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OLLEG lAN 100 YEARS
April 1887 •April 1987
Secret societies thrive out of the limelight
Editor's Note: This is the first of a three-part
series looking at secret societies at the Uni
versity.
By DAMON CHAPPIE
Collegian Staff Writer
Last Wednesday night they met at sacred
campus shrines, dressed in dark clothing,
wearing the hats that identify them as mem
bers of the secret Skull and Bones society.
Following a six-hour mysterious initiation
rite, more than a dozen students joined the
ranks of one of the University's three secret
societies for students.
Not just anyone can join one of these
groups; you must be asked or, as it's called,
"tapped" by one of the members. And the
membership, which is kept confidential, in
cludes the top leaders of student organiza
tions, from the Interfraternity Council to
Undergraduate Student Government to Black
Caucus. The network extends to include fac
ulty and administrators, including University
President Bryce Jordan.
Skull and Bones and another secret group,
Parmi Nous, are described variously as
Nicaragua downs plane
American survivor accused of being military adviser
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press Writer
MANAGUA, Nicaragua An Ameri
can who survived when Sandinista
soldiers shot down a cargo plane said
yesterday that he is an aviation spe
cialist who boarded the C-123 in El
Salvador, and was captured in the
jungle a day after the plane crashed.
Nicaraguan officials have claimed
Eugene Hasenfus, 45, of Marinette,
Wis., is an American military adviser
serving in El Salvador and the trans
port shot down Sunday in southern
Nicaragua was carrying weapons
and ammunition to U.S.-backed Con
tra rebels fighting the leftist Sandi
nistas:
Sandinista army Lt. Col. Roberto
Calderon said in Managua that Ha
senfus and two Americans who died
on the pland carried identification
associating them with the U.S. mili
tary advisory group in El Salvador.
However, officials in Washington
denied any connection between Ha
senfus and the U.S. government. A
Contra official in Tegucigalpa, Hon
duras, also denied that it had any
thing to do with the plane or the crew.
Calderon also said Sandinista offi
cials were considering whether to put
Hasenfus on trial and whether to
return the American victims' bodies
to their families.
Hasenfus, unshaven and wearing
muddied denim clothing, was led onto
a stage at the Government Press
Center in Managua after being flown
by helicopter yesterday, from the
crash site.
"My name is Gene Hasenfus.
come from Marinette, Wis. I was
captured yesterday in southern Nica
rauga. Thank you," he said in'sa shaky
voice. He was led away after 20
seconds, . and reporters could' not
question him.
Hasenfus also was allowed to speak
to local journalists briefly in San
Head to head
A.J. Uscowskas (sophomore•architectural engineering) sketches the Old W. Atherton, who was president of the University from 1882 to 1906 Is buried
Botany Building under a watchful eye he sits on Atherton's Tomb. George next to Schwab Auditorium.
the
daily
"support groups" for students leaders, a
forum for ideas away from public scrutiny, or
a mode of meeting other student leaders.
In interviews during the past three weeks,
more than a dozen past and present members
described the groups, kept largely secret
from the public, as social networks for the so
called student elite.
Indeed, the social aspect seems central to
members; unofficial meetings are held for
Skull and Bones members each Thursday
night at State College bars, such as the
Gingerbread Man or the Lion's Den.
A former member of Skull and Bones said
that although most members don't attend the
functions with the intent of trading informa
tion about University issues, that's what
often occurs.
"I've seen it happen," said the student, who
asked not to be identified.
"Just by the mere frict that this organiza
tion is perceived as a support group, people
trust one another implicitly. The danger
comes when student leaders receive informa
tion affecting the student body and don't act
on it."
In photo on left, Nicaraguan soldiers look at the wreckage of a C. 123 transport plane shot 'down yesterday in II Tele,
Nicaragua. American Eugene Hasenfus, the only survivor of the crash, is an American 'military advisor in El Salvador who
was captured by the Sandinistas. At right, Sandinista soldiers lead a man identified as Eugene Hasenfus to a helicopter.
