ANAK Society
Encyclopedia
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
and honor society
Honor society
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...
at the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
(Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Founded in 1908, ANAK's purpose is "to honor outstanding juniors and seniors who have shown both exemplary leadership and a true love for Georgia Tech". The society is named after Anak
Anak
According to the Book of Numbers, during the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Anak was a well known figure, and a forefather of the Anakites who have been considered "strong and tall," they were also said to have been a mixed race of giant people, descendants of the Nephilim...
, a biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
figure said to be the forefather of a race of giants
Nephilim
The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan in Numbers 13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel 32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors....
.
Although not founded as a secret society, ANAK has kept its activities and membership rosters confidential since 1961. Membership is made public upon a student's graduation or a faculty member's retirement. The ANAK Society's membership comprises at least 1,100 Georgia Tech graduates, faculty members, and honorary members. Notable members include Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
(honorary), Bobby Dodd
Bobby Dodd
Robert Lee Dodd was an American college football coach at Georgia Tech. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player and coach, something that only three people have accomplished....
(honorary), Ivan Allen Jr.
Ivan Allen Jr.
Ivan Allen, Jr., was a U.S. businessman and Democratic political figure most notable for serving two terms as the 52nd Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s.-Biography:...
, and most of Georgia Tech's presidents. Membership in the ANAK Society has long been considered the highest honor a Georgia Tech student can receive, although the society's activities have been the object of suspicion and controversy in recent years.
The society has been influential in the history of Georgia Tech
History of Georgia Tech
The history of the Georgia Institute of Technology can be traced back to Reconstruction-era plans to develop the industrial base of the Southern United States. Founded on October 13, 1885 in Atlanta, Georgia as the Georgia School of Technology, the university opened in 1888 after the construction...
. ANAK played a major role in establishing several of Georgia Tech's most active student organizations – including Georgia Tech's yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
, the Blueprint
Blueprint (yearbook)
Blueprint is Georgia Tech's official student yearbook. It was established in 1908 and is the second oldest student organization on campus. Their staff meets Thursday nights at 7 pm in Room 137 of the Student Services Building.-History:...
; Georgia Tech's student newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
, the Technique
The Technique
The Technique, also known as the "Nique," is the official student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and has referred to itself as "the South's liveliest college newspaper" since 1945...
; and Georgia Tech's Student Government Association – as well as several lasting Georgia Tech traditions
Georgia Tech traditions
Numerous Georgia Tech legends and traditions have been established since the school's opening in 1888, some of which have persisted for decades. Over time, the school has grown from a trade school into a large research university, and the traditions reflect that heritage...
. The society also claims involvement in a number of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
projects, most notably in peacefully integrating
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
Georgia Tech's first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students and preventing the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
from setting up a student chapter at Georgia Tech. These claims have yet to be substantiated by independent sources.
A philanthropic organization, the ANAK Society annually awards two undergraduate student scholarships, the George Wingfield Semmes Memorial Scholarship and the Merri Gaye Hitt Memorial Scholarship. Additionally, the society annually recognizes distinguished Georgia Tech alumni with the Joseph M. Pettit
Joseph M. Pettit
Joseph Mayo Pettit was an engineer who became president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1972 to 1986.-Biography:...
Distinguished Service Award. The society's ANAK Award, granted annually to an outstanding Georgia Tech faculty member, is considered the most prestigious award of its kind. The society has also donated a number of gifts to Georgia Tech in honor of its members and notable alumni.
Name and symbology
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
, one of the books of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. The passage, attributed to , reads, "And there were the Nephilin, the sons of ANAK, who came of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." Anak
Anak
According to the Book of Numbers, during the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Anak was a well known figure, and a forefather of the Anakites who have been considered "strong and tall," they were also said to have been a mixed race of giant people, descendants of the Nephilim...
was a biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
figure said to be the forefather of the Nephilim
Nephilim
The Nephilim are the offspring of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4, or giants who inhabit Canaan in Numbers 13:33. A similar word with different vowel-sounds is used in Ezekiel 32:27 to refer to dead Philistine warriors....
