University officials defended the discrepancy by pointing out that men require a disproportionately high level of recruiting to remain competitive in the Ivy League, particularly in football, which requires a large number of athletes, and hockey, which recruits from a wide geographical region.
In addition, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 noted that recruiting figures also include contributions from "Friends"--groups of alumni donors who traditionally favor male sports. But by the beginning of next year, Lewis said, alumni donations will be split equally between male and female teams for sports played by both sexes.
Activism for Equality
Amid the emerging focus on concrete action among women's advocates, some caution that change is difficult and will come slowly at Harvard.
"There is a bastion of patriarchy on this campus; you can't expect things to move quickly," said Lisa D. Graustein '97, who served as a member of an undergraduate group formed by Lewis to advise him on issues pertinent to female students.
But most see this year's trend toward more concrete forms of protest as a positive step for gender equity at Harvard.
"The Alternative Senior Gift [Fund] really made people put money where their mouth was," Phillipsaid. "We all know that money is what gets things done around here."
"I've never been one for the Greenpeace style of throwing your body in front of baby seals," said Avery W. Gardiner '97, former chair of the Student Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics. "But I think people are realizing that activism [combined with] a spirit of cooperative action will breed success."