Major Progress Made In Talks About Radcliffe

Harvard University and Radcliffe College officials will announce a major decision regarding the future of the relationship between the two institutions by the end of this week.

Sources have said for the last 12 months that the goal of negotiations would be a "full merger" between the two schools, in which Radcliffe would drop its "college" designation and become instead an institute under the auspices of Harvard.

The announcement will come after more than a year of closed-door negotiations between the two schools, during which both sides have been tight-lipped about the future relationship.

In recent months, high-level sources have said the talks have been touch-and-go. They have noted that if either side had chosen to break off discussions at any point--as they were at times seriously considering--the relationship would simply have remained as it currently stands.

Under an agreement signed by the two schools in 1977, Radcliffe College is legally and fiscally independent from Harvard. The institution independently owns more than 20 acres of prime Cambridge real estate and has an endowment of about $200 million.

Female undergraduates are admitted by a joint Harvard-Radcliffe Office of Admissions. Radcliffe immediately transfers tuition and all responsibilities for educating and housing undergraduate women to Harvard.

The current discussions have aimed to bring the two schools closer together.

If the two sides have now come to the long-sought merger, Radcliffe's official claims to undergraduate women will likely cease.

Female undergraduates would no longer receive diplomas adorned with the Radcliffe seal or the signature of a Radcliffe president. The unique diploma, a symbol of the 120-year-old institution's continued presence on campus, became the focal point of a debate last year among undergraduates.

During the ongoing negotiations, Radcliffe's four major research institutions--the Bunting Institute, the Schlesinger Library, the Murray Research Center and the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute--have continued their research and regular round of lectures.

In January, Annemette Sorensen, incoming director of the Murray, told The Crimson that she had been told directly that the future of her institute was not in jeopardy because of thenegotiations.

If the two schools were to merge fully,Radcliffe's considerable acreage in the Cambridgearea would most likely be sold to space-strappedHarvard. Currently, Harvard uses some ofRadcliffe's buildings, including the Quad Housesand Hilles Library, essentially free of charge.Scuffles like last spring's dispute over Harvard'sfuture occupancy of Radcliffe's Byerly Hall couldbe permanently avoided.

Under Harvard's umbrella, Radcliffe'sadministrative structure, including itsindependent and self-selecting Board of Trusteesand the college president they choose, wouldlikely be affected by a full merger.

At a lunch for undergraduates two weeks ago,Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson did not ruleout the possibility that she will be stepping downas the head of the 120-year-old institution.

"You don't sign up for involuntary servitudefor the rest of your life," Wilson told anundergraduate who asked about her personal future."Presidents step up, and presidents step down."

Radcliffe alumnae have been eagerly awaiting anannouncement of any kind from their institutionsince last spring, when news first broke that theRadcliffe Board of Trustees had entered into anintensive round of talks with Harvard withoutconsulting them.

One week ago, the Board of Management of theRadcliffe College Alumnae Association (RCAA)discussed the results of a year-long study of itsown future. RCAA leaders said then that their ownfuture was contingent on the decisions made by thecollege's trustees about the future of Radcliffe.They said they could only hope that the trusteeswere keeping the interests of Radcliffe's 27,000alumnae in mind.

The RCAA currently receives all of its fundingfrom Radcliffe College. It is not yet clear howthe organization might be funded under anynewly-formed Radcliffe Institute.

Another organization whose future hangs in thebalance of this week's announcement is theRadcliffe Union of Students (RUS). Originallyfounded as the student government of Radcliffe,RUS now serves as an advocate for female studentsand an umbrella organization for women's groups oncampus.

The group, which is run out of Radcliffe'sLyman Common Room, distributes up to $10,000 ayear to various student organizations from a $5term bill fee assessed on all Radcliffe students.

If Radcliffe College disappears, so might RUS'student-based funding. However, RUS PresidentKathryn B. Clancy '01 has said that she has beenassured that while RUS may change, it willprobably not disappear.

In the meantime, Radcliffe affiliates anxiouslywait word of what is to come.

"I keep waiting for there to be some closure,"said Marcy W. Plunkett '71, RCAA regionalrepresentative

If the two schools were to merge fully,Radcliffe's considerable acreage in the Cambridgearea would most likely be sold to space-strappedHarvard. Currently, Harvard uses some ofRadcliffe's buildings, including the Quad Housesand Hilles Library, essentially free of charge.Scuffles like last spring's dispute over Harvard'sfuture occupancy of Radcliffe's Byerly Hall couldbe permanently avoided.

Under Harvard's umbrella, Radcliffe'sadministrative structure, including itsindependent and self-selecting Board of Trusteesand the college president they choose, wouldlikely be affected by a full merger.

At a lunch for undergraduates two weeks ago,Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson did not ruleout the possibility that she will be stepping downas the head of the 120-year-old institution.

"You don't sign up for involuntary servitudefor the rest of your life," Wilson told anundergraduate who asked about her personal future."Presidents step up, and presidents step down."

Radcliffe alumnae have been eagerly awaiting anannouncement of any kind from their institutionsince last spring, when news first broke that theRadcliffe Board of Trustees had entered into anintensive round of talks with Harvard withoutconsulting them.

One week ago, the Board of Management of theRadcliffe College Alumnae Association (RCAA)discussed the results of a year-long study of itsown future. RCAA leaders said then that their ownfuture was contingent on the decisions made by thecollege's trustees about the future of Radcliffe.They said they could only hope that the trusteeswere keeping the interests of Radcliffe's 27,000alumnae in mind.

The RCAA currently receives all of its fundingfrom Radcliffe College. It is not yet clear howthe organization might be funded under anynewly-formed Radcliffe Institute.

Another organization whose future hangs in thebalance of this week's announcement is theRadcliffe Union of Students (RUS). Originallyfounded as the student government of Radcliffe,RUS now serves as an advocate for female studentsand an umbrella organization for women's groups oncampus.

The group, which is run out of Radcliffe'sLyman Common Room, distributes up to $10,000 ayear to various student organizations from a $5term bill fee assessed on all Radcliffe students.

If Radcliffe College disappears, so might RUS'student-based funding. However, RUS PresidentKathryn B. Clancy '01 has said that she has beenassured that while RUS may change, it willprobably not disappear.

In the meantime, Radcliffe affiliates anxiouslywait word of what is to come.

"I keep waiting for there to be some closure,"said Marcy W. Plunkett '71, RCAA regionalrepresentative