Student Club Members Discuss Diversity

Representatives from the Advocate, the Dudley Co-op, the Crimson, and two final clubs, the Fox and the Spee, defended their student groups as “safe spaces” at a sex and student group real estate panel yesterday evening.

The Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response specialist Gordon W. Braxton and Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd were also present and spoke at the beginning of the panel, which was co-sponsored by Harvard’s student-run sex magazine H Bomb and OSAPR.

Moderator Colette S. Perold ’11 posed questions to the panelists, inquiries that focused on diversity, social spaces, and sexual assault. She began the panel by insisting that no specific organizations were being targeted or blamed in any way.

“This is about open conversation about some of the spaces on this campus,” Perold said.

Fox member Daniel E. Herz-Roiphe ’10, who is also the co-chair of the Crimson Editorial Board, and Spee member John F. Bowman ’11 defended the final clubs by trying to debunk common stereotypes. Both argued that final clubs are more heterogeneous than they are perceived to be, although the two acknowledged that the final club membership is wealthier than the student body at large.

“It’s one of the most racially diverse organizations that I know of,” Bowman said of the Spee.

At the same time, Advocate member Millicent M. Younger ’10 and Dudley Co-op president Paul Nauert ’09 regretted the relative lack of ethnic diversity in their organizations, but pointed out that their groups are much closer to gender equity compared to the all-male final clubs.

“They perpetuate an unequal gender-power dynamic at this school,” Herz-Roiphe said of final clubs. He suggested that either final clubs could become co-ed or that female final clubs could become more popular.

“Final clubs in general are heteronormative and it’s a shame,” Bowman said.

In discussing sexual assault, both final club representatives said clubs do their best to prevent sexual assault and have rejected potential members during the punch process due to anxieties about sexual assault.

Perold’s question about the mystique of social organizations was also most directly applicable to final clubs.

However, both Bowman and Herz-Roiphe said they did not consider secrecy an important aspect of their final club experience.

“Like most other secrets, when you expose them to the light of day, they’re not that cool,” Herz-Roiphe said. “Mystique is power.”

—Staff writer Danielle J. Kolin can be reached at dkolin@fas.harvard.edu