Supposedly a [secret society] on or around [Johns Hopkins University|JHU]'s Homewood Campus. Its [member]ship is credited with the [creation] of [Midnight Soccer] and a phony construction [roadblock] that appeared one morning in [Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore].

As word of the [group] grew and rumors spread, the word was adopted as a [Smurf]-type generic term around the campus. "Dongtar!" was used as a greeting, a rally call at sporting and cultural events and even as an explicative. (At [weekend] [movie] screenings on [campus], a shout of "Dongtar!" can still frequently be heard coming from many [people] as the [lights] dim.)

[Legend] has it that the [society] formed in mid-1999 for unknown causes. It is not known whether the organization still [exist]s or if people simply act on its behalf in the [absence] of the true Dongtar.

Dongtar (thing)