Radcliffe Denied Table at Extracurricular Fair

Harvard College denied the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study's request for table space at activities fairs today and last Monday, citing the Institute's reduced role in undergraduate life.

Radcliffe--whose legal ties to undergraduates were formally severed by last October's merger with Harvard--had sought space to recruit students for its programs that involve undergraduates, such as externships and its phone-a-thon. In past years, Radcliffe has had a table of its own to advertise its programs to College students.

But College officials said that with Radcliffe no longer a college, a separate table did not seem appropriate.

"Since Radcliffe is now an Institute for Advanced Study, with no responsibility for undergraduate education, we felt that it didn't make sense for them to be at a fair for College students," Associate Dean David P. Illingworth '71 wrote in an e-mail message.

To advertise their programs without a table, the Institute put pamphlets about its offerings on the Women's Leadership Project's (WLP) table at Monday's first-year fair. The Radcliffe Institute is one of WLP's sponsors.

The brochures distributed through WLP included information about job opportunities with the Radcliffe phone-a-thon and the undergraduate mentorship and externship programs run through the Radcliffe Alumna Association.

But Radcliffe officials said they worry that their lack of table space is hampering their recruiting efforts.

Radcliffe Development Officer Heather C. Wynne, who heads the phone-a-thon, said her office usually gets the names of about 100 first-years who are interested in working for the program.

After Monday's event, however, Wynne said her office had received only 30 inquiries for the jobs.

The program pays undergraduates $9 an hour to call Radcliffe alumnae for contributions to the annual fund.

"We definitely didn't have the same interest as in past years," Wynne said. "We've put two ads in The Crimson, and we've instituted a hiring bonus for current employees who get other people to sign up. We're trying to talk it up."

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said the College officials advised phone-a-thon organizers that the fairs are for extracurricular activities and they should consider recruiting students through the Student Employment Office.

Bonnie Clendenning, dean for external relations at Radcliffe, said she had expected the College to grant Radcliffe its own table at the two extra-curricular fairs, as in years past.

But when she tried to reserve the table this summer, Clendenning said, Illingworth told her that Radcliffe would not be given its own table.

"It didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to have a table. I was working on auto-pilot. We are still learning," she said.

Wynne said that she was disappointed Radcliffe couldn't have a space of its own.

"Through a series of phone calls, we tried to make our case, and I understand their point of view, but I'm disappointed," she said.

Leaders of the Institute, including Acting Dean Mary Maples Dunn and incoming Dean Drew Gilpin Faust, both said last spring that they would like Radcliffe to remain involved with undergraduates as much as the legal language of the merger agreement would permit.

Lewis said the College's denial of table space this year will likely set a standard for subsequent fairs.

"Whatever we do this year we should probably expect to continue doing for the indefinite future," he wrote in an e-mail message.

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