Give Em' Hell

IN 1987, Lisa J. Schkolnick '88 began her legal battle against the Fly Club, one of Harvard's nine all-male final clubs. campus activists formed Stop Withholding Access Today (SWAT) and Zealots in Protest (ZIP) to support Schkolnick's discrimination complaint.

Last week, the raucous three-year saga ended quietly, as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) rejected Schkolnick's final appeal, claiming a lack of jurisdiction to intervene in the matters of a private club. SWAT has been swatted, ZIP has been zipped and the Fly remains open--open to continue its antiquarian membership policies, open to perpetuate an elitist old-boy network, open to treat women like slabs of meat.

But even though the bad guys won, the decision was valid. MCAD is not the place to fight gender discrimination by final clubs. The place to fight that discrimination is here at Harvard--through our own moral opposition to club practices.

There are legal arguments for and against the legitimacy of a follow-up lawsuit against the clubs. Many scholars argue that these private clubs should be forced to accept women because of the advantages they provide their members in the business world. Others argue that freedom of association gives these clubs the right to assemble with whomever, whenever they choose. They claim that final clubs, while morally reprehensible, are not illegal.

In any case, litigation is not the way to attack the problem. Another suit would be expensive, time-consuming and potentially unsuccessful. What is more important is to effect a change in people's attitudes. A shift in attitudes about men, women and social interaction is what final club members and those who attend their parties really need.

THE RAGING DEBATES over PC and multiculturalism have placed a certain stigma against those who would deem others "sexist," but final clubs are worse than sexist. They're misogynist. They are an instrument of control, a self-segregating space where men can keep women out or bus them in whenever they want.

Final clubs are racist and elitist, to boot. If you liked the Harvard admissions office, you'll love a group of clubs that takes discrimination against Asian-Americans and favoritism for athletes and legacies to a new level. Final clubs are the last bastion of the old Harvard, a Harvard where men were men, where money talked loud and status even louder, where the unwashed masses were kept in their proper place and women were toys for young bachelors to play with. They are a thorn in the side of tolerance, equality and diversity.

SCHKOLNICK'S indignation at the Fly's discriminatory membership practices was understandable, but MCAD has more important discrimination to combat in society. Discrimination in housing. Discrimination in employment. Discrimination that directly affects the livelihoods of working men and women. Discrimination that blatantly violates the law.

Moral suasion, not legal action, is the best way to SWAT, ZIP or otherwise damage the Fly and other clubs of its ilk. Don't join them. Don't attend their parties. And hold club members and hangers--on accountable for their actions. They deserve to be pariahs in a community committed to social justice.