October 27, 2011
Think secret societies are only for those with Ivy League pretensions? Think again. Unbeknownst to most of Hamilton’s student body, a diverse group of male and female students have been subtly and covertly guiding the College on the hill. “Doers and Thinkers,” “Was Los” and “Pentagon” are three prestigious secret honor societies that remain a significant part of Hamilton’s past and present.
All societies are predicated upon serving the college by doing acts of goodwill. Members in each society choose successive members based on demonstrated interest in the welfare of the college and involvement on campus. Pentagon consists of five seniors, Was Los of six juniors, and Doers and Thinkers of thirteen sophomores. The earliest mention of Pentagon occurs in the 1901 Hamiltonian.
“When Pentagon was founded, Student Assembly was dysfunctional,” said Director of Student Activities Lisa Magnarelli. “There was nobody representing the voice of the students… That’s always how I understood Pentagon.”
Was Los and Doers and Thinkers (also known as “DT”), had less auspicious beginnings at Hamilton. At the beginning of the twentieth century, DT stood for “Dirty Thirteen,” thirteen sophomores who took it upon themselves to enforce class rivalries and harass disobedient freshmen. Was Los derived from a society of four members called “Butinsky,” which was founded in 1904.
In a letter written to a current student in 2001, Pentagon member Charles T. Bates ’53, noted, “the purpose was then, and seemed in my day to be, to foster spirit within a college class, and to guide the rivalries between classes.” After being tapped, DT members wore white blazers with a DT patch on the pocket. Pinned to each lapel was a champagne cork suspended from a string.
Despite the existence of a functional Student Assembly in the twenty-first century, Pentagon and Was Los continue to function as secret societies whose members and explicit goals are not publicly known. DT is currently on hiatus because recently it did not make significant contributions to Hamilton.
While annual Class and Charter Day revelries get underway all over campus, outgoing Pentagon members physically “tap” newly selected members during the Class and Charter Day award ceremony in the Chapel. Meanwhile, Was Los members are announced publicly at the ceremony.
“My tapping was a surprise and it was hilarious,” said a current Was Los member who requested anonymity. He recalled cheering, “like it was a sporting event” with another nominated student. After the initial public recognition, the secret societies prefer to operate behind-the-scenes and avoid taking credit for their service.
Additionally, contact between outgoing Pentagon and Was Los members and new members usually ends at the Chapel. New members are in no way trained or given direction by the outgoing members. When initiated, Pentagon members sign a “Pentagon book” that includes the signatures of all previous members.
“In order to connect with those alumni,” said Pentagon member Jay Bonham ’93, Associate Dean of Admission, “we sent a letter to each of them introducing ourselves and telling them our plans for the year.” Rumor has it that this tradition lives on. Nevertheless, Pentagon and Was Los alumni have little to no influence over each society’s current activities.
“Each iteration of Was Los is independent of each other,” said a Was Los member. “It brings completely fresh ideas to the table.” While there are certainly advantages to autonomy among class years, Magnarelli and Meredith Bonham, senior associate dean of students, contend that societies could be more effective if outgoing members provided counseled new members.
“I think it leaves the next group at a loss,” said Magnarelli, also noting that some Pentagon class years have been in greater contact with the administration than other class years. Bonham explained that she reaches out to Pentagon at the beginning of every year, but leaves the society’s agenda up to members.
Both Magnarelli and Bonham are honorary Pentagon members who were surprised and flattered when they were tapped a few years ago. Other administrators, faculty, and staff have been tapped as honorary members in order to commemorate their dedication to students and to Hamilton.
Societies obtain guidance and financial support from the administration, and the administration in turn has called upon Pentagon to assist in various facets on campus. For instance, when the clapper for the chapel bell went missing in 1931, President Frederick Carlos Ferry “set Pentagon’s CIA mechanism into high-gear,” noted Pentagon member Jefferson Meagher in his Class Annalist letter.
“To everyone’s surprise,” Meagher noted, the missing hardware was recovered promptly. He mused that Pentagon also might have been responsible for retrieving the Alexander Hamilton statute when it went mysteriously missing some years later.
Pentagon perhaps took its good-doer status to the extreme in the sixties when it denounced the establishment of Kirkland College, the newly conceived neighboring women’s college, because the opportunity to socialize with women during the school week might distract Hamilton students from studying.
Even so, Pentagon now claims many female members and alumnae. POSSE Director and Director of Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) Phyllis Breland ‘80 became the first woman and first African-American woman to be inducted in Pentagon.
While membership has become more diverse, the tradition of secrecy still persists. Bonham ’93 recalls that his Pentagon class year covertly painted over some pumpkins and witches with which “some ingenious students” had defaced Kirkland Cottage around Halloween.
“The secrecy allows us to remove ourselves from the situation,” said a Was Los member. “We don’t want it to be about us, we want it to be about [the campus community.]” Without a doubt, anonymous good will seems to be fundamental for both Was Los and Pentagon.
Pentagon and Was Los have traditionally conducted meetings and initiations in Kirkland Cottage since 1929. Another Pentagon tradition includes handing out wooden canes at graduation and members essentially reveal themselves to their classmates.
With an overabundance of leadership opportunities at Hamilton these days, secret honor societies may have a more limited scope of responsibility than in previous decades. Nevertheless, ties to generations past have always been a point of pride among the Hamilton community.
“I don’t know if it’s necessary,” said Magnarelli of the secret societies, “but it’s a part of Hamilton history and tradition that provides a connection to our past.” She continued, “For these reasons alone I hope [the tradition] will continue.”
For those curious members of the community, a Was Los member has some words of advice: “Look out for the smiling people.”