What they've forgotten is that the advantage of a final club never lay in its ability to make you popular. Today, they have become the Harvard man's passport to a social life. But the societies' principal purpose was to provide its members with good company and a good meal. The Porcellian was founded in 1791 by a group of friends who decided they wanted to eat roast pig together every month.

The problem arose when the clubs decided half-heartedly to transform themselves. They gave up their secrecy and a lot of their bigotry. The Porcellian admitted its first Jewish member in the mid-70's and the Fox had a black president in the early 80's. But they refused to admit women, as did their counterpart Yale society, the Skull and Bones (of which George W. is a member). Currently, they exist as an unholy cross between fraternity and secret society.

The clubs need to decide where exactly their future lies before their prestige is eroded completely. And while they're evaluating themselves, open parties sponsored by the Seneca and other organizations will become the mainstay of Harvard's social scene. Hopefully, by the time final clubs figure things out their niche in Harvard social circles will have been filled by more inclusive institutions. I toast the Seneca.

Christina S. Lewis '02 is a history and literature concentrator in Leverett House. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays.