[2] They were known to participate in events that used old Ku Klux Klan symbolism, suggesting a casual acceptance of what we today call racist imagery.

[12][10] With the second rise of the national Ku Klux Klan political group into the early 1920s, the student organization began to receive criticism for its name.

[2] On January 8, 1923, the Illinois chapter wore red-crossed robes at one of its social gatherings, closely emulating the Ku Klux Klan.

[2] In 1922, the reformed, or Second Ku Klux Klan, a separate political group, began actively recruiting on the University of Wisconsin campus.

[12] The taint of an ill-named beginning and a drifting purpose led to its demise: By 1929, The Daily Illinis said Tu–Mas was "long regarded as little more than a bridge player's organization".

[16] One modern writer speculated that the students might have been influenced by the romanticized portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan in the novels of Thomas Dixon.

[3] The Ku Klux Klan badge was a devil's head bearing the number 13 at the top and words ''Ku–Klux" at its base, with crossed pitchforks below.

[26][27] The tradition included Tu–Mas members wearing masks and numbered robes, with the guests not knowing who their date was until the end of the dance.

[29][30][31] In March 1932, Tu–Mas partnered with Shi–Ai and the Alumni Association to sponsor an All-University Duplicate Bridge Tournament as a fundraiser for the Emergency Student Loan Fund.

[41] The creation of this honor society is a visible reminder of an earlier era where racial and religious bigotry was at times common and unexamined.

Numerous references listed here indicate that the adoption of the Klan name and imagery by these students was made through ill-considered, sophomoric fascination with baleful imagery such as the devil head, spooky robes and hoods, and an evocative name from their grandfathers' days, rather than a purposeful engagement into sub rosa (or even semi-public) activism intended to promote nativist or racist aims.

Fairly stated, the name "Ku Klux Klan" is incendiary, far more so today than during its more active years as a quasi-political entity.

Among campus Greek-named societies, the few holdout groups that had retained echoes of prior race, gender, or religious bars are suspect; most have quietly cleaned up their bylaws, long after their operational practices had been liberalized.

[42][43][44] In recent years, universities have begun to reckon with aspects of historical racism, inconvenient facts that, devoid of context and perspective would declare that the entire South was seething non-stop in murderous racial animus, bringing along with it a reactionary East.

[45] Study groups and reports, such as those commissioned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison following violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, have aimed to understand and address the legacy of racist organizations.

Its brief existence continues to provoke discussion about how universities can and should address historical racism and promote a more inclusive and equitable environment for all students.