Harvard dean announces Single Gender Policy Enforcement Committee

By Dylan Reim 09/20/16 4:01pm

Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana announced via a College-wide email today that the Single Gender Policy Enforcement Committee — which aims to penalize and oversee Harvard’s “unrecognized” single-sex social groups, otherwise known as final clubs — has officially assembled.

According to an article by The Harvard Crimson, the committee, “to be composed of students, staff, and faculty members, will offer recommendations about the extensive logistics of implementing the new policy — which starting with the Class of 2021, bars members of single-gender social organizations from leadership positions in student groups and top fellowships — by the end of the spring semester.”

Last semester’s announcement of the ban was met with surprise within and beyond the Harvard community.

The policy has been widely criticized by students, faculty and alumni from Harvard and other major institutions as overreaching and unfair. In addition to typical fraternities, sororities and social final clubs, members of single-sex ethnic and interest-based groups have expressed strong vocal opposition. National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations Commissioner of Member Services Francisco Lugo told The Huffington Post, “Our organizations provide a powerful experience for underrepresented students, and if Harvard is seeking to make campus more inclusive and equitable, removing opportunities for these students goes directly against that goal.”

The Single Gender Policy Enforcement Committee — which is still selecting student representatives — has not taken any action as of yet, but the year remains for the committee to show how it will affect Harvard life.

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