I found information in the archive on the Freemasons and on the Illuminati, but nothing about the Skull & Bones. Does such a secret society exist? Is it affiliated with one or more ivy league school and are its members among the richest and most powerful men in America?
Not long ago, History Channel did a “History’s Mysteries” on secret societies. According to them, Skull and Bones is a secret group (not very good a keeping said secret, if I know about it) at whatever school the Bush’s went to. Both President Bush’s (or President’s Bush) are members, as well as one other President, can’t recall which. Pretty interesting show, really. It talked of the Freemasons, Knights of the Templar, or some such group, the Illuminati, Bilderberg group, Tri-lateral commission, Council on Foreign Relations, etc. If you see the show rerunning, it’s worth a look.
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Try this link to the Atlantic Monthly:
It’s a well-researched article without the usual conspiracy theories. BTW, my wife went to Yale, and everytime we’d pass the Skull and Bones “tomb”/clubhouse, I’d flip them the finger. My wife would panic and tell me to stop for fear I’d have a contract put out on me, but I’d just laugh. You should see Yale seniors–ugly, mean, and poorly-dressed. Yech. I married the only nice one. 
That reminds me of something that’s been bothering me for a long time now. I used to live in Dallas, and every woman I saw in Texas was drop-dead GORGEOUS.
So how did Dubya find the only dog-faced freak-show refugee in the state?
Yeah they exist; I’ve walked past the building many a time.
That said, their current status on the Yale campus is running gag, so…
Which building is supposed to be the Skull & Bones building? I’ve always heard it was the building across from Grove Street Cemetary, on the corner of Grove & York.
Reminds me of what my wife (then girlfriend) said when she first visited my parents’ house. She took a long look at the framed picture by the door - a black and white photo of a bunch of very earnest 22-year-olds standing in front of a banner - and exclaimed:
“Honey, I didn’t know your father was a pirate!”
Seriously, though, while my Dad always tried to make them sound real mysterious, if was obviouse that they were just a high-rent frat house. If they had actually been a WASP conspiracy to take over the world, then they wouldn’t have accepted a middle-class Jewish kid from northern New Jersey. And no, believe me, they do not provide lifelong financial support to alumni.
BTW, Myrr, why are they considered a joke?
Nah, you’re thinking of Book & Snake (another secret society), on the corner of Grove and High Streets, across from the cemetery.
Skull & Bones is across High Street from Dwight Chapel, fitting snugly in between the old Art Gallery and the Jonathan Edwards residential college. (When J.E. was built in the late 1920s, the architects were jumping through hoops to properly light the dining hall without placing the leaded glass windows in such a position that the undergrads could look out the the S&B building while they were scarfing up the beans and gravy.)
Well, I’m speaking as a non-Yalie here, however I did marry a Yalie and spent a whole lot of time on campus. Anyway…
On the one hand, the societies are a bit of a joke because they’re so full of themselves. Even though there are only a couple hundred people in the societies each year, there are enough people saying, “Oh, I’m not available on any Sunday or Thursday night…[wink wink]” that it just gets annoying. Alessan was right in saying that members don’t seem to get any life-long financial support, but the societies do have rich alumni, and the clubhouses tend to get remodeled more often than rest of the crumbling edifices at Yale. How can you not laugh at people who secretively go into the back door of a windowless yet uber-tastefully decorated stone building in random places on campus? [Never mind the dozen or so secret societies who lack the funds to have their own “tomb” and so are forced to take up accomodations in the basements of campus dorms–rumor has it you can walk in on them if you time it right!] So, the societies are funny because of the silly aura of mystery and high-society they retain, even though we all know that the members are carbon-copy Yale seniors.
On the other hand, some people I talked to suggested that there was actually some degree of bitterness about the secret societies. You don’t have to be white and rich to get “tapped” for Skull & Bones (et al) anymore, but you usually have to be well-connected in the Political Union (a vast, stuck-up debate society) or athletics, etc. People who don’t associate with such crowds tend not to get tapped for secret societies. Meaning, of course, if you are someone too damn busy actually studying to meet well-connected drunks, then you will only see the secret societies from the outside. For example, most hard science majors I knew didn’t stand a chance at getting tapped because they were doing 20-30 hours of lab research each week in addition to their regular courses. Who has time to play silly frat-style games with such a schedule?
And who wouldn’t be jealous of a posh clubhouse when you’re trapped in a lab earning your keep?
My 0.02 (with .01 borrowed from the spouse).
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*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike *
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Nah, you’re thinking of Book & Snake (another secret society), on the corner of Grove and High Streets, across from the cemetery.
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BTW, the local street hoods kept spray painting the Book & Snake house while I was in New Haven. The gray-stoned building isn’t nearly as imposing when it’s covered with barely-concealed tags and curse words. 
For once it was refreshing to see irrepressible, uncover-upable “street art.”
Because everyone knows it’s really the Porcellian that runs the show.
–sublight.
When I was there I met a member of one of the secret societies who was Afro-American, gay and Marxist - not the sort of person who you would think would be asked to join. He told me that it was sort of an affirmative action tap.
He used the club-house as a nice quiet place to study.