Faust Reviews Role Of Radcliffe Institute

Drew Gilpin Faust, dean of the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, met with members of the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) yesterday to discuss Radcliffe’s role in the lives of undergraduates.

And despite a recent column in the Boston Globe suggesting Faust as a possible replacement for Jeremy R. Knowles as the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Faust reaffirmed her commitment to the Institute.

“I’m committed to what’s going on in Radcliffe,” she said. “I have the best job in higher education. I came to Harvard to do this job.”

Faust, who is a member of the FAS Committee on the Status of Women, said members of the committee discussed sending their opinions about the FAS dean search to University President Lawrence H. Summers.

“Women’s voices will be very much heard in the search,” Faust said.

Because three top-level positions will be filled in the next two years—the Graduate School of Education and the Divinity School are also looking for new deans—Faust said the period would be a “time of tremendous transition.”

She added that Summers’ choice of dean of FAS would have a significant impact on female undergraduates’ lives.

Faust also addressed Radcliffe’s unique position as an institution for academic study that is also committed to helping undergraduate women.

She said she hopes Radcliffe’s academic focus on women’s issues will help improve awareness throughout the University.

“Everybody across the University needs to own women’s issues,” Faust said.

While Radcliffe is eager to further the academic interests of female undergraduates, Faust said it will maintain distance from issues of social life. Faust added she does not want the Institute to be a “bucket in which [the schools] can deposit their radioactive gender issues.”

But she emphasized that that distance does not mean women’s issues will be neglected, but rather that the College will handle them.

“By saying I’m not dealing with final clubs, I’m not dealing with date rape, it means Harry Lewis’ office is completely responsible for that,” Faust said, referring to Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68.

Faust said the academic focus of Radcliffe precludes her from lobbying for a women’s center for undergraduates—one of RUS’ long-term goals.

But Faust said she wants to draw more female undergraduate and graduate students to Radcliffe, perhaps by providing money and space for them to work on their theses.

Rebeccah G. Watson ’04, RUS co-president, said the group invited Faust to speak because Radcliffe is relevant to their mission as a group representing the interests of undergraduate women.

“Despite the fact Radcliffe has become an Institute, there are so many issues that the Institute deals with that are essential to RUS concerns,” Watson said.

She cited RUS’ desire to see more women on the Faculty and the development of better relationships between female students and female professors as examples of common concerns.

Watson said the group’s talk with Faust was helpful in giving them information they would not necessarily know otherwise—such as the existence of teams of Faculty that look at the lack of women professors.

“It’s cool for us to know that, so we know where to apply pressure,” Watson said. “Undergraduates don’t really know about Radcliffe and even members of RUS have a lot more to learn.”

—Staff writer Anne K. Kofol can be reached at kofol@fas.harvard.edu.