Imagine a place of quiet but intense academic research. A place where eager young scholars come to escape the harried constants of class and committee work expected of them at their universities and, instead, are given money and a comfortable office to pursue their dreams of publishing.

All are invited to apply for a place in this environment, provided their research is sufficiently cutting edge and their gender is male.

Limiting such a rich opportunity to men sounds antiquated, perhaps even discriminatory. But substitute women for men, and this scenario describes the Bunting Institute, perhaps the most prominent of Radcliffe College's three major research institutes.

Nestled in a cluster of small buildings off of quiet Concord Avenue a few blocks from Radcliffe Yard, the Bunting bills itself as "the nation's premiere multidisciplinary center of advanced studies for women scholars, writers, artists and activists."

And for 39 years, the Bunting has boasted a community of woman researchers, a place--nearly unique in higher education--where women are expected to excel in any field they chose to study.

But now, as Radcliffe officials conduct secret talks with Harvard about a possible merger between the two schools, the Bunting's single-sex tradition could expose the institute to lawsuits under federal gender-equity laws.

This risk is acknowledged by Bunting Director Rita Nakashima Brock, who says it could stall the high-level negotiations with Harvard.

And, in response, Brock told The Crimson that her institute will explicitly open its doors to men as fellows, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year.

Radcliffe's decision to integrate the Bunting's unique women's world may be an indication that Harvard and Radcliffe are at long last considering the concessions required to iron out a final deal.

It's the Law

Founded in 1960 by Radcliffe's fifth president, Mary Ingraham Bunting, the institute began as a means to combat what she called a "climate of unexpectation" for academic women.

If colleges and universities assumed women couldn't be philosophers, astrophysicists or orchestra conductors, the Bunting would assume otherwise--and fund female scholars' research to prove it.

Though Radcliffe officials at times have said that men were welcome to apply for a Bunting position, there is little hint of this in the application materials for a Bunting fellowship during this school year. All of these begin by describing prospective fellows as "women."

And men seem to have gotten the hint. In the Bunting's 39-year history, the institute has hosted more than 1,200 women scholars as fellows and research associates, but only a handful of men. According to Marion Kilson '58, a former director of the Bunting Institute, the last time a man studied at the Bunting was in the '70s, and he was a research associate, not a fellow.

But the world has changed since 1960, and in recent years opponents of affirmative action have succeeded in rolling back race- and gender-based preferences in higher education across the country.