Campuses Rattling the Bonesmen

Skull and Bones, Yale University's elite secret society, is no longer the bastion of WASP privilege it was when George Bush was a member. Today the club is diverse enough to include black, Hispanic and openly gay members -- but no women. So this year's 15 outgoing "Bonesmen," concerned that the society was seen as an anachronism in an undergraduate body that is 45% female, voted in early April to admit seven women to next year's club.

The group's alumni board decided that diversity was getting out of hand. Last week the board changed the locks on the group's windowless New Haven clubhouse, called the Tomb, and announced that the society was suspended for next year.

The rebellious Bonesmen vow that if the board does not relent, Bones will simply meet elsewhere next year. "Our main objective is communication between members," says Bonesman Douglas Webster. "That can be done anywhere."