 1959).
caption: Quill and Dagger Tower on the Cornell campus
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