A final club (often misstated as "finals club") is an undergraduate social club at Harvard College.
There are currently eight all-male clubs at Harvard: the A.D. (1 Plympton St.)[1]; Delphic (known as "the Gas") (9 Linden St),[1][2]; Fly (2 Holyoke Pl.)[1][3]; Fox (44 John F. Kennedy St.)[1][2]; Owl (30 Holyoke St)[1]; Phoenix-SK (72 Mt Auburn St),[1][2]; Porcellian (1324 Mass Ave)[1]; and the Spee (76 Mt Auburn St)[1]. All were established a century or more ago. There are other private male social clubs at Harvard that do not own property but participate in similar functions as the final clubs.
Five all-female social clubs, which are in some ways comparable to the male final clubs, have been founded more recently and are called the Bee, the Isis, La Vie, the Sabliere Society, and the Pleiades Society. Another women's organization, the Seneca distinguishes itself as a "501(c)3 nonprofit women's organization that is often misidentified as a final club," but other clubs are also 501(c)3 organizations that also engage in some community service. The Bee was founded in 1991; The Seneca in 1999; Isis in 2000; Pleiades in 2002; Sabliere in 2002; and La Vie in 2008[4].
The co-ed Signet Society, Harvard Crimson, Harvard Advocate and Harvard Lampoon display some characteristics of a final club, such as selective membership and a semi-secret "punch process," but their members and charter attempt to define them as something other than purely social organizations with some literary or artistic merit.
All of the male clubs own clubhouses that they have occupied for decades. Clubhouses usually include dining halls, libraries, and game rooms. Most are staffed with chefs, stewards, and other paid personnel. Most serve luncheon and dinner meals at regular schedules. The Delphic Club boasts a regulation-size squash court.
The Bee Club rents space from the Fly Club at 45 Dunster Street in a building that was previously the D.U. (the "Duck") before that club was merged with The Fly. La Vie Club rents a house on Garden Street. The Signet owns the property at 46 Dunster Street. The Isis rents a portion of The Owl's premises. The Sabliere Society recently obtained property in the Square. The Pleiades Society does not currently have a space.[1]
None of the final clubs provide housing to undergraduate members, nor are they affiliated with national organizations anymore; the Spee began its life as Zeta Psi, the Delphic began as Delta Phi, and the A.D. & the Fly began as Alpha Delta Phi; other remnants remain as well).
Long affiliated with Harvard College, the male final clubs were ordered in 1984 to either go coeducational or cease any connection with the College, as required by Title IX legislation. All the clubs opted to become fully independent, and since then have maintained themselves beyond university regulation. The clubs own valuable property in Cambridge, collectively assessed at over $17 million as of 2006. With escalating real estate values in the crowded Harvard Square over the past few years, the final club properties are likely worth over $30 million.
Historically, there was more differentiation among the clubs. Years ago Harvard College freshmen hoped to join a freshman club, then a "waiting club," and finally a "final club." Of the final clubs still in existence, only the PC was initially founded as a final club. Phoenix SK is the amalgamation of two separate waiting clubs, the Phoenix and the Sphinx Kalumet.
Each fall the clubs hold "punch season," which is similar to the rush period for fraternities. Sophomores and juniors are invited to a series of social events. After each event, more likely prospective members, or "punches", are invited back. After the last event, called a "final dinner", each club elects 10-30 new members who then choose among the clubs they have been asked to join. Being "punched" refers to receiving an invitation to the first punch event. Once the punch process has begun, the verb "to punch" can also refer to a prospective member's attending the clubs' events, e.g. "Jones is punching Delphic and A.D."
The clubs have an undergraduate membership of around sixty apiece, amounting to nearly 20% of the eligible (2nd semester of sophomore year and older) male undergraduates, and 5% of eligible female undergraduates. The clubs have varying entrance restrictions for guests. Some final clubs often hold parties and open their doors to women guests 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 and the Delphic, rarely welcome non-members; Porcellian, for example, never allows non-members past "the bicycle room" in the building's foyer, while the Delphic permits its guests access only to its basement by a separate entrance.
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Male final clubs have long been a point of controversy at Harvard because of their implicit elitism. They do not allow women as members, and some clubs have historical traditions that make them more of a reflection of Harvard's predominantly white, trust-fund wealthy, Protestant past than its present.