, a race of giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
. For unknown reasons, the society's name has sustained minor alterations over the years, from Anak in the 1908 Blue Print
Blueprint (yearbook)
Blueprint is Georgia Tech's official student yearbook. It was established in 1908 and is the second oldest student organization on campus. Their staff meets Thursday nights at 7 pm in Room 137 of the Student Services Building.-History:...
, the first edition of Georgia Tech's yearbook
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
, to ANAK in recent editions of The Technique
The Technique
The Technique, also known as the "Nique," is the official student newspaper of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia and has referred to itself as "the South's liveliest college newspaper" since 1945...
, Georgia Tech's student newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
.
The ANAK Society has adopted a number of symbols over the years, although it has never offered any official explanation as to their meaning. From its founding in 1908 to 1927, the society identified itself only by the name "Anak" or "Anak Society". In 1928 and 1929, the society adopted a bend sinister
Bend (heraldry)
In heraldry, a bend is a coloured band running from the upper right corner of the shield to the lower left . Writers differ in how much of the field they say it covers, ranging from one-fifth up to one-third...
gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
, a type of diagonal red line borrowed from heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
. The bend was dropped after 1930, following the introduction of a crest bearing the face of a cyclops
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
and the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
inscription ענק, meaning Anak, both affixed to a capital letter T. This loosely drawn crest was replaced with a more professionally illustrated version in 1940 (see right image). In later decades, the society adopted a simple lidless eye to represent itself; this symbol appeared on red ribbon armband
Armband
An armband is a piece of material worn around the arm over the sleeve of other clothing if present. they may be worn for pure ornamentation to mark the wearer as belonging to group, having a certain rank or role, or being in a particular state or condition...
s worn at ANAK "tapping" rituals and a plaque outside the Paul G. Mayer Memorial Garden on Georgia Tech's campus. Most recently, ANAK published a modernized version of its crest, a lidless eye affixed to a capital letter T, in The Technique in January 2008 to commemorate its centennial.
Founding
William Henry Emerson
William Henry "Big Doc" Emerson was an American chemist.-Life:William Henry Emerson was born in Tunnel Hill, Georgia in 1860 to Matilda Caroline Austin, daughter of Clisbe Austin, and Caleb J. Emerson. He joined the United States Naval Academy at age 16, graduating in 1880. Emerson spent the next...
, a professor of chemistry. Officer titles were named after famous cyclopes
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
: the president was Polyphemus
Polyphemus
Polyphemus is the gigantic one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes. His name means "much spoken of" or "famous". Polyphemus plays a pivotal role in Homer's Odyssey.-In Homer's Odyssey:...
; the vice president, Brontes; the treasurer, Stereopes; and the secretary, Arges
Arges
Arges was one of the Cyclopes in Greek mythology. He was elsewhere called Acmonides or Pyraemon. His name means 'bright' and represents the brightness from lightning....
. Other charter members (all seniors) were G. A. Hendrie, C. A. Adamson, S. J. Hargrove, J. E. Davenport, L. W. Robert, W. R. Snyder, C. L. Emerson
Cherry Logan Emerson (engineer)
Cherry Logan Emerson, Sr. was an American engineer and academic administrator.-Education:Emerson graduated from Georgia Tech with two bachelor's degrees: one in mechanical engineering and one in electrical engineering...
(son of William Henry Emerson) and G. W. Holmes Cheney. Additional members have been initiated each subsequent year, but following the tradition set by the society's founders, no more than 12 members may be initiated per year.
In the 1909 Blue Print, the society described its purpose as follows: "[The ANAK Society] is composed of men from the Senior Class of Georgia Tech who have shown themselves zealous in the development of college spirit
School spirit
School spirit is emotional support for one's educational institution. This can apply to any type of school, from grade schools to universities...
. This organization is not here, primarily, as a social club or honorary society, but to do all it can to develop a better morale among the student body and improve all phases of college life."
As the society's membership base grew, its influence and prestige likewise increased. By 1940, the ANAK Society was referred to as "the oldest honorary organization on the Tech campus" and membership as "the highest local honor a Tech student may obtain". These claims would generally go unchallenged throughout the rest of the century. Faculty recognition by the society, first initiated with the ANAK Award in 1942, would reach an equivalent level of prestige by the end of the century.
