And today, that same frustration and protest over the absence of an official women’s center on campus has been revived. Students in the RUS note that Harvard is the only Ivy League school without a space specifically dedicated to women.

The Undergraduate Council (UC) has made an official call for the College to build such a space. In May 2004, the UC voiced major support for the construction of a women’s center to be housed in Hilles Library following its upcoming renovations.

This past December, the UC renewed these efforts, outlining a bill asking for, among other things, the creation of the Harvard-Radcliffe Women’s Center. The space would be set aside for meetings and gatherings of women’s groups and provide information about women’s issues.

Stemming from the efforts to elect women leaders that marked the late 1970s, female leaders of prominent undergraduate organizations are commonplace today. Last year Harvard Hillel elected its first female president, and there has been an increase in the number of female organizations.

Women are fighting new battles now as well: to increase the percentage of women in the ranks of the faculty and to encourage more women to study math and the sciences.

—Staff writer Bari M. Schwartz can be reached at bschwart@fas.harvard.edu.