Over the meal, participants were asked to suggest research topics about the history of women at Harvard and Radcliffe.

Lewis--with students and academics present--suggested looking into why the Harvard-Radcliffe cheerleaders stopped wearing black pants at football games and adopted short skirts.

In his work as dean, Lewis has embraced non-political, relatively non-controversial women's groups like the Women's Leadership Project (WLP) and WISHR.

"Lewis is not all that interested in talking about issues of sexual violence or sexual harassment," says Brina Milikowsky '00, a member of the Coalition Against Sexual Violence.

In the spring of 1999, the Coalition published a set of demands in an advertisement in The Crimson, asking the College to address their concerns about sexual violence on campus, including a request that the University collect additional statistics about rape on campus.

Numerous student groups signed on to the list of demands, as did Radcliffe Dean of Educational Programs Tamar March.

March says Lewis was furious that she had signed on to the proposal without consulting him first.

"He was angry and disappointed, we had a lot of [later]conversations around that [issue]," March says.

March received several phone calls from Lewis after the demands appeared in The Crimson, in which he said he was unhappy that she had signed on to the list of grievances.

"The text of the ad was not only a list of demands but a set of statements about the inadequacy of Harvard's resources. I thought that if Radcliffe officials felt that way, they should have picked up the phone and called me rather than leaving me to read of their views in The Crimson," Lewis writes in an e-mail message. "Apparently on this occasion at least the Radcliffe officials felt solidarity with this group of students was more important."

But in interviews with The Crimson, eight leaders and former leaders of campus women's groups deemed Lewis unresponsive and "dismissive" of issues surrounding sexual harassment and sexual violence on campus.

And despite Lewis' attempts to address gender concerns through programs such as the one to support undergraduate women in the sciences, campus feminist group leaders say it isn't enough.

"There has been no significant support from the College to start a support group for sexual assault survivors, to strengthen the role of Sexual Assault Sexual Harassment (SASH) advisors, survey the student body on the prevalence of sexual assault, or simply talk more about the issue," says Rabia S. Belt '01, a former member of the coalition and the managing editor of the liberal monthly Perspective.

Lewis did not attend this year's Take Back the Night rally, sponsored by the coalition, though Karen E. Avery '87, an assistant dean of Harvard College, was present. Lewis says he had another engagement that evening.

Such actions have alienated many Radcliffe alumnae and may jeopardize the fundraising potential of the Ann Radcliffe Trust--which Lewis organized to fund campus women's groups.