IT'S about time. After 339 years of being an all-male board, the Harvard Corporation finally has a woman member. Judith Richards Hope, a prominent Republican and Washington attorney, was appointed last week to replace Andrew Heiskell, who announced his intention to retire three years ago.

The appointment is a signal to women that they are finally beginning to have an equal share in the operation of the University. In the past, The Crimson has called for a woman to be appointed to the seven-member Corporation, which meets every two weeks to make the ultimate decisions on University policy. We commend the University for selecting a woman and for making gender a key consideration during the search.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether the appointment will have any substantive effect on University policy. Hope, who said at the time of the announcement that she had not yet considered the issues facing the University, has not yet indicated that she will make many changes, though we hope that she will take opportunity of her appointment to listen to and represent student interests to the governing body. According to Heiskell, the biggest change may be that "one says `lady and gentlemen,' instead of `gentlemen.'"

The excitement over the changed composition of the Corporation should not obscure the fact that the body is in dire need of fundamental reform. The Corporation remains a secretive, undemocratic body, subject to checks or input from anyone in the University community in theory alone.

DESPITE this, the appointment of a woman is a step in the right direction. Hope may still have a larger impact on the University than most observers predict. Because she has not officially taken a stand on the issues facing the University, perhaps she will be open to varying points of view, and will be able to bring different views before the Corporation.

There is still a remaining vacancy on the Corporation, the one left by the late Treasurer Roderick M. MacDougall '51. The appointment of a woman is certainly a great step forward, but the Corporation has still never had a minority member. Harvard should continue to seek diversity for the body in attempting to include those who have been overlooked in the past.