Merged Activities

The existence of two sexes has been quite a nuisance for Harvard. First it had to send its professors across the Common to teach the young ladies; last year it had to allow its students to make the 'Cliffies full members of their activities. This year it is faced with a new problem: caring for the welfare of the girls when they meet with their fellows in Harvard buildings.

For while Harvard trusts girls in its buildings, Radcliffe is not quite sure whether it will trust men in hers. For Radcliffe will allow none but her own to enter her buildings after 8:30 p.m.; in addition the college forbids alcohol to be served at any times, and spirits are a frequent refreshment at meetings. Merged activities, therefore, rely on Harvard buildings for evening meetings, giving the Harvard Dean's offices the responsibility of approving locations, finding chaperones, and recording all this data in triplicate.

The Dean's Office, patient as it is, grows weary of protecting the safety of students "from another college," as Dean Watson harriedly puts it, while Radcliffe smiles and sends her women to Harvard where she knows they will be safe.

Some have suggested that, when the new theatre is finished, Agassiz might be taken from the commuters, who seldom use it, and turned into a Harvard-Radcliffe activity center.

There is little reason why Radcliffe might not liberalize its rules in this day of merged activities. Her buildings would serve as welcome meeting places. It is also difficult to understand why alcohol will have a more potent effect on 'Cliffies if they drink it on their side of the common rather than on this. If Radcliffe is as much afraid of becoming absorbed into Harvard as she generally appears to be, she might well make it pleasant for girls to use her buildings, before the 'Cliffe becomes little more than a boarding house for wallflowers.