On Monday night a member of the Order of the Hippo confirmed the “secret” organization had their first meeting of the year at the Alumni House.

The administration sponsored society is a group of students who assemble to sponsor philanthropic events on campus, but none of the members will talk about the organization publicly. While administrators, members, and students involved with the Order of the Hippo deny its existence, one self-proclaimed Order member spoke on the condition of anonymity and said the Order has not inducted any new members since last year and will continue to sponsor philanthropic events this year. The Order traditionally sponsors the George Washington Birthday celebration, held in University Yard, and the group in years past has raised money for gifts to the University including artwork in some academic buildings.

Last year the Order came under scrutiny after suspected members of the organization were seen on campus wearing blindfolds and with mud or face paint on their bodies. Student Judicial Services investigated the incident but has not said what, if any, sanctions resulted from last year’s incident.

Some members of the Student Association have taken a keen interest in the Order including SA Senator Ben Traverse and L. Asher Corson, both seniors. Staking out a suspected Order meeting last year in front of the School of Media and Public Affairs building the two were taking video recordings of believed Order members entering the building, lounging on the second floor with University administrators including President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and later in the evening exiting the building.

Trachtenberg denied the Order’s existence as he walked out of the building last May saying, “As far as I know a hippo is one of those beasts in the jungle. They swim around.”

Corson and Traverse had plans to launch a video documentary of the organization last year but delays in the production process pushed back the target launch date. Corson said they were going to release the completed documentary this year but have recently received “a tremendous amount of information” about the Order of the Hippo. The duo plan to add the new information into the documentary and said they will release the video at the end of the semester.