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Seneca Club Growth Signals Social Shift

All-female club fills void left by Radcliffe merger

Their dreams, admittedly, are big, but the Seneca is well-organized and even better connected.

The group has filed for non-profit status and has recruited a group of lawyers who have agreed to do pro-bono work on its behalf.

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"A lot of the girls have talked to their families--all of our families are very involved. Parents have recommended people. Men and women have heard about us and talked to us and offered to help us out," says Shola L. Akinshemoyin '01, the group's membership director.

But as the Seneca gains influence among campus women's groups, its final club roots--and current ties to the clubs themselves--may tarnish the validity of its feminist agenda amongst some students.

"What [the Seneca] is doing is wonderful, but the final clubs have such a stigma," says Kamil E. Redmond '00, a key organizer of the Women's Guide and former vice president of the Undergraduate Council. "If you associate quite heavily with the final clubs, for some, that calls your activities into question."

Some Seneca members say they have never been to a final club, but many others say they do frequent the clubs--sometimes up to five or six times a month.

"A lot of us have good friends in final clubs, have dated people in final clubs, or have boyfriends in final clubs," says Katharine B. Greer '02, the Seneca's newly-elected fundraising chair.

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