Some, like Gibbons, believe it draws the focus of energetic women away from the rest of the University.

"I often wonder if Harvard does sort of shirk the responsibility of dealing with women's issues by saying, 'Well, we have Radcliffe, that's what they're there for," he says.

Other students say that Radcliffe is simply too detached from the rest of the University.

"There may be a lot of women involved in leadership positions but it's kind of seen as separate, which is not very good," says Hill-Popper.

Gibbons agrees.

"I wonder whether women at other schools which don't have this Radcliffe thing, where it's all under one banner, whether they feel more included," he says.

Despite these qualms, however, students stress that Radcliffe does at least attempt to offer women a place of their own at what can sometimes seem like a very male-dominated University.

"While some might argue that Radcliffe doesn't do all that it should, I think clearly Radcliffe is making efforts," says Harvetta E. Nero '96.

Leaders of the Future

Harvard is often seen as the training ground for the future leaders of the country: a top echelon of alumni across a broad spectrum of society from Vice President Al Gore '69 to former Cambridge mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72.

Harvard has been preparing men for this role for centuries, but if the experience of leadership at Harvard is significantly different for women, they are also learning different things about leading in the real world.

Some students, like Tiffany C. Graham '96, say that while some women graduates become prominent leaders, their success is due more to talent than to any special effort on Harvard's part.

"It's Harvard's [doing] in the sense that they admit talented women," Graham says. "In that sense, Harvard has a role, but I would give most of the credit to the women themselves."

However, many students say that equal treatment is appropriate and Harvard should not go out of its way to encourage women more than men.

"I think Harvard prepares everyone the same," Gibbons says. "It's sort of blind justice. They prepare us by ignoring us. It's tough love."