![]() The boys who had been involved in the fracas were disciplined and for the next four years the club itself went into a sub-rosa existence, although the absence of male students on campus due to World War II would have made an undergraduate Octopus Club unfeasible anyway. Shortly thereafter, the faculty passed a resolution that all societies with secret membership be banned from campus. The following week, the student government association voted to ask the administration to rehire the watchman, who had been dismissed following the incident. When the boys showed up at Monmouth Hospital for treatment, the Monmouth police were there to greet them. A scuffle ensued, and the watchman reportedly drew a knife, resulting in injury to three of the members. Things came to a head on the evening of March 5, 1942, when seven members of the club accidentally broke the glass in the west entrance door to Wallace Hall around midnight and were confronted by the night watchman. Because they were an exclusive club, resentment among non-members began to grow. Although it was never proven, they were accused of burning the May Fete platform, stealing athletic trophies and putting oil on the seats in Wallace Hall during the early 1940s. The college archives contain a bulletin sent to members in 1940 that includes minutes of recent meetings, financial statements, and the first-ever directory of members.īeing members of a secret organization with no specific duties or goals, it was perhaps predictable that the efforts of the undergraduate Octopi would eventually turn to mischief. The alumni organization was well-defined, having a president, general secretary, corresponding secretary and general treasurer, and meeting twice a year, at homecoming and commencement. After graduation they were presented with a gold watch charm featuring an octopus insignia and other secret emblems. Throughout their senior year, their identities were to remain secret, only to be revealed when the Ravelings yearbook published their group photograph at the end of the year. Eight members of the junior class were selected each year based on the following criteria: contribution to the school personality and prospect for future achievement. Founded with 11 charter members, the purpose of the club was two-fold: to serve a men’s senior honor society (similar to Yale’s then-popular Elihu Club) and to operate as an alumni organization, through which “graduates will be able to exert a big influence in the further development of the college.”īylaws were drawn up that called for the undergraduate members to be secretly chosen by the senior class and installed at an annual meeting held the evening of commencement. It was also during the 1920s that another secret society, the Octopus Club, made its debut at the college. ![]() ![]() ![]() It wouldn’t be until the 1922 that pressure from alumni and students would cause the administration to relent and allow Greek organizations to return to campus. Such was the influence of Presbyterians at the time that the masons were dropped from the ceremony. McMichael, protested when the county board of supervisors invited the local masonic lodge to lay the cornerstone for the building. ![]() In 1894, when the new Warren County Courthouse was built, Wallace’s successor, Jackson B. President David Wallace, being a fraternity man himself, initially decided to look the other way, but by 1877, pressures from the Senate caused all fraternities to be banned from campus. What’s less well known is that in 1874 the United Presbyterian Church banned all secret societies and the Monmouth College Senate soon followed suit. Monmouth College is famous as the birthplace of the Monmouth Duo - Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma - the two early women’s fraternities founded by Monmouth students. ![]()
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