Flag Stolen From Phoenix, S.K. Club

A member of the Phoenix S.K. Club—one of Harvard’s eight male final clubs—reported the club’s flag stolen last week, an act which the member who reported the crime speculated may be related to the clubs’ recruitment season, or its recent wave of publicity from being featured in “The Social Network.”

The member told the Cambridge Police Department that he hung the flag on the pole outside the building, which is located on 72 Mount Auburn Street, at 1:30 a.m. on Monday. Its disappearance was noticed around 3:00 p.m., according to the police report filed on Wednesday. The rope had been cut.

The member estimated the flag, which has a white Phoenix on a solid black background, was valued between $400 and $500.

According to the club member who reported the theft, whose name was redacted in the police report, the theft may be related to the final club’s prominence in the film “The Social Network,” since Eduardo L. Saverin ’05, the co-founder of Facebook and one of the main characters, was a member of the Phoenix.

In “The Social Network,” Mark E. Zuckerberg, a former member of the class of 2006, was jealous of Saverin’s membership in the Phoenix. The film portrays Saverin attempting to join the Phoenix and shows parties taking place at the club.

Even though the filming was done at the Spee Club, and not the Phoenix, the publicity of the Phoenix may have prompted someone to steal the club flag as a souvenir or Halloween prank, according to the police report.

Another possible reason for the theft is that the Phoenix, as well as the seven other male final clubs and five female final clubs, were recruiting members. The recruitment, commonly referred to as “punch,” ended in the early morning of Nov. 1 when new members were notified of their acceptance.

The theft of the flag may have been “associated with these recruitment activities,” according to the police report. The club member who reported the theft did not want to blame any specific clubs without further proof, the report said.

The president of the Phoenix declined to comment.

—Staff writer Monika L.S. Robbins can be reached at mrobbins@college.harvard.edu.