Cap and Skull Society (Chi Psi Lodge)

The Cap & Skull Society was formed here at the Chi Psi Lodge on January 18, 1900 by a group of ten high-achieving Rutgers seniors. The Cap & Skull Society’s most notable member is Rutgers legend Paul Robeson, elected in 1919, who, reflecting on his college days, said that “it was not his selection as All-American, Valedictorian, or Phi Beta Kappa [he was most proud of]. It was his selection for Cap and Skull.” Members of the Cap & Skull Society at Rutgers are well known. To date, more than two dozen buildings around the university’s four campuses have Skulls for their namesakes, and collectively, its members have amassed more than two Nobel Prizes, a Pulitzer, a handful of Olympic Gold Medals and several Emmy Awards. And yet, the Cap & Skull Society itself might just be Rutgers’ best kept secret.

But mysticism surrounds the society. Highly exclusive, in its first century, Cap & Skull elected on average fewer than eleven new students each year, and for more than a hundred and twenty years since its founding, the rules and customs of Cap & Skull have remained highly secretive. Little is known about their goings-on, apart from their publicly accessible membership list, their motto Spectemur agendo, Latin for “let us be judged by our actions,” and that the incoming members make an agenda to strive for each year. What exactly those agendas are remains to be seen.

To match their vow to secrecy, Cap & Skull’s presence on campus is almost entirely invisible, save for two placards at Room #413 in the College Avenue Student Center, which alumni dedicated as the “Cap and Skull Meeting Room” in 1990. Nominally, Cap & Skull is an honor society recognizing excellence in athletics and academics, but the notoriety of many of the Skulls around campus, combined with the group’s devotion to secrecy, has left room for a variety of perspectives on the society’s true nature from those who see the organization as a sort of campus Illuminati to those who see the organization as an honorary society dedicated to advancing the common good.

“Rutgers Students Shed Light on Secret Honor Society,” https://dailytargum.com/article/2018/10/rutgers-seniors-shed-light-on-secret-honor-society

“Cap and Skull,” https://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zj5j-gttl/t940210.htm 

“Cap and Skull Centennial History and Biographical Directory”