Keeping the Maiden Name

When Radcliffe College signs a merger deal with Harvard this week, it will lose many of its familiar elements--its ties to undergraduates, its board of trustees and even its president.

But one symbol of the college, often overlooked, will remain: its name.

In the college's 120-year history, the Radcliffe name has symbolized a commitment to women's education and advancement. More recently, specialized programs like the Radcliffe Publishing Course have won significant acclaim in their fields.

But despite that tradition, many alumnae say that outside the Northeast and the academic world, a mention of Radcliffe often draws a blank.

Alumnae say the new Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study could help reinvigorate the Radcliffe brand by attracting prominent researchers and intellectuals to Cambridge.

In certain arenas, the Radcliffe name still packs a punch, although sometimes not quite as powerful as Harvard's.

In the intellectual world, for example, Radcliffe does not enjoy all of the luster of Harvard, alumnae say--which is ironic since Harvard and Radcliffe students have shared the same classes for more than 50 years.

Still, "it's a very prestigious name in academic circles and carries a certain panache," says Ellen H. Goodman '63, a Boston Globe columnist. "I think it's a powerful influence."

"People who are university people anywhere in the country would recognize Radcliffe," adds Phyllis R. Stein '63, former director of Radcliffe Career Services.

The institution is respected in medicine, too, says Diana E. Post '67, a physician and second vice president of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association (RCAA).

But business is another story.

"In the last few years I started to say Radcliffe College/Harvard University in places like my corporate bio, but what's tended to happen is that it causes more confusion than it answers," says Janet C. Corcoran '79, a regional director for RCAA who works on Wall Street. "It's just easier to say Harvard and leave it at that."

RCAA President A'Lelia P. Bundles '74 agrees that the Radcliffe pedigree doesn't extend as far in the corporate world.

"Everybody knows the Harvard name, and only some people know the Radcliffe name," says Bundles, a journalist and author in Washington. "But the people who know the Radcliffe name truly respect it and know its value."

Geography also plays a role. In New England, home to many of the nation's most famous women's colleges, Radcliffe is familiar to most professionals, alums say.

Even many Northeasterners who did not attend Harvard or Radcliffe know someone who did, Corcoran says.

"I find it's value-added when I'm interacting with other professional women [in New York] because Radcliffe will have been an institution a classmate went to, or a friend or a sibling," Corcoran says.

But farther from Cambridge, Radcliffe's visibility decreases--even though Harvard is famous around the world.

"There are certainly many people around the country who couldn't put their finger on Radcliffe and could on Harvard," Post says. "If you're out in Oklahoma and you say you went to Radcliffe, I would suspect you might want to add 'Harvard' to it."

Emily M. Hodges '66, president of the Radcliffe Club of Cincinnati, says it's too complicated to explain to people where her alma mater is.

"Most people have never heard of Radcliffe out in this part of the world," Hodges says. "I usually just say Harvard."

With such limited range, the Radcliffe name might seem like an insignificant asset--or even awkward conversation piece--for most graduates. But some alumnae say it is a crucial tool for establishing relationships with other professional women.

"It's a bonding tool with women...because you are dealing with women of comparable ambition and intellect," Corcoran says. "Radcliffe is uniquely positioned to bring those women together."

Corcoran points to RCAA functions in New York as a place for professional women to network and assist one another.

"It's like the way men like to get together and go out and play golf," she says. "It's certainly been as strong as any of the other networks I have had."

But Corcoran adds that the networking at Radcliffe functions is not self-serving.

"It's more than helping someone get a job or references," she says. "It's about...finding kindred spirits who care about work and family issues or care about school funding or funding for the arts or educating young girls."

Bundles says that whether she identifies herself as a Harvard or a Radcliffe graduate is often a strategic calculation: Harvard when she wants to impress and establish credentials, Radcliffe for opening avenues of discussion.

"If you tell people you went to Harvard you can stop a conversation; if you tell people you went to Radcliffe you can start a conversation," she says. "People are intimidated if you went to Harvard, so if you're interested in communicating with people, you tell them you went to Radcliffe."

One field where the Radcliffe name is especially valuable is publishing, thanks to the Radcliffe Publishing Course. The six-week summer course, which is now in its 52nd year, trains 100 young college graduates for careers in the industry.

The New York Times recently called the course "the most celebrated summer program of its kind."

The publishing course boasts a 96 percent job placement rate and widespread recognition among publishers, says Director Lindy A. Hess.

"It has the kind of cachet that you have when you say you went to Harvard," she says.

One important reason for its graduates' success is the multiple chances to network. Associate Director Jeremy A. M. Evans says students are able to talk to one another and to professionals at meals, question-and-answer sessions, breaks and the course's "sherry hour."

"More and more, the industry is dependent on the course," Hess says. "We know everybody in the industry."

Because of the course's precise focus, it has managed to achieve significant name recognition--a lesson that the rest of Radcliffe can regain now that its confusing ties with Harvard and undergraduates are clarified, alumnae say.

"The history, the affiliation with women and women's issues for over a hundred years, the national recognition of places like the Schlesinger Library and the Bunting Institute...are all things Radcliffe can build on," Stein says.

And if the new Institute focuses on women and gender, the Radcliffe name may prove more valuable even than its big brother's, Goodman says.

"For issues relating to women and women's place in society, it's a better name than Harvard," she says. "In that community, wouldn't you rather have the Radcliffe name?"