RCAA Unveils Itself

The Radcliffe College Alumnae Association (RCAA) made great strides this weekend celebrating its 75th anniversary, launching its first live webcast and completing its capital campaign begun in 1993 under the leadership of former president of Radcliffe College Linda S. Wilson.

Though the atmosphere at the Sheraton Commander Hotel was celebratory Saturday night, for insiders there was no mistaking an effort that was harder than it should have been to raise just $100 million in seven years. In a year when Harvard University raised $250 million in donations in just 12 months, and increased its endowment by more than 30 percent to $19 billion, it was sad to see even enthusiasm by its alumnae wane as the once prominent college struggles to reinvent itself having acquiesced the students that once made its purpose so clear.

And stepping into the future with a pocket full of change required a make over indicative of these fundamental changes in the organization. In a lamentable but necessary change, the RCAA became the Radcliffe Association--a change that RCAA President A'Lelia P. Bundles '74 said "reflects our tradition but also lets us welcome in other people--men, for example." Although the vote to drop the reference to the now-defunct College was unanimous and needed to reflect the changing nature of the organization, it was nonetheless moving to witness the end of an era and see the last vestiges of Radcliffe College get pasted into the scrapbook of history.