In a rare instance of rebuffing an alum of the school, the Harvard Club of New York City rejected law-school graduate Eliot Spitzer’s application to become a member this year. According to a source who spoke with the Times, it was “because officials there did not want to be associated with Mr. Spitzer and the prostitution scandal that forced him from the governorship.” “The decision by the Harvard Club’s admissions committee is disappointing,” said Spitzer’s spokeswoman Lisa Linden. “Last year, Harvard asked Eliot to speak on ethics at the school. He supports the institution financially. It would seem that whoever made this decision at the club is not on the same page as the university itself.”
(If we were Spitzer’s spokesman, we might have added, “And it’s not like Eliot Spitzer would be the first dude to join the Harvard Club who’s cheated on his wife with a string of barely legal prostitutes.” But we are not his, or anyone’s, spokesman, and obviously this is why.)
The Harvard Club would not officially discuss its decision, but sources say that while rejection is “exceedingly rare,” it only takes two votes on the dozen-or-so member admission committee to block an application. In the meantime, Spitzer will have to keep slumming it up at the Princeton Club down the street, which allows graduates of Columbia and … NYU. Shudder. But don’t fret, Eliot. Rather, use the fire of rejection to ignite your imagination, and go out and invent Facebook!
