"Most undergraduates will tell you that Radcliffe doesn't exist anymore," says Mary C. Megliola '88, summing up what she sees as the prevalent attitude among her women peers toward the 107-year-old institution.

"Sometimes I think I'm the only one who feels any sense of community [at Radcliffe] and I have no one to share it with," adds Megliola, who became involved with Radcliffe and now holds a work-study job in its Office of Publications.

Indeed, many Radcliffe affiliates say that the sense of community at Radcliffe today is difficult to define, and many go so far as to say it no longer exists. With male students living in the Radcliffe Quadrangle and women on campus referring to themselves as "Harvard students," the days of the sisterhood between Radcliffe women seem to have dissappeared.

"Yes, the closeness [among Radcliffe women] has disappeared," agrees Dean of Radcliffe College Philippa A. Bovet. She cites co-educational housing, implemented in 1971, as one of the factors behind the change in atmosphere. "With any change there's always a trade-off," she says.

"It's not a physical community or one that you can define," says Evelyn R. Swett '88, head of the Radcliffe House Intern Program, describing her view of the Radcliffe community.

Swett adds that although the bond she feels with other Radcliffe women is not tangible or easily describable, she finds a concrete sense of community in Radcliffe College. "I see a small college atmosphere within Fay House. It's a place where you can walk in and people know your name," she says.

A Radcliffe community centered around the institution's scholarly resources does exist, many people associated with Radcliffe say.

Those who say they are aware of Radcliffe usually cite resources such as the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library which collects books and manuscripts on the history of women in America. Other notable programs include the Henry S. Murray Research Center, which specializes in the study of social-science issues relating to women, and the Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute, the nation's largest post-doctoral fellowship program for women.

Radcliffe also offers various non-academic programs geared specifically toward women undergraduates. The school offers a spring-break externship program which gives students the opportunity to live and work with an alumna and a mentor program which introduces undergraduates to "role-model" alumnae in the Boston area. The college also dispenses funding for special projects for which any undergraduate may apply.

In addition, each undergraduate house has a few Radcliffe interns who serve as liaisons between Radcliffe and undergraduates. The student-run program sponsors movies, discussions and lectures in each of the houses and "makes Radcliffe seem less remote," Swett says.

Yet, many students say they are unaware of Radcliffe resources and others say they do not take advantage of these because they do not want to be associated with Radcliffe.

"I don't think of myself as a Radcliffe student, and I don't take advantage of Radcliffe," says Carolyn H. Hax '88. She, like many other female undergraduates, says she feels that associating with the all-women Radcliffe community is somehow an admission of weakness or inferiority in the overall Harvard community.

"The fact that we would need a Radcliffe community for strength is admitting that you don't feel you have a place at Harvard," she says.

While she admits that women do not necessarily have a place equal to their male peers at Harvard, she thinks that the formation of a Radcliffe bond to overcome these barriers is not the solution. "Where we are excluded, you have to deal with it on an individual basis, not an institutional one," she says.

"My mom went to Radcliffe and was always angry that the men at Harvard got better treatment, so I'm happy to say that I can go to Harvard," says Nicole L. Gueron '90. She adds that as a freshman, she feels little sense of Radcliffe community among her female classmates.