Conservative columnist William F. Buckley Jr. and other Yale University alumni have obtained a court order blocking six women from joining an all-male college club that counts President Bush among of its members.
The 159-year-old Skull and Bones Society - an elite, secret club that admits only a handful of Yale seniors each year - had planned to induct its first women Thursday night but canceled the ceremonies after a judge issued the injunction.New Haven Superior Court Judge Donald Celotto signed the order at the request of Buckley, founder and editor-at-large of National Review magazine, and seven other Skull and Bones members, who filed suit Tuesday to stop the induction. The club had planned to admit nine men along with the six women.
Skull and Bones, founded in 1832, is the oldest of eight secret clubs at Yale. The society's alumni reportedly include top politicians, lobbyists and business leaders.
President Bush joined the club as a Yale senior in 1947. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and David Boren, D-Okla., are also members. Additionally, the group's board of directors, the Russell Trust Association, is believed to be Connecticut's second-largest property owner.
Rumors about Skull and Bones have swirled around Yale's campus for more than a century. Facts are hard to come by because members - known as "bonesmen" - are not supposed to talk about the club to non-members.
During their senior year, bonesmen are said to hold secret, fraternitylike rituals in a windowless campus building called "The Tomb."
According to campus legend, old skulls and bones - including the remains of the legendary Apache chief, Geronimo - are kept in the structure.
Each spring, graduating bonesmen pick a handful of Yale juniors to join Skull and Bones during the coming academic year.
Until this year, students had always nominated males, despite the fact Yale went co-ed in 1969.