This organization was believed to be the direct successor to the Grand Tribunal, an institution founded at Washington College in 1840 by seniors and juniors as a rudimentary form of student government[2] which had ceased to exist by 1890.
Throughout the 20th Century, membership of the Medusa represented "the campus sophisticate who had shown enough ingenuity to have himself 'tapped,'"—"tapping" referring to the public initiations which occurred on the Quad near the end of each spring semester.
This public display differed greatly from those of the 19th Century Tribunal, whose clandestine ceremonies "were conducted at night with elaborate and mysterious incantations, replete with coffin, human skeleton, sacred seals, and liquid flame, [which] attracted much attention from the Hartford townsfolk.
Taking place in the spring before the statue of Bishop Brownell, outgoing members of the society tapped seven juniors who had especially distinguished themselves in their first three years at Trinity.
[12] Medusa held meetings in semi-permanent locations across Trinity's campus where its members socialized and conducted business.