Horseracing, Theater and Camões

In 1866, Hong Kong’s middle-class Macanese founded Club Lusitano Ltd., the largest Portuguese gentlemen’s club in southern China. Modeled after British clubs yet boasting selective Portuguese characteristics, the club carved a space for the Macanese to elevate their presence in Hong Kong. It allowed Macanese men who worked as clerks and small business owners in the daytime to transcend the glass ceilings they encountered in the workplace. While showcasing the Portuguese flag, playing the Hino da Carta anthem and commemorating the legendary Portuguese poet Camões emerged as ways to legitimize Club Lusitano’s Portugueseness, inviting British government officials and prominent non-Macanese businessmen to lavish celebrations mirroring Portugal’s festivals opened new doors through which to enter the social worlds of respectable Europeans, businessmen and colonial officials.

Orthodoxy at the Gentlemen’s Club

Princeton, with its Old School Presbyterian heritage, had stronger sectarian theological ties than other leading schools. President James McCosh, an accomplished Scottish philosopher, helped modernize the college while still keeping a strong religious presence. In famous debates with Charles Eliot in the 1880s, he argued that freedom always works within limits. His successor, Francis Patton, was rigorously conservative in his Presbyterian orthodoxy but ran Princeton very much as a gentlemen’s club. Woodrow Wilson as president helped professionalize the university but remained loyal to broad Christian ideals. As at other schools of the era, the most vigorous religious expressions were in student voluntary associations.

The Gentlemen’s Club: An innovation to improve HIV counselling and testing uptake at a South African university campus

Background: Many university students were found to be engaging in high HIV risk practiceson campuses which then necessitated discovering their HIV status by participating in HIVcounselling and testing (HCT) campaigns. HCT is an entry point into a comprehensivecontinuum of prevention, treatment, care and support services for HIV infection and AIDS.However, it was also found that many students, mostly males, did not take regular HIV teststo discover their HIV status and receive the necessary counselling and support.Objectives: The innovative Gentlemen’s Club was therefore implemented at a universitycampus to increase HCT uptake.The club was formed to motivate male students on behaviourand lifestyle changes so that they could become responsible men.Method: To join the club, a student was required to take a confidential HIV test and as amember he was expected to follow rules of good and responsible behaviour as prescribed bythe club.Results: Club membership and attendance for meetings showed an increase after the launchof the club in 2010 because of its appeal, and there was also a notable increase in the numberof male students attending HCT campaigns. Women have formed a similar club to motivateother women to take regular HIV tests as well.Conclusion: The Gentlemen’s Club was an innovative idea that increased HCT uptake by malestudents and served as vehicle to address health and social issues facing university students.