A Brief History
The Boulder Society was formed in 1905 by a group of senior men in order to connect the student body to the administration. These men worked to bring the needs of the student body to the attention of the administration. Members had weekly meetings with the president of the University and were distinguished by the green jackets that they wore around campus.
The Boulder men founded the Student Government Association in the interest of creating a closer tie between the administration and the student body.
The UVM Boulder
“Discovered in 1847, this naturally formed boulder was brought to UVM and came to epitomize the mission of the University … to transform the unversed into the well-rounded.
The UVM Boulder Society, established in 1905, is the oldest senior men’s honor society in the country and strives to uphold the mission of the University.
This plaque is a gift from the UVM Boulder Class of 1992.”
Inscribed on the UVM Boulder Plaque
Boulder Society Pledge
As a member of the Boulder Society, I undertake to support and uphold the ideals of The University of Vermont and to foster its traditions.
I believe in the concept of the University as giving its students not only intellectual background but also those qualities of character and leadership, which are essential to a well-educated student.
I promise to work for the greatest good of The University of Vermont impartially and unselfishly, striving ever to raise the ideals and foster the traditions of the student body.
I recognize the obligation of our University to serve society and the obligation of its graduates to utilize for society’s benefit the training received here.
As a member of the Boulder Society, I promise to live and act within the spirit of this pledge.
Gender Inclusivity
For 118 years the Boulder Society has successfully persevered as a unique group at the University of Vermont, bringing together exceptional undergraduates in discourse, discussion, and community. The Society has changed immensely over its history as has the University.
When Boulder was founded in 1905, it drew primarily from the leaders of the fraternities represented at UVM, meeting monthly with the University’s president to provide an undergraduate voice in decision making. This persisted until the Boulder Society founded the Student Association, (now Student Government Association), to take the role of an institutionalized undergraduate voice at UVM.
In the ‘50s and ‘60s Boulder, alongside many now defunct underclassmen societies including Key and Serpent, Staff and Sandal, and Gold Key, were assets to the administration in hosting regular University events such as planning and executing freshmen week in the beginning of the academic year and hosting senior celebrations at the end of the academic year. To be a Boulder member was to serve as a tour guide, an orientation leader, and an undergraduate representative all in one. Now these roles are separate, performed under the purview of the Office of Admissions and the Department of Residential Life.
This is all to say that the culture and functioning of the University, and the role of Boulder within it, has changed over time to adapt to the needs of campus; as it should.
The throughline of our history is recruiting from the best undergraduates at the University; those who exemplify leadership, scholarship, and service. This central feature of Boulder has, for decades now, come into conflict with its model of male-exclusive membership. According to the University’s Office of Institutional Research in 2023, 37% of the University’s undergraduate enrollment is male, meaning that Boulder disregards 63% of the University’s undergraduate student body by upholding its gender exclusivity.
Within that pool of 6,754 students, there are individuals who truly display the zenith of leadership, scholarship, and service at the University; those who are deserving of carrying on Boulder’s legacy. To exclude these potential members not only compromises the guiding purpose of Boulder, but also neglects the University’s own common ground values of respect, responsibility, integrity, innovation, openness and justice. This exclusion casts Boulder in an unfavorable light on campus, not as a meritocratic honor for those deserving of it, but as an artifact of an inequitable past. In adapting the Boulder Society to fulfill a prestigious and productive role at UVM in the 21st century, this Boulder class has found it necessary to end Boulder’s gender exclusivity.
As of April 29th, 2023, via the unanimous amending of the Boulder Society Constitution by the Boulder class of ‘23, the Society has ended its model of male-exclusive membership and formally inducted the first women and non-binary members into the organization. This decision was made over two years of thoughtful and rigorous discussion, including consultation with Boulder Society Alumni Association leadership, and done in conjunction with the Tower Society. We make this decision with energy and optimism, looking forward to continuing an outstanding legacy of leadership, scholarship and service here at the University of Vermont that Boulder has maintained for over a century.
– The Boulder Society, ‘23