Raising Ire

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles' attempt to involve more women in the University's capital campaign has made many alumnae say they feel he treated Harvard's sister school like a slighted step-sister.

In an April letter to all graduates, Knowles questions why more women are not involved in the capital campaign and presents the results of task-force meetings designed to find ways to improve alumnae connectedness to the College.

But many Radcliffe graduates say Knowles ignored what they have already contributed to the University and overlooked the needs of Radcliffe, which is trying to complete its own campaign.

Most significantly, twelve alumnae delivered a letter to Knowles and President Neil L. Rudenstine on May 13 criticizing Knowles for not consulting them or Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson before sending the report.

Calling the report a "divisive strategy," the writers of the alumnae letter, including a Harvard medalist and several former Radcliffe trustees, requested a meeting with Rudenstine. At press time, they had not received a response.

Knowles says the report, "Harvard Women in the University Campaign," was never kept secret from Radcliffe. According to Knowles, the survey was discussed at a Faculty meeting and mentioned in his annual budget letter and in the Harvard Gazette.

"It can't be a surprise. It was well-known," he says.

But Wilson says the report, which was mailed with a cover letter from Knowles, was never discussed with her.

"The fact that Harvard wrote to all of our alumnae without telling us that they were going to do it is a strange way to function," she says.

Innocence or Arrogance?

Radcliffe exists mainly on its endowment and gifts and will not receive any money from the University's Capital Campaign. Its $150 million endowment is small compared to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences', which totals approximately $3.5 billion.

According to a 1977 agreement, Harvard cannot solicit donations from alumnae who graduated before 1976.

Susan S. Lyman '49 is the former chair of Radcliffe's Board of Trustees and former acting dean of the Bunting Institute, the College's multidisciplinary center of advanced studies for women. She says Knowles' letter shows that Harvard is "still a bastion of male superiority."

"If [Knowles] is claiming innocence, does he not know Radcliffe exists?" asks Lyman, who signed the letter to Rudenstine. "When is innocence arrogance?"

Many other alumnae, female undergraduates and Radcliffe administrators say they feel this is not the first time Harvard has ignored its sister institution.

The situation has led them to question whether Radcliffe, which delegated all management of undergraduate instruction and affairs to Harvard in 1977, is still alive.

No-Win Situation for Harvard

Radcliffe administrators say the report felt like salt on Radcliffe's wounds.

Tamar March, dean of educational programs and director of Radcliffe Undergraduate Programs, says Knowles should have consulted Radcliffe simply "as a collegial courtesy."

"We believe that making common cause with Harvard would be far more productive than to be oppositional, but I think by us feeling left out of the conversation, there are some understandable feelings that develop," she says.

"There continues to be a sense in which symbolically we are excluded from the table, from important conversations," March adds.

March and Wilson do give Harvard administrators credit for trying to understand women's issues, but according to Wilson, many alumnae are angry because they believe the report overlooked Radcliffe's many contributions.

"There was nothing new to us in that report because we have been interacting with alumnae for years," she says. "My Harvard colleagues have gotten caught up in the competitive mode when we really could be more useful to students and alumni through collaboration."

But Harvard administrators complain that they are trapped in a no-win situation.

Knowles says his report was an attempt to improve communication with alumnae.

"The report had to be a Harvard initiative because we have been perceived as neglectful. We should do something about it," he says. "Now when we do something, please don't call that improper too."

Some alumnae, like Honey J. Skinner '78, say they are pleased with Knowles' report.

"We think it's a timely articulation by Harvard of issues that are near and dear to [it and] to its women, and we're encouraged by that kind of leadership," she says.

Skinner, president of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association, wrote to Knowles inviting him to speak at the annual meeting of the association in June.

Knowles was writing a response to Skinner last week but says he will be unable to attend the meeting because his schedule is already packed full.

According to Knowles, he and Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 are "concerned that Harvard do away with the inattentive habits of the past."

