Skull and Bones

Skull and Bones is a secret society based at, but not formally affiliated with, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The society's alumni organization, which owns the society's real property and oversees the organization's activity, is the Russell Trust Association, and is named after General William Huntington Russell, founding member of the Bones' organization along with fellow classmate Alphonso Taft. In conversation, the group is known as "Bones", and members have been known as "Bonesmen".

Even after Yale became coeducational in 1969, Skull & Bones remained all-male until the Class of 1991, when that year's class "tapped" seven female members in the Class of 1992. The decision was controversial among alumni members, some of whom obtained a temporary restraining order and changed locks, before yielding to a close majority vote of the membership.

Many Skull & Bones alumni have gone on to positions of great power, including both the Democratic and Republican nominees in the 2004 Presidential election.

Source