Members of single-sex Harvard social groups — including its secret clubs, fraternities and sororities — will no longer be able to hold positions of leadership at the Ivy League school.
As well, membership in those groups will make them ineligible for school endorsement for prestigious fellowships like the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, university president Drew Faust announced last week.
The new rules come following recommendations contained in a university report on how sexual assault can be prevented,
The Harvard Crimson newspaper says.
The report stated that the "discriminatory" policies of these organizations have led to "power imbalances" the university should not ignore — problems which may encourage an atmosphere in which sexual assault can occur.
"The most entrenched of these spaces send an unambiguous message that they are the exclusive preserves of men," the report said.
"In their recruitment practices and through their extensive resources and access to networks of power, these organizations propagate exclusionary values that undermine those of the larger Harvard College community."
The inclusion of fraternities and sororities in the new rule came as a shock to many of the Greek social groups. But Harvard defended the inclusion.
"Although the fraternities, sororities, and final clubs are not formally recognized by the college, they play an unmistakable and growing role in student life, in many cases enacting forms of privilege and exclusion at odds with our deepest values," Faust said.
"The College cannot ignore these organizations if it is to advance our shared commitment to broadening opportunity and making Harvard a campus for all of its students."
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