Carlos, a port on Lake Nicaragua
near the crash site. He said the plane
began its journey in Miami, picked
him up in El Salvador, then took a
Nicaraguan aboard in Honduras and
entered Nicaraguan air space from
Costa Rica at a site known as La Noca
on the San Juan River.
According to Hasenfus, the Nicara
guan was one of three men killed in
the crash.
Nicaraguan army officers who ac
companied Hasenfus said the other
two men killed were Americans they
identified as Wallace Blaine Sawger
Jr. and Bill Cooper. Their hometowns
were not available.
In Washington, State Department
spokesman Pete Martinez said he had
no information about either Man.
Nicaragua had said initially that all
three dead men were Americans, but
Collegian
Skull and Bones President William G.
Landis Jr., also the business manager of The
Daily Collegian, said the group does not
consider its existence secret but keeps its
membership confidential. Other members
said they were told not to reveal their partici
pation in the group.
As a recent graduate who is a member of
Skull and Bones said: "They are honorary
societies recognizing student leaders. They
are not for Joe average student who sits
around in his or her dorm room the whole
time."
Landis wouldn't disclose a membership list
but said the group is limited to 35 student
members, called "actives." Alumni are con
sidered associate members, and faculty and
staff are called honorary members, with one
chosen each semester during "tap week."
Skull and Bones and Parmi Nous are the
last of a number of honor societies, or hat
societies, that emerged in the early 1900 s,
during the University's early history.
Formed in 1913 by a group of upperclass
men, Skull and Bones aimed to promote
"class spirit, by stimulating and cultivating
Calderon later said one was of "Latin
origin." 1
The bodies were said to be in bad
condition and still at the crash site in
a remote jungle area north of the San
Juan River, which helicopters had
difficulty in reaching because of poor
weather.
Calderon, chief of the/military dis
trict where the plane was shot down,
quoted Hasenfus as saying Sunday's
flight had been his; fourth Contra
supply flight since Jfily.
Calderon said Hasenfus ' job in the
supply flight was to kick bundles of
supplies out of the plane. The C-123 is
an older-model aircraft that was used
widely during the Vietnam War.
Calderon said Hasenfus carried a
card issued by the Salvadoran air
force on July 28, 1986, authorizing him
to enter restricted areas of Ilopango
Air Air Force Base in southern El Salva
dor.
Calderon claimed documents found
in the downed transport plane and on
the victims' bodies identified Cooper
and Sawger as members of the' U.S.
military advisory group in El Salva
dor. •
He said Cooper was the plane's
pilot, and Sawger the co-pilot.
Another captured document had
been issued to Cooper by a company
called Southern Air Transport, Calde
ron said. That company, which re
portedly has flown supplies to the
Contras, said yesterday it knew noth
ing about Hasenfus or the flight.
Sandinista officials said the plane
was •shot down with a Soviet-made
surface-to-air missile at a spot 35
miles north of Costa Rica and 91•
miles southeast of Managua.
the best manifestations of college spirit and,
by untiring watchfulness, to forestall and
correct any tendency toward a disregard for
or violation of college customs and tradi
tions," according to a 1925 campus magazine
article.
"This society prefers to work inconspicu
ously, chiefly by stimulating activity toward
some good end on the part some appropriate
organization, which is already in existence,"
the article continues.
But the society then was much more con
spicuous than now. Members wore their
black hats emblazoned with skulls on crossed
bones around campus just as fraternity mem
bers wear their greek letters today.
A Hat Society Council existed to govern
these societies. Hats, or beanies, were worn
as a tradition to set members off from others
and to show that they recognized a spiritual
higher authority. The term "hat" also has
been described as an acronym: "hazing
allowed tonight."
John Black, a 1962 graduate and a member
of Parmi Nous, said the hat societies "were
very open, very much aboveground,"
Prof says S. Africa
needs help of U.S.
to end oppression
By WINSLOW M. MASON Jr
Collegian Staff Writer
In a speech yesterday on the
education of blacks in South Afri
ca, the Vice Chancelloi• and princi
pal of the University of
Witwatersrand, South Africa,
urged the University's Faculty
Senate to help improve the oppres
sive conditions for black students
and to help that country prepare
for a post-apartheid era.
