Torch Honor Society

Torch Honor Society
Badge or watch fob of the Torch Honor Society, 1918
Founded	March 8, 1916; 108 years ago (1916-03-08) Sheffield Scientific School, Yale College
Type	Senior secret society
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Scope	Local
Motto	Simus Lux Obscuro in Mundo ("Let us be Light in a Dark World")
Chapters	1
Members	950+ lifetime
Nickname	Torch
Headquarters	New Haven, Connecticut United States

The Torch Honor Society, also known as Torch, is a student secret society at Yale College that was initially established in 1916 and reformed in 1995.[1][2] Its members include former President George H. W. Bush and William F. Buckley Jr.[3][4]

History

Two seniors at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College established the Torch Honor Society on March 8, 1916.[1][5][6] However, the establishment of the group was kept secret until December 20, 1916.[7] It was formed as an honor society to recognize the achievements and merit of undergraduate students.[1] Its ideals were "enlightening leadership and beneficent service".[1] The founders selected a charter class of ten men from the junior class and two professors.[1][6] These charter members were recruited based on both literary and athletic prominence.[6] The group secured rooms in Strathcona Hall.[8]

The society continued to recruit or tap ten juniors each spring but eventually expanded its number to fifteen.[1][2] Selection for membership in Torch became "one of the most important extracurricular campus honors".[9] In 1915, society members began to advocate for a student-edited publication for science and engineering.[10] The result was The Yale Scientific Magazine which first published on May 3, 1917.[10] The society was incorporated in the State of Connecticut on January 21, 1922.[11]

In January 1950, Torch started a controversial campaign to reduce the emphasis on sports at Yale and other Ivy League schools.[2] The society disbanded in the 1960s.

Torch Honor Society was reestablished as a secret society for seniors in 1995.[1] Unlike most of Yale's secret societies, it is non-landed and does not own an off-campus building.[12] The society met on the 4th floor of Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall (SSS), across from Aurelian Honor Society, but was banned from this space for damaging university property in 2005.[12] It now meets off campus in the Yale-China Association building on Temple Street.[12]

Symbols

The society's badge consists of an uplifted torch, representing devotion to its ideals and its allegiance to Yale University's motto Lux et Veritas (Light and Truth).[1] The torch is backed by a broad circle that represents comradeship and equality in mutual endeavors. On top of the torch is the Roman numeral X, representing the original ten members.[1]

The society's motto is "Simus Lux Obscuro in Mundo" or "Let us be Light in a Dark World".

Members

Historically, Torch selected or tapped a delegation of ten juniors each spring.[1][9] Because it was an honor society, Torch could tap members of other societies or fraternities.[1] The society occasionally selected Yale faculty or graduates for honorary membership.[1]

After its reformation In the 1990s, the society started selecting sixteen members for each delegation during "Tap Night" with the other secret societies.

Notable alumni

• William P. Buckley Jr. – author and commentator[4][13]
• George H. W. Bush – former president of the United States[14][3]
• Raymond C. Clevenger – judge[15]
• Harry B. Combs – aviation pioneer, airplane manufacturer, and author[16]
• Bradford Dillman – actor[17]
• William H. Donaldson – former United States Under Secretary of State[18]
• William Henry Draper III – venture capitalist[19]
• Alfred Whitney Griswold – historian and educator[20]
• William Rogers Herod – president of International General Electric Company and vice president of General Electric[21][22]
• Robert Maynard Hutchins – president and chancellor of the University of Chicago and dean of Yale Law School[23]
• Carl Kaestle – historian[24]
• Tony Lavelli – professional basketball player[25]
• Cord Meyer – Central Intelligence Agency official[26]
• Irving S. Olds – lawyer[27]
• Francis Warren Pershing – businessman, military officer, and son of General John Pershing[28]
• William C. Plunkett – politician[29]
• Cyrus Vance – United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, and General Counsel of the Department of Defense[30]

