The Court of Areopagus was a secretive organization of goons who charged themselves with the responsibility “to put down, or keep down, presumptious [sic] underclassmen,” according to an alumni’s reminiscence published in the Tripod in 1916. It is likely that this group was operational around the year 1868, as this is when an ‘advertisement’ for the Court appears in The Trinity Tablet.

The anonymous contributor to the 1916 issue of the Tripod recalls serving as “High Priest” of the Court during his senior year, when one sophomore referred to as “R.H.” was “shawled, put in a hack, blindfolded, and driven out to Mount Zion Grave-Yard” by members of the group. Due to a dearth of other accounts of this group’s operations in other years, it is unclear how many underclassmen experienced such hazing under the authority of the Court.

The Trinity Tripod, 1916-05-16.

The Trinity Tablet, 1868-07.