In what seems to be a conspiracy theory reveled, a secret society of Wall Street financiers called Kappa Beta Phi have been found to have a plethora of members sitting on college and university governing boards.

According to a new investigative piece in New York Magazine, Kevin Roose details an annual event while "hiding out at a table in the back corner in a rented tuxedo." The Chronicle of Higher Education had also obtained a list of the fraternity's members and found about one in five to have served at one point on a college or university's board of governors.

Published in Feb., the event Roose crashed took place in Jan. 2012, a black tie affair with some of the most famous and wealthy financiers on Wall Street. KBP was hosting about 200 people to welcome 21 new members to the ultra-exclusive group.

Steven A. Cohen, executive director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, is among a handful of higher education officials who defend KBP's existence. Others are skeptical of the idea of one secret society having such an apparently wide influence on so many of the nation's colleges and universities.

"Making villains out of people who are doing their job on Wall Street seems to miss the point," Cohen told the Chronicle. "Corporations are about making money. Universities are about building knowledge and teaching knowledge. I hope there's some overlap between teaching and research and making money, but it's certainly not 100 percent."

An audio clip captured KBP member and University of Richmond trustee Paul Queally making homophobic jokes about an openly-gay ex-congressman and harsh comments toward Hillary Clinton. He apologized through the school's newspaper, but did not lose his seat as a trustee.

The Chronicle noted many of these members are major donors to the schools' whose boards they sit on.

CLICK HERE to read Roose's full piece, which includes several audio clips from the event.