This piece is part of a larger series on secret societies at WashU. All block quotes are pulled from email and print correspondence from Red Bones recruitment. Documents cited can be found in the Guide to Red Bones Recruitment.
Red Bones, as a group, is not powerful. They do not have a hold over campus or individuals, as a secret society would generally imply. However, that is not necessarily how it looks from an internal perspective. The influence generated from Red Bones’s image of power is much more present in their internal dynamics than their external relationship with the WashU community. Whether this image is carefully crafted during recruitment, or is the unintentional result of traditions, power is inherently tied into recruitment. The entire process of recruitment is dependent on projecting an image of power, both to exert a sense of authority over recruits and to entice them with the prospect of membership. Aside from the explicit symbols of power (masks, robes, cryptic communication, etc.), the image is also created implicitly during recruitment and can be broken down into three motifs: surveillance, buildings, and mobilization.
“From this moment you are being watched and examined.”
From the very first contact, a recruit knows they are being watched. They are told through phone calls, emails, and/or letters that their behavior is under observation and they are told to remain quiet about recruitment and the society.
“If we should ever see, hear, or feel that you cannot uphold our secrets, communication with you shall be terminated.”
The method of observation is unknown. It could be people, electronic, or a combination of both. In truth, there is very little observation over a recruit. Tabs are not really kept on recruits with the exception of occasional casual conversations between members and recruits (unknown to the recruit). The ominous threat of surveillance is just that, a threat without a specified punishment (except of course elimination from the recruitment process).
“If there is any indication that you have broken your silence, this correspondence will be terminated immediately.”
As the explicit reference of surveillance becomes implicit through the recruitment process, silence is still a consistent addendum in communication between a recruit and the society. Phrases requesting secrecy are written differently depending on the year, but are always written as polite demands.
“Your discretion remains of the utmost importance.”
The secrecy of the entire society is tied in with the secrecy of an individual recruit. In correspondence, Red Bones rhetorically associates the special recognition of a recruit by a society with the responsibility of that recruit to remain silent. “Respect” is a frequent word uses to describe the importance of the investment members have made in a recruit.
“Disrespecting the secret nature of this process will automatically nullify your invitation.”
Red Bones further pressures a recruit with this responsibility by implicating their unintentional actions. It is not enough for a recruit to not say anything, they are asked not to be seen during the recruitment process -- despite the fact that a fair amount of recruitment events occur on campus.
“Do not share your manuscript, or your wine, with anyone; do not ever allow them to be seen.”
A recruit is not only being surveilled by the society, but by the entire campus. A recruit is automatically tied with the name of the society. If a recruit is seen by anybody, not only does that supposedly risk the society’s secrecy, but also the individual’s anonymity in the process of recruitment.
“Do not allow yourself or the package to be seen.”
Another important part of the projected image of power is in the society’s ability to access buildings and to visibly occupy them. In some recruitment events, recruits are blindfolded and in some, they walk in aware of where they are going. The only recruitment events where location is known to the recruit are on campus.
“Please respect the trust that has been placed in you.”
Access to buildings after hours, and the ability to visibly move through campus and occupy classrooms, creates a sense of ownership over the campus. Recruitment events are not interfered with by other students, administration, or campus security. What in reality is a master key and a quick phone call to WUPD looks like a greater hold over campus.
“Please do not be obvious.”
Putting fifteen masked and robed people in a candlelit room on campus takes audacity. Telling recruits to walk to one at a time come to campus and walk into a not-so-hidden building takes confidence. Red Bones does not take many measures to ensure that other students won’t interfere, just as they do not take many measures to surveil a recruit; and in fact, they have been caught by students, many times. The image of power created through buildings is not made to intimidate other students on campus. It’s an image that is exclusively directed toward recruits who are asked to show up to these buildings and are trusted to not tell anyone.
“As always, make sure you are not seen.”
Brookings is a pinnacle building during recruitment. It is where recruits are dropped off after one of the more intimidating recruitment events (the Hearing) as they are told “Brookings will never look the same.” It is where the only recruitment event taking place outside is held, at the same time that recruits meet their class. It is by far one of their most visible recruitment spots. In this way, Brookings plays an important image for Red Bones, as it does with the image of WashU. Brookings is not only the face of WashU’s brochures, but the home to the higher-ups in administration, including Chancellor Wrighton. Brookings holds more weight than other buildings on campus, and its role in recruitment associates Red Bones’s image of power to that of administration.
“Please respect those who have put their faith in you.”
Red Bones tells its recruits where to go; when to go; and how much time they are allowed there. They are able to mobilize all recruits in one place. And, from the perspective of a recruit, it seems like they are able to deter a student body from interfering. It is an image with implications as enthralling as they are intimidating. While someone is going through the high-emotion process of being recruited, the members on the other end are thinking about the next step, whether that be moving to another building, asking another question, ect. The dissonance between a recruit's high adrenaline state and a members' calm state naturally gives members power in these situations.
“Remember that this message is for you and you alone.”
All of these components leading to the projection of power are ultimately about the perception of control. If a group has control over the things that compose a university's campus, like students, buildings, and facilities, then it stands to reason they have control over some aspect of the university itself (even if it is just those things that compose it). Likewise, if a group has control over its recruits and even its own members, as a well-coordinated months long process of recruitment suggests, it implies that the power dynamics between the society as a whole and individual Red Bones members are reciprocal. Meaning, the group has as much power over the individual members as the members have over the group. Members undergo recruitment, traditions, and recruitment again from the other side because they subscribe to "the society" as much as recruits do.
“We are watching.”
Red Bones does not claim to hold power over campus, nor do they in any sense. But nothing about a secret society is ever explicit. The process of recruitment is not about making specific promises of power; it's about hinting at a greater prospect. Consent to partake in recruitment is never informed; recruits are blindly lead with a vague final goal. The society assures no physical harm and indicates the process will be a great "journey/experience/reward." The entire process of recruitment is dependent on projecting power, because the image of power legitimizes the trust recruits place into the society as recruits express intimate information about themselves and agree to be physically moved from location to location by a group of complete strangers.