s become one
of the musical centers of the country. The modest concerts first given
by the Choral Union, composed largely of students, prepared the way for
the establishment in 1893 of the annual May Festival, which has become
an established event of the University year under the energetic and able
direction of Dr. A.A. Stanley, who has well accomplished the task he
set himself when he came to Ann Arbor in 1888, to create a true musical
atmosphere in the University of Michigan. The number of concerts given
under the auspices of the Choral Union, including the May Festival
Concerts, now totals 318.

The gregarious club-forming habit, as we have seen, began as far as the
University is concerned almost with the admission of the first class. A
list of such organizations might be compiled from old _Palladiums_ and
_Michiganensians_, but it would be to little purpose. In most cases
these societies have been ephemeral, and if they did survive their own
generations, they soon lapsed into pale shadows, or faded away, with no
one to mark their passing. There are certain societies, however, which
have been in existence some time, that serve to mark a definite trend in
undergraduate life, though most of them reflect not so much scholastic
attainment as personal popularity. The most conspicuous of these is
"Michigamua," a society which was organized in 1902 as an all-senior
organization. It has always stressed the Indian tradition in its
practices and names, and has made a picturesque ceremony of its annual
"rope-in" of new members, who are surrounded on a certain day in spring
with a howling band of painted braves. Similar societies in other
departments and classes soon followed, and we now have the "Griffins,"
another all-campus society; "Druids," senior literary; "Sphinx," junior
literary; "Vulcans," senior engineering; "Triangle," junior engineering;
"Archons," junior laws; "Galens," medical; "Alchemists," chemical
students; "Craftsmen," Masonic students; "Quarterdeck," marine
engineering; as well as several similar societies among the women,
notably the "Senior Society" and "Mortarboard."

As for the real "honor" societies, those whose membership is in itself
an academic honor, there are several whose members are selected with
Faculty co-operation. These are best illustrated by Phi Beta Kappa, the
oldest inter-collegiate organization, which was established at Michigan
only after long opposition centering about the introduction