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Most of the final clubs do not provide housing to their members who have not graduated yet, nor are they affiliated with national organizations (anymore, that is -- the Spee began its life as Zeta Psi and the A.D. and Fly as Alpha Delta Phi ; other remnants remain as well). Long affiliated with and supported by Harvard, the male final clubs were ordered in 1984 to either go coeducational or go private. The clubs privatized and since then have maintained themselves beyond university regulation. Historically, there was more differentiation among the clubs. Harvard College freshmen hoped to join the Hasty Pudding social club. Going into their senior year, aspiring students hoped to join either the A.D. or Porcellian, the original two final clubs. In the interim, their hope was to gain admittance to one of the "waiting clubs," as the other clubs were known. Each fall the clubs hold "punch season" where aspiring sophomores and juniors try to get "punched," or elected as new members of the clubs. The clubs have an undergraduate membership of around sixty a piece, amounting to nearly 20% of the elgible (2nd semester of sophomore year and older) male undergraduates and 5% of eligible female undergraduates. The clubs have varying restrictions on exclusivity. Some final clubs often hold parties and open their doors to women and male guests of members. Others, like the A.D., have only in recent history opened their doors to female guests of members and still do not allow male guests. Still others, like the Porcellian, never allow non-members in -- in the Porcellian's case, this means that they never allow non-members past a small room by the entrance called "the bicycle room." CONTROVERSY Final clubs have been controversial at Harvard because of their elitist nature. Not only do they not allow women as members, many clubs have historical traditions that make them more of a reflection of Harvard's past than its present: predominantly white, wealthy and Protestant. In recent years, of course, the clubs have become increasingly diverse in all of these areas, but many still believe them to hold residue of the past. As a result, the final clubs are a permanent point of controversy at Harvard College, eliciting protests from women's organizations and others concerned with equality and anti-elitism. Such controversy has included protests, boycotts and other tactics, as well as yearly debate in the student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, that tends to come around punch time. The clubs, however, weather the protests and debate both because they are private institutions not accountable to student opinion or the administration's anti-discrimination policies and their promise of social ranking and professional connections are highly coveted. One interesting component of the debate is the rise of a significant fraternity and sorority presence at Harvard. In a short period of time, 2 female final clubs (The Isis and The Bee), four fraternities (Sigma Chi, PIKE, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Epsilon Phi), three sororities (Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Alpha Theta), and two additional all female organizations (Sabliere and Pleadies) have greatly expanded the presence of formal social organizations at the College. Though Harvard recognizes none of these groups, informal estimates suggest that up to 800 students of the college (1/8th) belong to single-sex social clubs. While much focus is placed on male final clubs, detractors from the all-male social organizations ignore these single-sex social clubs. Most on-campus debaters attribute this slight to the lack of physical spaces for these groups. Interestingly, Sigma Chi, The Seneca, and The Bee have all obtained property in Harvard Square in the past three years. It is unclear as to whether this trend will continue. However, many would make distinctions- especially between male and female final clubs and their greek counterparts- because are perceived as, and may be, more elitist in their practices; both in terms of the attitude they bring to their membership in the clubs, the extravagance of the spaces they enjoy, and the culture of wealth many of them come from and support. In January of 2006 national attention focused on the Harvard Final Club system as a result of the confirmation hearings of Samuel Alito. Alito came under criticism as a result of his membership in Concerned Alumni Of Princeton , a conservative group that opposed the admission of women and minorities into Princeton. One of the leading Democrats of this charge was Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy. Conservatives, however, responded by pointing out Kennedy's membership in the Owl Final Club. As a result of the political fall out, Senator Kennedy chose to leave the club. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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