The International Society of Shifters

this is legit. i dont go to wittenberg but my best friend does and i came to investigate this weekend. my friend and i tried to get into that tunnel on the westside of weaver chapel but couldnt get the top off. we went during the day and at midnight. this morning when she was going to the bathroom someone came in but didnt do anything and they left a big paperclip outside her stall. my friends think it was me but i SWEAR it wasnt.

Both my parents were shifters at Wittenberg, I was looking them up because they never wanted to tell me much other the the paperclips, backwards jackets and walking around with their thumbs up. I once got out of my mother that initiation included a naked swim in some river or something along those lines. I never realized how big of a group they were though, or that they may have some power...Pretty interesting

ok.. i went to wittenberg, what wasn't mentioned..

and rip Karl.. i knew him and hung out a few times but not well.. i also hung out with John a few times after finding him, and it was pretty distrubing..

you can get into the tunnels through a room in the basement of the library too, the old part under the chapel.. i forget which one.. they have keys..
if you are real adventurous you can probably get into them from the laundry room at meyer's hall..

all of them are drinking clubs. i have been to parties for pretty much every society but shifters.. and maybe them too..
the knights? what about roachclips.. i forgot what they were called.. i knew the people that started both of those.. just a lot of weed smoking there.. both are real new.. only a few years old.. "i will show those assholes and start my own secret society"

the shifters do more though.. no idea what.. probably no devil worship or anything.. i am a sure you can get a sweet job one day just for being a shifter..

i used to know more, but "they" made me forget with all of the drugs and alcohol i guess..

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


How sure are you of the fact that KDs cannot become shifters? Up until this year i thought the same. I'm a student right now at witt and i know a girl who was just tapped to be one who is a junior kappa delta. I've heard if you look at thier composite photos there were alot more KDs who were shifters as well. Just fyi.

Shift Shift spin it around make the world turn upside down keep a light in the attick and knock on the glass maybe just maybe someone won't kick your assets are what we run for and try to move around but the angle reflection is always just behind upsidedown and inside outside the chapel....

Weave your basket.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


The things you say about Karl's death are a complete lie!!!

They had closed keggers once a week during weekdays. They also were forced to share their "innermost" secret. There is a naked swim in the pond at the graveyard. The people picked tend to be from the preppier frats and sororities.

reply to post by WittWiz


Seriously? The Wizards are just as if not more ridiculous than the Shifters. They were created after the creation of the Shifters so they weren’t original their name is far from original and they are a secret organization making them one of a couple things:
1. Participating in illegal activities
2. Completely useless
3. A group of social outcasts making their own rules
4. A group of attention parasites
5. A very sorry attempt at humor.

And if your “Society” doesn’t fall into one of these categories then defend yourself. Why would a group of people run around at night and do seemingly random activities then when asked say they cannot tell? If they really didn’t want anyone to know then they would make up some other story so that people would stop asking. Obviously you want people to ask and make you feel important. For a poor example: the wizards in Harry Potter which do have some significance (in the novel) don’t create an air of mystery about their interaction with Muggles, instead they make their work look completely legitimate to keep the curious at bay… because they don’t want attention, they want to get their work done and not be bothered. So if you do have some real goal they share it or stifle suspicion. You are doing neither. You are encouraging curiousity and if that is what you want then keep it up, you are doing a great job.

If I have completely missed the mark just let me know, because I’d hate to be proven wrong. And by the way this comment is referring to all secret societies not just the Wizards.

Not sure if this thread is even active anymore, but I have a bit of information.

My sister was a shifter at Wittenberg. She never tells the whole story behind the organization, but has said it has roots in the underground railroad and John F Kennedy was a member. She was a keeper of the keys--not sure what that is. Lots of very famous people are shifters and supposedly they do good work. And in fact, when she said that JFK was a member, she said that he did something really amazing for the society. Hope this helps. I'd love to know more...

The one FACT that i can relay about all of this speculation is this:

If you ever discuss, write, or search for anything on the shifters and you are caught, you will never ever become a member.

So, if any of you have any interest in becoming a member. Keep it to yourself.

