Harvard Fires Back in Legal Battle Over Single-Sex Greek Clubs
- College bars members of single-sex houses from leading teams
- Says claims of gender discrimination have no legal foundation
A sculler rows on the Charles River past the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
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Harvard has brought its legal firepower to bear against fraternities, sororities and other single-sex clubs suing to hang on to their role as havens of social life at the school.
The college’s new policy on single-sex social clubs -- endorsed by former president Drew Faust, the first woman to lead the school -- doesn’t ban them. But the rules, which cover the incoming Class of 2021, do provide a powerful disincentive to joining the off-campus organizations, barring members from leading sports teams and receiving the school’s endorsement for coveted prizes such as the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships.