Finding an Alternative

A less dramatic form of protest, but one that also stressed the importance of tenuring women, was the formation of the Alternative Senior Gift Fund.

The fund will be held in escrow until the Faculty of Arts and Sciences takes concrete steps to rectify the low levels of women and minority Faculty members.

Former RUS Co-President Megan R. Peimer '97 and campus activist Scott L. Shuchart '97 are leading the effort. They say the intent of the project is not to raise a large sum of money, but rather to draw attention to the issue.

"It's very symbolic because many members of the senior class will eventually have a significant amount of money," Peimer said. "If they're saying now that they're not satisfied with the University, that forebodes poorly for the University's future fundraising attempts."

The fund will be combined with a similar account established in 1995 by the Committee for the Equality of Women at Harvard (CEWH). The CEWH fund is801 targeted at alumni. (See related storry, this page.)

The First Lady

The lack of women on the faculty has been mirrored by a lack of female leadership in many student extracurriculars, and the Undergraduate Council has long been known as one of the places least friendly to women and minorities.

But popularly-elected president Lamelle D. Rawlins '99--the first female president in the council's history--provides hope for the future of women in leadership positions on both the council and at Harvard.

"The election of Lamelle and the presence of a few other women leaders shows that we are not facing a complete campus-wide glass ceiling," said former RUS co-president and Women's Leadership Project co-chair Corinne E. Funk '97, also a former Crimson executive.

Still, there remains a marked lack of women on the council. Only 28 percent of Undergraduate Council members are female.

In addition, many of the larger extracurriculars have witnessed gender disparities in leadership during recent years.

Last year's Institute of Politics' Student Advisory Council contained only four women on its 24-member board. In the past five years, Phillips Brooks House Association has had no female presidents. In the nearly 50 years since women have been on The Crimson, only five women have been president.

Radcliffe Revolts

This April, alumnae protested a report sent by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles to alumni indicating the slow rate of contribution of female graduates to the University's capital campaign.

Several prominent alumnae signed a letter to Rudenstine criticizing Knowles for distributing the report without consulting alumnae or Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson, and for disregarding Radcliffe's own ongoing capital campaign.