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The Final Score: The Year in Final Clubs

The PSK closed to guests April 1.

On April 8, the Spee club became the fourth to ban all non-members.

Although the other clubs have not made such drastic changes, they have all shown a commitment to changing the atmosphere inside their buildings.

The Delphic and Fly clubs decided to enforce their guest policies more strictly, but have not formally banned non-members.

The Fox club is the only one not to have altered its guest policy at all.

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On Feb. 7, the Fox discussed the possibility of following suit, but decided against it because the members felt the Fox had not been as open as the other clubs in the past.

"We have more respect for our club. We follow the rules," Fox member Andrew L. Perito '01 said. "There's no reason for us to go down the road these other clubs have followed."

Although there have been no guest policy changes since the Spee announced its ban, other events have hinted at what the future of final clubs holds in store.

For the first few weeks of May, the graduate board of the A.D. club closed its building to members for renovations that precede the building's 100th anniversary celebration.

The graduate board had raised money to restore the building, but undergraduates had not been treating it with respect, according to members.

"There will be a total revamping of the inner structure to get it ready [for the fall anniversary], and we haven't exactly been keeping the place clean," said incoming A.D. President Steven W. Ranere '00.

In recent weeks, the graduate board reversed its decision and allowed members to use the building again.

But although the ban on building use was lifted, the incident points to the fact that Harvard final clubs have changed. And many people predict the transformation will continue as Harvard students reach the limits of their search for social venues.

After several months living with the policy changes, members said they are now more content.

"People are still adjusting to it," Powers said. "It's nice to get back to the basics."

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