The Knowles report states that in 1995 and 1996, senior Harvard administrators conferred with 400 alumnae across the country. Last fall, Knowles met with 20 alumnae leaders to discuss the issues raised in the panels.

In addition, Lewis is putting together a booklet on women at Harvard, and the College will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the integration of Yard dorms this fall.

Knowles also says he is pleased by the rise in the number of tenured women Faculty over the last five years.

"The President and I are unambiguous about our goals in terms of gender balance and minorities on the Faculty. While we shall always seem too slow to many, I am encouraged by the results of the past few years," he says.

But many women, including March, complain Harvard still lags far behind other Ivy League institutions in hiring and tenuring women.

"Until there is...parity between men and women on the Faculty, it can be called into question [whether] women undergraduates get an equal education," March says.

Is Radcliffe Dead?

In April, two graduates donated $1.25 million to Harvard--not Radcliffe--to establish an endowment for a women's initiative project at Harvard.

Maisie K. Houghton '62, one of the donors, says she and her husband gave to Harvard because she considers it responsible for her education.

"[Women] applied to Radcliffe, but any young woman of my day knew that we wanted the Harvard education, and that's what we wanted to honor in our gift," says Houghton, who is an advocate for women's issues in Corning, N.Y. "We're interested in the undergraduate experience, which is, let's face it, administered by Harvard."

Founded in 1879 as the "Harvard Annex," Radcliffe now is legally, fiscally and programmatically distinct from Harvard.

It is composed of Radcliffe Educational Programs, which focus on undergraduate and post-baccalaureate education, and Radcliffe Institutes for Advanced Study, which comprise the College's four academic research and policy centers.

According to Ruth "Bucky" Hellman '43, a co-signer of the alumnae letter who has held a variety of posts, including vice chair of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, Radcliffe's role is constantly changing.

"Radcliffe has certainly demonstrated that it is a force for women," she says. "What form that will take as the time goes I can't predict. The Harvard-Radcliffe relationship has been evolving for 100 years, and I assume it will continue to evolve in response to the needs of both institutions."

March says she thinks Radcliffe's undergraduate role may soon be extraneous.

"As Harvard becomes more able to take care of its women students in exactly the same way as it has historically taken care of its male students, Radcliffe will be needed less and less, and it may be that that time is just around the corner," she says, adding that most female undergraduates never make use of Radcliffe.

Those who do, however, say it is invaluable.

Kerrien L. Rollins '98, who has participated in programs such as the Association of Black Radcliffe Women and the Women's Leadership Project, says the encouragement she has gained from alumni and fellow students at Radcliffe is validating.

"Radcliffe is definitely needed in the lives of undergraduate women," she says. "It helps me grow as a women and as a student, and that's something I've never had at a Harvard alumni event."

Megan L. Peimer '97, former president of Radcliffe Union of Students, echoes Rollins' sentiment.

"If Radcliffe stepped back from women undergraduates' lives, there would be a huge void which no one would step in to fill," she says.

Knowles says he believes that Radcliffe's contributions are important, especially at the graduate level, even if Harvard fulfills its responsibilities to women.

"Harvard should do what it should do, and then Radcliffe becomes something extra, something splendid and extra," he says.

And according to March, Radcliffe's post-graduate programs will always be meaningful and well-supported.

"We are the only unit in the country that has institutes for advanced study uniquely focused on women's work, [on] scholarship executed by women," she says. "[The fact that] women continue to need that kind of support and that kind of colleagueship from women is abundantly clear by the competition that we have from women looking to get into our institutes."

Wilson says she is hopeful that the relationship between Harvard and Radcliffe will become more cooperative.

"The fact that the doors have opened at Harvard doesn't mean Radcliffe's role is done," she says, adding that Radcliffe offers a wealth of women role models and that its multidisciplinary, intergenerational approach to education provides a useful balance to Harvard's approach.

Yet Wilson's optimism is tempered by the fact that Radcliffe often finds itself dwarfed by Harvard's shadow.

As the two institutions move towards collaboration, Harvard must be careful that it is not "inadvertently stepping on the little partner," she says.