Who Speaks for Radcliffe Women?

Since the late 1980s, the Radcliffe Union of students has championed the cause of women protesting against sex discrimination by the all-male final clubs at Harvard. It rallied outside the Fly Club, postered campus with signs emblazoned "Stop Withholding Access Today (SWAT)" and distributed "FCS" or "Final Clubs Suck" baseball caps.

But this year, RUS has decided to pursue less controversial projects in an effort to broaden their base of support among women on campus. At the same time, however, a critical mass of women have decided to form their own group called Women Appealing for Change to boycott the clubs.

WAC does not challenge RUS's leadership, but adds "a really strong angle of another women's group," according to RUS and WAC are now presenting a cooperative front after RUS conditionally endorsed WAC's campaign just as the boycott was gathering steam. The two groups co-sponsored an open forum last week to discuss women's attitudes towards final clubs.

WAC has tried to mobilized popular support of significant numbers of women on the issue of final clubs. It has emerged as the most popular women's movement on campus boasting a membership of almost 250.

RUS' partnership with WAC signals a shift in the group's campus role, away from confrontational activism and towards being a supportive umbrella group for other organizations.

Perhaps in an effort to avoid being seen as a fringe, political group, RUS has chosen to downplay its disapproval of the final clubs, leaving leadership in that area to WAC. RUS leaders have made a deliberate effort to tone down some of the group's activities in line with the Radcliffe College administration's less confrontational philosophy. "I think it's possible to be both collaborative and take stands and discuss disagreements openly," says Dean of Radcliffe College Philippa A. Bovet.

The majority of WAC's supporters have signed a letter identifying themselves as "friends of final club members," and WAC organizer Francie B. Walton '94 says the boycott is not a hostile effort to force the clubs to go coed, but is an effort to encourage club members to see that their clubs would be better with women as members.

Official stance aside, there is more diversity of goals behind the scenes of WAC. Organizers have tried to formulate a stance that will be both acceptable to a broad spectrum of women on campus and palatable to final club members.

Walton stresses that WAC's movement may be seen as a first step by women with concerns about other types of elitism in the final club selection process. "I don't think this is about us wanting to play in beer pong tournaments. It's about wanting the choice to join," Walton said.

Though they have put their picket signs and FCS caps aside, RUS hasn't abandoned its stance against all forms of elitism espoused by the clubs. RUS' conditional support of WAC is an attempt to support WAC's efforts while still adhering to the group's more radical stance on the clubs.

RUS member Megan E. Lewis '95 said she "would feel more comfortable" with WAC's platform "if it was a more comprehensive action."

WAC's approach is pragmatic rather than idealistic. "The problem is that we are appealing to the members of the clubs, and publicly stating that your goal is to end elitism would kill the movement before it begins," WAC organizer Megan E. Colligan '95 said.

Changes in RUS leadership and the presence of WAC are changing the functions of the voices on campus. "RUS doesn't have to be the only show in town as far as making women's voices heard," says Bovet.

And since WAC has garnered such strong support, now RUS is clearly not the only show in town. Some feel that WAC's one-issue constitution and RUS' broader mandate has made WAC capable of accomplishing something that RUS was not able to do.

"I think the level of energy and the very tight focus are inappropriate for a farther reaching organization like RUS," says Dean of Coeducation Virginia L. MacKay-Smith '78 "[RUS] is not structured in a way that it could bring this kind of pressure to bear in this time-frame. RUS can't afford to have the very tight focus."

RUS President Deborah J. Wexler '95 says WAC has drawn a completely different group of women than RUS normally attracts.

"They are doing something RUS never could have done because they started with a whole different population... A lot of the people who go to RUS already don't attend clubs," she says.

The group has been successful, in part, because its leaders are women who have high visiblity on campus. Walton is captain of the field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse teams.

"Francie's position as an athletic leader enhanced her ability to deal with a lot of women, and she had a broad base of support to draw from," Colligan said.

As WAC has battled its stereotype as a bunch of athletes who want to join clubs, it has tried to attract a wide range of members. Nevertheless, the group's success stemmed in part from the large base of support which Walton was able to draw from during the hockey team's pre-season in early September.

Wexler also says she understands why WAC chose to operate outside RUS. "If I were them I would not have gone through RUS," she says. "Not because of the way we are now but because of the way we've been historically," she said, referring to RUS's more radical activism against the clubs in the '80s, which differs from the "friendly" approach taken now by WAC.

