Final clubs

Social clubs exist at Harvard College that are unrecognized by Harvard itself. The oldest, dating to 1791, are the traditionally all-male final clubs. Fraternities were prominent in the late 1800s as well until their initial expulsions and then eventual resurrection off Harvard's campus in the 1990s. Beginning in 1991, all-female final clubs as well as sororities have appeared. Since 1984, none of these all-male or all-female social organizations has been recognized by the school.

While a small number of these organizations have begun to admit both sexes, most do not‍—‌the reason, in general, that Harvard College refuses to recognize them. In 2016, Harvard took a stronger stance against such "exclusionary and disempowering" organizations, by barring members of unrecognized single-sex organizations from campus leadership positions and from receiving certain types of Harvard recommendation letters.

The historical basis for the name "final clubs" dates to the late 19th century, a time when Harvard had a variety of clubs for students of each class year. During that period, Harvard College freshmen could join a freshman club, then a "waiting club," and eventually, as they neared completion of their studies, a "final club." Hence, students of different years joined different clubs, and the "final clubs" were so named because they were the last social club a person could join before graduation. Harvard's final clubs for women date to 1991 with the founding of the Bee Club.

Many of the clubs were founded in the 19th century, after Harvard banned traditional fraternities in the 1850s. Of the final clubs still in existence (see below), only the Fox was initially founded as a final club. The Phoenix SK is the amalgam of three separate clubs: the Phoenix, the Sphinx, and the Kalumet.

All-female clubs:

All-male clubs:

Coed clubs:

All-male fraternities:

All-female sororities:

There are also other social organizations not recognized by Harvard University, including the Oak Club, that do not own property but regularly hold social events.

The Harvard men's final clubs trace their roots to the late 18th century, while the five all-female social clubs were founded more recently. Another women's organization, the Seneca, distinguishes itself as a "501(c)(3) nonprofit women's organization that is often misidentified as a final club." Several other clubs are also 501(c)(3) organizations and engage in some community service. The Bee was founded in 1991, The Seneca in 1999, Isis in 2000, Pleiades in 2002, Sabliere in 2002, and La Vie in 2008. (The co-ed Signet Society, The Harvard Crimson, The Harvard Advocate, and The Harvard Lampoon also have selective membership, but their charters define them as something other than social organizations, based on their literary or artistic characteristics.)

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