Massachusetts News 
By Naomi Schaefer 
 
July2--The newly inaugurated Radcliffe Institute likely will not be a mecca of  “women's studies,” as most media report and many people seem to think. It will pursue more diversified goals, say its spokesmen and the presidents of Harvard and Radcliffe. 
 
“Women and society is not the only focus,” Institute spokesman Michael Armini told Massachusetts News. “[It] will bring faculty and scholars to research, teach courses, and publish. … We are also a place where men can come to study astrophysics.” 
 
At an April 28 meeting of Harvard’s Faculty Council, Radcliffe President Linda Wilson and Harvard President Neil Rudenstine both steered clear of the topic of Radcliffe’s commitment to women. Instead, they compared the “new” Radcliffe to the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University—a  place that such intellectual giants as Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer called home. 
 
Princeton’s Institute is an independent research organization. It invites scholars there to conduct research in many disciplines for one to two years without the demands of a classroom. 
 
Becoming more like Princeton would be another step in a long line of changes Radcliffe has undergone since its inception as a women’s college in 1879. In 1977, Radcliffe officially delegated its responsibilities for “instruction and day-to-day management of undergraduate life” to Harvard. Since then, Radcliffe has focused its efforts on funding four institutes: The Bunting Institute, the Schlesinger Library, the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, and the Murray Research Center. All four support research on topics “of concern to women” or research by women. 

Globe Reports That Women’s Studies Will Expand 

Yet many people seem to think that the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study will maintain its focus on women’s issues and gender studies. The Boston Globe editorialized on April 21: “Its mission will be the advanced study—nationally and internationally—of  women, gender and society.” 

Rachel Barber—a  Harvard senior who led a crusade last year to have the Radcliffe president’s signature removed from undergraduate diplomas—thinks that when the college becomes the Radcliffe Institute this summer, it “will continue doing what they have been doing, just with more money and more of a focus.” 
 
Radcliffe will receive more money in the form of a one-time $150 million gift from Harvard’s endowment. This is on top of Radcliffe’s existing $200 million endowment. 

Feminists Rattled About Radcliffe’s New Mission 

Statements to expand Radcliffe’s mission have ruffled some feminists. Concerning the Institute spokesman’s comment about men studying astrophysics at Radcliffe, Toni Troop, vice president of the National Organization for Women in Massachusetts, told Massachusetts News: “I find that comment a bit puzzling because it indicates a certain disconnect from Radcliffe’s mission, as I understand it.” 

Troop, who attended graduate school at Harvard, said she wondered whether Harvard will now fulfill its “commitment to supporting the ideals and the mission of Radcliffe well into the future. 
 
“As an advocacy group, we know that women’s groups can be sold a bag of goods that sound at first to be the bee’s-knees and then the reality and practical application of those promises can be less satisfactory.” 

As she understands it, Radcliffe should not be funding research in every area, Troop said. Harvard has a “responsibility to set an example for other colleges and universities,” she said. “Especially, when women’s studies programs are under attack by heavily funded conservative think tanks, Harvard needs to make clear that this is a legitimate course of study.” 

But  the Harvard and Radcliffe presidents didn’t say exactly how much of Radcliffe’s resources and efforts will be focused on women’s studies. While a statement released by Radcliffe and Harvard last week promised to “sustain a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender, and society,” it seems that this may be one of many areas covered by the institute. 
 
The move away from Radcliffe’s role as a center for women’s studies is welcomed by some. Kevin Shapiro, former editor of the Harvard Salient, a conservative biweekly, told Massachusetts News that, “[While] it is important to ask questions about the role of women in society, ultimately those questions will be more and more integrated into fields like sociology and history. A separate focus on women’s studies should become unnecessary.” 
 
And Ruth Wisse, a professor of Yiddish literature at Harvard, told Massachusetts News that, “There is a tremendous value to the honest study of gender at a moment in time when everything affecting the role of women in society has been undergoing such remarkable change.” But she worries that a “feminist ideology” will be an “impediment to such an honest study.” 

New Radcliffe Dean May Have Little Power 

Aside from expanding its mission, many observers hope that this new agreement will expand Radcliffe’s influence within the University. “While many have worried where Radcliffe would wind up on Harvard’s organizational chart,” said Armini, “we have achieved the highest level—a separate school, like the business or the law school.” Radcliffe’s new dean will sit on a council of deans with the heads of the other Harvard schools. 

Rachel Barber  thinks that the new Radcliffe “will be a more effective advocate for women’s rights at Harvard” and “[t]he Radcliffe Institute Dean would be in a good position to decry any injustices against women at Harvard.” 

But others believe that Radcliffe’s influence will be severely diminished. “Who are they kidding?” Abigail Thernstrom, former chairman of the board of Radcliffe’s Bunting Institute, asked Massachusetts News. “They expect the Radcliffe Institute to be on a par with Harvard Medical and the Business School. I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous.” 

Thernstrom, who supports a more diverse curricula at Radcliffe, said: “Nobody gives a damn who sits on the council of deans. … In Radcliffe, as in Kosovo, we should acknowledge defeat and declare victory.” 
 

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