In recent years, many of the clubs have grown increasingly diverse to include men of other races. Nevertheless, controversy still flares up with protests, boycotts and perennial debate in the student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, usually around punch season, similar in nature and tone to editorials in the Yale Daily News during mid-April-tap season and in the Daily Princetonian during bicker.
Since they are private organizations, neither student opinion nor Harvard's anti-discrimination policies matter materially, and the promise of social rank and professional connections continue to lure prospective members.
The issue of sexual assault at final clubs has also been a source of concern on campus. The Harvard "Dis-orientation Guide," a non-administration publication from Harvard's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, contends that male-only clubs inherently create a "hetero-normative and male-dominated" atmosphere that, in turn, may give rise to sexism and homophobia while increasing the likelihood of sexual assault. In 2002 Assistant Dean of the College Karen E. Avery '87 told female first-years to be aware of "potential dangers that have been reported in regard to final clubs". [5] The statistics that might support this position are not publicly available. Two Harvard students started Students Against Super Sexist Institutions - We Oppose Oppressive Finals Clubs (SASSI-WOOFCLUBS) in September 2004, in opposition to the influence of final clubs on Harvard's campus.
One interesting component of the debate is the rise of a significant fraternity and sorority presence at Harvard. In a short period of time, five female final clubs (The Bee, The Isis, The Sablière, The Pleiades, and La Vie), three fraternities (Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Epsilon Pi), three sororities (Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Alpha Theta), and one additional all-female organization (The Seneca) 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 (one eighth) belong to single-sex social clubs. However, many would make distinctions — especially between male and female final clubs and their Greek counterparts — because final clubs are perceived as being more prestigious and elitist, both in terms of the attitude fostered among club members, the extravagance of the spaces they enjoy, and the culture of wealth from which each springs and which each supports.
In January 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 affirmative action and the admission of women into Princeton. One of the leading Democrats highlighting this charge was Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. Conservatives, however, responded by pointing out Kennedy's membership in the Owl Club of Harvard. As a result of the political fallout, Senator Kennedy chose to leave the club.
In August of that same year, Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial candidate (and now Governor) Deval Patrick came under fire for his membership in the Fly Club. Critics viewed Patrick's membership in the club as contradictory to his image as a champion of civil rights. Patrick countered that he had left the club in the early 1980s when he realized that it contradicted his values, although the club itself had Patrick's name on its roster as late as 2006.
A final club (often misstated as "finals club") is an undergraduate social club at Harvard College.
Contents |
The historical basis for the name final club is that Harvard used to have a variety of clubs for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, with students of different years being in different clubs, and the "final clubs" were so named because they were the last social club a person could join before graduation.
There are currently eight all-male clubs at Harvard:
All were established a century or more ago. There are other private male social clubs at Harvard that do not own property but participate in similar functions as the final clubs.
Five all-female social clubs, which are in some ways comparable to the male final clubs, have been founded more recently and are called the Bee, the Isis, La Vie, the Sabliere Society, and the Pleiades Society. Another women's organization, the Seneca distinguishes itself as a "501(c)(3) nonprofit women's organization that is often misidentified as a final club," but other clubs are also 501(c)(3) organizations that also engage in some community service. The Bee was founded in 1991; The Seneca in 1999; Isis in 2000; Pleiades in 2002; Sabliere in 2002; and La Vie in 2008[4].
The co-ed Signet Society, Alpha Delta Phi Society, Harvard Crimson, Harvard Advocate and Harvard Lampoon display some characteristics of a final club, such as selective membership and a semi-secret "punch process," but their members and charter attempt to define them as something other than purely social organizations with some literary or artistic merit.
All of the male clubs own clubhouses that they have occupied for decades. Clubhouses usually include dining halls, libraries, and game rooms. Most are staffed with chefs, stewards, and other paid personnel. Most serve luncheon and dinner meals at regular schedules. The Delphic Club boasts a regulation-size squash court.[5]
The Bee Club rents space from the Fly Club at 45 Dunster Street in a building that was previously the D.U. (the "Duck") before that club was merged with The Fly. La Vie Club rents a house on Garden Street. The Signet owns the property at 46 Dunster Street. The Isis rents a portion of The Owl's premises. The Sabliere Society recently obtained property in the Square. The Pleiades Society does not currently have a space.[1]
None of the final clubs provide housing to undergraduate members, nor are they affiliated with national organizations anymore; the Spee began its life as Zeta Psi, the Delphic began as Delta Phi, and the A.D. & the Fly began as Alpha Delta Phi; other remnants remain as well).