Transition to a secret society
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
by "tapping" them (tapping them on the shoulder) or presenting them with red ribbon armbands at Georgia Tech's semi-annual Interfraternity Council
North-American Interfraternity Conference
The North-American Interfraternity Conference , is an association of collegiate men's fraternities that was formally organized in 1910, although it began on November 27, 1909. The power of the organization rests in a House of Delegates where each member fraternity is represented by a single delegate...
(IFC) dance. The ritual was dropped in 1961 when ANAK elected to become a secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
. From this point forward, ANAK membership was made public only upon a student's graduation, via a list of graduating ANAK members published in the Blueprint and the Technique each year and the ANAK Society's home page. A similar policy applies to faculty and honorary members, whose involvement with the society is only made known upon their retirement from Georgia Tech.
The specific reasons for ANAK's transition to secrecy remain unclear. One reason, cited in several editions of the Blueprint, offers that the society changed its policies to protect its members from fallout associated with ANAK's civil rights activities at the time. According to Gary S. May
Gary S. May
Gary Stephen May is Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since July 1, 2011, he has been the dean of Georgia Tech's College of Engineering.-Early life:...
, the society's faculty advisor, ANAK membership is confidential because "the members don't want to exert undue influence on processes or people because of their status as a member". In contrast, critics of the society suggest that the society acts in secret to shirk accountability for any negative consequences of its activities.
Modern organization
By the 21st century, ANAK comprised at least 1,100 graduates, faculty members and honorary members. Among current Georgia Tech students, only upperclassmen (junior and senior undergraduates) are eligible for regular membership. Honorary memberships for faculty members and distinguished alumni are also available. The society apparently selects members based on "leadership ability, personal achievement, strong character, and love for Georgia Tech". Membership is unrestricted by race or gender, and academic achievement is not considered in the selection criteria. The society admitted its first female member, Carol A. Burtz, in 1976, 23 years after Georgia Tech began admitting women.As the ANAK Society is ostensibly a student organization at Georgia Tech, it is subject to the same rules and regulations as other student organizations. The society files paperwork with Georgia Tech administration and the Student Government Association, holds elections for each of its four mandatory officer positions (president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary) and is formally advised by a Georgia Tech faculty member. The president's name must be kept on file in the Office of Student Involvement, available to any student who seeks it. As of 2007, the society's current faculty advisor is Gary S. May, the Steve W. Chaddick Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and an ANAK member since 1985.
Student organizations
The ANAK Society played a major role in establishing several of Georgia Tech's most active student organizations, including two student publications and the student government. The society's existence was formally announced in the first edition of the Blue Print in 1908. Four ANAK charter members served on the first Blue Print editorial board
Editorial board
The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...
. By 1911, ANAK admitted four more 1908 Blue Print editors into the society, including Editor-in-Chief John G. Chapman. These close relationships enabled the society to assert a great deal of control over the yearbook's direction in future decades. Along with several other clubs and societies, ANAK listed its membership roster and provided a group photograph in the yearbook.
ANAK and three Georgia Tech faculty members appointed the first staff of the Technique, Georgia Tech's student newspaper. Eugene A. Turner, secretary of the Georgia Tech YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, and Albert Blohm, an adjunct professor of English, served as the newspaper's first editors, while W. G. Perry, a junior professor of English, acted as the Technique
In the absence of an official student government during the first few decades at Georgia Tech, the ANAK society acted as an unofficial student government and proposed an Honor Code
Honor code
An honour code or honour system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. The use of an honor code depends on the idea that people can be trusted to act honorably...
, modeled on that of West Point
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
's, in 1908. ANAK worked to set up a more formal organization, the Student Council (later the Student Government Association), in 1922, at which point it relinquished any decision-making privileges it had over the student body.
Other student organizations ANAK claims to have established include a chapter of the YMCA in 1910 and the Ramblin' Reck Club in 1930. The former claim, however, contradicts evidence of a YMCA chapter existing before 1908, and possibly as early as 1901. In 1912, ANAK additionally formed the Koseme Society, a comparable honor society geared towards sophomores and juniors at Georgia Tech.
Traditions
The ANAK Society is credited with beginning a number of lasting Georgia Tech traditions. ANAK created the "Rat Cap", a gold baseball capBaseball cap
A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded stiff brim. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams ,...
still distributed to new Georgia Tech students, in 1915 in response to distinctive freshman headgear popularized at other educational institutions at the time. ANAK organized the first homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
celebration combined with an alumni reunion around 1920, a tradition that continues to this day.
