Radcliffe on the Road

Fulfilling a promise to seek alumnae input on Radcliffe's future, President Linda Wilson embarked on a 28-day, 10-city tour in October. About 300 graduates turned out for the 10 tour events, with Cambridge accounting for a third of that number. Seven alumnae showed up in Ft. Lauderdale, eight in Dallas, 20 at the final stop in San Francisco. "I think that tells us all we need to know," says Tina Smith '83, Ed.M. '86, a vice president of the Harvard Club of Silicon Valley, noting that several hundred men and women graduates heard President Neil L. Rudenstine speak a year ago.

The view from Fay House is different. "There has been a tremendous amount of energy and passion created by the notion of Radcliffe's strategic planning process," says Bonnie Clendenning, Radcliffe's vice president for college relations. "Alumnae--from 1925 to 1998--are by no means monolithic in terms of what the evolutionary wheel will bring for the College. And they are women who have demonstrated their intellectual rigor--they're a very demanding audience." According to Clendenning, Wilson heard consistently that alumnae want Radcliffe to continue its commitment to undergraduates; to protect its financial assets (enlarged this year by a record $15.9 million in gifts to its capital campaign); to strengthen the alumnae network; and to be a center for changing perceptions of women's place in society.

Although the stated agenda of Wilson's trip was to collect ideas on Radcliffe's future, Tina Smith felt "certain my comments would not be welcome, even though I am extremely concerned about Radcliffe's future. [Wilson] wasn't going to tell you what they were negotiating with Harvard." In Washington, D.C., Wilson told an audience of 20 that she wanted to listen rather than talk, and asserted, as she has for several months (see "Radcliffe Quandary," July-August 1998), that it is "premature to begin talking about the options out there." Afterwards, the outgoing president of the Harvard Club of Washington, Judith Dollenmayer '63, told the Crimson, "I can't tell you what we learned tonight." Stephanie Clark '90 says she left the presidential meeting with the impression that Radcliffe would "stay the course," but would, in Wilson's words, "act more boldly." Overall, alumnae seem to have no problem with that, but, as Dollenmayer added, "I wish I knew what course we were on."

Midway through Wilson's travels, six tenured women from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences proposed the creation of a new Institute in Women's and Gender Studies at Radcliffe. Kenan professor of English Marjorie Garber, speaking for her colleagues, suggested to an Alumnae Council session of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association that the Radcliffe-based institute could sponsor research and teaching on topics that would change annually--such as "gender and the arts," or "women and violence." Faculty fellows would organize lectures and panels centered on the annual theme, and visiting fellows would teach one course and mentor undergraduates during their stays. The proposal calls for 20 fellows in all, plus an institute director who would be a tenured member of the Harvard faculty. In addition, the proposal recommends replacing the current program in women's studies with a new program in women's and gender studies that would have five to seven new professorships underwritten, at least in part, by Radcliffe.

Expenditures of that magnitude, as well as any changes in the structure of the College, are the responsibility of Radcliffe's Board of Trustees, which met with Wilson after her tour to discuss its outcome and Radcliffe's ongoing negotiations with Harvard.

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