Thomas Jefferson, F. H. C. Society
Thomas Jefferson may have been a member of the F.H.C. Society at the College of William and Mary, but that doesn't mean he was impressed by the group.
In one 1819 letter, the third US president reflected on his experience in the secret society: "... there existed a society called the F. H. C. society, confined to the number of six students only, of which I was a member, but it had no useful object. Nor do I know whether it now exists."
Ouch.
The initials F.H.C. stood for "Fraternitas, Humanitas, et Cognitio" — Latin for "brotherhood, humanity, and knowledge." However the group became known as the Flat Hat Club, probably a reference to the mortarboards all students wore in those days.
Members identified themselves with a secret handshake, along with a silver badge inscribed with the words "stabilitas et fides" (stability and faith, which is now the motto of William and Mary's campus newspaper). Perks included exclusive parties in the upper rooms of the local taverns, according to "Mr. Jefferson's Women. "
The group pretty much died out when the Revolutionary War interrupted classes. However, the name lived on with William and Mary's student newspaper and the secret society itself re-surged in 1972, under the name the Flat Hat Club.
