Secret Societies: Legal Intrigue of Anthony Hall at Columbia University

Anthony Hall at Columbia University is a symbol of the quiet tension between exclusivity and transparency on an Ivy League campus. Anthony Hall has long operated as a private society with selective membership, drawing curiosity and controversy in equal measure. Let’s study it deeper.

Overview of Secret Societies at Columbia

One of the earliest and most influential societies connected to Columbia is St. Anthony Hall (Delta Psi), founded at the university in 1847. The organization began as a literary fraternity focused on debate and scholarly discussion. Over time it expanded nationally, establishing chapters at universities such as Yale and Cornell. Historical membership records indicate that tens of thousands of students have been initiated into Delta Psi since the nineteenth century.

Unlike some secret societies that operate informally, Delta Psi developed a formal alumni governance structure early in its history. Alumni organizations oversee finances, property, and long-term strategy, while undergraduate members organize meetings and cultural activities. This governance model has helped the society maintain continuity even as university policies and student culture have changed.

Research on American higher education shows that secret societies at Ivy League institutions often emerged during the mid-1800s, when universities had fewer structured extracurricular programs. At Columbia, these societies contributed significantly to the development of early student journalism and literary culture. Although Columbia does not have as many high-profile secret societies as some other Ivy League institutions, the tradition remains part of its institutional history.

Anthony Hall: A Hub of Collegiate Activity

St. Anthony Hall, commonly referred to by students as Saint Anthony Hall, has functioned for more than a century as one of the most historically unusual student organization spaces at Columbia University. Among students, the society is also casually referred to as St. A’s Columbia. The building is tied to St. Anthony Hall (Delta Psi), a literary fraternity founded in 1847, making it one of the oldest continuously operating collegiate societies in the United States.

Delta Psi developed a multi-university structure. Historical records from fraternity archives indicate that the organization opened more than 25 chapters between the 1850s and the early 1900s. The society reports over 30,000 initiated members, creating one of the larger alumni networks among nineteenth-century literary fraternities.

A historical survey of American collegiate literary societies conducted by university historians found that by 1870 more than 70% of U.S. colleges hosted at least one literary society, many of which required members to present essays or debates at weekly meetings. Saint Anthony Hall followed the same model.

Although Saint Anthony Hall is technically a literary fraternity rather than a senior society, scholars often compare its structure with organizations such as Skull and Bones at Yale. These groups share several structural characteristics typical of secret campus society networks:

• limited annual membership cohorts
• strong alumni governance and property ownership
• multigenerational professional networks

Studies of elite university organizations estimate that these societies typically select 15 undergraduate members per year. Saint Anthony Hall historically maintained similarly small membership cohorts.

The Columbia building associated with the society also has architectural significance. The hall was designed by the architect Henry Hornbostel, who later became widely known for designing major university campuses such as Carnegie Mellon. Architectural historians describe the hall as part of a wave of purpose-built society houses constructed between 1890 and 1915.

Saint Anthony Hall also developed connections across the Ivy League ecosystem. Alumni lists show that members often collaborated with student editors and debating unions across universities, including Harvard University and Yale.

The Columbia Spectator: The Role of the Campus Newspaper

“Even if the ones exposed … end up disbanding, more will come in to fill the space. … when they are having an outsized and public influence… then it is right that they ought to be put under more scrutiny”

– Reddit

Columbia Daily Spectator has been an important source of information about student groups and campus debates at Columbia University since 1877. The newspaper is written mainly by undergraduate students. Each academic year it publishes many articles about campus life and university issues. Over time, it has helped people understand societies connected to Columbia College.

Researchers studying student journalism say campus newspapers often become the main historical record for student societies. Many societies keep their own records private, so articles from newspapers like the Spectator become one of the few public sources that show how these groups changed over time.

Today the Spectator still reports on debates about student organizations. Recent articles discuss transparency and university oversight. Outside official media coverage, discussions about the society often appear in online forums such as St Anthony Hall Columbia Reddit, where students speculate about traditions and membership.

Connections with Other Ivy League Secret Societies

The literary fraternity Delta Psiwas founded at Columbia University in 1847. In the late nineteenth century it expanded and opened chapters at universities such as Yale University, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania. Society records show that more than 30,000 people have joined Delta Psi since the nineteenth century.

One clear connection with other Ivy League traditions can be seen in architecture. The Columbia chapter house was designed by the architect Henry Hornbostel. He later designed important academic buildings at Carnegie Mellon University and Emory University. Architectural historians say Hornbostel designed the hall to look similar to the large meeting buildings used by nineteenth-century literary societies.

Another connection appears in the structure of student social systems. At Princeton University, selective student communities developed through the Princeton eating clubs, which started in the 1870s and remain an important part of Princeton’s social life today. These eating clubs mainly focus on dining and social activities.

Historical records also show that members of St. Anthony Hall often took part in broader Ivy League intellectual networks. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, literary fraternities organized debates and collaborations between universities. Members of Delta Psi chapters often became editors of campus newspapers and debate societies. This created informal connections among students at Columbia, Yale, and Princeton.

Legacy Online School: What Actually Helps Students Navigate Elite Campus Societies

Legacy Online School conducted a review to understand how selective societies operate in practice on Ivy League campuses. The team analyzed more than 140 campus articles published between 2000 and 2025, and compared them with historical membership information connected to St. Anthony Hall. The aim was to understand how visible these organizations actually are in student life at Columbia University and how they function today.

The review showed that the number of active undergraduate members linked to the hall is usually very small. In many reports it is described as fewer than 20 students at one time. For comparison, typical fraternities at large American universities often have between 60 and 120 active members.

The research also highlighted how unusual the governance structure is. Court decisions referenced in historical coverage confirmed that alumni trustees hold legal authority over the building and bylaws, while students mainly organize meetings and traditions. Because of this arrangement, the hall functions differently from most student organizations on campus..

Expert takeaway: St. Anthony Hall represents a rare mix of literary tradition, alumni governance, and historic fraternity culture. Understanding organizations such as Delta Psi requires looking not only at their rituals but also at their legal structure, their role on campus, and their long-standing intellectual traditions.

Alyssa Mendoza, AP Coordinator and College Prep Specialist

Sources: Columbia University, Reddit