Word: signeteer
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There was already existing a group called the O.K. Club, a small literary society to which several members of Signet already belonged. The O.K. Club, however, was not large enough or of wide enough scope to be an effective force in the community. Although the founders of Signet criticized the kind of influence and unfair prestige enjoyed by the clubs, they were not without aspirations of influence themselves. They hoped that they could be a beneficial force by "disciplining" the finer minds at Harvard and by a greater concern with the total education of its members...
...college whose enrollment was rapidly increasing, and where the introduction of the elective system had removed many of the common ties, the founders of Signet were condemning not the idea of clubs, but rather the effects of club life on a young man. Their philosophy was that academic learning, if it is to be beneficial and not injurious, must be accompanied by moral education, and that this cannot come from the faculty, but must come from one's fellow students. They thought that the "promiscuity" of the clubs would seriously impair the value of this aspect of a Harvard education...
These considerations, while they are important to Signet as a perpetuating organization, seemed to be afterthoughts in the first days of formation, and through the high seriousness of purpose penetrates the underlying bitterness of boys who have been hurt by being kept out. Thus, in explaining the aims of the Society to new members at the first initiation, the president referred to Porcellian as "well suited to receive diminutive swine, but not that portion of the human race who think they possess a soul"; Pi Eta lacked "even a standard of admission, much less one of conduct." But the harshest...
...Signet today resembles the original society only slightly. From a small group of seniors, it has grown into a sizeable organization based about a group of about sixty undergraduates. There is now a large initiation fee of $100--waived if a student is elected who cannot afford to pay it. These dues, however, tend to exclude potential members who cannot afford the luxury of such a Society. The famous "Pudding clause", barring Pudding members from the Society, was dropped sixteen years after the Signet was formed...
...Grays through a succession of upstairs rooms, to its present permanent location in the building on the corner of Dunster and Mt. Auburn streets. The purchase of the building in 1902 was made possible largely through the gift of James H. Hyde '98, supplemented by donations made through Signet's alumni association. The weekly meetings Friday evening have grown into daily luncheons and Sunday suppers. Guests may be brought at any time, including undergraduates from Harvard. In concession to the spirit of the Old Signet, ladies are permitted only Sunday evenings and Friday at tea; nevertheless, disturbing signs of conviviality...