Harvard-Radcliffe Merger Official Today

Radcliffe College and Harvard University officially merged at one minute after midnight this morning.

As most of the campus went to bed, Radcliffe College quietly became the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

A few Radcliffe stalwarts converged outside Fay House to mark the historic change. Beneath the small apple tree that guards Radcliffe Yard--a traditional symbol of the college--a group of Radcliffe officials gathered at 12:01 a.m. to toast the end of the 120-year-old institution's independence from Harvard and the birth of the Institute.

"Radcliffe has been around for 120 years," said A. Keene Metzger '67, the Institute's dean of administration and finance. "She deserves that we be here to see the light go from her... At the same time, we should see the first breath go into the lungs of the Radcliffe Institute."

As a stereo played music from the Harvard Glee Club, the group--which included Bunting Fellowship Program Director Rita Nakashima Brock--raised glasses of champagne at the precise moment of transition. Metzger rang an antique schoolhouse bell that belonged to his grandfather.

Last night, the Institute also launched a new Web site. The Lyman Common Room, a women's center in Agassiz House, has now been emptied of most of its decorations.

Leaders of Harvard and Radcliffe attended a dinner last Sunday to celebrate the final meeting of the now-defunct Radcliffe Board of Trustees.

"It's a wonderful event, and I could not be happier to be here," President Neil L. Rudenstine told about 75 Radcliffe trustees, administrators and members of the Harvard Corporation.

Nancy-Beth G. Sheerr '71, former chairman of the Radcliffe trustees, presented Rudenstine with a copy of the 1894 Radcliffe charter.

"What we celebrate tonight is Radcliffe's--the institution's--very own Commencement," Sheerr said.

With language traditionally reserved for Harvard presidents granting diplomas, Sheerr ceded her responsibilities to Rudenstine.

"With the power delegated to me by the Radcliffe Board of Trustees, I declare that Radcliffe College has prepared thoughtfully and well...and is thereby prepared to be welcomed into the community of institutes of advanced study," Sheerr said.

Throughout the evening Sheerr took center stage, as speakers took the opportunity to honor her for the nine years she has spent leading the trustees, including more than two years stewarding the merger deal.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say, we salute you, we thank you and we will always remember you," said former Radcliffe president Linda S. Wilson.

Sheerr and her two daughters dabbed their eyes frequently as dignitaries showered Sheerr with tributes and gifts.

Rudenstine presented Sheerr with an honorary resolution, and former trustee Susan S. Wallach '68 announced that the trustees' former meeting room in Fay House would be renamed the Nancy-Beth Gordon Sheerr Room.

The high point of the evening was a musical performance by Wallach, a sometime Gilbert and Sullivan performer, and former trustee Marianne W. Tobias '62.

The women were joined by two surprise guests, who Wallach introduced as "Buttercup Fineberg" and "Josephine Knowles."

The audience roared with laughter as Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 and Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles sashayed into the room wearing billowing 19th century-style ball gowns, lipstick and women's wigs.

The quartet sang three songs modeled on Gilbert and Sullivan tunes, roasting Sheerr's constant phone calls during the negotiations, as well as some of the deal's trickier sticking points.

"When we start to relax, please don't send us a fax, for we're surging, with urging, for merging," they sang to the tune of "Tit-Willow" from The Mikado.

Rudenstine praised Fineberg and Knowles for their unexpected musical and dramatic abilities.

"They have talents that I can't aspire to," he said. "I choose my deans and provost carefully, but that is definitely not in their job description."

One trustee quipped, "We've been trying to feminize Harvard for years, and at last we did it."

The evening closed as the assembled crowd rose to their feet and tearfully sang the Radcliffe College alma mater, "Radcliffe, Now We Rise to Greet Thee."

Those who attended the dinner said the friendly atmosphere was proof that Harvard and Radcliffe are ready for their integration.

"There's been a history of real misunderstandings and suspicions between these two institutions that I hope have vanished," Wallach said.