The end of privilege?

An old Harvard tradition got a fresh--and often highly critical--look this year when the College's all-male social clubs came under the campus spotlight. As debate intensified, there at times appeared to be a growing call to censure the clubs or to pressure them to admit women. But the close of the spring semester saw the clubs very much alive and, at least on the surface, well. The Fly Club's annual garden party went off without a hitch.

Debate on the College's all-male clubs was first sparked by an incident at the Pi Eta Speakers' Club fall initiation. During the course of the ceremonies, 10 new members became so intoxicated they had to taken to University Health Services (UHS). Five of the members were held overnight at UHS because of excessive alcohol consumption. Commenting on the cases, Dr. William S. Kaden '56 said at the time. "It was a bit more than too much to drink. I mean, one can die of too much alcohol consumption."

At the request of Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, the club's alumni board shut down the club temporarily following the incident while the College reviewed the matter. The club reopened a month later and Pi Eta officers subsequently agreed to proposals by Epps that some of the club's alumni supervise future initiations. But not before the incident had raised questions about both the nature of the clubs, and the extent of the College's jurisdiction over them.

Keeping the issue in the public eye was a series in. The Crimson last fall detailing Harvard's ties to the supposedly private institutions. Harvard in fact provides the clubs low-rate access to Centrex phones, steam heat from the University system, and certain alumni records. In addition, the University owns part of the garden adjacent to the Fly Club, which has been used almost exclusively by the club although it is officially available to any student group.

Because the clubs discriminate against women--and, some say, minorities--by denying them access to membership, it is possible that the University's links to the clubs constitute a violation of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act which states that institutions that discriminate against women are not elibible for federal funds.

Troubled by the implications of its tacit endorsement of the clubs. University officials and some student groups began investigating the College's links to the clubs. The student-faculty Committee on College Life, headed by Dean of the College John B. Fox Jr. '59, undertook an investigation of the issue, while the Undergraduate Council called on Harvard to cut all ties with the clubs.

The issue, which had largely quieted by spring, flared up again in April when a copy of the Pi Eta Club's official newsletter became public. The newsletter, which employed violent and crude sexual imagery denigrating to women, sparked a rally outside the club and calls for the University to censure the document. Both President Bok and Fox did issue statements condemning the newsletter, but no action was taken against the club or any individual members. Not all felt that the College should penalize the Pi Eta, but the incident served to point out the extent to which the private clubs are outside Harvard's jurisdiction.

Official concern did prompt the graduate board of the final clubs to debate admitting women--a first-ever consideration according to committee members--but officers stressed that any integration of women would have to come out of the clubs' own volition, not external pressure. Despite concerns over excessive alcohol use, despite complaints about the clubs' refusal to include women and, in some cases, limited minority participation, the clubs will probably continue business as usual unless they themselves decide to change.

Summing up the year's events relating to the clubs. Fox remarks. "One thing that has become clear, become quite apparent, is that the College has little authority over the clubs as institutions." The College's only influence then, depends on turning "attention to the conduct of individuals where circumstances warrant it," he added. And with respect to opening the clubs to women. Fox echoed a fatalism shared by many students, remarking, "there are probably limits to how much can be accomplished.