If you don't have any interest in being a member and you're merely trying to find out information, you won't get anything more than is already in these postings.

reply to post by trashflavored


The Wittenberg Wizards use the tunnels, they are a diff group altogether.

a post I read on the previous page i can confirm to be absolutely true concerning the various secret societies on wittenberg's campus and their respective pieces of flair. i am a recent witt grad and was a part of one of these societies and know a little bit about the others..

however, there are some inaccuracies in this post which i found to be one of the most spot-on of the entire string. KDs are allowed to join these secret societies because i know of many that are involved in them (myself being one)..also, the alleged secret society wearing bottle caps surfaced during my third year at witt and was called the "Onyx" started by some bored freshman, and the group encompassed freshmen that enjoyed drinking together and taking part in pointless activities for a couple months til all or most realized they were being dumb. (i knew a friend involved) also, i have speculations as to whether or not the village is around or relevant, if they ever even were and like the pirates and gnomes are probably just a group of friends that get together and party, all in the name of "secrecy." and as far as i can tell, if you want to be a bell just get in with the theater kids.

as far as the shifters & wizards go, i know these to be legitimate in that they have been around for a long time and have the most significant numbers and power on campus. iknow alot of people interested in knowing more baout them which is why im clearly still checking for updates on this string i dont know that the wizards started from disgruntled shifter members, but i do know that they are supposedly underground. now i come to the "kings" you speak of. i happen to have an acquaintance that i believe might be a part of this group, and have heard increasing amount of talk of them over the past year upon visiting campus or talking to undergrads im still associated with. there is reason to believe that this group is a group of new generation wizards bringing the society back to life little by little, and am not sure where the name kings has come from. i'm unaware of any flair that they sport or what they do but know that my friend rarely denied to wear colored rubber bands. (mabye a new version of the rainbow ribbon sported by the wizards?) either that or it's another bogus attempt to feel solidarity within a group. or maybe it's a society that's actually made secrecy a priority on campus?

does anyone have any info on this?

[edit on 8-3-2009 by tigers9tgdig]

I attended Witt but was too busy living life and studying at the time (altho' my grades wouldn't provide much of an alibi) to discuss the Shifters, et al. My attitude was to live and let live, especially with a "secret" society that purposely drew attention by walking in long lines through crowds in the light of day, whistling loudly while wearing backward or mismatched clothing and leaving trails of paper clips.
My closest interaction was during the first(?) Shantytown on campus to oppose South African apartheid. Not knowing what to expect (having recently been mooned by a particularly out-of-shape male at an upstairs window from the nearby girls' dorm), we were anxious as the Shifters approached our fragile huts in single file, thumbs above their outstretched fists, clothes criss-crossed, all the while whistling "You Are My Sunshine" non-stop--but saying nothing else as they encroached on our camp. Having seen them traipse uninterrupted through lunch lines and between crowded cafeteria tables, I was pleased--and impressed--when the leader stepped up to our petition calling for divestment and, instead of destroying our hovels or confiscating the clipboard, began to add his name to the woefully short list of previous signatures (mostly from tenured professors still alive enough to express themselves). As the rest of the crew played their traditional Follow-the-Leader, every one of the dozens of Shifters signed their names, too. Then they departed as one, still whistling, "You Are My Sunshine," thumbs approvingly displayed high in the air.
Rumor had it at the time that their organization enjoyed major influence through highly placed officials, and even that television's Johnny Carson was an honorary member. An enterprising reporter may want to investigate videos of The Tonight Show to confirm whether or not paper clips can be seen attached to lapels or draped in chains over coffee mugs on the host's desk. All I know is that one single gesture led me to consider the Shifters to be a class act that day.
I think we often romanticize secrecy (both from within and outside of the loop), roguishness, duplicity, and false identification...and this is coming from a confirmed GDIndependent. Admittedly, over the years I've suffered a recurrent compulsion to hole up in Springfield's Cliff Park with a well-worn copy of The Tao of Pooh for company and spy on those kids as they congregate for initiation of the Boomers. But if what I've read here is true, that they only gather to smoke, drink, and have sex...well, it's no secret this is exactly what many college students are doing, and they typically don't need office supplies or onlookers for help!

Originally posted by trashflavored
...Active members wear paperclips, pledges wear safety pins...

Sounds quite thrifty and appropriate for a group founded in the Great Depression. I wish our elected leaders in our own hard times would take similar measures...I'd like to see Senators show up in T-shirts and safety pins, personally.

I am a recent Witt grad, and love the mess of secret societies that crawl around campus after dark. The Shifters are a group of "Happy go-lucky" people, who basically single each other out as the friendliest people on campus. However, this selection is largely clique driven, and there tends to be lots of shifters on the volleyball and basketball teams, in the now deleted Chi-Omega sorority. The Shifters DO have an underground ritual storage cellar in Weaver Chapel, where it connects to TLib in the basement. There is a tunnel in Ferncliff Cemetery, but it reportedly leads to nowhere. Basically, they whistle "you are my sunshine" and tap people creepily twice a year, once in fall and once in spring. You are eligible for tapping the 2nd semester of your sophomore year, and they have an active all-member-and-alumni email system. This is a true society, though i do not personally care for them as a group very much.

