Students Relax After Cronkhite Plans Delayed

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study surprised a group of graduate students last week with the announcement that it will postpone renovations to the Cronkhite Graduate Center scheduled to take place this summer.

Radcliffe spokesperson Michael A. Armini confirmed that the new Institute decided to take an additional year to evaluate how Radcliffe will use the space.

As a result of the decision, 70 residential rooms in Cronkhite--a building that houses nearly 150 graduate students--will continue to serve as dorm rooms for an additional year.

The Institute had planned to convert 70 rooms into office space for the Institute's 58 academic fellows--the most Radcliffe has ever had. But the planned renovations will begin in the summer of 2001, Armini said.

"Our plan is to proceed with the changes at Cronkhite next year," he said.

Armini said the decision to delay construction came as Radcliffe continued to assess how best to use its buildings for the not quite year-old Institute. External considerations, such as obtaining the necessary permits to start a renovation project, were also a factor.

"As we proceeded with our space planning process, we couldn't stick to our original timetable," Armini said. "There are certain regulatory hurdles at the city level--those may prove to be significant. They may take more time; we wanted to take more time."

Armini said Radcliffe also spoke with Harvard's central administration about the University-wide ramification of displacing 70 graduate students from Cronkhite.

Earlier this spring when Radcliffe administrators announced plans to renovate Cronkhite, they were met with a barrage of hostilities and passionate monologues from current residents of Cronkhite. Most residents opposed the plan, saying the academic and residential community of Cronkhite was too special to disrupt.

Armini said the concern over a loss of housing for graduate students was "a factor in the overall decisions, one of many factors."

And with construction staved off for a year, Cronkhite students are claiming victory.

"This is excellent," said Alexander N. Skinner, a student at the Kennedy School of Government and a member of the task force formed by Cronkhite residents once the renovation plans were announced.

Residents planned a party Friday night to celebrate.

Even Acting Dean of Radcliffe Mary Maples Dunn contributed to the festivities, sending a case of champagne to the celebration.

The champagne arrived at the party with a large, typed note from Dunn that read "Cheers to another year in Cronkhite! Sorry I didn't get to tell you myself."

Armini said some minor work may be done to Cronkhite over the summer, but added that Radcliffe intends to carry through with its plans to create more space for its fellows a year from now.

"The main thing that came out of [discussions with students] is that Cronkhite is not just a housing facility, it is a community," Armini said. "Radcliffe's mission is very clear, and we plan to add to that community with fellows and visiting scholars."

Armini said that of the roughly 150 students living in Cronkhite this year, almost 96 live in the building for only a year.

"Our plan to convert 70 rooms would not have had an impact on the people who want to stay, just on the number of people who can come in the future," he said.

But Diane E. Smith, a Cronkhite resident who is enrolled in a one-year masters program at the Graduate School of Education, said the students' objections to the renovations were more about preserving the future of a vibrant community than concern for themselves.

"We wanted to save the community of students and scholars, the place where so many ideas are shared," she said.

Armini hinted that some construction work might occur in Radcliffe Yard this summer, but he would not be more specific.

"It looks very likely that we will be making some changes in Radcliffe Yard. I don't want to specify," he said.