Long affiliated with Harvard College, the male final clubs were ordered in 1984 to either go coeducational or cease any connection with the College, as required by Title IX legislation. All the clubs opted to become fully independent, and since then have maintained themselves beyond university regulation. The clubs own valuable property in Cambridge, collectively assessed at over $17 million as of 2006. With escalating real estate values in the crowded Harvard Square over the past few years, the final club properties are likely worth over $30 million.
Historically, there was more differentiation among the clubs. Years ago Harvard College freshmen hoped to join a freshman club, then a "waiting club," and finally a "final club." Of the final clubs still in existence, only the P.C. was initially founded as a final club. Phoenix SK is the amalgamation of two separate waiting clubs, the Phoenix and the Sphinx Kalumet.
Each fall the clubs hold "punch season," which is similar to the rush period for fraternities. Sophomores and juniors are invited to a series of social events. After each event, more likely prospective members, or "punches", are invited back. After the last event, called a "final dinner", each club elects 10-30 new members who then choose among the clubs they have been asked to join. Being "punched" refers to receiving an invitation to the first punch event. Once the punch process has begun, the verb "to punch" can also refer to a prospective member's attending the clubs' events, e.g. "I say, Cholmondeley is punching Delphic and A.D."
The clubs have an undergraduate membership of around sixty apiece, amounting to nearly 20% of the eligible (2nd semester of sophomore year and older) male undergraduates, and 5% of eligible female undergraduates. The clubs have varying entrance restrictions for guests. Some final clubs often hold parties and open their doors to women guests 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 and the Delphic, rarely welcome non-members; Porcellian, for example, never allows non-members past "the bicycle room" in the building's foyer, while the Delphic permits its guests access only to its basement or courtyard through separate entrances.
Male final clubs have long been a point of controversy at Harvard because of their implicit elitism. They do not allow women as members, and some clubs have historical traditions that make them more of a reflection of Harvard's predominantly white, trust-fund wealthy, Protestant past than its present.
In recent years, many of the clubs have grown increasingly diverse to include men of other races. Nevertheless, controversy still flares up with protests, boycotts and perennial debate in the student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, usually around punch season, similar in nature and tone to editorials in the Yale Daily News during mid-April-tap season and in the Daily Princetonian during bicker.
Since they are private organizations, neither student opinion nor Harvard's anti-discrimination policies matter materially, and the promise of social rank and professional connections continue to lure prospective members.
The issue of sexual assault at final clubs has also been a source of concern on campus. The Harvard "Dis-orientation Guide," a non-administration publication from Harvard's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, contends that male-only clubs inherently create a "hetero-normative and male-dominated" atmosphere that, in turn, may give rise to sexism and homophobia while increasing the likelihood of sexual assault. In 2002 Assistant Dean of the College Karen E. Avery '87 told female first-years to be aware of "potential dangers that have been reported in regard to final clubs".[6] No statistics support this position. Two Harvard students started Students Against Super Sexist Institutions - We Oppose Oppressive Finals Clubs (SASSI-WOOFCLUBS) in September 2004, in opposition to the influence of final clubs on Harvard's campus.[7]
One interesting component of the debate is the rise of a significant fraternity and sorority presence at Harvard. In a short period of time, five female final clubs (The Bee, The Isis, The Sablière, The Pleiades, and La Vie), three fraternities (Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Epsilon Pi), three sororities (Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, and Kappa Alpha Theta), and one additional all-female organization (The Seneca) have greatly expanded the presence of formal social organizations at the College. Harvard University recognizes none of these groups.
In January 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 affirmative action and the admission of women into Princeton. One of the leading Democrats highlighting this charge was Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. Conservatives, however, responded by pointing out Kennedy's membership in the Owl Club of Harvard. As a result of the political fallout, Senator Kennedy chose to leave the club.
In August of that same year, Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial candidate (and now Governor) Deval Patrick came under fire for his membership in the Fly Club. Critics viewed Patrick's membership in the club as contradictory to his image as a champion of civil rights. Patrick countered that he had left the club in the early 1980s when he realized that it contradicted his values, although the club itself had Patrick's name on its roster as late as 2006.
   | Patrick says he quit The Fly Club in 1983 - Patrick says he quit The Fly Club in 1983 - The Boston Globe |
| | A Critique and Discussion of Final Clubs - Cambridge Common: what Final Clubs are (final clubs part 3) |
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