Cincinnatus Honorary Society

Cincinnatus Honorary Society (Cincinnatus) is a co-ed honorary society at the University of Cincinnati. It is the oldest co-ed honorary organization at the university.^[1]

Cincinnatus Honorary Society
Founded	1917; 107 years ago (1917) University of Cincinnati
Type	Honorary
Affiliation	Independent
Status	Active
Scope	Local
Colors	Red   and White
Chapters	1
Headquarters	2600 Clifton Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45220 United States

History

Founded in 1917, it was originally founded to recognize spirited seniors as a predecessor to an alumni association. After lapsing from 1937 to the end of World War II, the organization was resurrected as a recruitment-oriented organization in the 1950s. Members of Cincinnatus would participate in summer events for incoming freshmen to UC, assist in orientation, and facilitate events on behalf of the alumni association.^[2][3] Today, the organization recognizes students who have shown dedication to recruitment and retention of students at the university. As the name suggests, the organization is named after Cincinnatus, a Roman general who is also the namesake for the city of Cincinnati.^[4]

Activities

The organization also has sponsored a Nearly Naked Mile annual run for the benefit of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Cincinnati since 2007. Participants run a one-mile course around the campus, "nearly naked" during homecoming week to raise money for the underprivileged in the Cincinnati area.^[5][6][7]

Notable members

• Louise Nippert (1934), philanthropist and owner of the Cincinnati Reds^[8]
• Myron Ullman (1967), former chairman and CEO of J. C. Penney, current chairman of Starbucks Corporation^[9]
• Peter Woo (1968), Hong Kong billionaire businessman^[10]
• Brad Wenstrup (1979), politician, U.S. Representative for Ohio's 2nd congressional district

References

1. "History of Cincinnatus". cincinnatusuc.org. Cincinnatus. Archived from the original on 28 Jun 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
2. "Cincinnatus". libraries.uc.edu. The Cincinnatian. 1957. p. 99. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
3. "CINCINNATUS" (PDF). digital.libraries.uc.edu. University of Cincinnati News Record. 9 Sep 1960. p. 15. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
4. Bennett, Desiré. "Honorary Society Taps CEAS Engineering Students" (PDF). ceas.uc.edu. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
5. Rouse, Holly (6 Nov 2011). "Nearly Naked Mile". newsrecord.org. University of Cincinnati News Record. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
6. Nichols, Matt (25 Oct 2015). "Students undress for Nearly Naked Mile charity". newsrecord.org. University of Cincinnati News Record. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
7. Murphy, Patrick (9 Oct 2018). "Nearly Naked Mile celebrates 12th year at Sigma Sigma Commons". newsrecord.org. University of Cincinnati News Record. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
8. "Cincinnatus Society". libraries.uc.edu. The Cincinnatian. 1935. p. 116. Retrieved 26 May 2020. Pledges of 1934: Mel Bernstein Spencer Booz, Willa Busch, Mary Louise Dieterle
9. @Prez_Pinto (7 Apr 2017). "Before becoming CEO of J. C. Penney, Myron Ullman was a part of Student Government, Homecoming Cmte., Sigma Sigma, Cincinnatus, IFC & more" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. Rieselman, Deb (Jan 1995). "UC alumnus Peter Woo a world leader". magazine.uc.edu. University of Cincinnati Magazine. Retrieved 26 May 2020. As if that were not enough, he was also a resident adviser and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Cincinnatus, Men of Metro, Internat, the A&S Tribunal and the Men's Advisory.