Radcliffe Alums Lobby for Change

Battling what they describe as a "little-sister" mentality toward Radcliffe, an ad hoc committee of Radcliffe alumnae has stepped forward to register its opposition to gender barriers at the University and lobby for increased hiring of women faculty and administrators.

Citing recent protests at both the College and the Law School in support of stepped-up minority and women faculty hiring efforts, the group of 40 women--mostly members of Radcliffe's Class of '53--say that the moment is ripe for change in the school's relationship with the University.

"I think we've arrived at a point in time when people are starting to voice their feelings," said Linda W. Newdick of the ad hoc committee on the status of women at Harvard-Radcliffe, which first met two years ago at a 35th reunion of the Class of 1953 and has recently expanded to include other Radcliffe affiliates.

In order to boost the number of tenured women faculty at Harvard, committee members said they plan to run a candidate for the 30-member Board of Overseers, Harvard's chief governing board, on an affirmative action platform. Currently, only 71 of Harvard's 969 senior faculty members are women--a total of 7.3 percent, according to University figures.

Committee members said they also hope toreinstate a two-year fellowship program at theBunting Institute for non-tenured women facultymembers. In addition, they plan to host areception for Harvard's senior women professors tofind out how they made it.

"We need to attract allies--as many as possibleand as vocal as possible," says Newdick.

Cool Reception

The committee met with Radcliffe PresidentLinda S. Wilson on February 27 to tell her abouttheir work and seek her support. But severalcommittee members said that Wilson was cool towardthe group's presentation and remains reluctant tooffer them support.

"We were not given encouragement to proceed atthat time," said Anne S. Wilson '53, a formerassociate director of Radcliffe admissions. "Wemay get it later."

"When we came away, it was our consensus thatit would be the next order of business to seek outa mandate," said Acey Welch '53.

In a statement released this week, PresidentWilson says she agrees with the committee'soverall objective to ensure that Harvard studentshave the opportunity to work with distinguishedwomen scholars.

"I promised my effort and thought on the matterand encouraged them to be creative in theirefforts," Wilson said.

Initially, the committee set out to assess thestatus of women at the College and to verifywhether their perceptions of disparate treatmentwere accurate, says Peggy B. Schmertzler '53.

"That was done, and the evidence was prettyoverwhelming that there was discrimination," saysNewdick, citing the percentage of tenured womenfaculty and the Radcliffe Union of Students surveyreport in which 67 percent of upperclass womenstudents reported experiencing sexism in theclassroom.

Now that the problems have been identified,committee members have sharply criticizedHarvard's efforts to address their concerns.

In particular, committee members expressedfrustration with the slow pace of the University'splans for change, saying that the current hiringagenda is not ambitious enough.

"Harvard's current affirmative actiongoals...say that over the next 10 years they'llincrease the number of tenured women faculty by 56percent," said Schmertzler. "Indeed, a wonderfulsounding goal, but if you attach that to thecurrent 7.5 percent women faculty, it means anincrease of about 4 percent."

Schmertzler also criticized President Derek C.Bok for what she termed a lack of attention towomen's issues in his annual report to the Boardof Overseers.

"He described the social issues as poverty,public education, and the environment, but hedidn't mention women," said Schmertzler.

"I personally have become tired of hearing--asI did at the 350th anniversary--Radcliffe referredto as 'little sister' and not much acknowledgmentof the impressive Radcliffe institutes likeBunting, Murray, and Schlesinger," saysSchmertzler. "I think it's belittling."

Members also said they would like to seeRadcliffe become more supportive of the women'scommunity at Harvard by strengthening its tieswith students.

"In the sense that there is a Radcliffe, wethink that it seems very remote," says Welch. "Inour day, we had the cohesiveness of a separateidentity. We were Radcliffe students and we hadthat support, and I don't think the young womentoday have that identity and nurturing."

Schmertzler said she and the others frequentlydid not question gender discrimination when theywere students at Radcliffe, but now they areanxious to address the issue.

"It's only been over the last 15 years thatI've become aware of the effect of being in aworld that doesn't recognize women's valuesreadily," she said.

"I think over time we've watched Radcliffe andare a little tired of the idea that sugar worksbetter than vinegar," said Schmertzler. "Therehasn't been enough change over these years. Ithink Radcliffe is being too ladylike."

"I don't think it's unladylike to identifyproblems," she added