Episkopon is a controversial 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...

 at Trinity College

University of Trinity College

The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...

 in the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

, which has been active since 1858 when its male branch was founded. The 225th reading was held in 2011. A female branch of Episkopon has been active since 1899, holding their 150th Reading in 2009. In 1992, Episkopon was censured and forcibly disassociated by the Trinity College Council following allegations of racism and homophobia. Despite policies prohibiting Episkopon from engaging in any activities on College property, the society continues to play a significant role in undergraduate life at Trinity. The male and female branches both present three annual Readings during which gossip is disseminated and students are criticized through a wide range of formats of jokes, songs, and poems delivered mostly by the branch's leader, the Scribe. The society's mythological premise is to deliver "gentle chastisement" on behalf of the Venerable Father (or Mother) Episkopon, a spirit who supposedly resides at Trinity and who is represented at Readings by a human skull. Described in the media as a "self-perpetuating board of directors", the clandestine group of former Scribes and their assisting editors style themselves as the Order of the Golden Key. The motto of the organization is: Notandi Sunt Tibi Mores.

History

Episkopon has existed since 1858, when it was announced that the first Scribe was Pakenham Edward Stewart, later an Anglican priest. Episkopon began as a 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....

, developed into a form in which only one copy of each edition was created, to be read aloud by the Scribe. Episkopon provides insight into College history, through the keeping of archives dating back to the mid-19th century. A poster by artist Roloff Beny

Roloff Beny

Roloff Beny, OC was a Canadian photographer who spent the better part of his life in Rome and on his photographic travels throughout the world...

 advertising a Reading from 1945 is in possession of the National Archives of Canada. Also in the National Archives is a film about the former Trinity College campus on Queen Street West

Queen Street West

Queen Street West describes both the western branch of Queen Street, a major east-west thoroughfare, and a series of neighbourhoods or commercial districts, situated west of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Queen Street begins in the west at the intersection of King Street, The...

, made by Gordon Sparling

Gordon Sparling

Gordon Sparling, was a pioneering Canadian film maker. He was educated at Trinity College in the University of Toronto. He directed such early Canadian films as La Maison en ordre in 1936 and The Kinsmen in 1938....

, in which Episkopon's traditions feature prominently. A board listing the names of female Scribes once hung in Trinity's St. Hilda's College, but was removed upon the group's decision to disassociate from the College, a show of solidarity with the male branch in the 1990s.

Controversy

One attempted student suicide was linked to a 1985 reading, although the circumstances of the connection were not reported. In October 1991, following accusations of racism, sexism, and homophobia in Episkopon, a task force was formed to investigate it and Trinity College at large. When the male Scribe of the 1992-1993 academic year refused to draft a constitution that was consistent with the task force's recommendations, the Trinity College Council voted unanimously to sever all ties with the organization. Investigative journalist Declan Hill

Declan Hill

Declan Hill is a journalist, academic and consultant. He is one of the world’s foremost experts on match-fixing and corruption in international sports. In 2008, Hill, as a Chevening Scholar, obtained his doctorate in Sociology at the University of Oxford. His book ‘The Fix: Organized Crime and...

, a Trinity alumnus, in a 1993 documentary broadcast on the CBC Radio

CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...

 program Ideas

Ideas (radio show)

Ideas is a long running scholarly radio documentary show on CBC Radio One. Co-created by Phyllis Webb and William A. Young, the show premiered in 1965 under the title The Best Ideas You'll Hear Tonight...

, claimed that Episkopon's Readings tended to ridicule certain groups and actions as a form of social control. The article cited student objections to the singling out of individuals for public shaming. In 2008, a prospective male member of Episkopon sustained head injuries while being hazed

Hazing

Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....

during an initiation ritual.