While student activists say they believe theRadcliffe establishment frequently fails tounderstand their agenda, the college's officialsclaim that many problems exist only in studentmisperceptions.
For instance, students have been known tocomplain about Women's Studies' status as acommittee rather than a Faculty of Arts andSciences department. The assumption is that thesituation reflects a lack of respect and fundingfor the subject as an academic field.
But administrators say there are a number ofgood reasons for Women's Studies to continue on asa committee--from normal budget limitations to thebenefits of interdisciplinary work.
"That's totally a Harvard issue," Jacoby says,but adds, "I don't know the exact numbers but ifthere are 500 Women's Studies programs across thecountry, 490 are programs or committees ratherthan full-fledged departments. The advantage ofhaving it as a committee is that it means that allthe faculty also have a base in a department."
And though Wilson speaks of the ground-breakingrole of Radcliffe's new graduate program inWomen's Studies, she says students should notassume the undergraduate concentration in Women'sStudies is "less valued" than other academicprograms. "That would not be an accuratereflection of where Harvard is."
But the gap in understanding of the status ofWomen's Studies is partly indicative of acontinued communication problem between Radcliffeand its presumed constituents.
Radcliffe's efforts to reach out toundergraduates--including increasedundergraduate-faculty research grants and therevival of the Radcliffe Convocation inSeptember--have succeeded, to a limited degree.
But even the most optimistic about the role ofRadcliffe in the lives of undergraduates speakwistfully of the possibility of students' makingthe most of Radcliffe's resources.
"For those students who find Radcliffe, most ofthem are very glad to make the connection. Manystudents say they wish they had found Radcliffesooner," Jacoby says.