As the new school year begins, thousands of UW-Madison students struggle to balance cramming for exams and volunteering for various organizations on campus. Amid all this stress, two organizations fly under the radar, avoiding any promotion of their activities.
These societies, known as Iron Cross and Malt & Barley, represent the highest tier of students in academics and leadership at UW-Madison. Both organizations have been known as secret societies"" on campus because they are unlike any other student organizations on campus.
While both groups publish their member lists - Iron Cross on a shield in Memorial Union and Malt & Barley on the masthead of the Wisconsin Law Review's journal and website - no one knows exactly what the societies do.
According to Mark Guthier, director of the Wisconsin Union and advisor to Iron Cross, the society was founded in 1902. It was created for the purpose of commending juniors and seniors who have achieved academic excellence and have shown themselves to be influential in enhancing the community of UW-Madison. Administrators, faculty and state legislators meet along with the students to discuss issues facing students and the university in general.
""It's more about connecting student leaders and influential circles from campus and allowing them ... to collaborate on things,"" said Shayna Hetzel, who was inducted into Iron Cross two years ago.
After induction, Iron Cross members have the opportunity to organize the initiation and induction process for upcoming members.
""It used to be where you would get nominated to be in Iron Cross and you would sleep outside on Bascom Hill '¦ In the morning, the Iron Cross would be hung outside with the names of the new members,"" Hetzel said. ""I was the class of 2007, and so the class of 2006 planned the initiation and induction for the class of 2007.""
Faculty and current members decide the selection of new members in the spring semester. Past inductees include U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and former president and CEO of Campbell Soup Company William Beverly Murphy.
""They come with a diverse set of perspectives and experiences,"" Guthier said.
Rituals known to be associated with Iron Cross include the declaration of meetings by the oldest member and the carrying of the iron cross by the tallest member of the society.
According to Hetzel, the biggest visible project Iron Cross has put together was the planning and construction of a student union in the early 1900s. The president of the university at the time, Charles Richard Van Hise - the namesake of Van Hise Hall - asked the society to create something for student use as a replacement for the failing YMCA. The result - Memorial Union - opened Oct. 5, 1928. It became the first union in the nation to sell beer at a public university in 1933, and has remained an icon on campus since.
Malt & Barley is a secret section of the Wisconsin Law Review. There are two to four members of the society who become editors of the journal each year.
""We used to be called the Beer Editors, and when exactly it started is not really known, but we first appeared on the masthead of the Wisconsin Law Review in the early 1980s,"" Malt & Barley editor Brian Jenks said.
Jenks, a graduate student in the Wisconsin Law School and member of both Iron Cross and Malt & Barley, said Malt & Barley members demonstrate the fun aspects of being in a society.
""As fun as we are, we should reiterate also that the Law Review is a very prestigious organization,"" said Danielle Costello, another Malt & Barley editor.
The society's editors are chosen in their second year by previous editors and then take on the responsibilities of editor their third year. The Wisconsin Law Review is published six times a year and includes student pieces along with professionals' articles.
""Because we're an academic journal '¦ we want the best writers in the law school to be on our journal so that when we put out our publication it's as high a quality as it needs to be,"" Malt & Barley editor Andrew Holm said.
Although Iron Cross and Malt & Barley are the only two ""secret societies"" on campus, their rituals and motives differ.
""If I could compare them to schools, Iron Cross would be like getting into Harvard, whereas Malt & Barley is like getting into the University of Wisconsin,"" Jenks said.
Iron Cross and Malt & Barley are not unlike other honor societies at universities and colleges nationwide, the first of which - Phi Beta Kappa - was founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary.
Other Big Ten schools have academic honor societies. One of the most well-known of these is The Order of Angell at the University of Michigan, which has boasted members such as former President Gerald Ford, former football coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr and football players Jake Long and Mike Hart.
