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Radcliffe College
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{{for|the school in the United Kingdom|Ratcliffe College}}
'''Radcliffe College''' is the historical name of a women's
educational institution closely associated with
Harvard University. It was one of the original
Seven Sisters (colleges) Seven Sisters colleges.
The "Harvard Annex" for women's instruction by Harvard faculty was founded in
1879 and chartered as Radcliffe College by the
Massachusetts Commonwealth of Massachusetts in
1894. It is named for Lady
Ann (Radcliffe) Mowlson Ann Mowlson, born Radcliffe, who established the first scholarship at Harvard in
1643. The first president was
Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, widow of Harvard professor
Louis Agassiz. Radcliffe built its own campus in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from that of Harvard.
During
World War II, Harvard and Radcliffe signed an agreement which allowed women to attend classes at Harvard for the first time, officially beginning
coeducation joint instruction in
1943. From
1963, Radcliffe students received Harvard diplomas signed by the presidents of Radcliffe and Harvard, and joint commencement exercises began in
1970. The same year, several Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories began swapping students experimentally, and in
1972 full
coresidence was instituted. The schools' departments of
athletics merged shortly thereafter.
In
1977, Harvard and Radcliffe signed an agreement which put
undergraduate women entirely in Harvard College, maintaining for them only a nominal enrollment in Radcliffe College. In practice all the energies of Radcliffe (which remained an autonomous institution) were devoted to its other initiatives, such as the Bunting fellowship program. During this time, the Harvard undergraduate community and class was officially known as "Harvard and Radcliffe" or "Harvard-Radcliffe", and female students continued to be awarded degrees signed by both presidents, even though Radcliffe had little to no impact on the average undergraduate's experience at the university.
On
October 1,
1999, this quaint arrangement came to an end, as Radcliffe College was finally fully absorbed into Harvard University; female undergraduates were henceforward members only of Harvard College while Radcliffe College evolved into the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
However, several undergraduate student organizations in Harvard College still refer to Radcliffe in their names, (for example the
Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra). Two athletic teams still compete under the Radcliffe name: varsity
College rowing (United States) crew, which still rows with Radcliffe's black-and-white oarblades and uniforms instead of Harvard's crimson-and-white (in
1973 the team had been the only varsity team which voted not to adopt the Harvard name); and club
Rugby football rugby. In addition, the
Harvard University Band still plays a Radcliffe
fight song.
Alumnae
*
Stockard Channing, actress, famous for her roles in
Grease (film) Grease and
The West Wing (TV series) The West Wing.
*
Helen Keller,
deafblind writer, activist
*
Ursula K. Le Guin, American writer, poet
*
Gertrude Stein, American writer, poet, playwright and feminist
*
Penn_State_Abington#Abby_Sutherland Abby Sutherland, cum laude graduate, head mistress, president, and owner of The Ogontz School for Girls. Sutherland deeded the school to
Penn State in 1950.
Fictional alumnae
*''Brenda Patimkin'', from the novella and consequent film ''
Goodbye, Columbus''
*''Jennifer Cavalleri'', from the film ''
Love Story''
References
*
Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz Horowitz, Helen Lefkowitz. '''Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women's Colleges from Their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s'''. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993 (2nd edition).
External links
-
Radcliffe Institute For Advanced Study - Harvard University
{{harvard}}
{{Seven_Sisters}}
Category:Harvard University
de:Radcliffe College
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