A Funny Thing Happened to the Forum

"We feel the decision was in sensitive to the ways the Forum serves the needs of women studying and working in the Harvard Community."

"I'm amazed that they could ignore us so completely...This decision is unacceptable."

--Protestors; spring, 1980

"It's certainly true that we're not exactly sure of what we've lost. I don't know that we've lost anything.

--Radcliffe Union of Students President; fall, 1981

Two springs have passed since some 50 women stood a fruitless vigil outside Agassiz House, while the Radcliffe Board of Trustees voted to abolish the Radcliffe Forum. The protest has long since ended. The decision, so "unacceptable" then, has been accepted, and by many, approved. The Office of the Associate Dean has replaced the Forum as Radcliffe's umbrella office for seminars, speeches and programs on women's issues. Everyone agrees that much has changed.

Changed is the activist political slant of the old Forum, which Amey DeFriez, chairman of Radcliffe's Board of Trustees, had said did not reflect "the proper role of Radcliffe." Changed is the Forum's orientation toward feminism, toward working women in the community or on Harvard's payroll. Changed also are the demands and concerns of Radcliffe students.

"It isn't the age of Gloria Steinem right now," says Melita M. Garza '81-3, treasurer of the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS). "People are concerned with doing well and getting ahead...Changes on campus reflect changes in society as a whole."

Philippa A. Bovet, associate dean of Radcliffe since last year, agrees. "Most students' interests revolve around what they'll be doing when they leave here, what graduate plans they have--career related issues," she says.

The Forum, to the ire of some Radcliffe trustees, used to hold community seminars, sponsor events such as International Working Women's Week, and bring together Harvard's women employees to talk about salary scales. Bovet denies that the administration forces her away from political controversy, but says that the smaller size of her office makes its own constraints.

"I have to make priorities. The most important thing is to attend to the need of the undergraduate students," she says. Students, she adds, are not approaching the Associate Dean's Office with feminist politics.

"We made a political exchange," says Elizabeth A. Einaudi '83, president of RUS, adding, "We had a choice between the political education of the community and an emphasis on young women's career goals and opportunities...I don't think that undergraduate women have been the ones to suffer in the change."

At least one active RUS member, who asked not to be identified, finds the trade unsatisfactory. "Today's freshman is missing a woman's orientation," she says, adding that the Associate Dean's emphasis on career guidance "continues the elite professionalism they have here."

On the other hand, Valerie A. Sanchez '83, one of two student representatives to the Board of Trustees, claims the Associate Dean's Office is more representative of student's personal concerns than the Forum ever was. Bovet's office "redirects funds and energy to more undergraduate activities," she says, adding, "Some undergraduates were apolitical, even afraid of politics. The Forum was really working against those students."

Now the accent is different. Bovet wants to expose students to alumnae from various professions with experience in the job market. Lectures, panels, receptions, internships, externships--all have been revised or expanded to emphasize career advising.

The Associate Dean's Office, Perez says, "is much more responsive to the students than a Forum. It's partnership. It's like a finals club in a lot of ways. There are more things there than simply politics."

But not everyone is satisfied. An RUS officer, who declined to be identified, says the new structure is "not progressive, like you'd expect Radcliffe to be" on women's issues.

"I think the Forum tried to appeal to all parts of women's lives instead of just careers, and the Associate Dean's office doesn't think that's important," she says.

She adds, "Radcliffe is very much a creature of current events. They worry about their image to the alumnae. The community comes second."

But her words, like those of the protestors two springs ago, seem rooted in a worldview different from her RUS colleagues. "Everybody graduated," she says. "That's the great thing for a university. In four years you don't have to worry about a problem, because all the big mouths are gone."