It is the position of the Harvard-Radcliffe Policy Committee that, despite some structural changes in the House system in recent years, the Houses can still be characterized as maie institutions. All the students and faculty members who live in a House and regularly participate in House activities are male. Women are allowed into the House only upon the invitation of a House member. They are his guests, not members of the House community. They must be "signed in" to and "signed out" of the House. While women can and often do participate in House activities (e.g., dramatic productions), House courses or tutorials, their presence in the House is limited to participation in these activities. And dining, in common with other aspects of the House system, is open to women on an invitational basis only. Most meals are closed to women, and those that are open are open only upon invitation of a House member.
The comments that have been made about Harvard's House system apply equally well to Radcliffe. Just as Cliffies (or any other women) are not in any real sense full participants in the dining or residential life of Harvard students, Harvard men are not fully a part of Radcliffe's dining or residential system. It is instructive that, while Radcliffe has a policy of permitting Harvard students to dine on interhouse at weekday lunches, few Harvard students utilize this option. One of the reasons is that Harvard students feel awkward entering a Radcliffe dining hall without being specifically invited.
In sum, the Houses are the focus of social relationships at Harvard. The large majority of Harvard students' social relationships develop within their House or dormitory. The proximity of a certain group of people, the ease of finding them, informal talk in the dining hall or entries or on floors, participation in common events, all encourage the natural development of friendships and social ties. The type of environment provided by the House is provided in no other context except, for a very small number of students, by an extracurricular activity (e.g., the CRIMSON or PBH). Although other aspects of Harvard are coeducational, their coeducational character does not provide a great deal of oportunity for interaction with the opposite sex. The Houses do not fulfill this function either, since they are essentially male institutions.
Recommendations
Given the effects of the general non-coeducational character of life at Harvard and Radcliffe, what steps should be taken?
It is the position of the Harvard-Radcliffe Policy Committee that the present system of limited coeducational contacts is so detrimental in so many ways that it makes a change in the pattern and style of coeducational life at Harvard mandatory. Since, under Harvard's residential structure, the Houses are the center of social life, this change must take place within the House system. The lack of other institutions (e.g., a student union) that might provide for informal coeducational contacts places even greater emphasis upon the necessity for change in the coeducational role of the Houses.
The Policy Committee holds that the most effective way to change the present pattern of coeducational life at Harvard and Radcliffe is to coeducationalize the Houses--to institute coeducational living accommodations at Harvard and Radcliffe. Coeducational housing would obviate virtually all the problems that arise from the present system. It would provide for informal contacts between men and women; it would enable men and women to view each other more as people than dating objects; it would have numerous educational advantages. The experience at ather universities which have instituted coeducational housing, such as Stanford and Cornell, has been distinctly favorable.
How do students feel about the idea of coeducational living arrangements? A recent questionnaire undertaken by a joint subcommittee of the Harvard-Radcliffe Policy Committee and the Radcliffe Union of Students indicated that students overwhelmingly favor the idea of coeducational housing. Ninety per cent of the undergraduates polled favored "the idea of optional coeducational living accommodations (by separate floors, entries or suites) in some Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories." The results were even more striking for Radcliffe students--they favored the idea by a margin of over 19 to 1. Another indication of the popularity of coeducational facilities is the overcrowding success of Lehman Hall, where it is common to find several times as many people waiting on line for meals as there are places in the dining hall.
The Harvard-Radcliffe Policy Committee recommends that the following steps be taken:
(1) In the short run, a trial exchange on a voluntary basis between students in Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories should be instituted next semester for the duration of the semester. The reasons for instituting coeducational housing are as compelling for next semester as they are for five years from now. A trial exchange of a semester or longer would provide a sounder basis than presently exists for an accurate evaluation of the benefits and possible shortcomings of coeducational housing. Furthermore, there is widespread student support for the idea of such an exchange; in the HPC-RUS questionnaire, 80 per cent of Radcliffe and 65.5 per cent of Harvard students favored the idea, 63 per cent of Cliffies and 42 per cent of Harvard men stated that they were personally willing to participate in such an exchange (bearing in mind the change in location and a possible exchange of single rooms for doubles or private baths for shared ones). The percentages in a random sample of 100 Radcliffe and 200 Harvard students were even higher. While not all the students who originally indicated a desire to participate in such an exchange can be expected to do so, it is evident that a sizable number of students would like to participate. Furthermore, if the exchange involves equal numbers of Harvard and Radcliffe students, only one-fourth the percentage of Harvard students as Radcliffe students will be needed.
(2) In the long run, permanent coeducational housing on a college-wide basis should be instituted.
(3) The possibility of making Mather House coeducational when it opens next fall should be seriously considered. The voluntary assignment of large numbers of students to Mather House might make it particularly suitable for the institution of coeducational living, 86 per cent of the students polled favored the idea of a coeducational Mather House.
(4) Radcliffe should not pursue its current program of dormitory expansion and renovation without expressly providing for the possibility of coeducational occupancy in the future.
(5) As long as separate Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories exist, open interhouse between Harvard and Radcliffe dining halls should be instituted as soon as possible