The Comstock plan

On a rare visit to Cambridge I heard some of the current debate about the future status of Radcliffe. As one who has carefully reflected upon this topic for 30 years, let me offer one heartfelt suggestion--bring Radcliffe back!

Why? Has it gone away? Oh, yes. Aside from the respected research institutes, the female undergrads that I met seem to have only the vaguest sense of the college to which they pay tuition and whose name is on their diploma. These women today are Harvard students (my daughter included), and Radcliffe is a concept.

It wasn't always so. It used to be a wonderful, well-defined, significant place where powerful Radcliffe women lived and studied, an actual and beautiful place where Harvard students could attend dinner, partake of a seminar, watch parades and athletic events, or have great coffee and conversation in an impressive Radcliffe living room.

I recall one particular after-dinner tea when the women of Comstock Hall were dedicating a new oil painting over the mantel above a crackling fire. It was the portrait of Ida Louise Comstock, namesake of that specific dorm. A speaker recounted for the combined audience of Radcliffe and Harvard students some of the highlights of her inspiring life. Her image then joined those of the other illustrious women who graced the walls of this venerable room. In some quiet way, it served as an inspiration, not only to the young women, but to young men (like me) who would eventually have daughters.

During my 25th reunion I returned to Comstock Hall to see if it or I had changed much. Now part of a Harvard House, the living room was still there, but most of the reassuring portraits, comfortable furniture and confident presence were not. Off in a corner, I saw Ida Louise covered in dust, no longer proudly displaying her biographical note or even the brass name tag that once identified her. Is this the sad fate for all of Radcliffe? Heaven forbid!

But what to do? How about, as a first step, bringing back some actual full-fledged Radcliffe students. Let them live as a group at the Radcliffe Quad. Students are the very life blood of a college. Just because Harvard went co-ed in the '70s doesn't have to mean that Radcliffe should gradually cease to exist. Let Harvard remain coeducational and let there be a true Radcliffe. Let it have its own all-women student body, its own dorms and library at the Radcliffe Quad, its own activities at Radcliffe Yard, its own sports teams competing with other fine women's colleges, and yes, once again its own active alumnae. Let Radcliffe students take Harvard classes and let female Harvard students be as involved as they want with Radcliffe activities. After all, who better than Radcliffe could be sensitive and attentive to the real needs of women?

How, you may ask, could this be accomplished with so many Harvard students now living up in the Quad? How about a gradual phase-in of full-time Radcliffe students in one of the old Radcliffe dorms? Eventually, maybe several or all of the buildings immediately facing the Radcliffe Quad could become solely Radcliffe dorms.

In fact, why not call this gradual return of Radcliffe College, "The Comstock Plan"? In this way Radcliffe could again be one of the foremost women's colleges in America. Its students could share academic life with male and female Harvard undergraduates. The "separate" existence of each college would be mutually beneficial for both. Radcliffe could reclaim its autonomy and irreplaceable character, once again becoming a place of power, pride and strength, a bastion for women's studies and a wonderful place to attend or visit.

Ida Louise Comstock could once again proudly look down from the mantle and be an inspiration to us all. Please join me in contributing to this "Comstock Plan" to bring Radcliffe back!

Richard L. Shames '67 is a family practice physician. He focuses on women's issues in health care.