The NoZe Brotherhood is an American collegiate secret society. It was established in 1918 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. From the society's inception through to the early 1960s, members were open about their participation, but they now keep their identities secret. It is the oldest men's social organization on the Baylor campus.
Founded in Brooks Hall in 1918, the society was originally formed as a joke regarding Leonard Shoaf, a freshman with a large nose. Shoaf's nose was of "such great length and breadth of nostril"[1] that his friends proclaimed they could "form a club around it".[2] The group was said to be named Nose Brotherhood just after Shoaf's nose.[3][4] The group was formed by a group of men who often met inside Brooks and decided they wanted to create their own men's club, since the Baylor University Chamber of Commerce was the only other option.[5][4]
In 1924, the members of the club began wearing noses, a different one for each member, as well as unorthodox costumes. This year, the club also began to accept members from dorms other than Brooks. Many of the real names of the original members are impossible to find since they are all given NoZe Brother names and were known by that.[5]
The society became a popular, irreverent campus fixture in the years that followed, poking fun at its rivals, the Baylor University Chamber of Commerce, appearing in Baylor's yearbook the Round-Up,[3] and writing the occasional humorous piece for the yearbook or Baylor's newspaper, The Lariat. Targets of the NoZe Brothers' mirth have included Baylor's faculty, administration, the Southern Baptist Convention, various student organizations, and themselves.
In the mid-1960s, the society's relationship with Baylor's administration became more precarious, due primarily to acts of vandalism: the repeated painting of a campus bridge in the traditional NoZe color of pink, followed by an alleged arson attack on the bridge, the details of which are disputed.[6] The group was expelled from campus in 1965 for publishing a curse words in The Rope, its publication.[4]
The group returned to campus in 1967, but as a secret society and changed the spelling from "Nose" to "NoZe".[3][4] It adopted a guerrilla profile, crashing various campus events such as "Sing", Chapel, and Homecoming parades. In 1999, it was again banned from campus for an article in The Rope that was "racially insensitive".[4] Although not officially recognized by the university, it is the oldest men's organization on the Baylor campus.[7][3][8]
Symbols
The NoZe Brotherhood was named in honor of said to be named after a joke regarding Leonard Shoaf, a freshman with a large nose who was the group's first president.[8] The group is known for wearing wigs, costumes, and Groucho-Marx-style glasses, noses, and mustaches, designed to hide its member's identities.[8] The NoZe Brotherhood's colors are baby pink and baby blue.[6][7] Its motto is "Ye Shall Know Them by Their Noses".[7][8] Its publication is The Rope.[3][8]
The NoZe Brotherhood is lede by the Lorde Mayor.[3][4] The Bored of Graft consists of past Lordes Mayor, who are available to give advice to the current Lorde Mayor.[3][4] Bro. Edgar Allen NoZe is the editor of The Rope.[3] Bro. Bear NoZecessities acts as the group's treasurer.[3] Members are called NoZemen.[4]
Leonard Shoft is a figurehead and saint of the organization, known as Brother LongNoZe.[4] The NoZe Brotherhood honor Brother Long NoZe in prose and song with ditties such as "This Old God", "When the NoZe is Blown up Yonder", and "Rock Around the Cross". The traditional NoZe saga "The Cry of the Enormous Rabbit" is usually recited semiannually. The NoZe prayer is basically "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" recited backward with appropriate changes.
Membership
New members join the NoZe Brotherhood through a process known as "UnRush", held each semester.[3] The NoZe will announce the time and place of UnRush in the first Rope of the semester, and invite candidates to submit a humorous, satirical, or absurdist paper of 10,365 words or less. During UnRush, the Lorde Mayor will prophesy to and harangue the attendant masses on some matter of topical interest. Each pledge class that becomes a part of the brotherhood is required to complete a "class project", or a group prank.[9]
From the society's inception in the 1920s through to the early 1960s, members were open about their participation, but they now keep their identities secret. Some members choose to reveal their identity at graduation by wearing their glasses around their neck.[10]
Activities
The society has held its Annual Pink Tea since May 17, 1929.[7]
The society is liberal in handing out awards, titles, and various sobriquets; in fact, if a NoZeman feels that his fellow members have not seen fit to bestow sufficient honors upon him, he is encouraged to come up with his own. NoZe honors typically begin with the prefix "Keko Keeper of...", the meaning of which is apparently lost to history.
In 1954, the society began publishing its own satirical newspaper, The Rope (spoofing the campus newspaper The Lariat),[7] taking aim at Baylor University and the Baptist Church, employing satire and absurdity, and developing a unique writing style known as "NoZe prose".[11] The group kept a record of everything they did as a group called the "Holy Law." Sadly sometime after World War II, the book was lost and has yet to be found.[5]
The Noze Brotherhood has also participated in Baylor's homecoming parade.[4] In 2016, they attached a rug on a truck bumper to represent the university sweeping things under the rug, commenting on the university's sexual assault scandal.[12] The group is also known to paint the noses of campus statues pink.[4]
Disruptions
NoZe Glasses on Old Main
The NoZe Brotherhood's campus pranks are called disruptions.
Integrating the Baylor Homecoming Parade, 1941[13]
Long, William B. (1997). The Nose Brotherhood Knows: A Collection of Nothings and Non-Happenings, 1926–1965. Belton, Texas: Bear Hollow. ISBN0961751754
References
↑ Wright, Norman S. (April 12, 1931). "Nose Brotherhood of the Universe, Unltd". The Dallas Morning News. p.Feature 5.
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