10.06
Skull and Bones selects new members every spring as part of Yale University’s “Tap Day.” The most recent Tap Day was held on April 16, 2009. Every year, Skull and Bones selects fifteen men and women of the junior class to join the society. Skull and Bones traditionally “tapped” those that it viewed as campus leaders and other notable figures for its membership.
Traditionally, groups such as the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, Yale Political Union, and Yale Daily News were well represented. The president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity is strongly considered for membership every year (George W. Bush is the most famous example). In addition, captains of various sports teams (football, basketball, crew) are also considered. In recent years, leaders in various Yale cultural organizations have also merited consideration.
Skull and Bones has developed a reputation with some as having a membership that is heavily tilted towards the “Power Elite”. Barack Obama’s economic adviser Austan Goolsbee was initiated into the club in 1991, the same year the club elected to tap women into the society.