A Year After First Event, Philos Club Struggling

A year after holding its first official party at the Advocate and drawing a crowd of more than 150 students, the future of Philos, Harvard's fledgling co-ed social club, is on the rocks, according to President Eric I. Schwelling '94.

Interest in the organization has dwindled and may possibly cause the group to disband in the spring. According to Schwelling, the problem is not lack of interest in the events, but rather in the preparation for the events.

"It's been a really big disappointment," Schwelling said. "We get tons of names of people who claim to be interested, but these lists have turned out to be people who just want to participate, but not plan. Ultimately, we end up with three people phoning two hundred people."

Schwelling also said that many of the executive board members have not been supportive. "I think there's just a lot of apathy at Harvard about social life," he said.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III expressed disappointment that the club has not been successful. "I really hope that students will come forward and start these types of organizations," said Epps.

Both Epps and Schwelling partly blamed the Philos' lack of a permanent meeting place of the group's difficulties.

"I think they need a regular place to meet," said Epps. He also commented that another social club, which is still in the formative stages, plans to rent a space in Harvard Square and may therefore have a better chance of success.

During Philos' one year in operation, it has hosted two parties at the Advocate and one party at the Spaghetti Club. The group also rented a Winnebago in November to travel to Yale for The Game.

Schwelling felt that Philos, under the right conditions, "could have been really explosive."

Trying to appeal to those looking for an alternative social scene, Philos approached Women Appealing for Change (WAC).

"These people [WAC] were a group of students searching for a coed social organization and they had one staring them in the face and they completely disregarded it," Schwelling said. "Shame on them."

Elections for next year's Philos officers are to be held this April, and current board members hope at least a small number students will continue to run the club.

Otherwise, as Schwelling said, "There is the second option: Philos being terminated.