The Captain Jonathan Fay Prize, once Radcliffe College's highest honor for an undergraduate, will not be awarded this year, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 confirmed yesterday.

The decision not to award the $5,000 prize--established in 1907 and traditionally given to a graduating female--was finalized yesterday and is the result of discussions between Mary Maples Dunn, acting dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Jeremy R. Knowles, dean of the Faculty.

According to the Radcliffe website, Radcliffe College awarded the prize yearly to a woman "whose academic achievement and personal conduct have made her an outstanding member of the community."

But in the wake of Radcliffe College's merger with Harvard last fall, Harvard College officials have now asked that the prize not be restricted on the basis of gender. According to Lewis, the prize could not legally continue to be given only to women.

"Discussions have been going on about how best to avoid the gender restriction, while carefully respecting the terms of the original gift," Knowles wrote in an e-mail message yesterday. "Dean Dunn and I agreed that since these discussions were inconclusive, we could not award the prize this year, but we firmly aim to resolve them so that--in some (though necessarily changed) form--it could be awarded next year."

Michael Armini, Radcliffe spokesperson, said that by awarding no Fay Prize this year, the College and the Institute will have time to work out their differences.

"Radcliffe is Harvard, and Radcliffe has to be in compliance with University policy," Armini said. "We do anticipate giving the prize next year. [This extra year] gives us more time to figure how to award the prize."

Armini said when the Fay Prize returns, it may do so with different eligibility requirements. The prize may be open to men.