Off-Limits No More

The men who have stoutly resisted the admission of women to private clubs are slowly and steadily--and fortunately--losing their grip on the membership rolls. Women have long doubted their protests that these august organizations are strictly places for a leisurely lunch, a snifter of brandy and a good cigar. Their doubt was shared by the U.S. Supreme Court. Now the public at large can question not only the gentlemen’s prejudices but also their wisdom in keeping the doors closed to women of extraordinary talent.

A few days ago the list of the first 20 women proposed for membership in New York’s Century Club was made public. This “association of gentlemen engaged or interested in letters and fine arts,” founded in 1847, may now finally share the intelligence and warmth of such as opera manager Beverly Sills, author Toni Morrison, publishing executive Elisabeth Sifton of Alfred A. Knopf, and educators Barbara Aronstein Black, dean of the Columbia University Law School; Ellen V. Futter, president of Barnard College, and Joan W. Konner, dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

We cannot help but agree with one member who, quite understandably, asked anonymity for what he was about to say. “Without exception, they will all get in,” he told the New York Times. “Nearly every one of the women nominated is far superior in talent and affability than most of the members already in the club. I compare it to what people who taught at Yale said when women were first admitted there: ‘At least now it will be a superior institution.’ ”

Yale did not perish. Nor, gentlemen, will the Century Club or others of its sort.