The institutions we accept and the world in which we live are intimately related. If humanity does not reject behavior that is in open conflict with the values that we must follow to survive, our species will have no future. Thus, institutions that are not transparent and accountable are not desirable.
For this reason, it is surprising to find out secret societies not only persist but thrive at the University. For example, it is most disturbing to read that the Society of Purple Shadows still exists and claims a role as a sponsor of the Honor System. Many years ago, in my fourth year, The Cavalier Daily published papers produced by this society; the papers provided conduct guidelines which were clearly inappropriate from the perspective of honorable behavior. Members were instructed to take other people’s keys whenever they could to copy them; enter offices and rooms to leave anonymous missives from the society; and lie if caught in the act.
Secret societies perhaps had a role in the University’s life in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but they are incompatible with today’s needs for truth and duty of transparency. The world changes as time goes by. Thomas Jefferson had slaves, but that does not make him an evil man with the criteria that were reasonable to judge human behavior in the early 19th century. The world needs better institutions, public and private, to meet the challenges we all face today. Universities should recommend their students not to join secret societies and explain the rationale. Honor entails showing one's identity whenever public activities are carried out. Transparency is an issue that deals with ethical differences between Western democracies and the rest of the world, where individual rights, despite formal commitment to United Nations human rights declarations, are not taken seriously.
The world is at a crossroads: If no cooperative action is taken, global threats like climate change, cyber crime, pandemics and nuclear weapons in private hands will put our species in jeopardy. Dealing with the fundamental dilemma, which entails survival or extinction, requires global discussions in which countries that espouse political and economic freedoms will only have a strong claim if their citizens behave in an open and honorable manner. Transparency and accountability are essential. These virtues are incompatible with secret societies, especially in a place committed to the pursuit of truth "wherever it may lead," a core principle at the University since its founding almost 200 years ago.
Gustavo Montalvo is a graduate of the Class of 1974.
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