"All the statues are male, all but one of the paintings are male...this is a very male-centered environment," Shames says. "All this sends a message and the message is that this is a place that's not so welcoming to women. We're trying to change that."

In contrast, Karen E. Avery '87, director of the Trust and associate dean of the College, believes the report will be used primarily by first-years as a directory of women's groups on campus.

Victoria L. Steinberg '01, who also helped to create the report, says the report will strengthen the network of women's groups on campus and provide an overarching, institutional history of student efforts.

"It's very important to get a sense each year of where the different groups are and of what is and is not being addressed. Verbalizing and publicizing these dialogues will benefit both students and administrators," Steinberg says.

Shames and Steinberg initially applied for a fall grant from the Ann Radcliffe Trust-established last year to fund projects that focus on women at Harvard-to create the report as a founding project for the Women's Initiative Network (WIN).

WIN is a network of undergraduate women's groups, founded last spring by Shames and Steinberg, that coalesced around the common desire for a women's center at Harvard.

But Avery saw a proposal with potential and offered official administrative support for the project.