Can a Private Social Club Also Be Inclusive? How the Clayton Members Club & Hotel plans to weave diversity and inclusion into its DNA.Angela Ufheil • When Diana Kendall began studying social clubs 30 years ago, they had a certain reputation: Cigar-smoke-filled lounges inhabited by wealthy white men smugly blackballing wannabe members. “Most elite clubs are a place you can go where you don’t have to associate with the general population,” says Kendall, a sociologist at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. “Their exclusivity is part of their allure.” Matt Joblon, the Denver-based developer behind chic Cherry Creek hot spots Halcyon and Moxy hotels, and his partners want their new private venture, the Clayton Members Club & Hotel, to be different. When the 63-room boutique hotel debuts in Cherry Creek this month, the Clayton will offer all the gilded amenities high society might expect—five eateries, a rooftop pool, a fitness center, a coworking space—but the club’s membership will value “character over capital,” says Rachel Smith, the Clayton’s head of membership. That means blending the wealthy with the not-so-wealthy, a diverse group with connections to under-resourced Denver communities who can best help the Clayton achieve its stated values: to collaborate, connect, and give back.