A new co-ed social club is being organized by a group of undergraduates as an alternative to the all-male final clubs, Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said.

Epps said he was supportive of a new co-ed social organization as an option different from Harvard's finals clubs.

"Harvard is basically a co-ed experience and we should not organize social life around gender discrimination," he said.

Epps called the club, which is still in the formative stages, a "needed alternative to the discrimination currently practiced by certain clubs."

He said that the students who proposed the club have requested that Harvard assist them in finding a place in Harvard Square to rent.

Epps said he plans to write a letter to Harvard Real Estate in an effort to help the proposed club find a meeting place.

"Having a place to meet, informally and on a regular basis, is the key to success for a social club," Epps said.

He also said that he hopes the new club can avoid the difficulties facing Philos, a co-ed organization now in its second year.

According to its president, Eric I. Schwelling'94, Philos has suffered from a lack of studentparticipation in planning events and a lack of apermanent meeting place.

Schwelling told The Crimson earlier this weekthat Philos may be forced to disband in thespring.

Francie B. Walton '94, Co-Chair of WomenAppealing for Change (WAC) said WAC would supportthe group.

She said, "Any alternatives to discriminationare great. As an organization, our goal is to makefinal clubs go co-ed, [but] we support anyalternatives."

However, Schwelling said that they had notreceived the encouragement from WAC they expected.

"These people [WAC] were a group of studentssearching for a coed social organization and theyhad one staring them in the face and theycompletely disregarded it," he said.

Walton: WAC Supported Philos

Walton, though, said that she felt WAC hadsupported Philos.

"I don't know why that was a feeling oftheirs," she said.

Two students who Epps said are organizing thenew club, who both requested anonymity, declinedcomment yesterday