Radcliffe staff awakens to abrupt announcement yesterday morning

At 9:30 yesterday morning, Radcliffe's full staff--secretaries and vice-presidents, receptionists and institute directors--gathered quietly in the Lyman Common Room. The day they had been awaiting for over a year had finally arrived.

Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson rose, and in a 15-minute-long prepared statement, announced that the future of their institution had been decided, and that she herself was to step down as president. For many, these were the first solid details about the long-awaited announcement.

"I was surprised last night [when I heard], and I know most people were surprised this morning," said Dean of Educational Programs Tamar March.

As a top staff member, March was first informed that Harvard and Radcliffe had reached a final announcement last night, but said her own staff drove to work this morning unaware that they would be called away from their normal duties for today's announcement.

When Wilson called for questions from her assembled staff, Mary Maples Dunn, who will take over for Wilson as interim head of Radcliffe on July 1, immediately requested the floor.

But rather than questioning the outgoing leader, she praised her for her years of service and thanked her for her dedication. Others echoed Dunn's sentiments, and Wilson was given a standing ovation.

And then, at 10 a.m. sharp, the meeting was over. The bombshell dropped, Radcliffe's employees headed back to their buildings and offices.

March said yesterday that those who make Radcliffe run are still adjusting to the dramatic news.

"It was too rapid for people to react immediately," she said. "I'll know better after they've slept on it."

While many of the details of the deal have yet to be decided, Radcliffe officials said they've been assured that jobs will not be lost because of Radcliffe's restructuring.

"The deal was 'you take all of us," said Vice President of College Relations Bonnie Clendenning. "Linda got a standing 'O' at the staff meeting this morning. [The staff] was fine. They're not going anywhere, and they love Mary [Dunn]. She's one of us."

But some administrative structures will change after the full merger is complete.

Clendenning, for instance, said she will no longer be a vice president, but instead will be a "dean of some kind." And March expects her official connections with undergraduates will cease and her role will be greatly restructured.

"I'm going to miss interacting with undergraduates," March said. "I love students.

It is also unclear how several of Radcliffe's current programs, like its landscaping courses and ceramics programs, might fit into a new cutting-edge Institute for Advanced Study.

"I do think there are some people who are nervous," said Dunn. "What I know is the library, and the library is not nervous at all."

But Dunn said the staff was comforted yesterday by Wilson's reminder that, under the 1977 agreement between Harvard and Radcliffe, they have been technically employed by the University for more than two decades.

"They're all already Harvard employees, so they're guaranteed all their rights as Harvard employees," she said.

Wilson will be meeting with Radcliffe's individual divisions starting tomorrow morning to discuss further what the changes will mean for them.