The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States and the oldest student group at Penn. Founded in 1813, its goal is "to promote the learning of its members and to increase the academic prestige of the University." Philomathean is derived from the Greek philomath, which means "a lover of learning."

Traditionally, the Society emphasized the arts of rhetoric, oratory, and writing. Its three-step membership process retains vestiges of this emphasis, but its modern members' activities extend to a broad range of academic and artistic pursuits.

"Philo," as members affectionately refer to the Society, is credited with helping to found entire academic departments, including American History, Comparative Literature, and History of Science, and several campus publications, including the Daily Pennsylvanian. The Society has also published several books, including, most recently, The Philomathean Society Anthology of Poetry in Honor of Daniel Hoffman — Hoffman being a former professor at the university who had brought many renowned poets and authors, including John Updike, Seamus Heaney, Joyce Carol Oates, and Yevgeny Yevtushenko, to read in the Philomathean Halls. Perhaps their greatest influence, however, was the 1858 Report of the Rosetta Stone Committee of the Philomathean Society, which contained the first complete English translation of the stone and is still considered an important contribution to Egyptology.

The motto of the Philomathean Society is sic itur ad astra — the Latin is translated variously as "thus we proceed to the stars," "thus we reach the stars," or "this is the way to the stars."

Prominent Philomatheans include statesman Robert J. Walker, seminal science fiction author Alfred Bester, Eli K. Price (founder of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and philosopher Hilary Putnam.

External Links

• [Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania]