Word: institutionalize
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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As only the second president of the women's institution since the 1977 agreement which essentially ceded all responsibility for the lives of women undergraduates to Harvard College, Wilson has embarked on numerous initiatives to carve out a new role for Radcliffe.
A former research chemist, Wilson defied the expectations of many observers when she took the helm of the women's institution despite her lack of a traditional background in women's studies.
"A lot of women feel that Radcliffe isn't a college and hasn't been, at least for the length of our lives," Barber says. "Radcliffe is not a women's college. It doesn't offer education; it isn't a degree-granting institution."
To some it is a simple piece of paper with a seal and a few signatures. To others it is a tangible symbol, the culmination of four years of coursework, signifying an eternal connection to the institution of higher learning.
The proposed elimination of Radcliffe's role in undergraduate life will also alienate many female graduates and students, who see the institution abandoning a spirit cultivated by more than a century of bravely facing the glass ceiling.