Harvard undergraduates constantly join pre-professional on campus organizations in the pursuit of acquiring competitive jobs that can provide them financial security after they graduate. For instance, the average salary for the highly coveted position as a First-Year Analyst at Goldman Sachs is an estimated $124,219, ergo the countless finance clubs on campus. Yet few people realize that the average salary for a top-of-the-line first-year Pole Dancer in the U.S. is $140,802. So, who wants to join the Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club instead?
You read that right. The words “Harvard” and “pole dancing” seem like two things that should not belong in a sentence together, often for reasons hard to articulate. I personally am guilty of associating pole dancing with stripping, a career that few, if any, Harvard students seek to pursue. (Though I’m convinced a “Harvard stripper” would strike gold.) The Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing club is working to both abolish this stigma and encourage students to try something new and exciting.
Co-founder Heather Park ’25 articulated how the initial idea for the club started in the Class of 2025 Groupme the summer leading up to their first year at school, when Abby Yoon ’25 asked the chat who would be interested in putting the club together. Park and Kat Vasquez-Sanchez ’25, the club’s third founder, were instantly intrigued.
“Personally for me I really love dance…and pole dancing was something that always interested me,” Park said. While the club took a full year and a lot of hard-work to produce, it finally was up and running by the fall of 2022.
Even though the club is currently in full swing, few students on campus know that it actually exists. When asked how she felt about the club, one student who chose to remain anonymous said that she was “indifferent about it. It definitely takes talent. I’m not sure if I’d attend a class though because of the stigma around pole dancing.”
When asked about this “stigma,” this student explained that she felt that pole dancing would be associated with being a hooker. Another anonymous student said, “I just feel like Harvard is such a respectable name, I’d be nervous to ruin my reputation…not that pole dancing isn’t respectable.”
Park understands this initial hesitation, but encourages students to step out of their comfort zones. “Don’t just do a club that you can put on your application.” Regardless of whether or not the Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club will help you get a consulting offer, students are almost guaranteed to both learn a new skill and meet a group of people with diverse interests.
A typical class starts with transporting to a local Boston pole dancing studio. Before the official workout, the group will do a short warm up made up of different stretches. “Group A would have to hold certain positions on the pole and Group B would have to hold a crunch until Group A was finished,” said Park as she explained the series of exercises each class incorporates. She also noted the positive energy the club radiates during each class. “As soon as anybody gets a trick, we hype eachother up. Sometimes we get too loud.” Sounds like my type of environment.
The feedback on the club has been mainly positive. Harvard students, both undergraduate and graduate students, that are a part of the pole dancing community, but have not had a place on campus to share their passions, are excited to see the uprising of the club. For those that still question how Harvard could have given their approval for the club, Park easily explains that there are a number of dance clubs at Harvard, and that pole dancing is just another artform.
“It’s a dance form that is trying to create this warm, supportive family made up of people that want to explore this interest,” she said.
There is so much room for the Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club to truly take off on campus. Perhaps they can do a performance with the Harvard Crimson Dance Team, or even perform at the annual Harvard-Yale football game. I’m not entirely sure how hard it is to install metal poles in the middle of a football field, but it would be an unforgettable Harvard Yale halftime show. Alumni would surely support it.
So if you’re looking to gain a new skill, meet new people, or want to learn how to make more money than a first year Goldman Sachs analyst (and look hot while doing it), the Harvard Pole Dancing Club might be for you this semester.
Ilana Feder ’26 (ilanafeder@college.harvard.edu) writes Arts for the Independent.