The following events trace the end of the clubs' Harvard affiliation:

* May 7, 1984: the Undergraduate Council passes a resolution pointing out the clubs' failure to sign the College's non-discrimination pledge, and sets an October 1 deadline for the clubs to admit women. Otherwise, it says, the council will consider asking the College to sever all ties with the groups.

* July, 1984: I an unprecedented act of involvement, Dean Epps files to New York City to meet with four undergraduate club presidents and all nine presidents of the clubs' graduate boards, to discuss a change in admissions policy. "We don't normally meet in the summer," Epps says. "But we did this time so there would be time for thoughtful discussion, so the clubs would not be surprised by the issue when they returned to school."

* September 26: Pi Eta President Timothy J. Keating '85 tells The Crimson that his club voted 88-0 not to admit women this year, but adds that they may consider the move in the future.

* October 1: the council's deadline passes unheeded, primarily because the Committee on College Life (CCL) has not yet convened with its 1984-5 members. Meanwhile, annual punching season is about to begin.

* October 11: all nine club presidents meet with Epps for three hours at the Faculty Club, for the first time formally considering admitting women. No consensus is reached. Significantly, Epps departs from his neutral stance and attempts to persuade the clubs to admit women on a variety of economic, social, and moral grounds. He asks that they consider "women's increasing role in society" and suggests that women's membership will enhance, rather than constrain, their social events and general well-being. No consensus is reached by the club presidents. Epps tells The Crimson "the presidents are all very troubled by the dilemma of on the one hand honoring [all-male] tradition, and [on the other] the force of the ethical issue of equal treatment for women."

* October 22: at the first meeting of the CCL, considered the clubs' de facto deadline for response, Epps relays the clubs' request for more time to debate. In a joint written statement, they announce, "a substantial majority of the members of all clubs does not favor a change in policy."

* November 8: The CCL gives the nine organizations a one-month reprieve, asking them to justify their exemption from the non-discrimination clause. Meanwhile, the nine have reaffirmed their desire to remain affiliated with Harvard in a succinct statement: "The clubs value [their] association with Harvard and wish to remain a part of the community."

* December 10: in a confidential statement to the CCL, the club presidents make no attempt to justify their status, and instead preemptively volunteer to sever ties with Harvard. The committee recommends to the College that it expedite the split "as soon as possible." Dean of the College John B. Fox Jr. '59 remarks that "the clubs prefer to go their own way."