Women Should Have Seal of Harvard College On Diploma

With the recent discussion on the state of Harvard undergraduate diplomas, a discrepancy which has long bothered me came again to my mind. When we receive our degrees on a hopefully pleasant June day in the not-so-distant future, not only will the inscriptions on them differ according to the various fields of study of the recipients, but they will also differ according to the gender of the recipients. For, while undergraduate women at this University attend Harvard College classes, live in Harvard College dormitories, take their meals in common dining halls and in every other conceivable way share with their male counterparts in the Harvard College experience, when it comes time to receive our degrees, those of women will make no mention of Harvard College, as our male classmates' will. Our diplomas will instead bear the seals of Harvard University and Radcliffe College.

To me, this seems like either a glaring oversight or a deliberate attempt to maintain the last visible remnant of a thankfully bygone era when women were not allowed the position men have historically enjoyed in the academic world. Radcliffe is a wonderful institution with a history we can be proud of. However, Radcliffe is no longer an institution which has as its primary function the instruction or housing of female students-- that role belongs to Harvard College. On Radcliffe's Web page, it is stated: "By agreement between the institutions, women undergraduates who are admitted and enrolled in Radcliffe are thereby enrolled in Harvard College with all the attendant rights and privileges accorded by Harvard College enrollment." It would seem that one of these "attendant rights and privileges" is the awarding of a diploma bearing the seal of Harvard College and the signature of its dean upon successful completion of undergraduate studies.

As men and women now attend the same classes, live in the same residences, take the same tests and attend the same College, we should have the same diplomas. Radcliffe educated women at Harvard in an age when it was impossible to do so otherwise, but now things are different. To change diplomas to reflect the institutions by which female students are actually educated does not devalue or degrade the Radcliffe tradition--it would simply be a recognition of a change which has long since taken place.

I urge the administration of this University to take into serious consideration this request. Your Harvard daughters are held to the same standards as are your Harvard sons, and we should all be equally rewarded for our achievements. On a warm June day in 1999, I hope to join the community of educated men and women, and through the tears of joy I will most likely shed on that occasion, I hope to look down at a diploma which bears the seal of the College and University which have been responsible for my education. Please do not deny me and my fellow Harvard women that acknowledgement, for we will have earned it. --Rachel E. Barber '99