The U’s Secret Society: Skull and Bones

Bonesmen leaders during a meeting on Tuesday, Dec 1, 2015. Photo by Chris Ayers.

While it’s no secret that many universities around the country host famous secret societies, it turns out that the University of Utah has its very own Skull and Bones Society founded over 100 years ago.

According to the book, “The University of Utah: A History of Its First Hundred Years,” the Skull and Bones Secret Society is “composed of a limited number of juniors selected for the honor each year, [and] was launched in 1909 by the class of 1910 with the announced principal purpose ‘of uniting Junior fellows in a common spirit regardless of fraternity ties and sympathy.’”

To find out whether this Skull and Bones society is still active on our campus, I made contact with some members of the secret society who agreed to meet with me “on the condition of anonymity” in order to “provide information for students who may be tapped for membership in the future.”

Apparently, secrecy and anonymity help current members with the vetting process, prior to tapping potential future members. They seriously showed up to our meeting wearing masks and black robes.

The members, referred to as “Bonesmen,” confirmed that the U’s Skull and Bones Society is active and “was founded by a Skull and Bones Alumni from the Yale Chapter in 1909.”

Despite the masculine title “Bonesmen,” the members assured me that women have held membership in the Skulls and Bones’ Utah chapter since 1979, which is more than 10 years before the Yale Skull and Bones Society began accepting women.

http://dailyutahchronicle.com/2018/12/04/the-us-secret-society-skull-and-bones/