Some women were having second thoughts as well, as they pondered how effectively their voices would be heard on the issues vital to their interests, once Radcliffe no longer had a voice of her own.
The fears of President Pusey and the faculty found themselves expressed in a number of ways throughout the year, varying somewhat in style and subtlety, but re-iterating, in general, the same intent. Dr. Chase W. Peterson, '52, dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, argued that an increase in the number of women in the University would decrease the amount of diversity, a logic that airily dismissed the possibility that the various minorities, economic classes and academic interests that the University might wish to woo, could just as easily come in two sexes rather than one.
F. Skiddy Von Stade, dean of Freshmen, preferred to attack the problem more bluntly: "When I see the bright well-educated, but relatively dull housewives who attended the 'Seven Sisters,' I honestly shudder at the thought of changing the balance of males vs. females at Harvard," he said in a letter to a Radcliffe admissions officer. "Quite simply. I do not see highly educated women making startling strides in contributing to our society in the foreseeable future. They are not, in my opinion, going to stop getting married and: or have children. They will fail in their present role as women if they do."
Von Stade expressed concern in the letter that such feelings might strike some as being slightly chauvinistic: "I hope I am not being anti-feminist in the above," he wrote. "But rather that this is a realistic appraisal of woman's part in making our world sensible for at least viable)."
The end result of the seemingly endless deliberations, misgivings, and entrenched prejudices, was the demise of the hopes for full merger between the two schools. It came in the form of a proposal by the Harvard-Radcliffe Relationships Committee (whose membership consisted of two members each of the Radcliffe Board of Trustees and the Corporation, as well as Presidents Pusey and Bunting members ex officio).
Dubbed the "non-merger merger," the report stated that "a total merger of Radcliffe College into Harvard University is not desirable at this time... These arrangements avoid the primary drawbacks of a merger and the loss of flexibility necessary for adjustment to rapidly changing ideas concerning the role of women in the University..."
The Committee's report made the following recommendations:
* Radcliffe will retain ownership of its property and endowment.
* Harvard will assume the operation of Hilles Library as well as the day to day operation of college buildings and dining services.
* Radcliffe will pay to Harvard 100 percent of its income from endowment, tuition fees rents and Harvard will assume the total expense of Radcliffe's operation, including joint fundraising.
* Radcliffe's Houses will become part of a unified House System under the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and.
* Radcliffe will retain control of Schlesinger Library, the Radcliffe Institute, the Alumnae Officer and financial aids and admissions.
The plan provided for a contract to be reviewed in the academic year 1974-75, at which time. Radcliffe will be given the option of reverting to its original status within the University.
The plan was approved by the Radcliffe Board of Trustees in late January of 1971, by the Harvard Corporation in early February and by the Harvard Board of Overseers in March. It gained its final endorsement on June 29, when it was accepted by the Radcliffe College Council.
In its final draft the plan was accepted as the 1971 Amendment, extending the contract between the two institutions which was drawn up in 1943, when the Harvard Faculty first took official responsibility for the education of Radcliffe students.
The net result of the "non-merger merger" is a situation in which the two institutions are virtually merged financially, but retain their identities as separate, distinct institutions. While Radcliffe's financial situation is unquestionably bolstered by the arrangement, the question of equal admissions is neatly side-stepped, since admissions to the two colleges is still to be handled separately.
Some of the women in the Radcliffe community who at one time favored the idea of total merger are now relieved that the accepted version leaves room for Radcliffe to maintain her own identity. They point to the new sense of pride and spirit that has developed at the college throughout the past two years, due largely to the physical transformation that has taken place--the addition of men. Currier House, resident tutors, workshops. House seminars, and even grills-and see that as an indication of Radcliffe's acceptance of herself as entity distinct--and preferably so--from Harvard.
Other women, however, have greeted the final version of the merger with emotions ranging from frustration to despair. They see the compromise as an effective burial of the issue of equal admissions for the next four years and question the amount of power the new position of dean will have in safeguarding the concerns of women within the University. To these women, nothing much has been changed. Harvard is still licensed to continue its tradition of supplying the country with its leaders--while maintaining its position of defining those leaders as almost exclusively male--while the interests of women continue to be relegated to a subordinate position, with Radcliffe still following two steps behind in Harvard's wake.