Rachel Lerner's Crew Adventure

Radcliffe crew has given many women the opportunity to experience new adventures, explore exciting new lands, establish friendships and take part in an illustrious tradition.

But no one's experience as a Radcliffe rower can match that of senior Co-Captain Rachel Lerner.

New adventures? Lerner had never flown in an airplane ("my mom was always too scared") until she traveled with the team to Nationals as a novice rower.

Exciting new lands? Well, Lerner drove halfway across the country to lowa "just for fun" with members of the men's lightweight team for the Head of the Des Moines.

Friendships? At one point, all three of Lerner's roommates rowed crew, and most of her closest pals are from both the women's and men's teams.

And tradition? No one appreciates the commitment and passion Radcliffe rowers and alumni have for the sport more than Lerner does.

Her Harvard experience, Lerner is quick to note, cannot be defined without mentioning her four years as a Radcliffe rower.

But as she graduates this spring, it has become more and more apparent that Lerner has given plenty of herself back to enhance the Radcliffe crew program.

"She's a tough, tough competitor and a great athlete," says Radcliffe coach Liz O'Leary. "She is a very intense woman, but you'd never guess it by just looking at her. Rachel's a real leader in somewhat of an unusual sort of way."

Captain of the crew team at Phillips Exeter Academy, Lerner rowed for four years in high school as well, but remembers falling for the sport as a kid in Philadelphia, gaping in awe at the Boathouse Row on the Schuykill River.

Lerner's career with Radcliffe began when she rowed stroke in the novice boat that placed first at the Head of the Charles. Then a Weld resident, Lerner also was part of the squad that earned an appearance at Nationals that year.

In her sophomore year, the chemistry concentrator rowed with the JV heavyweight boot that won 1991 Nationals.

As a junior, Lerner worked her way onto the first boat, and as a senior, served as Co-Captain with senior Meg Brooks.

One of eight seniors who have rowed all four years, Lerner is "one of the group of seniors that made quite a mark on the team," O'Leary said.

Still, the Eliot House resident's contribution to women's athletics at Harvard extends far beyond her dedication in the boat.

This spring, Lerner and junior lightweight Noelle Tune set up a symposium addressing Title IX, part of the Education Act of 1972 that addresses equal opportunity in athletics for men and women.

Lerner acknowledges the exceptionally strong backing that Radcliffe crew receives from its alumni and supporters, and is grateful for the talented coaching staff and superlative facilities.

But the fact that her sport has not experienced any financial difficulties only adds to the potency of her dedication to the cause.

Lerner was introduced to the conflicts of Title IX by O'Leary when the team observed the hearing for the Brown case this winter.

She was motivated to help assemble the symposium for "Take Back the Night" after realizing that "for 20 years, women, under the law, have been guaranteed equality in sports, and have not received it."

"Radcliffe crew receives a lot of money from alumni, but a lot of other women's teams don't," Lerner says. "There is definitely the attitude in sports that women are not as important as men.

"I wanted to do something that would let everyone know about the problems women's athletics have had," she says.

In addition to her work with Title IX, Lerner has worked in a chemistry lab and taken part in organizing Eliot's "Evening of Champions event.

After graduation, Lerner plans to attend medical school at the University of Chicago, but not before she travels around Europe with her roommates and goes to cooking school in Paris. There is life after Radcliffe crew, and Lerner is well on her way to finding a fulfilling and successful one.

But she still has time to reflect on the sport, the tradition that will always sculpt her view of Harvard.

"It was a lot of hard work, both physically and mentally, but it taught me how to be competitive," Lerner said.

"Crew shaped a big part of my time here at Harvard--I'm going to miss it."

And Radcliffe crew will surely miss