Mace and Chain

Mace and Chain is the youngest of the eight "landed" secret societies at Yale University.

History

The society was founded by Thornton Marshall with the help of poet and Yale professor Robert Penn Warren in 1956 (four years after Manuscript). Warren had encouraged Marshall "to start something which is a little closer to reality and that can exist in the sunlight," in contrast with other senior societies. Mace and Chain became inactive in the 1960s, a period of hostility among Yale students towards senior societies, but was revived in the 1990s with significant financial and logistical support from older delegations. In 2001, it acquired a regular meeting place (called a "tomb"—a 190-year-old, late Colonial-style house in downtown New Haven). Its interior crown moulding is said to have been salvaged from Benedict Arnold's house in New Haven.

Mission

Like other societies at Yale, Mace and Chain conducts meetings on Thursday and Sunday evenings. The central activity of the group is the "bio," in which each member takes one evening to relay their life story and personal development to the rest of the group. The name Mace and Chain is rooted in discussions amongst the founders about chivalry. The society has traditions of rotating student leadership each week and is unique among Yale's societies in allowing each new "delegation" (new senior class) to determine its own ground rules.

Members

Mace and Chain is said to have done an excellent job attracting exceptional candidates over older societies in recent years. Each year, the society admits a new tap class of fifteen rising seniors. Tap classes have historically included top-tier athletes and student leaders such as editors of the Yale Herald and Yale Daily News, Yale College Council officers, and various campus political operators.

See also

• Yale University
• Collegiate secret societies in North America