Mathews Unfairly Bashes Radcliffe

Perhaps it was fitting that on Halloween weekend Joe Mathews donned a particularly ghoulish mask of ignorance for his article on "Why Harvard [sic] Is Sick of Radcliffe." His crude sexism offends us all. Harvard, for which Joe Mathews blithely claims he is speaking, is not anti-woman or anti-Radcliffe. The last time I looked around here, snide machismo was out of favor with men as with women. Radcliffe College is a revered part of this institution--revered not just by its alumnae. It is more than fair to say that Harvard benefits immeasurably from Radcliffe's programs for education, research and public policy.

Joe Mathews' woman-bashing points to the need for Radcliffe's presence more eloquently than anything we could print on a T-shirt or package in a press release. Although Radcliffe's programmatic agenda for the '90s will continue to put the energy of scholars, researchers and members of the government and the media into such public policy issues as women, work and economy, criminal justice and health care, it may be that we need to revisit those old, undead demons: misogyny and sexism.

I urge the staff of The Crimson to reject Mr. Mathews' diatribe against all woman and, oh yes, those murdered Vietnamese civilians whose memory he so casually exploited. Lyn Chamberlin   Director of Communications,   Radcliffe College