Sphinx (senior society)

The Sphinx is the oldest of the eight senior societies at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and is now one of the oldest all-male secret societies in the nation (The Flat Hat Club and others at the College of William and Mary being older, as well as Sigma at Washington and Lee and at St. John's in Annapolis). The Sphinx Tomb, constructed in 1903 on East Wheelock Street, was designed by Manchester, N.H. architect William M. Butterfield and reflects the Egyptian Revival architectural style popular during the mid-nineteenth century. The interior of the Sphinx was replaced after a fire started in the building's furnace destroyed it in 1929. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Sphinx was founded as a class society by 14 Dartmouth juniors in 1886. It continues to select a small number of male students during the winter and spring of their junior year in a process known as "tapping."

Many rumors surround the Sphinx. Some have believed that the tomb contains a swimming pool and has the highest water bill in town, although town records do not substantiate this persistent rumor. Another rumor is that a passageway connects the Sphinx to the basement of Alpha Delta fraternity next door. The group's clandestine operations are rumored to include everything from providing anonymous community service to occasionally stealing artwork from the College in a traditional scavenger hunt.

ee also

* Dartmouth College student groups
*Collegiate secret societies in North America
* Secret society

External links

* [http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=1997013107010&sheadline=join&sauthor=&stext= Secret Societies: 360 will be invited to join--will you be one?]
* [http://www.dartmo.com/halls/hallscontent5.html Halls, Tombs and Houses: Student Society Architecture at Dartmouth]
* [http://www.dartmouthindependent.com/archives/2005/09/covered_underco.html Covered Undercover]
* [http://www.iceandcoal.org/nfa/sphinx.html Sphinx: Dartmouth's Riddle on East Wheelock Street]
* [http://chronicle.com/blogs/architecture/586/a-secret-societys-not-so-secret-plumbing-project A Secret Society's Not-So-Secret Plumbing Project]