Radcliffe Pitches In

It may be Harvard's 350th birthday, but Radcliffe College has no intention of being left out of the festivities.

In hopes of attracting some well-wishers up to their Quadrangle, Radcliffe officials have organized a series of symposia by female scholars, exhibitions and performances focusing on women's issues, which will take place during the next three days.

And Radcliffe is even giving its big brother a present. Harvard's 107-year-old sister institution will be paying costs to restore an old pump in Harvard Yard and for landscaping around the site, Radcliffe officials say. Radcliffe President Matina S. Horner formally will present the restoration plans to Harvard at Saturday's convocation.

The six Radcliffe seminars, which form part of the 106 educational symposia organized to commemorate Harvard's 350th birthday, will "bring distinguished women scholars from all over the country to discuss issues women are interested in, although they are not necessarily women's issues," says Radcliffe spokesman Aida K. Press.

Admission to the symposia is by ticket only. Although the tickets are free, all six seminars are sold out.

The Radcliffe symposium that has attracted the most attention will feature Congressman Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), a 1964 Harvard Law School graduate, and Maj Britt Theorin, a member of the Swedish Parliament. Horner will moderate that seminar, "International Relations in an Interdependent World," on Saturday morning.

Another symposium, on the changing nature of creativity, commemorates the 25th anniversary of Radcliffe's Mary Ingram Bunting Institute.

Radcliffe festivities also include a poetry reading by women poets, and music and dance performances. Radcliffe has also assembled exhibitions on Black women, women at Radcliffe and women at Harvard. The Radcliffe Quarterly will publish a special issue focusing on the role of women at Harvard and the history of Radcliffe.

"It's Harvard's party, but we certainly feel that we are a strong, complex thread in Harvard's institutional history," says Catherine B. Touborg '65, executive assistant to Horner.

Radcliffe officials have been included in all stages of planning for the University's 350th birthday, and Horner was a member of the committee which oversaw the planning. "Radcliffe was asked to participate by organizing symposia and exhibitions," Press said.

Officials declined to say how much the Radcliffe events will cost, but Press said they will be paid for solely out of Radcliffe funds.

Although Radcliffe is happily participating in the festivities, officials say they don't feel they are any different than the rest of the University community. "We're joining in the celebration and salute to our brother school the same way as most of the graduate schools are doing," says Norma C. Ware, Radcliffe associate dean. Ware will be moderating a seminar on the changing nature of relationships.

In 1977, Radcliffe ceded control of undergraduates, housing, and education to Harvard, but retained a separate corporate identity with its own endowment and administration.