Who’s in Harvard’s Super-Secret “Section X”?
Now that Skull & Bones is about as threatening as those kids who play Quidditch with each other, it’s time to obsess over a new mysterious Ivy-League secret society: Section X.
On Sunday the New York Times reported on Harvard Business School’s two-year-long attempt to remedy certain gender disparities within its largely male student body and even more male-dominated faculty. (The paper called the effort a “gender makeover.”) Part of what seems to have inspired the campaign was the existence of “Section X,” a furtive, moneyed society from which women are largely excluded. Sounds fun!
The men at the top of the heap worked in finance, drove luxury cars and advertised lavish weekend getaways on Instagram, many students observed in interviews. Some belonged to the so-called Section X, an on-again-off-again secret society of ultrawealthy, mostly male, mostly international students known for decadent parties and travel.
Several women confessed their discomfort with the enigmatic society to the Times. One even told her classmates: “Someone made the decision for me that I’m not pretty or wealthy enough to be in Section X.” But it’s unclear who exactly belongs to Section X. The only clue so far (besides “male” and “international”) is a single anonymous comment, apparently written by a member of the business school’s Class of 2013, attached to the Times article: “Section X [is] the ridiculous creation of a group of mainly Princeton grads.” Which, if true, narrows it down considerably.
Do you know who belongs to Section X? (Or maybe have screenshots of their tastefully curated Instagram accounts?) Drop us a line.
