Posted on 08/02/2014 5:59:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Inside the surreal recruitment process of a legendary clubor something like itat New York University
It all started with a Facebook message from a dead guy.
His name was Ernest Howard Crosby and his profile picture showed an old-time portrait of a man in a dapper vest sporting a bushy Civil War beard. The message came on behalf of New York Universitys Eucleian Society, a literary club formed in 1832 around the same time that secret societies began sprouting up at university campuses across the country.
"The Society is interested in your potential membership and would like to invite you to learn more Time is of the essence."
There was a link to a Facebook group that contained a long list of male undergraduates, mostly white (like me), a few Latinos and Indians, and one black guy. The list also contained the avatars of a few other dead guys, like Crosby, and the identity of the Group itself was similarly concealed beneath another guise: Vote Arthur Watkins for Second Circuit Judge.
The page, paired with the campaign-ready photo of an old guy holding an open book, appeared to be a 1930s-era political campaign. The comments field on the Group page was disabled, but a note in the Description section directed us to fill out a questionnaire (via Google Forms) that asked about our backgrounds, our political views, and our religious ideologies.
Before submitting to interrogation, I first searched online for any information I could uncover about the Eucleian Society. A Wikipedia page drew on sources from NYUs Bobst Library and Digital Archives, as well as academic books that covered the broader topic of secret societies in America. The society was founded the same year instruction began at NYU, first operating out of the Main University Building, where it held oratory debates
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
FB has “closed” and “secret” groups
Chesterton’s “The Man Who Was Thursday.”
Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King.”
I have yet to read that one, last Kipling I’ve gotten to was ‘Kim.’ I’ve seen the movie with Connery and Kane, dug that with the Mason thing. Gene Wolfe is a big fan of Kipling.
Freegards
Hah, I see, I got the title wrong. I thought you were commenting on the mason secret society thing in ‘The Man who Would be King.’
Freegards
Fnord
M4l
“Kim” is one of my favorite novels. I read it at least once a year.
I would be curious as to what these are. Do tell? Maybe we might talk about taking back the country without getting spied on? How does one join such groups?
You have to ask yourself, “Karass? Or, Granfalloon?”
For members groups like Mensa an others.
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