"I think that because it advocates one particular change it has less of a chance of opening up a dialogue about what this issue is really about," Barber said. "That is the relationship of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and the relationship of those institutions to Harvard University."

Altering the diplomas would require a renegotiation of the entire 1976 agreement between Harvard and Radcliffe which stipulates that "the diplomas of female candidates will be signed in accordance with present practices."

The amended bill passed, under the sponsorship of Baldwin, Cheuse and Schneider.

A month later Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 declined to sign the bill, which, had it gotten Lewis' support would have been considered next by the Committee on Undergraduate Education.

"I can't see any good reason, given the sharp division of opinion on this question, to go through the many layers of approvals needed to make this change, simply to effect the modest alteration of adding a signature to women's diplomas," Lewis wrote in an e-mail message to council President Beth A. Stewart '00.

Lewis also said that since the council passed the bill by only a slim margin, he did not feel he had a mandate to advocate for the change.

"I really think that at this point it is not likely that anything will come of this bill," Stewart said in March.

While the bill itself came to naught, the debate it sparked continues in the council.

The council has since seen an increase in its female membership, formerly about 30 percent, as a direct result of the diploma debate. Colleen T. Gaard '99, chair of the WLP, joined the council in March because she was "appalled" by members' lack of concern for issues impacting women.

At the first meeting she attended Gaard announced the creation of a women's caucus to both recruit women for vacant council spots and inform those busy with other activities about the resources and opportunities the council can offer.

"It's important to have women's perspectives," Gaard said. "There are no issues that are just women's issues, but there are issues that women are more invested in than men."