Prospect Club’s Welcoming History

The article about Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91 pointed out the delicious fact that the Center for Jewish Life is located where Prospect Club once stood. In the 1950s Prospect, with its open admission policy, was a club that provided a warm, welcoming and intellectually stimulating atmosphere for Jews. It also was a haven for Catholics and Evangelicals, many of whom,  like Jews, were deemed to be “unclubbable” or, to use the cruel vernacular of the day, “undesirable.” We members of Prospect knew that the club would be the first to go out of business when the University moved to a residential college system but that was all right as it represented social evolution on the part of the school. It is good to see that 70 Washington Road is being put to good use.