Harvard’s Policy and History
Harvard University has a long history of fraternities as well as finals clubs, which are traditionally all-male social groups to which students could belong. Finals clubs first started to appear at Harvard in 1791, with fraternities joining the campus scene in the mid-1800s. Many of these finals clubs were purely social organizations, while others, over time, would be based in service, literature or the arts. And, like fraternities, several of these finals clubs owned or rented property to serve as gathering spaces.
Fraternities and finals clubs existed as recognized student organizations at Harvard until 1988 when the university announced it would no longer recognize “single-sex institutions” and that groups at Harvard could not be affiliated with national organizations. From this time forward, fraternities and other single-sex finals clubs would operate outside of the university system and self-govern without the support of Harvard. In 1993, the first sorority came to Harvard, Kappa Alpha Theta, which means it and no other sorority at Harvard have ever been a recognized student organization by the university.
Despite cutting ties and recognition from these organizations, Harvard still viewed them as problematic for the Harvard campus culture and as a threat to inclusivity. Harvard also posited that in its view, all-male groups encourage misogynistic behaviors and create problematic environments for women.
So, as a way to prohibit students from joining single-sex organizations, in May 2016, Harvard announced a policy that any student who joined a single-sex social group would face restrictions. These groups include fraternities, sororities, finals clubs, and even all-women’s or all-men’s singing groups. Members of such groups would not be able to hold leadership positions on campus, serve as captains of athletic teams, or receive Harvard's endorsem*nt for postgraduate scholarships like the Rhodes and Marshall. Harvard said sanctions would only be lifted for those groups that decided to go coed.
