Matina S. Horner hasn't yet moved out of the president's house in Radcliffe Yard, but the balance of power in Fay House has already shifted hands.
Horner, Radcliffe president for 17 years, announced almost two years ago that she would step down--more than a decade after she presided over the incorporation of Harvard and Radcliffe's undergraduate programs.
Her successor, Linda S. Wilson, was named in May after a search that saw several of the top contenders--including Yale professor Judith Rodin--withdraw their names from contention for the Radcliffe post.
Many said the difficulty in finding a replacement was a by-product of Radcliffe's tenuous position as a college without faculty or students. And Wilson, now that she has accepted the job and arrived in Cambridge, must confront the thorny issue of Radcliffe's role in the University.
For a look at what you missed over the summer, as well as previews of upcoming events, see page B-5 throgh B-10.
When Wilson, a former University of Michigan vice president, was selected in May, members of the search committee said they were looking for an administrator and fundraiser to direct Radcliffe into the 21st century.
And Wilson, who has written handbooks on university fundraising, will have ample chance to use her skills in these areas, as Radcliffe restructures its fundraising efforts in the coming months.
The fundraising overhaul is largely a result of a July announcement by Harvard President Derek C. Bok and Horner--in one of her last acts as president--that the two schools would no longer seek funds from post-1976 alumni together, leaving the women's school on its own in the money game. 1 A new face at Harvard this year is Civil Rightsleader and Student Nonviolent CoordinatingCommittee founderJulian Bond. Bond will teach twoAfro-American Studies courses about Southern Blackpolitics and the rise of the Civil Rightsmovement. And Professor of History Akira Iriye, a recentrecruit from the University of Chicago, will teamup with Professor of History Charles A. Maier andWarren Professor of History Ernest R. May for awide-ranging class on world history over the pastcentury. Revamped Requirements Perhaps the most sweeping changes are newrequirements for two of the largestconcentrations--history and economics. Sophomores entering history must now takeHistory 1, "Western Societies, Politics, andCultures," According to Maier, the course is thebrainchild of a group of history professors whowanted to develop a comprehensive introduction tothe discipline. Calling previous western historysurveys at Harvard "the casualties of thelate-60s" the new survey course includes readingfrom a standard text, as well as contemporarycultural and theoretical texts. Meanwhile, organizers of the largestintroductory course--Social Analysis 10--areinstituting a "number of dramatic changes" tobetter meet student needs, says AssistantProfessor of Economics Douglas W. Elmendorf. Hesays the course will incorporate four newtopics--the environment, economics of health care,poverty and protectionism. The macroeconomics portion of the class in thespring will include less math and more currentevents topics. Best of all, Elmendorf says Ec 10 will ease itsgrading policy to make it more in line with otherCores. Course Politics And finally, the "Politically Correct CourseOffering Award for 1989" goes to Mellon Professorof the Humanities Barbara Johnson. Although onleave this year, Johnson renamed her Literatureand Arts A-50 class--formerly "Black WomenWriters"--to "African American Women Writers." Theupdated course will come back in vogue in time forthe 1990-91 school year.
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