Playboy: 60 Want to Pose

Estimating that he interviewed about 60 Harvard students this week who say they want to pose in Playboy's upcoming "Women of the Ivy league" pictorial, magazine photographer David Chan said he will likely move on to Brown next week.

Chan said 78 women visited his Somerville hotel suite, but that about 10 were students at other Boston-area colleges, a few were in graduate or extension school, and some were working women in their twenties or thirties.

About half of the Harvard undergraduates who came to the hotel, Chan estimated, indicated they would pose "clothed," while the other half fell into the "semi-nude" or "nude" categories, he said.

Chan said those who are chosen to pose clothed for the October pictorial receive $100, those who pose semi-nude receive $250, and those who pose completely nude are paid $500.

One Harvard undergraduate who visited Chan yesterday said she went largely out of curiosity. "I wanted to see what the people were like that work behind the scenes [of Playboy]," she said after meeting with the photographer.

The student, who preferred that her name not be divulged, said Chan was friendly as he took Polaroid snapshots of her fully clothed and had her fill out a short form asking for such items as major, measurements, and hobbies. She said she might pose clothed for the pictorial if Playboy asked her to.

"I think it's exciting," said a Harvard Extension School student who said she would consider posing clothed or possibly semi-nude for the pictorial. "This would just be a lot of fun."

"Semi-nude, as long as it was tastefully done, wouldn't offend me, and that's what's important," added the Extension School student, who also wished to remain anonymous.

Indicating that she will probably apply to the Law School soon, she said she was somewhat nervous that her posing in the pictorial might hinder her chances of being accepted.

"It would bother me if Harvard held it against me," she said. "I want to go to Harvard, but I don't want them to tell me what to do for the rest of my life," she added.