And whether the report accurately reflects campus women’s groups and their concerns is also uncertain. Because the report was published through the Dean’s Office, women’s groups that are not officially recognized by the College are not mentioned, even in passing, in the report. These include groups like the Seneca and the Bee as well as sororities like Delta Gamma.
“I understand why they didn’t include the social groups…but coming into Harvard most freshmen know about the final clubs for men on campus, but I don’t think they’ve heard much about what there is for women,” said M. Kate Richey ’03, president of Delta Gamma.
“Social groups are an important sector to look at when looking at all of the opportunities for women on campus,” she added.
The report’s limited distribution has also drawn fire from students. Students can only get the report at the Trust’s table at the activities fair.
“There’s no sense in having a report if it’s not disseminated,” said Levy, chair of the Association of Black Harvard Women. “Even I don’t know how I can get access to a report like this and I’m a women’s group leader.”
Associate Dean of the College Karen E. Avery ’87, director of the Trust, which funded the report, said it was not originally intended to be circulated widely, instead only going to certain administrators and interested students. Last Thursday, most of the 3,000 copies published were still sitting in boxes in Avery’s office.
But Avery noted that the report may be distributed to more students. Depending on interest, the report may be placed online, dropped off at dining halls and door-dropped to suites. Still, these are only tentative plans, she said.
Avery and Steinberg acknowledge that there is room for improvement in the future—the report may be updated and republished in a year or two.
“We are hoping that with annual revisions it will widen its scope, especially to include more issues that women on campus deal with on a regular basis,” Steinberg said.
—Staff Writer Juliet J. Chung can be reached at jchung@fas.harvard.edu.