<p>This came up in my interview with an English major at Yale. She told me Yale has this amazing “club” for good English students–which apparently has a copy of the First Folio in its basement! It’s like discovering hidden treasure! Anyway, as Yale has one of the best English departments in addition to this club, I was wondering if any English majors might tell me more about it. So, who out there has a key???</p>
<p>Edit: Seriously, 15 freshmen added every year? I’m close to tears just thinking about being there, I want to be in it so badly! Someone HAS to tell me more about this amazing club!</p>
<p>(P.S. I wrote my admission essay on dressing up as Hamlet for one of Homecoming Week’s “theme days.” I really do love Shakespeare so much!)</p>
<p><em>drools</em> I wasn’t aware of this. Makes me want to be an English major even more. So maybe I should stop procrastinating and study for my essay test on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead that’s tomorrow…</p>
<p>One of my mom’s good friends was part of it. It is called “the lizzie” (short for Elizabethan Society). At my mom’s last reunion, her friend took me there for tea. Even though she graduated 25 years ago, she still is a member and carries her key to the house on her regular key chain. The inside is gorgeous and the walls are covered in all sorts of exotic books. There is one full-time employee who cooks tea and cookies every day and serves a formal tea in the afternoon. Members of the club can stop by any time to read the books, chat, study, or just grab some food. Oh yeah! The backyard is the cutest British garden with a croquet set. It felt like I had just walked into Elizabethan England.</p>
<pre><code>If you are interested in joining, you need to form several good relationships with your English professors. Many of them are members of the club themselves and will recommend you for membership. If you do not make the cut, however, just make friends with a member since they are always allowed to invite one guest with them to the house.
</code></pre>
<p>Elizabethan Club (1911) - College Street
FY 1999 Assets: $1,836,574
FY 1999 Income: $212,806</p>
<p>The Elizabethan Club, modeled after the Century Association of New York City, is in theory a gathering place for Yales student and faculty literati. Like the top senior societies, the Lizzie has a million-dollar endowment, along with a priceless collection of rare first editions of Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, and others. William F. Buckley, Jr. dc 50 is among the Lizzies most famous members; Cole Porter was rejected from the club, leading him to write a satirical song about the most exclusive club in College. (The Lizzie later reversed its decision.)</p>
<p>As with a traditional gentlemens club, the Lizzie has an admissions committee; to become a member, one must be proposed and seconded by current club members. The Lizzie is highly selective; it rejects a significant number of its applicants. Candidacies can also fall victim to internal politics and grudge matches. Freshmen are not eligible for membership; thereafter, 15 members of each class may be selected.</p>
<p>Tea is served every afternoon during the academic year, but non-members are only allowed in the club from Thursday to Sunday. Dues are $10 for life, which means that a lot of undergraduates who get into the Club never have to make a serious commitment to it. As a result, the Lizzie suffers from a lack of undergraduate vibrancy. Graduate students and faculty members play a significant role at the Lizzie, however, and often make up for undergraduate delinquents.</p>
<p>yay so many societies to hopefully get tapped for. one of my upperclassmen friend’s opinion is that by senior year, everyone is in some sort of society.</p>
<p>Hm…so maybe if they know you’re really interested, they’ll let you in? Why would they reject such a large number if the people who do get in don’t participate? That seems, to say the least, “weird!”</p>
<p>The Lizzie isn’t just for English majors. Admission is open to any undergraduate, graduate student, or professor. You can enter the society in any year; only a few freshmen usually get in (four from my class). You need two recommendation letters written by current members of the Lizzie and then you need several more to second the recommendations before you get interviewed. Once you’re a member, you can go to the house anytime for tea, croquet, to chit-chat or to study. But it’s really nothing like the secret or semi-secret societies, since there’s no formal structure to it - you just go when you want. The secret societies have Thursday and Sunday meetings and are small enough so that you really know everyone. The Lizzie is large and informal.</p>
<p>Yeah, the Lizzie isn’t just for English majors. Getting in is pretty political – it’s not going to happen unless you know quite a few people in it. I believe each member can only write a letter of rec for two people a year (or a semester?), so it’s hard to even get that far in the process. </p>
<p>Prefrosh: The Lizzie is one of those things like Skull and Bones and EP&E – everyone thinks they want to do it when they arrive on campus freshman year, but by the end of their experience at Yale have pretty must lost interest. Don’t get me wrong, the Lizzie is super-cool and a great thing to participate in, but don’t focus on it too much as a freshman. I’m not a member but have quite a few friends who are, so I actually end up going for tea once in a while anyway. You can enjoy a lot of the resources on Yale’s campus without being a member of any of them!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, mochamaven. I don’t plan to (if I do even get into Yale!) make it central to my frosh experience but I’ve participated in every literature/book club or society available to me so I just can’t see myself losing much interest in this. The texts they have access to is just… incredible! Mind-blowing stuff :D</p>
<p>Do you think subtly mentioning it as part of what Yale has to offer in my app would show my interest/dedication or just make me look like a Eli-wannabe?</p>
<p>I was a Literature major, I had great relationships with faculty members, I got invited to the Lizzie for tea on a regular basis, and it never occurred to me to want to join. It was so precious, so NOT rock-and-roll, and back then I didn’t even LIKE tea (or little bits of cucumber on crustless Wonder Bread). In retrospect, I wish I had joined, but it really was very schoolmarmish. I don’t think you get to flip the pages on the First Folio, either. And Beinecke is more than sufficient for getting your rare-books rocks off.</p>
I really do love Shakespeare so much!)</p>
Huge bookworm speaking, though - lol.</p>