Pranks Indicative of Unhealthy Attitude

As a co-chair of the 450-member organization Women Appealing for Change (WAC), I felt it my responsibility to inform the Harvard community of an incident that occurred last week. On Thursday night, I was called by someone who claimed to be doing a story on Harvard's social life for the Independent, and wanted to include some information on WAC. I answered some questions over the phone, and then set up a time to meet the next day for a photograph of the organization's co-chairs. Friday came, and I met with the young "reporters." It was a busy day, and I did my best to accommodate them by rearranging my schedule. I explained WAC's goals, and consistently responded to what I considered to be thoughtful and interested inquiry by the reporters. Fifteen minutes later, a photograph was taken of all the co-chairs. We thanked the "reporters" for their efforts, and apologized for any inconvenience we may have caused them by changing the location of our meeting.

It was later that night that I was informed that the whole interview and photograph had been a prank performed by two Final Club members as part of their club initiation. For those of you who are unaware, Women Appealing for Change is currently sponsoring a boycott of the nine all-male Final Clubs in an appeal that they go co-ed. As part of our goal, we have done our best to avoid antagonistic relations, and worked hard to create a friendly atmosphere and inspire healthy dialogue between Final Club members and the rest of the Harvard community. Our movement has been inclusive and cooperative from the beginning, and we have been especially sensitive to ensure the inclusion of all perspectives on this issue.

I can understand the nature of a collegiate prank, and perhaps assembling the co-chairs for a photograph could be found amusing to some. But to feign serious interest in our organization, to conduct both a phone interview with me and to meet with me again in person, and to elicit from me my heartfelt opinions on an issue to which I have devoted much of my time and energy, all for a joke--this, to me, is emblematic of the very attitudes that certain clubs promote. I have also been informed of another initiation rite involving the same club. This time, the photographs were taken of the "Ten Women on Campus with the Largest Breasts." I am uncertain as to whether the women involved were knowing participants; regardless, it is this type of degrading behavior that the clubs too often condone.

Perhaps what is most disturbing is to realize that while we have been trying to change the nature of the institutions themselves, it will take much longer to change the mind sets of some of the Clubs' members. Frances B. Walton '94