The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of dedication to leadership and service at Cornell University.[ 10 faculty and staff members honored by Sphinx Head society, page 14, Cornell Chronicle, December 7, 2007] In 1929 The New York Times held that election into Sphinx Head and similar societies constituted "the highest non-scholastic honor within reach of undergraduates."[ 63 Juniors Elected to Cornell Societies, The New York Times, May 19, 1929, p. N3.]
Founding
Sphinx Head was founded on October 11, 1890, by a group of ten men from the senior class.
[" History of Some of the Later Cornell Organizations", Cornell Alumni News, December 18, 1901, p. 89.][" The Sphinx Head: A Senior Society Recently Formed" Cornell Daily Sun, January 13th, 1891, p. 3. ] The Society was founded to "create and maintain a stronger feeling" for Cornell University and to promote "a closer and stronger friendship among members of the Senior class."
referred to Sphinx Head as "a secret senior society of the nature of Skull and Bones", a senior honor society at
Yale University of which Andrew Dickson White, Cornell University's co-founder and first president, was a member.
["Cornell University", The New York Times, May 10, 1891.] White encouraged the formation of a secret society system on the Cornell campus.
[ The Secret Life of A.D. White | The Cornell Daily Sun ]
In 1926, the society built a clubhouse for itself designed to resemble an Egyptian tomb perched halfway down the cliff on the Fall Creek gorge. It sold the building in 1969, and it eventually became the home and office of astronomer Carl Sagan.
Membership
Each year, Sphinx Head taps fewer than forty men and women of the senior class for membership. Since the Society's founding, membership has been "reserved for the most respected" members of the senior class.
[ Willard Straight Hall] The names of newly tapped Sphinx Heads were published in
The New York Times through the 1930s, but are now published exclusively in
The Cornell Daily Sun.
["Cornell Societies Elect", The New York Times, October 19, 1930.]["Cornell Societies Elect New Members", The New York Times, May 13, 1926.]["Cornell Societies Elect", The New York Times, October 14, 1938.]
Sphinx Head awards honorary membership to Cornell administrators, faculty, staff, and alumni for their "significant personal and/or professional accomplishment, outstanding leadership, distinguished service to the university, and interest in and commitment to undergraduate student life and development."
Symbols and traditions
Sphinx Head has "retained an aura of mystery throughout its history on campus", holding some "closely guarded secrets and traditions."
["Secret's Out", Cornell Alumni Magazine, May/June 2003, p. 36.] Although membership in Sphinx Head is public, the proceedings of the Society remain private.
Activities
Since founding the Society, Sphinx Head members have been responsible for starting many long-standing Cornell University traditions such as the annual
Dragon Day celebration, the use of "The Big Red" to describe Cornell athletics, as well as Spring Fest, the precursor to the current
Slope Day celebration.
[ Cornell Alumni News, October, 1950]
Notable members
Members of Sphinx Head have held many prominent positions within Cornell University serving as presidents, provosts, deans, directors of athletics, Cornell Council members, trustees, and chairpersons of the board of trustees. More than one-third of the presidents of the Cornell University Alumni Association have been members and twenty percent of the chairpersons of the Cornell University Board of Trustees have been affiliated with the Society.
[Alumni Association: Larry Gubb, William Kleitz, Elbert Tuttle, Robert White, Walter Nield, Charles Werly, Richard Vanderwarker, Bruce Hackstaff, Joseph Driscoll][Chairman: Becker, Purcell, Noyes; Mieing holds honorary membership.] Names of alumni can be found on the Cornell campus on Bartels Hall, Indimine Athletic Field, Samuel C. Johnson School of Business Management, Robert Kane Track, Jansen Noyes Community Center, Jerome H. Holland International Living Center, Robert Purcell Community Center, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives, Willard Straight Hall and Upson Hall. Numerous members are also profiled in
The 100 Most Notable Cornellians.
