Triangle Society records

The Haverford College Triangle Society was a student group founded in 1892 consisting at first of only five close friends who wished to give their friendship a “tangible form.” The group’s initial purpose deviated little from performing secret tasks, holding private meetings of mysterious conversations, and initiating new members. As the group grew and gained momentum, its mission evolved to be more centrally focused on the betterment and general support of the College and its student body. This involved leading by example by a strict expectation of dressing well and attending as many campus-wide events as possible. Members of the Triangle Society were expected to participate or at least attend any and all sporting events. The Society established an influential social presence on campus through the hosting of dinners, parties, and various other activities such as basketball games and golf outings.

Secrecy was a major pillar of the Triangle Society, which did not make it particularly well-liked by the college administration at various points in time. Members would communicate in specific algorithms and developed a suite of secret rites performed throughout each school year. The initiation ceremony and the Triangle procedure for electing their administration caused perhaps the biggest controversies on campus. Though the initiation ceremony took on several permutations over the course of Triangle history, it involved at worst staging deaths of those who had revealed Triangle secrets, and at best involved an elaborately scripted performance piece in their ornamental Atrium space. It at times butted heads with the other major society on campus, Beta Rho Sigma, and it was the tension between the two groups which inevitably caught the attention of the administration. Though allowed to continue well into the 20th century, the college administrative intervention in the 1950s required both groups to relinquish a good portion of their secrecy.

Ultimately the presence of the Triangle Society was preserved due in large to its extensive and devoted alumni network. Membership was not free, and Triangle members continued to give money to the society well after graduation in order to support scholarship funds and various other campus projects. The Triangle Society worked to improve the campus garden, to acquire a collection of clocks to install around campus, and made donations of books and other objects to enrich the library’s collection. The society produced an annual bulletin reporting on the history of the Triangle Society and the actions of current and former Triangle members, as a means of communicating with the larger community. The Triangle Society continued its activity around campus until 1972, accruing a diverse and elaborate suite of traditions passed on through its history.