In its early years, the society was active in University affairs with a literary focus, co-sponsoring from 1847 to 1851 (with the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, the Philomethean, and Aesculapian Societies) a literary magazine called the "Jefferson Monument Magazine", whose purpose was both to raise funds for a memorial to the University's founder and to provide a literary outlet for the students. Following the collapse of the "Jefferson Monument Magazine", the society co-sponsored the "University Magazine" with the Philomathean and Jefferson Societies, beginning in 1851.