See also

• List of collegiate secret societies

References

1. "Collection: Torch Honor Society, Yale University, records". Archives at Yale. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
2. "Yale De-Emphasis Blast Produces Strong Reaction". The New London, Connecticut. January 17, 1950. p. 12. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Google Books.
3. Meacham, Jon (2016-10-18). Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush. Random House Publishing Group. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8129-7947-3 – via Google Books.
4. Benson, George S. (December 14, 1951). "Looking Ahead". The Malakoff News. Malakoff, Texas. p. 4. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Google Books.
5. Report of the President of Yale University and the Deans and Directors of Its Several Departments for the Academic Year 1919-20. New Haven: Yale University. 1920. p. 365 – via Google Books.
6. Chittenden, Russell Henry (1928). History of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, 1846-1922. Yale University Press. p. 520 – via Google Books.
7. Havemeyer, Loomis (1955). The Aurelian Honor Society of Yale University and Its Times: 1910-1955. L. Havemeyer. p. 25 – via Google Books.
8. Carroll, Richard C (1979). Buildings and Grounds of Yale University. New Haven: Yale University. p. 21 – via Google Books.
9. "Fredonia Young Man Winner of Top Honor at Yale University". Grape Belt and Chautauqua Farmer. Dunkirk, New York. May 13, 1947. p. 14. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Google Books.
10. Warren, Charles Hyde (1927). "The Yale Scientific Magazine". Reports Made to the President and Fellows by the Deans and Directors of the Several Schools and Departments for the Academic Year 1926-27. New Haven: Yale University: 53–54. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
11. Special Acts and Resolutions of the State of Connecticut 1923 and 1925. Vol. 12. The State of Connecticut. 1926. p. 1288 – via Newspapers.com.
12. O'Daly, Britton; Smith, Brittany (2017-02-06). "Aurelian banned from on-campus meeting space". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
13. "Conservative, Civil Rights Leader to Debate Here". The Bridgeport Post. Bridgeport, Connecticut. 1970-11-22. p. 24. Retrieved 2023-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
14. Karabel, Jerome (2005). The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 448. ISBN 978-0-618-77355-8 – via Google Books.
15. United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary, ed. (1991). Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress ... on Confirmation Hearings on Appointments to the Federal Judiciary ... Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 518 – via Google Books.
16. "Harry Combs: Spoiled for Anything Else. Born 1913 "Flown West" 2003". Airport Journals. 2004-02-01. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
17. Yale Class of 1951 Banner and Pot Pourri (yearbook). New Haven, Conn: Yale University. 1951.
18. United States Congress Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, ed. (2004). Nomination of William H. Donaldson: Hearing Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Eighth Congress, First Session, on the Nomination of William H. Donaldson, of New York, to be a Member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 5, 2003. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-16-071218-0.
19. United States Congress Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, ed. (1981). Nomination of William H. Draper, III: Hearing Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, First Session, on the Nomination of William H. Draper, III. to be Chairman/president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, June 23, 1981. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 18 – via Google Books.
20. Alfred Whitney Griswold, 1906-1963: In Memoriam. Overbrook Press. 1964. p. 4 – via Google Books.
21. "Elections". The Yale Sheffield Monthly. 24 (9): 370. June 1918 – via Google Books.
22. "William R. Herod, Led G. E. Division". The New York Times. 1974-07-20. p. 34. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
23. Dzuback, Mary Ann (1991). Robert M. Hutchins: Portrait of an Educator. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-226-17710-6 – via Google Books.
24. "Engaged". The Morning Record. Meriden, Connecticut. January 21, 1964. p. 9. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Google Books.
25. Porter, David L. (2005-07-30). Basketball: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-313-30952-6 – via Google Books.
26. Rothe, Anna, ed. (1948). Current Biography: Who's News and Why. Vol. 9. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company. p. 446 – via Google Books.
27. Rothe, Anna, ed. (1948). Current Biography: Who's News and Why. Vol. 9. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company. p. 484 – via Google Books.
28. "Maine Youth Elected to Torch Society, Yale". The Lewiston Daily Sun. Lewiston, Maine. May 7, 1930. p. 13 – via Google Books.
29. Bridge, Ann (April 23, 1950). "Lords Honeymoon at Hobe Sound". Sunday Herald: 23 – via Google Books.
30. Hearings 1963-64 Nos. 1-5. Washington, D.C.: United States Congress House Committee on Armed Services. 1963. p. 670 – via Google Books.

Further reading

• Netteton, George Henry. The Founding of The Torch Honor Society of Yale University: A Record Of Peace And War, 1916-1917. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.

External links

• Torch Honor Society photo, Yale Archives