Civil rights
Beginning in the early 1920s, the ANAK Society involved itself in a number of civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activities. In 1921, ANAK spearheaded an effort to prevent the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
from setting up a chapter at Georgia Tech. The effort was successful and the Klan instead set up a chapter at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
.
Around 1960, ANAK held a series of secret dinner meetings with the families of Ford Greene, Ralph A. Long, Jr. and Lawrence Michael Williams, Georgia Tech's first three African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students. The goal of these meetings, facilitated through the Georgia Tech YMCA, was to discuss the range of potential situations that could arise when the three students enrolled at Georgia Tech the following year, as well as appropriate reactions to each of these situations. When Greene, Long, and Williams enrolled in the fall semester of 1961, ANAK members discreetly kept a close watch on the three students for the first two weeks to ensure their safety. As a result of ANAK's efforts and those of other Institute and city organizations, none of the students was involved in any serious incident, paving the way for continued peaceful racial integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
.
Philanthropy
Joseph M. Pettit
Joseph Mayo Pettit was an engineer who became president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1972 to 1986.-Biography:...
Distinguished Service Award (formerly the ANAK Service Award). Finally, since 1942 (annually since 1947), the society has presented the ANAK Award to an outstanding Georgia Tech faculty member. This award is considered "the highest honor the undergraduate student body can bestow on a Georgia Tech faculty member". For example, upon his retirement in 1999, Georgia Tech professor David J. McGill recalled winning the ANAK Award in 1990 as the highlight of his teaching career, despite having also won two Outstanding Teaching Awards (in 1974 and 1986) and being named the Carnegie Foundation
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center, whose primary activities of research and writing have resulted in published reports on every level...
's Professor of the Year for the state of Georgia in 1996.
Tech Tower
The Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Administration Building, commonly known as Tech Tower, is a historic building located at 225 North Avenue NW in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and a focal point of the central campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology...
to the D. P. Savant Building. The staircase bears a plaque naming ANAK as the benefactor, one of very few conspicuous declarations of the society's existence on the Georgia Tech campus. On September 26, 1947, ANAK presented a life-size bronze bust of Georgia Tech football head coach William A. Alexander to the Georgia Tech Athletic Association
Georgia Tech Athletic Association
The Georgia Tech Athletic Association is a non-profit organization responsible for maintaining the intercollegiate athletic program at Georgia Tech. The Athletic Association is overseen by the Georgia Tech Athletic Board....
to commemorate the society's 40th anniversary. The bust was sculpted by Julian H. Harris, a noted sculptor, architect, and Georgia Tech professor from 1936 to 1972. Along with the Class of 1924, ANAK gifted a portrait of William Henry Emerson
William Henry Emerson
William Henry "Big Doc" Emerson was an American chemist.-Life:William Henry Emerson was born in Tunnel Hill, Georgia in 1860 to Matilda Caroline Austin, daughter of Clisbe Austin, and Caleb J. Emerson. He joined the United States Naval Academy at age 16, graduating in 1880. Emerson spent the next...
, Georgia Tech's first dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
, to Georgia Tech in 1924. The portrait was painted by noted Atlanta artist Kate Edwards. After being lost some time in the 1980s, the portrait was found and restored in the early 1990s. It has hung in the atrium of the Lyman Hall
Lyman Hall (academic)
Lyman Hall was a professor and president of the Georgia School of Technology . He is perhaps best known for bringing what is now the School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering to Georgia Tech...
Building since October 15, 1992. Along with the Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...
honor society, ANAK was involved in the dedication of the Paul G. Mayer Memorial Garden on May 30, 1987. The garden, located between the Georgia Tech Library
Georgia Tech Library
The Georgia Tech Library and Information Center is an academic library that serves the needs of students, faculty, and staff at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The library consists of three buildings- the S. Price Gilbert Library, the Dorothy M...
and the William Vernon Skiles Classroom Building, features a plaque bearing the lidless eye symbol of the ANAK Society.
