Fly President Denies That Club Is Considering Co-Ed Membership

The undergraduate president of the Fly Club yesterday denied reports that the club is considering admitting women as members.

"We're not considering anything at the moment," said Seth B. Taube '92, president of the club. Taube's remarks came in response to a report published last week in The Crimson that quoted unnamed club members saying that the issue of allowing women to join had been raised at a recent club meeting.

Taube also said there had been no vote on the issue, and refused further comment. He said he might be able to say more in a few weeks.

The Fly Club is one of Harvard's nine exclusive all-male final clubs. The University severed all official ties with the clubs in 1984, citing their gender-exclusive policies.

In the wake of last month's decision by Yale's Skull and Bones society to tap women as members, attention has increasingly focused on the future of Harvard's all-male clubs. In an interview Friday, Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57 said that if a club did decide to admit women as members, it would have to go through normal channels if it wished to be recognized again as an official student group.

Official Recognition

The club would have to find two faculty advisors and apply to the Committee on College Life if it wanted official recognition, Jewett said. He added that such recognition could bring the clubs advantages such as access to University telephone service and steam heat and disadvantages such as stricter enforcement of rules against underage drinking.

The Fly Club, whose graduates include Franklin D. Roosevelt '04 and Gov. William F. Weld '66, was the subject of a complaint by Lisa J. Schkolnick '88 to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. In two rulings last year, the commission found that it lacked jurisdiction to force the club to admit women.