"It would be great if we could also get those 200 women to also work with RUS. We're trying to erase a lot of past alienation," Wexler says.

Bovet has watched RUS' character and stance change during the years she has been at the College, and says that RUS has effected important change.

"[RUS] has gone through cycles in the 13 years I have been here from being confrontational to being very collaborative," Bovet says.

For administrators, RUS still seems to represent a significant voice for women on campus. Bovet cites RUS' role in helping to start the Committee on Women's Studies and the group's work on the College's polcy on sexual harrassment and date rape as examples of the way RUS has recently dealt with "some extremely important major issues on campus very effectively."

MacKay-Smith says that the College consults with RUS on all matters which relate to women on campus. "It's not considered done until we've consulted with RUS."

Minna Jarvenpaa '93 told The Crimson last year that it was difficult for RUS to take a controversial stand on the final club issue because such a stand would not be representative of all women on campus.

"It was difficult for us to claim that we were representative of all the women on campus," Jarvenpaa said last year. "That made RUS more political in a lot of ways and not necessarily representative in the way that we are now."

This dilemma has troubled RUS leaders ever since: Does an effort towards broadening its membership inhibit the group from being able to take stances on controversial issues? Will RUS, in its effort to represent all, pursue an agenda so broad that it doesn't represent anyone at all?

"I think we try to be as representative as possible," says RUS Co-President Maura H. Swan '94. "But we can only be as representative as who comes to the meetings"

RUS' agenda is chosen by whomever attends the group's weekly meetings. All female students enrolled at the College are automatically members of RUS and are term-billed $5 annually to fund the group. Swan says attendance has increased this year in part as a result of a strong recruitment effort at registration, but meetings still draw only about 25 to 40 regulars, a tiny fraction of Radcliffe's student body of almost 3,000.

The difficulty involved in striving to represent as many women as possible on a diverse campus is reflected in the group's stance on campus issues, Swan says. "Should RUS have a final statement?" Swan queries. "How can we make a statement if we haven't polled every woman on campus?"

RUS doesn't have to take stances on issues unless the women at its meetings decide to, according to Wexler. "We don't normally take positions on things," she says. RUS had to take a position on the clubs because people kept questioning the organization about the issue.

"[Final clubs] are a big issue, but it's not what I'd choose to focus on because it's reactive, not proactive," Wexler says, pointing the the group's recently formed Peer Mentor Program and fundraising for the SafetyWalk walking escort as examples of the kinds of programs RUS prides itself in supporting.

Grants to other organizations including groups on both side of the abortion issue, as well as co-sponsorship of events with other organizations also allow RUS to exert its influence on campus, Wexler says.

"We try to be an umbrella organization," Wexler says. "Certainly we can't speak for everyone, but we can be a resource."

Some female leaders on campus think that RUS should try harder to speak for a larger portion of female students at the College. Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Club President Karen E. Boyle '94, who says she often disagrees with RUS' stances, says RUS should conduct polls of female students so that it can more accurately represent its members.

"Since I pay money to them every year I feel they should be more representative of all women on campus," she says. "It's a responsibility of an organization like RUS that focuses specifically on women that it concedes that there is a difference of opinion among its constituancy. There are conservative women here that have strong voices."

Philips Brooks House Association President Jennifer A. Goldberg '94, however, says that she fully supports RUS and that women who care about RUS' positions should go to the group's meetings.

"I support RUS in everything it has done and its important for women who agree with what they've been working towards to support them," she says. "People who criticize should be willing to get involved."

WAC leaders say that talking to many women about the final club issue has made them realize that there is a real need for fragmented social groups to exchange ideas.

WAC has formed a committee to plan social events for the dual purpose of providing a social life for final club boycotters and bringing a diverse group of women together in a social atmosphere.

"The more active we've become, the more we've realized there are not many ways that women on this campus can come together," said Colligan.

Organizers say that even if their goal of coed clubs is realized, WAC will not be obsolete. The group will continue to educate students and maintain awareness about issues of gender and elitism at the clubs.

"Women Appealing for Change could conceivably, in the future, beyond the gender discussion, develop into something different," Colligan said at the joint meeting of RUS and WAC.

WAC has "gone beyond being a mere movement to have the clubs go coed and is working very hard to bring more unity," says Colligan.