Pusey Addresses Alumnae at Radcliffe, Slightly Alters Stand on Coed Housing

Speaking to 200 Radcliffe alumnae Saturday on the problems of merger, President Pusey modified his stand on coed housing slightly.

"Coed housing is possible without complete merger, but there must be some change in the contractual relationship and responsibility of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences," he said. The Faculty presently has no legal responsibility for Radcliffe students outside of the classroom.

Last spring, Pusey repeatedly emphasized that coed housing would be impossible without merger-one of the major factors leading to Radcliffe's proposal to merge.

Pusey said that the merger would probably be completed by September, 1970, but did not say whether coed housing might be possible during this academic year.

Pusey said that although almost all the Faculty were in favor of the merger up to the summer, some members are now opposed because they fear pressure for an increased enrollment.

"If everybody would agree to the present male-female ratio, that would be fine; but they won't. I think the enrollment of women at Harvard must grow," he said. He stressed, however, that the number of men would not be reduced.

Pusey spoke on a panel at the Loeb Drama Center during "Back to Radcliffe Day," an annual alumnac event. The other members of the panel were Bruce Chalmers, Master of Winthrop House, and Donald J. Gogel '71, chairman of the Harvard-Radcliffe Policy Committee (HRPC).

In his introductory remarks, Pusey stressed the administrative and financial problems of merger. He said that four Faculty study committees have been set up over the summer to study aspects of merger. They are:

A financial committee;

A committee on admissions and scholarship aid, chaired by Dr. Chase N.

Peterson '52, dean of Admissions and Financial Aid;

A committee on housing, chaired by Jerome Kagan, professor of Developmental Psychology:

A committee on extra-curricular activities.

"I hope these committees will have something to say fairly soon." Pusey said.

Chalmers, a proponent of coed housing, spoke on the informal educational espects of the College. "I think all of us now realize there is a sort of iceberg effect between education in the classroom and that large bulk that takes place outside the classroom," he said.

Chalmers said that much of this non-classroom intellectual life goes on in the Houses. "I think the Houses would be strengthened considerably if they were not an exclusively male domain," he said.