Harvard is getting tough on exclusive college social clubs.
In an announcement to undergraduates on Friday morning, Harvard University President G. Faust announced that starting with the Harvard’s class of 2021, undergraduates will face stiff sanctions for being members of “unrecognized single-gender social organizations,” such as fraternities or final clubs, reports C. Ramsey Fahs of The Harvard Crimson.
The penalties include students in the clubs being banned from being athletic captains, holding leadership positions and will also be ineligible for college endorsement for top fellowships, such as the Rhodes scholarship.
With the announcement, Faust said the groups often encourage exclusion and privilege and that the campus couldn’t ignore them any longer.
“Although the fraternities, sororities, and final clubs are not formally recognized by the College, they play an unmistakable and growing role in student life, in many cases enacting forms of privilege and exclusion at odds with our deepest values,” Faust wrote. “The College cannot ignore these organizations if it is to advance our shared commitment to broadening opportunity and making Harvard a campus for all of its students.”
The decision was made with inclusion in mind so it’s hard to knock Harvard for making changes they believed necessary. Fraternities are often operated under a power structure that favors older members and treats new members like garbage. They’re incredibly exclusive and can cause more grief than good. They’re painfully outdated in this day and age. Harvard is sending a message telling students that if you want to participate in the archaic clubs, then you will be penalized.
Fahs writes that the college will provide a report at the end of the next three academic years to determine whether further action should be taken. Harvard might be starting a trend here, as other universities may follow in suit and look at sanctioning the clubs as well. In this day and age their existence is questionable.
[Harvard Crimson/Image via Harvard]
