The Phoenix – S K Club is one of six male

final club Harvard College has several types of social clubs. These are split between gender-inclusive clubs recognized by the college, and unrecognized single-gender clubs which are subject to College sanctions. The Hasty Pudding Club holds claim as the old ...

s at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, tracing its earliest roots to 1895. It consists of an undergraduate body of male upperclassmen at Harvard College who are not members of any other Final Club and alumni members. It is a body which has resulted from the amalgamation and reorganization of various individual clubs, namely the Sphinx, Kalumet, and Phoenix Clubs. The Phoenix – S K is currently located at 72 Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge near Harvard Square, which is a property protected by the Cambridge Historical Commission.

History

The Sphinx Club grew out of a small secret society founded in 1897. Originally known by several names, in 1900, almost all the members of this organization joined together in forming the Sphinx Club, located at 1172 Massachusetts Avenue, then 55 Mt. Auburn Street. In 1903 the Club moved to 72 Mt. Auburn Street, the current site of the Phoenix – S K Club. The Kalumet Club was started by members of the Harvard chapter of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...

, many in the class of 1900, and occupied a small house on the current

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

building site on Mt. Auburn Street. In 1900, the Club was formally organized as the Kalumet Club, and moved to 1178 Massachusetts Avenue. In 1901 it moved to 104 Mt. Auburn Street, then three years later it moved again to 44 Church Street, where it remained until its amalgamation with the Sphinx in 1914. The adoption of the Inter-Club Agreement and other conditions made the union of these two Clubs desirable, so in 1914, members of both clubs voted that their undergraduate memberships should both join the new S K Club. Construction was begun on a new club house on the site of the Sphinx house at 72 Mt. Auburn Street, and the Kalumet house was employed in the meantime. The new building formally opened on April 1, 1916. The Phoenix Club was formed in 1902 by a group of men who were members of

Theta Nu Epsilon Theta Nu Epsilon (, commonly known as T.N.E.) is a sophomore class society. Founded at Wesleyan University in 1870 as a chapter of Skull and Bones, the society accepts members regardless of their fraternity status."Theta Nu Epsilon Society to Hold ...

, a national sophomore society originally formed as an offshoot of Yale University's

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

. The Alpha Iota Harvard Chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon was chartered in 1895. The members of T.N.E. organized the Phoenix Club for residential and dining purposes, yet still maintained ties as the Alpha Iota Chapter to the rest of the society until 1913 when there was a division within that society. It is not known when members of the Phoenix Club ceased to meet as members of Theta Nu Epsilon. Starting in 1902, the Phoenix Club occupied a series of houses, starting with the John Hicks House at 64 Dunster Street, then in 1906 it moved to 97 Mt. Auburn Street, then in 1920 it moved again to the northeast corner of Winthrop and Holyoke Streets. In 1925, negotiations for the amalgamation of the Phoenix and the S K were started, and in January 1925, undergraduate bodies of both clubs voted their approval. A new club, the Phoenix – S K, was formed, which occupied the S K Club house at 72 Mt. Auburn Street. With time, due to changing conditions within the university, it became advantageous for the Phoenix – S K to be classified as a final club, so on May 24, 1930, the Club became final. ''

The Accidental Billionaires ''The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal'' is a 2009 book by Ben Mezrich about the founding of Facebook, adapted by Aaron Sorkin for the 2010 film '' The Social Network''. Co-founder Edua ...

'', a 2009 novel by

Ben Mezrich Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. Early life and education Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland Schoo ...

based on the founding of

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, references the Phoenix – S K Club punch process that

Eduardo Saverin Eduardo Luiz Saverin (; ; born March 19, 1982) is a Brazilian billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor based in Singapore. Saverin is one of the co-founders of Facebook. In 2012, he owned 53 million Facebook shares (approximately 2% of all ou ...

(member) participated in and

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...

witnessed while at Harvard. The novel was adapted into a major motion picture, ''

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking web ...

