GOP Club May Strike 'Radcliffe' From Name

Next Monday, the Harvard-Radcliffe Republican club is expected to remove "Radcliffe" from its official title.

The proposed amendment to the group's constitution would resurrect its original title. The name changed in 1992, around the time Karen E. Boyle '93 was elected the club's first women president.

"In all honesty, it is a pain in the butt to say Harvard-Radcliffe," said Republican Club President Bradford P. Campbell '95.

Campbell added that he thinks the name change will better represent the conservative organization.

"Men cannot get a Radcliffe diploma...and women get a diploma which says Harvard on it," Campbell said. "The [new] name more accurately reflects the membership."

Club Member At Large Polly C. Langendorf '97, said yesterday that she felt the absence of "Radcliffe" from the group's official name would not be missed.

"When I think of The Harvard Crimson the first thing that comes to my mind isn't, 'Where is Radcliffe?'"

Most of us wouldn't say we're Harvard-Radcliffe students," Langendorf said.

But not all club members support the change.

Republican Club Program Director Kim R. Walberg '96 said she thought the name change would taint the club's image.

"The Republican Club has a reputation on campus that it is just geared towards white males," Walberg said. "Doing this change is just going to promote more of that false image."

Megan Lewis '95, president of the Radcliffe Union of Students, questioned the necessity of the name change but said, "I don't think its that big of a deal."

Perspective President Josh A. Felt-man '95, said he thinks the name change is intended to make a definite statement. "They clearly mean it as a slap at Radcliffe and the value of Radcliffe," Feltman said.

Christopher Garcia '95 was policy director of the club in 1992 and supported the original name change to include "Radcliffe."

"The logic behind the change was that we thought, as an organization, that it was time to catch up with the times," Garcia said.

Garcia, who is no longer a member of the club, said he feels deleting "Radcliffe" from the group's title illustrates how the organization has changed from its more inclusive stance in 1992.

When the pointedly conservative and controversial Campbell was elected last year, several club members said they thought he would take the club in the "distinctly reactionary" direction and left.

"[The name change is] a final indication of a club that has turned its back on an attempt to adopt the big-tent philosophy," Garcia said.

Former club president Boyle, now a student at the New Albany School of Medicine agreed that today's club is less inclusive.

"The moderate people have left because there's no place left for them in the club," she said

"[The name change is] a final indication of a club that has turned its back on an attempt to adopt the big-tent philosophy," Garcia said.

Former club president Boyle, now a student at the New Albany School of Medicine agreed that today's club is less inclusive.

"The moderate people have left because there's no place left for them in the club," she said