RUS' agenda is chosen by whomever attends the group's weekly meetings. All female students enrolled at the College are automatically members of RUS and are term-billed $5 annually to fund the group. Swan says attendance has increased this year in part as a result of a strong recruitment effort at registration, but meetings still draw only about 25 to 40 regulars, a tiny fraction of Radcliffe's student body of almost 3,000.
The difficulty involved in striving to represent as many women as possible on a diverse campus is reflected in the group's stance on campus issues, Swan says. "Should RUS have a final statement?" Swan queries. "How can we make a statement if we haven't polled every woman on campus?"
RUS doesn't have to take stances on issues unless the women at its meetings decide to, according to Wexler. "We don't normally take positions on things," she says. RUS had to take a position on the clubs because people kept questioning the organization about the issue.
"[Final clubs] are a big issue, but it's not what I'd choose to focus on because it's reactive, not proactive," Wexler says, pointing the the group's recently formed Peer Mentor Program and fundraising for the SafetyWalk walking escort as examples of the kinds of programs RUS prides itself in supporting.
Grants to other organizations including groups on both side of the abortion issue, as well as co-sponsorship of events with other organizations also allow RUS to exert its influence on campus, Wexler says.
"We try to be an umbrella organization," Wexler says. "Certainly we can't speak for everyone, but we can be a resource."
Some female leaders on campus think that RUS should try harder to speak for a larger portion of female students at the College. Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Club President Karen E. Boyle '94, who says she often disagrees with RUS' stances, says RUS should conduct polls of female students so that it can more accurately represent its members.
"Since I pay money to them every year I feel they should be more representative of all women on campus," she says. "It's a responsibility of an organization like RUS that focuses specifically on women that it concedes that there is a difference of opinion among its constituancy. There are conservative women here that have strong voices."
Philips Brooks House Association President Jennifer A. Goldberg '94, however, says that she fully supports RUS and that women who care about RUS' positions should go to the group's meetings.
"I support RUS in everything it has done and its important for women who agree with what they've been working towards to support them," she says. "People who criticize should be willing to get involved."
WAC leaders say that talking to many women about the final club issue has made them realize that there is a real need for fragmented social groups to exchange ideas.
WAC has formed a committee to plan social events for the dual purpose of providing a social life for final club boycotters and bringing a diverse group of women together in a social atmosphere.
"The more active we've become, the more we've realized there are not many ways that women on this campus can come together," said Colligan.
Organizers say that even if their goal of coed clubs is realized, WAC will not be obsolete. The group will continue to educate students and maintain awareness about issues of gender and elitism at the clubs.
"Women Appealing for Change could conceivably, in the future, beyond the gender discussion, develop into something different," Colligan said at the joint meeting of RUS and WAC.
WAC has "gone beyond being a mere movement to have the clubs go coed and is working very hard to bring more unity," says Colligan.