'', which was released on October 1, 2010. In 2003, the Phoenix – S K Club was investigated for animal cruelty in association with initiation rituals involving raising chickens and their potential torture, but a conclusion was never reached. ''The Social Network'' fictionally suggested that the cruelty involved animal

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

. According to online sources, it appears that the club has been a hotspot for celebrities and members of Boston's local sports teams to participate in Harvard's night life. In April 2011, American musician and DJ

Steve Aoki Steven Hiroyuki Aoki (, ; born November 30, 1977), best known as Steve Aoki, is an American DJ, record producer, music programmer, and record executive.

performed at the club. In February 2015, the club came back under the spotlight when pictures of

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

players

Julian Edelman Julian Francis Edelman (born May 22, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football at Kent State as a Quarterback and ...

Danny Amendola Daniel James Amendola (born November 2, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Texas Tech. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2008. After spending his entire rookie season ...

, and several other teammates purportedly partying at the Phoenix - S K Clubhouse following their

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conf ...

victory surfaced on social media. On December 6, 2022, French Pianist

Sofiane Pamart Sofiane Pamart is a French pianist, based in Paris and originally from Hellemmes in the suburbs of Lille. He is known to the French public for breaking the elitist codes of classical piano. As a gold medallist at the Conservatoire de Lille, he ...

performed at the Club.Pamart, Sofiane.,

Notable members

Abbott Lawrence Lowell Abbott Lawrence Lowell (December 13, 1856 – January 6, 1943) was an American educator and legal scholar. He was President of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933. With an "aristocratic sense of mission and self-certainty," Lowell cut a large f ...

(1877—Honorary Member): President of Harvard University from 1909–1933 *

William Richards Castle, Jr. William Richards Castle Jr. (June 19, 1878 – October 13, 1963) was an American educator and diplomat. He rose rapidly to the highest levels of the United States Department of State and took a strong interest in Pacific issues, in part becau ...

(1900): Ambassador, Assistant Secretary of State, and Under Secretary of State under

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

* Robert L. Bacon (1907): Banker, Lieutenant Colonel, and congressman from New York *

Gaspar G. Bacon Gaspar Griswold Bacon, Sr. (March 7, 1886 – December 25, 1947) served on the board of overseers of Harvard University, as the President of the Massachusetts Senate from 1929 to 1932 and as the 51st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, lieutena ...

(1908): President of the Massachusetts Senate (1929–32) and Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (1933–1935) *

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and ta ...

(1908): Rear Admiral of the U.S. Navy, three-time Pulitzer Prize Winner, Author, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom * George Gund (1909): President of Cleveland Trust Bank (1941–1962), the predecessor of

KeyBank KeyBank, the primary subsidiary of KeyCorp, is a regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and is the only major bank based in Cleveland. KeyBank is one of the largest banks in the United States. Key's customer base spans retail, small b ...

Leverett Saltonstall Leverett A. Saltonstall (September 1, 1892June 17, 1979) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He served three two-year terms as the List of Governors of Massachusetts, 55th Governor of Massachusetts, and for more than twent ...

(1914): American Lawyer and 55th Governor of Massachusetts; member of the

Saltonstall family The Saltonstall family is a Boston Brahmin family from the U.S. state of Massachusetts, notable for having had a family member attend Harvard University from every generation since Nathaniel Saltonstall—later one of the more principled judges a ...

Michael K. Frith Michael Kingsbury Frith (born 8 July 1941) is a British artist and television producer. He is the former Executive Vice-President and Creative Director of The Jim Henson Company. His contributions to Muppet projects have been extensive and vari ...

(1963): Former Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Jim Henson Productions * Nicholas Papanicolaou (1970): Co-Chairman, CEO, and Controlling Shareholder of British car manufacturer Aston Martin; Grand Master (worldwide), The Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta *

Arthur Waldron Arthur Waldron (born December 13, 1948) is an American historian. Since 1997, Waldron has been the Lauder Professor of International Relations in the department of history at the University of Pennsylvania. He works chiefly on Asia, China in parti ...

