Charter members of the ANAK Society, 1908The ANAK Society was founded on January 1, 1908[15][16] by four Georgia Tech seniors: George Wyman McCarty, Jr. (President), Harry Read Vaughan (Vice President), Lewis Edward Goodier, Jr. (Secretary) and Charles Atwater Sweet, Jr. (Treasurer).[9][17] The "guiding spirit"[18] behind these students was said to be William Henry Emerson, a professor of chemistry.[18] Officer titles were named after famous cyclopes in Greek mythology: the president was Polyphemus; the vice president, Brontes; the treasurer, Stereopes; and the secretary, Arges.[19] 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 (son of William Henry Emerson) and G. W. Holmes Cheney.[9][17] 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.[19]
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. 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."[20]
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".[11] These claims would generally go unchallenged throughout the rest of the century.[2][3] 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.[6]
source : Wikipedia
