It was, in reality, the Harvard Annex. The professors were Harvard, the standards were Harvard, the assignments were Harvard. And so, when the society decided it might be nice to give its girls degrees, it was only natural that Harvard should sign them.

Until that time, no one had ever heard of a society giving degrees. The next move was to make the Annex a college. This happened in 1894. The Massachusetts General Court approved a charter for Radcliffe College, named after Ann Radcliffe, Harvard's first woman benefactor. This charter contained a provision that it could award no degrees "except with the approval of the President and Fellows of Harvard College."

From then on, Radcliffe led what Provost Buck has called "a hand-to-mouth existence, sometimes amusing and exhilarating, sometimes profoundly disturbing, always subject to certain abuses and confusions . . ." It was, as he put it, "a scrambled egg."

Professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors would get up at 10 a.m., give their Harvard classes, and then trek to the Annex later in the morning to do it all over again. As anyone who has ever taken the long walk knows, a person is bound to lose some enthusiasm somewhere along the way.

Faculty members were no exception, but they were receiving double salaries and strengthening the weaker sex at the same time. The experiment continued in desultory fashion.

And then came the Second World War. Faculty members were drafted, Radcliffe was faced with rising costs and on April 13, 1943, Jerome D. Green '96, Secretary of the Harvard Corporation, issued a report stating that a "possible revision of the arrangements by which the instruction of members of the Harvard faculty is made available in courses given by Radcliffe College," was under consideration.

There was no longer a Radcliffe faculty, financially or otherwise. For a sum, ranging between 80 and 85 percent of the total 'Cliffe tuition, educational policy was surrendered to Harvard.

Today, a move such as the new G.E. requirements originates with the Committee on Educational Policy, a subdivision of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Once passed by this body it goes to the Harvard Corporation and the Radcliffe Administrative Council. Subject to approval by both of these bodies and their superiors, the matter is considered and returned to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for execution.

All non-academic matters are still handled by the individual institutions. Fund drives, parietal rules, and the like are carried out through completely independent channels, but combined classes received a boost three years ago when the wartime experiment was formalized. Teaching arrangements were then said to provide for joint instruction of students in the two institutions in all cases where separate instruction would be wasteful of faculty personnel."

Freshman Courses, Too

On January 11, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences voted to open the last stronghold of anti-feminism, the freshman courses. Today, all but six courses in the college are jointly open to Harvard and Radcliffe students. This has not been according to plan, because back in 1948, Dean Bender said, "Perhaps in a couple of years, when the whole setup is shaken down a bit, we can re-examine class lists and separate a few of the largest courses again. It might be advisable in a few cases."

Just how much further Joint Instruction will go is anyone's guess. The controversial subject of combined exams, now being given in music, fine arts, and elementary language courses is still under discussion, and may be resolved later this year.

Professors are resigned to the fate of watching men take notes and girls knit. Certain men such as Earnest A. Hooton, professor of Anthropology, admit that women in class have caused them to alter their styles slightly, but they are proceeding in quiet submission.

Carle C. Zimmerman, associate professor of Social Relations, expressed a "so what" sentiment about Joint Instruction. "Most institutions today have co-education," he said, "so I don't see how it makes any difference. It seems to me that I'm saying the same things that I was saying when I had only men."