(1971): Editor of Commentary Magazine * Philip Core (1973): Pioneer of gay art and writing * Jeffrey D. Dunn (1977): President and CEO of

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

Anand Mahindra Anand Gopal Mahindra (born 1 May 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based business conglomerate. The group operates in aerospace, agribusiness, aftermarket, automotive, components, construc ...

(1978): Chairman of

Mahindra & Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, ...

Buddy Fletcher Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher Jr. (born December 19, 1965) is an American former hedge fund manager and founder of the Fletcher Foundation. He began his career as a quantitative equity trader at Bear Stearns and later worked at Kidder, Peabody & ...

(1987): Founder of Fletcher Capital Markets Inc. Impeached as President of the Phoenix-SK Club *

Kris Kobach Kris William Kobach ( ; born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who is the Attorney General of Kansas. He previously served as the 31st Secretary of State of Kansas. A former Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach came ...

(1988): Kansas Secretary of State; Marshall Scholar; White House Fellow; political candidate * Eric Mindich (1988): Youngest partner in Goldman Sachs history at age 27 and founder of Eton Park Capital Management * Thomas L. Monahan III (1988): CEO and President, DeVry University; TransUnion Board member; ProKarma Chairman * Christopher Ford (1989): U.S. diplomat, scholar, lawyer, and federal official *

Viet Dinh Viet D. Dinh ( vi, Đinh Đồng Phụng Việt; born February 22, 1968) is a lawyer and a legal scholar who is Chief Legal and Policy Officer of Fox Corporation and who served as an Assistant Attorney General of the United States from 2001 to 20 ...

(1990): Former Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. (2001–2003) and architect of the

USA PATRIOT Act The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of Congress, Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President of the United States, President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniti ...

Kaleil Isaza Tuzman Kaleil Isaza Tuzman is a former entrepreneur associated with digital media, who spent more than 20 years in that industry before being convicted of multiple counts of fraud in 2017. Tuzman started his career at Goldman Sachs, was co-founder of Gov ...

(1996): CEO of

KIT digital Piksel is a professional services and technology provider to the broadcast and media industry. Piksel has worked with clients in the Broadcast and Media industry for over 20 years, from launching Sky Go with BSkyB and 4oD with Channel 4 in 200 ...

(Nasdaq: KITD) and a featured entrepreneur of the 2001 documentary film, Startup.com *

Chris Lambert (athlete) Christopher Patrick Lambert (born 6 April 1981 in Dulwich, London) is a former professional sprinter from England. He grew up on Southampton Way Estate in Peckham, London, attending to school at Oliver Goldsmith's Primary School in Camberwe ...

(2003): Professional Sprinter *

(2006): Co-founder of

Ryu Goto is a Japanese-American concert violinist. Goto gained attention as a child prodigy, first performing at the age of seven in the Pacific Music Festival held in Sapporo, Japan. In 2006, his debut tour of 12 cities of Japan was sold out. Early ...

(2011): Violinist *

Brandyn Curry Brandyn Curry (born October 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player, who lastly played for U-BT Cluj-Napoca. Curry played five seasons collegiately for Harvard. College career Curry played collegiately at Harvard. As a sophomore, ...

(2013): Professional Basketball Player * Noah Gray-Cabey (2016): American television actor and pianist known for his roles in

My Wife and Kids ''My Wife and Kids'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001, to May 17, 2005. The series was produced by Touchstone Television. It starred Damon Wayans as Michael Kyle, the patriarch of an African-American family. Wayans and ve ...

and

Heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

Notes

External links

Collegiate secret societies in North America There are many collegiate secret societies in North America. They vary greatly in their level of secrecy and the degree of independence from their universities. A collegiate ''secret society'' makes significant effort to keep affairs, membership r ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix - S K Club, The Student societies in the United States Harvard University 1895 establishments in Massachusetts