45 Mt. Auburn Saw Tumultuous Past

When All Is Fair opened at 45 Mt. Auburn St. yesterday, the pro-union retail outlet became the newest occupant of a site that has seen a tumultuous history.

Currently owned by the Foundation for Civic Leadership, a Cambridge-based nonprofit, the space was previously occupied by Pi Eta, an all-male social club that folded shortly after a 1991 out-of-court settlement with a woman who alleged that she had been raped at the club.

In the years before it closed, Pi Eta had become a regular object of controversy on campus.

In 1979, a student was paralyzed from the neck down after falling during an initiation ceremony.

In the early 1980s, the club drew severe criticism after 10 initiates were brought to University Health Services and a letter disparaging the club’s female guests was circulated among students.

In the late 1980s, Pi Eta faced two separate allegations of rape, a report of indecent assault and battery, and a brawl between three men outside the club, according to police reports cited by The Crimson.

Shortly before the club closed, a 1991 Crimson article claimed “the club maintained an unsanitary ‘mattress room’ for sexual exploits and promoted the room in its newsletters.”

Pi Eta alumni maintained ownership of the building until 1996, when fraternity Sigma Chi became a co-owner.

But the cohabitation did not last. Pi Eta forced Sigma Chi out of the building in 2001, spurring a year-long lawsuit that led to Sigma Chi’s move to 1124 Mass. Ave.

Afterward, Pi Eta sold the property to the Foundation for Civic Leadership for $2.75 million, according to Crimson archives.

All Is Fair now shares the building with progressive student groups such as the Harvard Social Forum and Students Against Super Sexist Institutions-We Oppose Oppressive Final Clubs.