The Iron Arrow Honor Society is an
honor society
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Sc ...
at the
University of Miami in
Coral Gables, Florida for students, faculty, staff and alumni. It is the highest honor that can be bestowed by the university.
Founded at the University of Miami in 1926, the society admits about thirty members annually, including
undergraduate,
School of Law and
Miller School of Medicine
Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM) is the University of Miami's graduate medical school in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1952, it is the oldest medical school in the state of Florida.
Campus
The University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller Sch ...
students, alumni, and University of Miami faculty, staff, and administrators. Membership requires unanimous votes of the membership. Criteria include
scholarship,
leadership,
character
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
,
humility, and love of
alma mater.
History
The society was founded in 1926 as the "Highest Honor Attained by Men." In 1937, Nu Kappa Tau, a separate sister organization at the university, was founded as "The Highest Honor Attained by Women." In 1966, Nu Kappa Tau became affiliated with the national honor society
Mortar Board, "leaving Iron Arrow to carry the tradition alone."
In 1976, the
federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
notified the University of Miami that it was providing significant assistance to Iron Arrow in violation of
Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972. The university responded by having Iron Arrow move its tapping ceremony off campus and negotiated with it to accept women members. Iron Arrow, in turn, sued the federal government seeking the right to continue on campus as a male-only organization.
In 1982, university president
Edward T. Foote II wrote Iron Arrow stating that regardless of the court case's outcome, Iron Arrow would not be allowed back on campus as a male-only organization. This rendered the court case moot before it was scheduled to be heard in 1983 by the
U.S. Supreme Court in ''Iron Arrow Honor Soc. v. Heckler'' ().
In 1985, breaking with over fifty years of tradition, the society's all-male membership voted to admit women and Iron Arrow was allowed back on campus.
Iron Arrow Honor Society has been the subject of two books, ''Iron Arrow: A History'' (published in 1976) and ''Iron Arrow: A History, Seventy-Five Years'' (published in 2001).
Controversies
In July 2020, Iron Arrow faced criticism from some in the University of Miami community and some
Native Americans for "cultural appropriation," though the Iron Arrow Honor Society is an officially sanctioned clan of the
Miccosukee tribe of
Florida.
"Native American students call for changes within Iron Arrow,"
'' The Miami Hurricane'', July 27, 2020, retrieved July 27, 2020
Prominent members
Notes
External links
Official website
{{authority control
1926 establishments in Florida
1983 in law
History of women's rights in the United States
Honor societies
Student organizations established in 1926
Student societies in the United States
University of Miami