Tough Times Ahead for Yale Club Home to Noted Members

Staff Writer, Mar 01, 2009

A legendary Yale eatery and drinking club, Mory’s has experienced rather tough times economically and has temporarily shut its doors and laid off its employees. However there have been reports that the club may reopen after the winter holidays, these reports are unconfirmed.

Mory’s has been a popular Yale club for quite some time with roots dating back to the Civil War. The club boasts a powerful membership that includes both former Bush presidents, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Jodie Foster, and many other foreign leaders and entertainers.

The newly appointed president of Mory’s Board of Governors Christopher Getman has been quoted as saying “We’re going to try”. However Christopher went on to say, “Right Now it’s going to be a long uphill struggle.”

Getman claims that the endowment of $2 million has largely been “crushed” by the financial meltdown and tough economic times. However the Club was already struggling due to many other reasons. One of the biggest reasons other than the financial meltdown that has caused Mory’s to experience tough times is the increasing number of students and faculty that have been utilizing many of the new trendy restaurants and eateries opening in New Haven recently. Many people claim that this is one of the main reasons that the club is going through a tough economic time, however the state of the economy certainly doesn’t help the fact.

Former President George H.W. Bush has been known to visit the club and was at Mory’s last year in order to receive the Mory’s Cup award. His granddaughter Barbara graduated from Yale in 2004 and he has been known to dine at the club with her since then.

There were also many members of foreign royalty that have visited the club, from just about everywhere from Jordan to Belgium. This is the reason that secret service agents are known to frequent the outside of the club.

The club currently has more than 14,000 members and considers itself to be the largest club on the globe. Up until the 1970s a membership to the club cost around 15 dollars, however these days a lifetime membership is around $2000.  According to Getman, many senators visited Mory’s including Joe Lieberman and John Kerry as well as Presidents Bill Clinton, William Howard Taft, and Gerald Ford.