...If the exclusive clubs do decide to admit women, it won't be any time soon.

Still, the clubs seem to be moving at a turtle's pace, if at all, to admit women to full clubhouse privileges.

"It would never happen," one member said. He said the reason was that Harvard's final clubs serve more of a social purpose than the clubs at Yale do. He said that while most final club members support the idea of women founding their own clubs, few would support actually letting women join the existing clubs.

That sentiment was echoed by another member, who said the Skull and Bones decision had been discussed at his club as a news item, but not as a call to action.

Only one final club member interviewed this week had a different perspective on women in the clubs. He said he had talked about admitting women with members of his club and is intending to bring the matter up to the full club.

"It wouldn't be an overnight thing," the member said. "I personally don't think it would be a bad thing." The member said the first step would be to let women have free access to restricted areas of the club, and the next step would be to admit them as members.

"I think changes are going to come," he said.