Yes, there was a time when GQ would run an eight-page story about Harvard’s most exclusive final club, The Porcellian.
Not to boar you, but I don’t think this story would fly today.
We’ll stop hamming and leave you with this fascinating tail. — CS & CC
Fast forward almost three decades (that’s to today) and Harvard’s final clubs are being condemned as having “deeply misogynistic attitudes,” and are described in terms of “’sexual entitlement’, troubling areas of potential alcohol abuse and sexual assault, and ‘vestige[s] of gender inequity’ on campus.” Allegedly, female students are significantly more likely to experience unwanted sexual abuse when involved in club activities. See Harvard Crimson article: Sexual Assault Report Lambasts Final Clubs http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/9/report-lambasts-final-clubs/
Pretty much a 180-degree about face to the 1988 article. Of course, those poor guys are being victimized by those ultra-liberal, feminazi, multiculturalist, campus bolshie-types who are taking over the universities.
I actually remember reading this article “live” back in college. Timely find.
ANFP, if final clubs are taking advantage of women and committing crimes like sexual assault, shouldn’t they be punished somehow? While I don’t think closure or admitting female students is necessary, there certainly should be action taken to ensure that final clubs are more accountable for their actions.
To the article, very interesting read. It’s refreshing to see the dedication of being in a club like this and the seriousness of it. Seems much more respectable than the fraternities I know of on my campus.
When did the decline begin? When did manners. dress, and the rest of the trappings of western civilization become historical oddities and the object of outright contempt. Who knows. However I do recall an interview with Bobby Short and Peter Duchin. Short recalled that when he moved to New York he could stand on the street and enjoy a parade of well dressed and presumably thoughtful souls. It ended abruptly he said with the arrival of the Beatles
1967
Billax would put it at about 1962-3 (I miss him).
I miss Billax as well. Wonder if there is any chance of him starting up his blog again?