'Cliffe Crew Team Christens Shells in Dockside Ceremony

The Radcliffe crew paused yesterday in its preparation for the nationals to christen three new rowing shells with the names of three prominent Radcliffe women.

At a 3:30 ceremony at Weld Boat House, the Cliffe rowing team announced that the new eight-oared shell purchased by the Harvard Board of Overseers will be known as the "Matina Souretis Horner," that the new four will be called the "Carol Pforzheimer," and that the new pair will be the "Mary Paget."

Radcliffe President Horner, Pforzheimer, who is a Radcliffe Trustee and Paget, Radcliffe Coordinator of Sports, Dance and Recreation and a long-time supporter of Cliffe rowing, all attended the dockside ceremony. None of the three women knew beforehand that the boats would be named in their honor.

The highlight of the ceremony came when Pforzheimer, whose husband Carl Pforzheimer donated the money for the four, was asked to unveil the name of the boat and christen it. When she unswathed the bow of the boat, she discovered to her surprise that it was embossed with her own name.

Susan S. Lyman, Chairman of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees and master of ceremonies for the christening, announced on behalf of Judge Edward Bennett, Chairman of the Friends of Harvard Rowing, (FOHR) that FOHR has donated $500 to the Radcliffe crew to assure that the team makes the trip to the nationals which begin Friday. The FOHR gift to a Radcliffe crew is an unprecedented gesture.

"We are tremendously proud of your achievements--each of you individually and your group impact," Lyman told the gathering of fifty people. "It is indeed the spirit of a new Radcliffe to motivated us all."

Radcliffe team captain and stroke Charlotte Crane, the only Radcliffe rower in the varsity boat who has been in the program since its inception, spoke after Lyman announced the FOHR gift.