Trustees Will Consider Plan To Redefine Radcliffe Merger

President Horner will present a major plan to restructure the Radcliffe administration and redefine the college's relationship to Harvard in a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.

Although the exact terms of the proposal have not yet been announced, Radcliffe administrators said yesterday the plan articulates the desire of many college officials not to merge the two Colleges.

Reorganization Proposal

The plan, which has been under consideration since November by the Joint Proposals Committee of eight University officials, will propose a reorganization of the financial and governing relationships of the Colleges.

Under a 1971 "non-merger merger" agreement, Radcliffe now pays Harvard 100 per cent of the income from endowment, tuition fees and rents while Harvard assumes the total expenses of Radcliffe's operation.

Susan F. Lyman '36, chairman of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, said yesterday the 1971 agreement was made under the assumption at the time that Radcliffe would not be able to survive independently. But, Lyman said, a reevaluation conducted over the past five years has proven otherwise.

"We don't have to merge for financial reasons," Lyman said, "and on that basis, the plan has been developed to consider educational issues."

Centennial Fund Drive

As part of the proposal to develop an autonomous Radcliffe, the College will launch a major centennial fund drive next year to strengthen its endowment and help expand its graduate and undergraduate programs.

The fund drive will raise money for a possible new women's center, the Schlesinger Library, the Radcliffe Institute and the Office of the Arts.

Radcliffe has been undergoing internal reorganization throughout the year, which officials say may have prompted the resignation of Patricia Graham, vice-president of Radcliffe and director of the Radcliffe Institute, effective in June.

Graham, who is a member of the Joint Proposal Committee that drafted the new plan, was not available for comment yesterday.

If the proposed plan is approved by the Board of Overseers on May 9, Radcliffe will not be seeking a new dean for the institute, Horner said.

Radcliffe will retain the budget control, and the annual gifts to Radcliffe College, under the proposed reorganization, Robert H. Gardiner '37, treasurer of Radcliffe College, said yesterday.

Greater Alumnae Appeal

Gardiner added he thought alumnae would find it more appealing to support the college with the proposed changes.

"I am very happy about the plan to have Radcliffe starting on a second century with a committement to broadening the field of women's studies," Lyman said.