Plans for Women's Center Solidify

The women’s center that some students have long been advocating is likely to be established, and the College hopes to hire a director to run it by the end of the academic year, Associate Dean of the College Judith H. Kidd said last night.

Kidd and Assistant Dean and Director of the Ann Radcliffe Trust Julia G. Fox met with a group of around twenty students yesterday at an open forum hosted by the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS). The College administration has never before publicly endorsed plans for the center, which would be expressly designed to provide resources for groups addressing women’s issues.

“Students have kept up their interest [in a women’s center] and have not let this die,” Kidd said after the meeting last night.

But Kidd noted that plans were still in preliminary stages, adding that so far only a draft job proposal has been drawn up. The College hopes to hold an open search for a director, led by a search committee with faculty, staff, and students by the end of the fall semester, Kidd said.

“You’re at the beginning of the ground floor of a very open process,” Kidd, adding that details like space and budget had not yet been determined.

“Frankly, there is no place to build it centrally,” Kidd said, adding that no other judgments have been made about where to house the center. “How can we make space for the students we have?”

She added that the College may think about refashioning space already available on campus for the needs of the women’s center.

“It is realistic to think about talking about existing space and fitting it to your needs,” she said during the meeting.

Kidd said she envisioned a women’s center as a centralized space for student groups dealing with women’s issues. The center’s resources would be open to all students, regardless of gender.

Kidd and Fox noted at the forum that while other Ivy Leagues and schools of comparable academic resources all had women’s centers, with Harvard as the exception, the College still offered resources that might otherwise be offered through a women’s center.

This summer, Summer Housing Resident Director Tamia R. Jordan—in conjunction with Kidd—conducted a benchmark study of more than 15 women’s centers at other universities.

Some students at the meeting suggested that a women’s center offer student space for offices or meetings, seminar rooms, computer labs, and possibly transportation depending on location. Others added that it could include academic and career planning resources.

Others also identified gender neutral bathrooms as a consideration.

Co-chair of RUS Giselle B. Schuetz ’06 said a number of gender disparities still exist at Harvard, and a women’s center could offer consolidated resources.

“One way to confront those inequalities is to have a condensation of resources,” said Schuetz.

But students also noted that the space should have widespread appeal.

“I think this space has to have some broad-based appeal to all types of women,” said Association of Black Harvard Women President Nicole M. Laws ’06, who added that the women’s center should also include a cafe or other social space.

In response to student concern that a women’s center might not be welcoming to pro-life groups on campus, Schuetz said that the women’s center should be available to everyone regardless of their ideological beliefs.

A RUS member involved with Girlspot and the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance, Rachel A. Culley ’07, who described final clubs as “institutions of privilege, money, and social connection,” said a women’s center should be an alternative to the exclusive social clubs.

So far, no female equivalent exists, Culley said.

“I think we need to have a place for people who need a safe space because of gender or sexuality on campus,” Culley said.

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.