"We need your help now more
than ever before," said Karl Tob
er, a well-known supporter of the
education of black students.
The government has consistent
ly tried to halt the education of
blacks through admissions laws,
zero financial support and the
separation of education for blacks
and whites, he said.
Tober, a proponent of academic
excellence, has been touring the
United States to let American uni
versities know that the oppression
of black students is abhorrent and
cannot continue.
"My University cannot carry on
unless this society gets involved,"
he said.
The University Office of the
President and the Faculty Senate
leadership invited Tober to speak
here. •
"Apartheid must go. There are
no questions," he told Senate
members.
Tober has delivered lectures at
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Penn,
Stanford and Columbia Universi
ties as part of a U.S. tour intended
to let American Universities know
that the condition of education for
blacks in South Africa must be
improved and that the help of
universities abroad is desperately
needed.
Tober emphasized that there is a
white backlash called the moder
ate student alliance, which op
poses efforts to upgrade the
condition for students at. the Uni
versity of Witwatersrand. The or
ganization "makes the KKK look
like a heavenly choir," he said.
They hold demonstrations, show
posters of violence and make a lot
of noise. You would be surprised at
what those "bastards" could do,
he said.
But for all the efforts by the
apartheid government and its sup
porters to suppress the education
of South African blacks, Witswa-
inside
The organizers of The Asylum, the on-campus non-alcoholic nightclub,
hope to prove that Penn Staters don't have to drink alcohol to have a good
time. For details about the its opening tonight, see Arts Page 12
index
opinions•
sports
state/nation/world
weather
This afternoon, sunny and warmer. High near 70. Tonight, becoming
cloudy with seasonable conditions. Low 47. Tomorrow, lots of clouds and
it will be very windy with a high of 59 Heidi Sonen
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1986
Vol. 87, No. 61 16 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University
©1986 Collegian Inc. '
"The names of ' those people tapped would
be printed in the Collegian each semester,"
he said. La Vie yearbook displayed group
pictures of the members.
Black, an associate director for the Alumni
Association, said the groups then ran the
orientation programs for incoming freshmen
and transfer students; formed an honor
guard on the football field during games; and
served as ushers at University functions.
"It was an honor to be in one of these
organizations and everyone knew about it. If
they are secret now than that is a departure."
So why did these groups go underground,
shunning attention and avoiding recognition?
The answer lies in social changes during
the 1960 s and the University's spectacular
growth in that period.
"In the late '6os," said Landis, "being in a
hat society just wasn't cool. With the student
activist kind of mentality it was considered to
be too close to the administration."
Other societies simply died. The Druids
and the Friars, two sophomore societies for
Please see LEGEND, Page 16.
`My university
cannot carry on
unless this society
gets involved.'
—Karl Tober, Vice
Chancellor and
principal of the
University of
Witwatersrand,
South Africa
tersrand and Capetown Universi
ties have continued to oppose and
to fight the system. They stress
active tutoring programs, finan
cial assistance to poor blacks and
a strong commitment by the Uni
versity's administration, Tober
said.
He said although his efforts have
been somewhat succesful, the
time has come for other universi
ties to get involved or the entire
effort will be lost.
"We should talk more," he said
of South African and American
universities. "We need to establish
an international scholarly solidar
ity," Tober described this as a
system that would foster the crit
ical communications link needed
to support efforts to end oppres
sion.
He also praised the University's
SHARE program, which is de
signed to foster learning opportu
nities between the University and
South Africa. He pleaded for its
continued support.
"Please be aware that SHARE,
in some essential elements, is pre
cisely what we require from uni
versities abroad. If we were
deprived of your moral support,
we would not survive.
Faculty Senate executive secre
tary George Bugyi said Tober's
presentation was "absolutely
spectacular. It's difficult for us (in
the Senate) to realize what's going
on over there. We don't have a
good perspective."
When asked about the Universi
ty's stand on- divestment, Tober
said "That's your problem, not
mine," and added that he would
not comment on this University's
attempts for divestment and
would not share his view on the
issue.