Harvard to bar members of all-male clubs from leadership

Associated Press

BOSTON

Students who join Harvard’s male-only social clubs won’t be able to serve as sports captains or leaders of other campus groups starting in fall 2017.

The new policy, announced Friday by Harvard’s first female president, also applies to other unofficial single-gender groups on campus, including fraternities and sororities. Top officials at the university have been pushing those groups to stop excluding students based on gender even though they aren’t officially recognized by the school.

Harvard President Drew Faust said in a statement that though the school has opened its doors to women and minorities, the campus culture has lagged behind.

Under the new policy, students who join single-gender groups also will be prohibited from getting the dean’s endorsement for scholarships. The rule will apply to all new students starting with the freshman class entering in the fall of 2017. It won’t affect the 10,000 undergraduates already on campus or those coming this fall.