NoZe Brotherhood

The NoZe Brotherhood is a collegiate secret society at Baylor University. Founded in Brooks Hall in 1924, 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" that his friends proclaimed they could "form a club around it".

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, and writing the occasional humorous piece for the yearbook or Baylor's newspaper, The Lariat. Targets of the NoZe Brothers' mirth included Baylor's faculty, administration, the Southern Baptist Convention, various student organizations, and themselves. 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.

The society has always venerated its history and traditions through the observance of several key festivals and holidays. The oldest, the Pink Tea, has been held annually since 1929. Held in the spring, the event affords members the opportunity to hear the "State of the Onion" address by the Lorde Mayor, celebrate the history of the society, and hear one or more addresses by guest speakers (usually Baylor faculty) and neophyte members.

In 1954, the society began publishing its own satirical newspaper, The Rope (spoofing the campus newspaper The Lariat), taking aim at Baylor University and the Baptist Church, employing satire and absurdity, and developing a unique writing style known as "NoZe prose".

NoZe Brothers who have graduated are known as "Exiles." They stay in touch via the Facebook group "NoZe Brotherhood Exiles" (which requires approval to join).

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 arson attack on the bridge, the details of which are disputed.

The society went underground, disguising members' identities with rubber noses and wigs. For some unknown reason, the Brothers changed the spelling from "nose" to "NoZe" and adopted a guerrilla profile, crashing various campus events such as "Sing", Chapel, and Homecoming parades. The Rope continues to write about Baylor University and Baptist politics using satire and absurdity. However, over the last forty years the society has alternated between being officially allowed on campus and being banned. Currently the society is in the good graces of the Baylor Administration.

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