Students See Final Clubs Closing Doors

Frequenters of final clubs expect tonight to be the start of another quiet weekend at Harvard’s eight all-male clubs.

In dozens of conversations across five dining halls yesterday, all students who professed familiarity with final clubs said several of the clubs have tightened their guest policies in recent weeks—with some banning non-members altogether.

Though specific new policies adopted by individual clubs remain tightly under wraps, leaving the impetus for those changes open to much speculation on campus, no one denies that the club scene is being shaken to its core.

“It’s my understanding that various clubs—all of them—have looked into their purpose and found that being a club and not a function hall is something that is also good,” said the Rev. Douglas W. Sears ’69, former president of the Interclub Council and a trustee of the Fox Club.

All of the final club members contacted by The Crimson declined comment for this story. Four final club presidents did not return phone calls last night.

Many students who are not members, however, said they thought they knew the clubs’ new rules, and some said they thought they knew the causes of the changes in policy.

All concurred, though, that the role of the clubs on campus is changing—and that means that some weekend revelers will inevitably be rerouted to other party venues in the foreseeable future.

Jordan W. Webb ’03 said he thought the club scene has been seriously limited.

“The Spee is pseudo-open,” Webb said. “Other than that, nothing’s open.”

Webb said the Fly Club’s Calypso party two weekends ago had a guest list of 150 people—and no one else was admitted.

The Club hired private bouncers to enforce the stricter guest policy, Webb and other students said.

Webb said he believed the final clubs have initiated stricter guest policies because Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 and Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth ’71 related to the Interclub Council that they had heard of dangerous behavior at the clubs.

Webb said Lewis cited liquor-related incidents.

Peter J. Giordano ’04 said he attended a birthday party at the Fox last weekend.

“We got an e-mail that said you’re invited,” Giordano said. “It was clear that it was invite-only.”

Alexis Roosa ’05 said she has been to parties at the Fox Club every weekend since the beginning of school.

“I haven’t had a problem because I’m friends with people who are officers,” Roosa said. “But I’ve never been upstairs during the party.”

Roosa said all parties have been held only downstairs or in the backyard, as opposed to last year, when parties were frequently held upstairs.

Sarah M. Poage ’05 said the AD Club had a party with a guest list.

“I know that some clubs won’t let non-members in,” said Rebecca K. Gomez ’04. “It’s sad. Clubs are a big part of the after-hours social life.”

“I haven’t heard of much going on this year, ” Poage said.

Josue Portillo ’03 said he has heard some Owl Club members may become inactive due to the new policy that has closed its doors to non-members.

“Going inactive will bankrupt the clubs,” Webb said.

“I go to final clubs less frequently because of grad board policy, or at least what I’ve heard,” said Leila Chirayath ’04, who said she learned of the stricter guest policies from friends in the clubs.

Chirayath said she heard the clubs revised their guest policies because of liability issues involving sexual assault and the consumption of alcohol.

Gomez said she heard final clubs are now liable for criminal incidents that occur as a result of the alcohol they serve.

She also heard that the Fly hired professional bouncers for its Calypso party.

Sarah N. Calkin ’04 said she has heard that drinking, violence and rape at the clubs has led them to limit their parties to invite-only guests.

Daniel L. Seltzer ’05 said he was punched by the Porcellian Club and the Fox Club but did not attend their events.

With the prospect of closed-door policies, the clubs have lost their appeal for him, he said.

“I think there are stricter rules in clubs and it’s to appease the alumni,” said Elena M. Belitsos ’05.

Belitsos said she thinks the alumni want closed parties in order to save club funds.

The Party Line

Sears and administrators denied that outside pressure directly led to changes in clubs’ guest policies, though Lewis acknowledged that he made clear to the clubs that he was concerned with their old operation.

Lewis said he met with some of the clubs’ graduate board presidents over the summer—which he has also done in previous summers.

“I did not make suggestions about how to run the clubs,” Lewis wrote in an e-mail. “I simply reported that based on what had come to my attention over the past year, instances of severe alcohol abuse associated with drinking at the clubs and associated dangerous misbehaviors seemed to be at worrisome levels.”

“I wanted them to know that my impression was that things seemed to be getting worse, not better,” Lewis wrote.

Sears also said he did not believe the clubs’ graduate boards have been giving orders to the clubs, though he is pleased with the trend toward more stringent guest policies.

“If I had one rallying cry, it was ‘more club, less frat,’” Sears said. “I think the critical mass on its own has arrived at that conclusion.”

He denied the clubs have been acting collectively.

“The individual clubs have always acted on their own authority,” he said. “Where there are changes as far as restricting access to non-members, these would be decisions of the individual clubs, and that is the case of the Fox.”

Sears said the rumors that changes to liability laws are propelling clubs’ strict policies are not true. Instead, he said concerns about non-member abuse of club resources have played a part in the clubs’ decisions.

“The general thrust is, [members are] not coming in on a frequent basis, and [when they do, they’re] seeing folks that are non-members and non-contributors to the financial operation of the club abusing it as if they were members,” Sears said.

Though Lewis denied making suggestions to the clubs, Sears said he thinks Lewis agrees with the current trend toward restrictive policies.

“Dean Lewis wants the clubs to be less like function halls,” Sears said. “The clubs have come to that conclusion themselves. Harvard and the clubs agree.”

Future Prospects

It is thus far unclear, though, whether the clubs are likely to stick with the newly adopted rules, and if they do, whether they will be able and willing to strictly enforce them.

Crimson reporters were able to gain entrance—uninvited—to five of the eight clubs last Saturday night, and were served alcohol at several of the clubs despite being minors.

Some self-described final club regulars said that even if the strict policies hold up, they would not be overly concerned.

“Even if they cracked down, it wouldn’t be hard to find parties other places, ” Roosa said.

“It’s an excuse to go into Boston at least,” Chirayath said.

“Nobody wants to talk about the problem,” said N. Kennedy Thorwarth ’04 said. “You have to make your own fun. It just encourages you to do more things on your own.”

But Thorwarth said she doubted the tightened guest policies would last forever.

“Clubs will ease up after a while,” Thorwarth said.

—Elisabeth S. Theodore contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Anne K. Kofol can be reached at kofol@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Maria S. Pedroza can be reached at mpedroza@fas.harvard.edu.