Torch Honor Society

Two seniors at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College established the Torch Honor Society on March 8, 1916.^[1][5][6] However, the establishment of the group was kept secret until December 20, 1916.^[7] It was formed as an honor society to recognize the achievements and merit of undergraduate students.^[1] Its ideals were "enlightening leadership and beneficent service".^[1] The founders selected a charter class of ten men from the junior class and two professors.^[1][6] These charter members were recruited based on both literary and athletic prominence.^[6] The group secured rooms in Strathcona Hall.^[8]

The society continued to recruit or tap ten juniors each spring but eventually expanded its number to fifteen.^[1][2] Selection for membership in Torch became "one of the most important extracurricular campus honors".^[9] In 1915, society members began to advocate for a student-edited publication for science and engineering.^[10] The result was The Yale Scientific Magazine which first published on May 3, 1917.^[10] The society was incorporated in the State of Connecticut on January 21, 1922.^[11]

In January 1950, Torch started a controversial campaign to reduce the emphasis on sports at Yale and other Ivy League schools.^[2] The society disbanded in the 1960s.

Torch Honor Society was reestablished as a secret society for seniors in 1995.^[12] The re-established society originally met on the 4th floor of Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall (SSS), across from Aurelian Honor Society, but was banned from this space for damaging university property in 2005.^[12] It now meets off campus in the Yale-China Association building on Temple Street.^[12]

The society's badge consists of an uplifted torch, representing devotion to its ideals and its allegiance to Yale University's motto Lux et Veritas (Light and Truth).^[1] The torch is backed by a broad circle that represents comradeship and equality in mutual endeavors. On top of the torch is the Roman numeral X, representing the original ten members.^[1]

The society's motto is Simus Lux Obscuro in Mundo or "Let us be Light in a Dark World".^{[citation needed]}

Historically, Torch selected or tapped a delegation of ten juniors each spring.^[1][9] Because it was an honor society, Torch could tap members of other societies or fraternities.^[1] The society occasionally selected Yale faculty or graduates for honorary membership.^[1]

After its reformation in the 1990s, the society started selecting sixteen members for each delegation during "Tap Night" with the other secret societies.^{[citation needed]}

• William F. Buckley Jr. – author and commentator^[4][13]
• George H. W. Bush – former president of the United States^[14][3]
• Raymond C. Clevenger – judge^[15]
• Harry B. Combs – aviation pioneer, airplane manufacturer, and author^[16]
• Bradford Dillman – actor^[17]
• William H. Donaldson – former United States Under Secretary of State^[18]
• William Henry Draper III – venture capitalist^[19]
• Alfred Whitney Griswold – historian and educator^[20]
• William Rogers Herod – president of International General Electric Company and vice president of General Electric^[21][22][23]
• Robert Maynard Hutchins – president and chancellor of the University of Chicago and dean of Yale Law School^[24]
• Carl Kaestle – historian^[25]
• Tony Lavelli – professional basketball player^[26]
• Irving S. Olds – lawyer^[27]
• William C. Plunkett – politician^[28]
• Cyrus Vance – United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, and General Counsel of the Department of Defense^[29]

• List of collegiate secret societies