Epps' Vision: Final Clubs More Like the Signet

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps' stand on the all-male final clubs system shouldn't surprise most members of the Harvard community. He opposes it.

But it's a rare student who would bet a beer that the dean has a "vision"--beyond the integration of women--for making the clubs into recognized Harvard organizations.

Yet Epps has just such a plan up his sleeve.

The dean says he would like to see each club reorganized to include students--and faculty--who share interest in a specific field.

"I'd like to see the final clubs transform themselves to institutions with students and faculty who have special interests, such as theology, history or music," Epps says. "It would help us increase interaction between the students and faculty members."

Epps was dean in 1984 when the University severed ties with the clubs after criminatory policies.

Epps still justifies that split, pointing to reasons beyond the general argument that the clubs' admissions policies unfairly prevent women from becoming members. He says that the men in the clubs receive a flawed view of today's world.

"Young men must prepare themselves for a society where women are their equals or their superiors," he says. "Where is a better place to start than in college?"

Epps says a shift to co-ed final clubs--which some clubs have considered in recent years--would prompt the University to "reassess" its position.

But he argues that the changes should extend further to include his revolutionary concept. He bases his suggestions on his experience with the Signet Society, a student artistic and literary organization that invites faculty to become members.

Epps, a Signet member, said that while only 50 students currently belong to the Signet, "many more students are interested."

A modified final club system would serve the needs of those students, he says.

"It would provide an ideal social atmosphere for the College where there could be interaction between faculty and students."

According to Epps, exclusionary clubs on campus have in the past "shown tendencies to include intellectual components," such as keeping rare book libraries or inviting speakers for club events.

And Epps argues that a reformed final club system could help to foster the kind of student-faculty interaction that the house system was designed to provide.

The dean reminisces about the days when students and faculty could meet in the relaxed atmosphere of Harvard Square's coffee houses--most of which have been replaced in recent decades by "upscale shops catered to the tourists."

Epps also said his envisioned system would complement perfectly the "New Harvard" that has developed over the last 20 years.

Harvard today, Epps points out, boasts a wealth of small organizations that bring together faculty members, visiting fellows and students interested in a field. He cites the Institute of Politics, the Barone Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies as examples.

"The intermixing of these three groups is very dynamic, and very well funded, working on domestic and international issues," Epps says.

"If the final club system was reformed in this way, including faculty, it would just be another piece of the new, dynamic Harvard."

Epps notes that his modified final club system would likely appeal to a wider range of students than those now in the clubs. And that "mixture" would only enhance the experience of club membership, he says.

"People come in to Harvard thinking they are one thing. But when they rub up against each other continue to grow," he says.

Epps says he is not sure how his plan could be implemented. While "we wouldn't see the whole system change at once," he says he could imagine a gradual change.

And considering the current focus and membership of the clubs, it might have to be a very gradual change, indeed.