Radcliffe Isn't Useless

I take exception to The Harvard Crimson's staff editorial titled "Radcliffe Should Cut Bureaucracy" (Opinion, October 24, 1996). You presume to judge the financial operations of an academic institution whose importance and role in the college community you do not appear to understand. To edify those who believe that Radcliffe College is nothing more than, as you write, "a free T-shirt at registration and an extra signature on women's diplomas," I will briefly describe the college.

Radcliffe College seeks to support and study the work of women both through its educational programs and its Institutes for Advanced Study. Its educational programs include the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies, the world-renowned Radcliffe Publishing Course, the Radcliffe Seminars and abundant programs designed for undergraduates such as Education for Action, the Harvard and Radcliffe Science Alliance and the Radcliffe Research Partnership Program, to name just a few. The college also provides numerous fellowships and grants that fund student projects, from senior theses to international travel.

Radcliffe's four Institutes for Advanced Study are another way in which Radcliffe seeks to empower and advance women. The Bunting Institute is a multi-disciplinary research center that provides facilities and funding for the projects and work of women scholars. The Schlesinger Library is the nation's foremost research library on the history of women in America. The Radcliffe Public Policy Institute gathers policy makers, social leaders, media representatives and scholars to develop new strategies for public policy problems, and finally, the Murray Research Center is one of the leading social science data archives for the study of human lives over time. These institutes not only produce up-to-date research concerning the most pressing social problems, but also welcome the contributions and interest of undergraduates.

I hope my brief description of Radcliffe proves to you that the college is not a "bloated bureaucracy clinging to its past," to use your words. While I am not in a position to dispute your financial figures concerning Radcliffe, I urge you to reconsider your appraisal of the college. The institution's remarkable endeavors deserve your recognition and respect. --Erin Bannister '98