I read it and I thought to myself: "The mediocre nu-metal double-cd set released in 2000 by Cypress Hill?" More on reddit.com

Every member in its history has had one skull and several additional bones More on reddit.com

What's the minority to white ratio? More on reddit.com

Good article. I wasn't in a society, but, like the guy quoted in the article about being served fancy dinners while there are homeless people outside, the cognitive dissonance is real. Despite the obvious exclusion and ridiculous privilege (or because of it?) everything at Yale just felt, like, important. And I can only imagine how being in one of the landed societies would amplify that feeling. I don't have good answers for students in this situation, but I want to share my story of the time I got interviewed to join a society (and then not tapped) back in 2015, because I think it's funny. Got hit with the whole > letter slid quickly under the common room door > go out into the entryway and no one is there > pick up the letter and it's got a fancy wax seal > open the letter > "meet at the corner of Park and Crown at 7:06pm. don't be early. don't be late." > nothing else in the letter schtick. Ended up having bar food and casual conversation with 2 society members (still don't know which one it was) and it went well. Couple days later get another letter with the same seal to meet at a random location at a random time. Get led by a member into the private back room of a bar. The room is totally dark except for one small lamp hanging from the center of the ceiling illuminating a chair in a dim cone of light. I sit in the chair and can sense, but not quite see, that I am surrounded by all the members of this mystery society sitting in a ring around the edges of the room. Then out of the dark, they just start hitting me with the most random ice-breaker-type questions. What's your favorite froyo flavor? What's your spirit animal? That kind of thing. I was feeling "on" that night and was hitting back with funny, witty, insightful answers (in my humble opinion). They were laughing at my jokes and getting more conversational and less interview-y and I was feeling good about my chances. And then the conversation lulled and from the pitch-black corner of the room comes the question: "If you had to punch any one person, living or dead, who would it be?" And I totally froze up. The response that immediately came to mind is that I am a non-violent person (further, I'm pathologically non-confrontational) and so would not punch anyone alive or dead. But that's a lame answer because obviously this is a hypothetical question and I don't actually have to punch anyone regardless of what I say. And so the next most obvious response is that I'd punch Hitler or some other unambiguously bad and punchable person. But that's also a lame answer because duh, everyone would punch Hitler, that's not interesting or unique. I'm realizing though that I need to just say something and that the longer I delay the more interesting and unique of an answer I need to give to justify this awkward pause. "Antonin Scalia. I'd punch Antonin Scalia in the face." I don't remember why he came to mind. He'd probably said something rabidly homophobic recently (Scalia dissented to Obergefell v. Hodges later that year). And then from that same corner in response to my answer: "I was an assistant clerk for Antonin Scalia last summer". No shit. "Did... Did you want to punch him in the face?" "No." The vibes in the room were deflated and they didn't keep me much longer. Never heard from them again, and so I don't know exactly why I wasn't tapped, but I have to wonder if Scalia-boy vetoed me for saying I would punch his boss in the face. And that's the story of how I was one hypothetical question away from being tapped to join America's shadowy power elite. More on reddit.com