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In Loco Parentis

It was not usual of the era for schools to exercise “parental and moral” oversight of the student body. Any officer of the college could suspend a student until judgment was passed at the next faculty meeting. This common practice was the grounds for Wheaton to forbid its students from joining secret societies.
Even the very first catalogue of Wheaton College announced the institution’s opposition to secret societies. The Wheaton Masonic Lodge nonetheless courted Wheaton College students. Fifteen young men joined the Masons in defiance of the rule. When the College warned the students, all but two withdrew their lodge membership. The two students were suspended. In retaliation, the Masons took their case to the Circuit Court. They wanted the students reinstated at Wheaton and the rule prohibiting secret societies struck down. In 1865 the court ruled in favor of the College. The Masons took the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Illinois, but to no avail. The law upheld Wheaton’s rule.