[1][2] Its members include former President George H. W. Bush and William F. Buckley Jr.[3][4] Two seniors at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College established the Torch Honor Society on March 8, 1916.

[8] The society continued to recruit or tap ten juniors each spring but eventually expanded its number to fifteen.

[11] In January 1950, Torch started a controversial campaign to reduce the emphasis on sports at Yale and other Ivy League schools.

[12] The society's badge consists of an uplifted torch, representing devotion to its ideals and its allegiance to Yale University's motto Lux et Veritas (Light and Truth).

[1] The society's motto is "Simus Lux Obscuro in Mundo" or "Let us be Light in a Dark World".