CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University says students who join unofficial male-only social clubs starting in the fall of 2017 won’t be able to hold leadership positions in official campus organizations or sports teams.
The university announced the policy Friday with the support of President Drew Faust. It won’t affect current students or those planning to enroll at Harvard this fall.
The secretive social clubs, known as final clubs, have operated on Harvard’s campus in some cases for hundreds of years. They are traditionally male-only, and several still exclude women.
Harvard administrators have been pressuring the clubs to accept women, and a recent university report said the clubs contribute to sexual assault on campus.
President Faust wrote in a statement that the exclusion practiced by final clubs is at odds with the university’s values.
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