Women's Discussion Dwells on Merger

The 1971 "non-merger" contract between Harvard and Radcliffe has implications which were not fully explored before this year and which Radcliffe administrators are finding difficult to implement, Susan Storey Lyman '49, chairwoman of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, said last night.

Lyman participated in an informal discussion on women's education sponsored by the Radcliffe senior class. The discussion covered a broad range of issues such as athletics, admissions and the concentration of women in a limited number of majors, but it focused on the question of merger.

Lyman said that an important aspect of the '1971 contract was to ensure that a "never-separate Radcliffe have a greater voice in the University's educational policy."

She noted that Matina S. Horner, in her position as a Harvard dean, is the first Radcliffe president to have a vote on the Faculty educational policy committee.

Lyman said that while the Radcliffe administration has not ruled out the possibility of total merger, Radcliffe has a responsibility to guarantee equal access to educational resources at Harvard.

"We are talking about a partnership, not a tub concept," she said, "but we've got to have more guarantees than present performance would indicate that we have."

Lyman said that the newly-created office of women's education will play an important role in providing those guarantees