Knowles: Serving Students Is Priority

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles was noncommittal about further concentration on women's issues at Harvard in an interview Monday with The Crimson.

Students participating in Friday's Radcliffe Day panel had criticized the College for not living up to its responsibility towards undergraduate women.

Knowles said meeting the needs of all students is the administration's top priority.

"Our goal is to be aware of and sensitive to the needs of undergraduates, women and men," he said. "So I certainly hope in our policies and in our actions that we will become fully sensitive to the concerns expressed."

The members of the panel also called for mandatory sexual harassment and rape education for first years. Currently, Harvard requires no such education for first-years during Orientation Week.

Knowles said time restraints and a large number of pressing topics make it difficult to decide what mandatory programs to schedule during Orientation Week.

"We must constantly ask ourselves whether we are doing enough both in our introductory programs and continually throughout the academic year in our concerns about alcohol, sexual harassment, diversity and so on," he said.

Although Knowles acknowledged the importance of sexual harassment awareness, he said no new Orientation Week programs were being formally considered at this time.

Responding to the panel's request for better support for the women's studies program, Knowles said the support for each degree program is based on the number of students within the program.

Knowles also discussed the revisions to the Knafel Center plans. He said the progression of the discussion is encouraging.

"I hope the movement away from any perturbation to the frame houses on Sumner Road will convince our neighbors that we want to improve the neighborhood," Knowles said.

He added that Harvard hoped "to improve both the functioning of the Faculty and the attractiveness of the neighborhood" through the construction project.

In addition, Knowles commented on the recent proposals designed to increase space at the University.

The plans recommend renovating Harvard Hall and Holden Chapel to increase the number of classrooms, and offering more classes at 9 a.m., which is currently an off-peak time. Knowles said improved classroom space management is optimal for efficiency and costs.

"[The question is] do we build new classrooms or do we try to use better what we have?" Knowles said. "Because building new classrooms means we may not have the money to do something more important."