BOSTON — A Boston business chief who broke the public silence of a 225-year-old Harvard all-male club apologized after critics said his comments blamed women for sexual assault.
Charlie Storey, the president of Boston’s Harpoon Brewery, wrote a letter to Harvard’s student newspaper defending the school’s social clubs for refusing to accept women. He was writing as graduate president of the Porcellian Club, a storied Harvard club that formed in 1791 and is known for its long tradition of secrecy.
The Porcellian Club, whose past members include Theodore Roosevelt, is among several so-called final clubs that are under scrutiny from Harvard’s administration for refusing to accept women. In March, a university task force accused the clubs of having deeply misogynistic attitudes that have fueled sexual misconduct.
Storey pushed back against the report in his letter, saying that sexual assault hasn’t been a problem in the Porcellian Club.
“Forcing single gender organizations to accept members of the opposite sex could potentially increase, not decrease the potential for sexual misconduct,” he wrote, adding that his club is being used as a scapegoat for the sexual assault problem at Harvard despite its policies to help avoid the potential for sexual assault.”
Calls to Storey’s office weren’t returned. A man who answered the Porcellian Club’s phone number declined to comment.
On social media, the letter sparked criticism from figures including Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat.
