What to Do About Final Clubs

I got cut from a final club in the fall, and it sucked.

While both of my roommates joined final clubs and were off at events and feeling “accepted” into a community, I was at home honing my FIFA skills. At the time, I was willing to burn the system to the ground. Final clubs sucked. Harvard’s war against them was justified. But, after a semester of review and the opportunity to take myself out of the discussion for a while, I believe that, instead, Harvard should actively seek to expand final clubs.

Recently, final clubs have been criticized for harboring sexual entitlement that in turn leads to sexual assault, as well as for sexism and elitism. But I don’t think these claims are realistic.

In their report to the student body, the sexual assault task force found final clubs to be emblematic of “sexual entitlement” by putting “men in positions of power engaging with women on unequal and too often on very sexual terms.” If this is the case, why is the discussion about fraternities on campus as hubs of sexual entitlement so limited in the report? It seems as though each group engages in almost identical activities: They throw parties, have meals together, and create a brotherhood. But it feels quite obvious to me why fraternities are an afterthought in this discussion on campus, meriting only a brief mention on the last page of the report.

Through hundreds of years of establishment and influence, final clubs hold power on campus that fraternities simply do not. People are innately drawn towards power. Many students will tell you they came here because you just can’t turn down Harvard. It is the power, the name, and the influence that draws some in the first place.

Sexual entitlement is a byproduct of that power— something that is built through experience. Someone only develops a feeling that they are entitled to sex when they have a lot of it. Sexual entitlement is never going away, whether Dean Khurana likes final clubs or not. The fact that a small group of men are given a lot of power due to their situation will not end if final clubs are abolished.

Sexual assault is a grave issue and something that needs to be a focal point in the College’s work in improving student life. But sexual assaults happen everywhere, not just in final clubs. The report does state that a woman at college is “half again more likely to experience sexual assault if she is involved with a Club than the average female Harvard College Senior.” But this statistic is contingent on how much someone goes out, and odds are that a girl going to a final club simply parties more often than others. Sexual assault occurs more commonly following a party than in a classroom. In a hypothetical world without final clubs, the same people who assault women now would unfortunately find new places to commit sexual assault.

Instead of fighting a battle against deeply rooted institutions in a misguided attempt at eradicate sexism and sexual assault, why don’t we work with the clubs to create a better, more inclusive future? Harvard could transform some of its extensive property in Cambridge into “clubs,” over which the University would have ultimate oversight. This would expand the social scene, mitigating the exclusivity issue. Similarly, with oversight like this, the University would be able to make sure clubs are in compliance with any rule set forth. This would in turn lower sexual assault and diffuse sexual entitlement. Would these clubs be seen as less legitimate at first? Without a doubt. But, after a while, they would become as integrated into the school as any other club, and be able to have a significant impact on the social scene of the school.

If we want to do something about issues related to social life on campus, why try to suppress what is already way too small a social scene? Instead, we need to provide more viable social options, so that there isn’t a forced reliance on what already exists.

My question to you, Harvard, is why does the fun have to be hostile?


Jamie C. Stewart ‘18 is a philosophy concentrator in Dunster House. His column appears on alternate Tuesdays.