The Fly Club is a

final club Harvard College has several types of social clubs. These are split between coeducational clubs recognized by the college, and unrecognized single-sex clubs which were subject to College sanctions in the past. The Hasty Pudding Club holds claim ...

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. It was established in 1836 and operated as a chapter of Alpha Delta Phi before becoming a local organization in 1906.

History

Fly Club was founded in 1836 at

as a literary society by the editors of ''Harvardiana.'' Its founding members were John Bacon, William Augustus Davis, John Fenwick Eustis, Horatio Hale, Nathan Hale, Charles Hayward, Samuel Tenney Hildreth,

Rufus King Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convent ...

, George Warren Lippitt,

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets to r ...

, Charles Woodman Scates, Charles Stearns Wheeler, and Henry Williams. The club was granted a charter by the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity on .'''' It remained active until surrendering its charter in 1865.'''' With the graduation of the members of the class of 1868, the club was discontinued.'''' In 1878, graduate members Edward Everett Hale (class of 1839) and Phillips Brooks (class of 1855), initiated undergraduates from the class of 1879. This restored the Harvard chapter of Alpha Delta Phi.'''' In December 1906, the fraternity's charter was once again surrendered with the group continuing as a local fraternity.'''' In January 1910, the organization officially adopted the name "Fly Club," its unofficial title since 1885.'''' Fly Club admitted its first African American members in the 1970s. In 1996, the Fly Club merged with the D.U. Club or Delta Upsilon, another final club, and the combined entity retained the name Fly Club. Although the merged included the alumni of the 116 year old D.U. Club, it did not include its active members.

Symbols

The club's name was derived by combining the ''"PH"'' from "Alpha," the ''"l"'' from "Delta," and the ''"i"'' from "Phi," to get "Phli," pronounced "Fly". Its nickname is the "Fly". The club motto, suggested by Prof. Morris H. Morgan (class of 1881) and adopted Feb. 1902, reads DURATURIS HAUD DURIS VINCULIS, an ablative absolute construction translated as "Bonds should be lasting, not chafing or hard." The original crest of the club bore the Alpha Delta Phi star and crescent, later changing to the leopard rampant.

Fly Club Gate

The Fly Club Gate is located along the exterior of

Winthrop House John Winthrop House, commonly known as Winthrop House, is one of 12 undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which houses approximately 400 upper class undergraduates. Winthro ...

. An

English Baroque English Baroque is a term used to refer to modes of English architecture that paralleled Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London (1666) and roughly 1720, when the flamboyant and dramatic qualities of Baroque ...

structure, the gate was built in 1914 by a grant from members of the Fly Club. The Fly's symbol, a "leopard rampant gardant" (known as the "Kitty"), is centered within the ironwork above the entry. Inscribed below is a dedication: "For Friendships Made in College the Fly Club in Gratitude has Built this Gate."

Clubhouse

The Fly clubhouse is located at Two Holyoke Place, near Harvard Square, along the "Gold Coast" of formerly private residences.Cambridge Historical Commission
"City of Cambridge, Landmarks and Other Protected Properties"
, 2009. The Fly sits in front of Harvard's

Lowell House Lowell House is one of twelve undergraduate Harvard House system, residential Houses at Harvard University, located at 10 Holyoke Place facing Mount Auburn Street between Harvard Yard and the Charles River. Officially, it is named for the Lowel ...

(1930), across Mt. Auburn Street from the Harvard Lampoon building (1909). It was constructed by the club in 1896. Its brick facade added in 1902. The Fly also owns the property at 45 Dunster Street, which is currently leased to the Hasty Pudding Club and restaurant Dig Inn. In 2020, the Fly Club’s property holdings were valued at a combined $10,384,000, more than any other Harvard final club.

Membership

The Fly Club is a

, traditionally "punching" or inviting male undergraduates of

during their sophomore or junior year. Its membership is all male.

Notable members

Controversies

Lisa Schkolnick, a Harvard student, sued the Fly Club for discrimination of women in 1987; however, a Massachusetts court rules that is lacked jurisdiction over private organizations such as the Fly Club. In September 1993, the all-male club voted to admit women, but delayed punching women that year and reversed the decision in 1994. However, this decision means that Fly Club became subject to university sanctions that prohibit members' access to some campus privileges, such as leadership positions, athletic captaincies, and some fellowships. In addition, the university does not officially recognize Fly Club.

References

{{reflist Student organizations established in 1910 1910 establishments in Massachusetts Collegiate secret societies Local fraternities and sororities Secret societies in the United States Student organizations in the United States Harvard College social clubs