In 2002, the ANAK Society donated a collection of its records from 1948 to 1983 to Georgia Tech. The records are publicly available through the Georgia Tech Library's Archives and Records Management Department and include constitutions, anniversary dinner invitations, and member directories.
Controversy
In recent years, ANAK's influence and status as a secret society has raised suspicion and controversy among Georgia Tech students. In particular, the society had "fallen under heavy scrutiny" during a series of student government election scandalsElectoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
in the late 1990s.
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
after Chinnan was disqualified for repeated campaign violations. The disqualification, however, was eventually overturned by the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet (the judiciary branch of student government). Although Galindo had committed a similar (but not identical nor a repeated) campaign violation, the Elections Committee did not disqualify him. Galindo had used his staff account to distribute campaign information while Chinnan had repeatedly used academic email distribution lists not available to the general public. Allegations of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
erupted when two members of the Elections Committee turned out to be Galindo's fellow ANAK members; however, no proof of wrongdoing was ever uncovered. Chinnan, at the time of the election, was dating Anu Khurana, the then-president of the ANAK Society. Chinnan had agreed with and acknowledged that Galindo had not wanted him to be "disqualified on a technicality".
A similar incident occurred at Georgia Tech the following year. During Student Government Association elections in 1999, rumors circulated that Wendy Horowitz, a candidate for Student Body President, was a member of ANAK. "Conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
" and "intense debate" ensued among students regarding the society's intentions, benevolent or otherwise. Horowitz lost the election, a result widely attributed to her purported ANAK affiliation. It was later revealed that Horowitz, in fact, had served as president of the ANAK Society for the 1999–2000 term.
As a result of these controversies, a general feeling of distrust towards the ANAK society propagated throughout the Georgia Tech campus, epitomized by an anonymous email circulated in 1999 that accused ANAK of "being the 'lapdog of President Clough
G. Wayne Clough
Gerald Wayne Clough is President Emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, a position he has held since July 2008...
' [and] improperly influencing elections, scholarships, and the press, among other things". Critics expressed concern that ANAK members were shirking accountability for "their mistakes, their bad ideas, and their bad decisions" under the guise of eschewing "praise for their accomplishments". The Student Government Association's policy towards secret societies was called into question, resulting in a Joint Campus Organizations Committee (JCOC) resolution to consider the issue of accountability among student organization leaders. The controversial JCOC resolution, strongly opposed by ANAK representatives, would "require candidates for officer positions to recognize all campus affiliations including position and duration of involvement". The resolution failed, ensuring that ANAK membership rosters and meetings would continue to remain confidential.
Notable members
The ANAK Society has granted honorary membership to a host of notable individuals associated with Georgia Tech, including former United States senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Sam Nunn
Sam Nunn
Samuel Augustus Nunn, Jr. is an American lawyer and politician. Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative , a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a...
, former Georgia Tech football head coach Bobby Dodd
Bobby Dodd
Robert Lee Dodd was an American college football coach at Georgia Tech. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame as a player and coach, something that only three people have accomplished....
, former Georgia Tech basketball head coach Bobby Cremins
Bobby Cremins
Bobby Cremins is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the College of Charleston's men's basketball team, and former head coach at Appalachian State and Georgia Tech.-Early years:...
, sportscaster Al Ciraldo
Al Ciraldo
Alfred Joseph Ciraldo was an American sportscaster best known for his work as the play-by-play announcer for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball and football teams.-Education:...
, former United States president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
(inducted 1946), and most of Georgia Tech's presidents. Notable ANAK members who were active in the society as Georgia Tech students include former Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. (inducted 1933), Scientific Atlanta founder Glen P. Robinson
Glen P. Robinson
Glen Parmelee Robinson Jr. , called the "father of high-tech industry in Georgia", is a founder of Scientific Atlanta, now a subsidiary of Cisco Systems...
, former United States astronaut John W. Young (inducted 1952) and former Georgia Tech football head coach William A. Alexander (inducted 1912). George P. Burdell
George P. Burdell
George P. Burdell is a fictitious student officially enrolled at Georgia Tech in 1927 as a practical joke. Since then, he has supposedly received several degrees, served in the military, gotten married, and served on Mad magazine's Board of Directors, among other accomplishments. Burdell at one...
, Georgia Tech's most famous fictional student, has been a member of the ANAK Society since 1930.