I am a member of a secret society on Witt's campus, though not the shifters. As a part of this community, i will tell you that there are 2 societies that have been on campus for more than 20 years, and are the only two legitimate societies with an active alumni base and lifelong loyalty. I am a part of the other. There used to be 3 such groups, but the 3rd of them dismantled in 2006 after a truly appalling incident during their initiation. My society is considerably more secret than the shifters. few know we even exist, and most only know us by the external marker we wear.

Sex cult.
Probably just really social people looking for sex in secrecy instead of the normal public.

As a recent Witt graduate, I may be able to offer a little bit of insight. The shifters do have a root in Winnie the Pooh, this has been confirmed, and if you enter the bedroom of almost any shifter you will see a Winnie the Pooh character. Apparently there are two people tapped to be each pooh "character" each semester. There are many staff members who are shifters (Dr. Hasecke is one... last semester he was seen out and about with all the student shifters at night, he also spent 15 minutes of one of our classes talking about the history of the thumbs up, while students practically begged him to stop). The shifters walk around campus singing songs etc. A major theme within them is death and rebirth (one night a semester they bring boomers to the hollow and fake killing them).

Also a member of my fraternity stole a CD with a paperclip on it from the shifter house a few years ago (probably a bad idea on his part). He shared it with a wide range of people, but it was two techno songs repeating over and over one was the devil singing stating he can "give you sex, drugs and house" (we have no idea what giving house is). The other song is a song entitled "sex on coc aine" where a woman repeatedly says "do you know how it feels to # on coc aine? its nice, real nice" and a man in the background repeatedly says "face down, ass up thats the way we like to #". The shifters are not picked because they are the "nicest" people on campus. In fact, I can think of more shifters who are pricks than decent ones.

Recently a friend of mine's father got tapped, and he received a production quality DVD which outlines what it is to be a Shifter. He was also told that he could not participate in fully half of the "hazing" events, nor would he be informed of them because if any of these came to light he would most certainly lose his job-no ifs, ands or buts. They do indeed have naked parties, and a lot of people in the organization sleep with each other. A friend described to me during her "pledge" period (after not sleeping for a few days) that she couldn't believe some of the things she had done to join, though she wouldn't go into any more detail. The shifter house always had its windows veiled so there was no way to ever see in. Initiation includes a swim at the reservoir, and a swim across buck creek. Though they do have tunnels, they don't use them to get around, they have more of their ritualistic stuff down there. Whatever they do they do, and if they didn't want this all being posted up here on the internet, they wouldn't be so public about it!

As for the Wizards, their initiation included orgies and lots of coc aine. Karl's death was not purely alcohol related, there were other drugs in his system that contributed. Any self respecting person who was on campus when Karl died would not join an organization that killed him. The Wizards motto is Move over shifters.

From what I've gather the Gnomes are just a drinking club, & I never saw them out running around campus. The Knights are a club for druggies, but they say they really are for an organization which stands for "chivalry," it was started by some druggies who didn't graduate. The Bells are a group of theatre geeks, and the pirates are a bunch of wierdos. There are more, most of them are indeed secretive though. What secrets can really be hidden at Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH? Other than the shifters these clubs seem to be social outlets, just a group of people getting together, though the shifters seem to do some intensive brainwashing, anyone who has had a friend become one can clearly see a change in the person. I've heard of a girl defecting from the shifters & telling some of their secrets, and the shifters drove her out of witt. She went to live at home in Cleveland & they drove from witt (about 3 hours) to her house & harassed her. Only when the FBI got involved did they leave her alone.

I have to say I smell hoax. Most of the posters on here only have posted on this thread and the style of writing is similar under all the different member names. Good job on creating your elaborate mythology for your story, but I don't think anyone here on ATS is truly buying it. The only reason I read the whole thread is because it was actually entertaining to read.

It actually reminded me of an episode of Reno 911! where Terry the guy on roller skates makes up his own jailhouse gangs, the kitties and the grape slushies.

I am also a graduate of Wittenberg and would like to share some more info. Each semester, one of the 13 tapped shifters receives a hat as well (Possibly in the Christopher Robinson family?) They each have a vest that has a bunch of paper clips on it. Also, every shifter gets to keep one giant paper clip as well (with some being bigger than others).

Has anyone ever noticed that the Wittenberg magazine and website have a large shifter presence? Take a look at the next issue if you don't know what I am talking about. Some speculate there is a membership/alumni fee that shifters pay. No idea what those funds would go to. Maybe alcohol and parties?

Anyway, nobody has mentioned the secret society "The Numbers." They are a more recent group and I believe each of them has their own designated number. They probably wear their number on graduation day.