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In the spring of 1986, the Faculty Council approved the proposal, and in November, the proposal for a women’s studies concentration went up for a full faculty vote. The Committee on Women’s Studies began to steel themselves for the decisive faculty meeting.
At the packed November 1986 Faculty Meeting, Government Professor Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 stood to make a now infamous speech about the direction of academics at Harvard, questioning whether Women’s Studies should be a part of it.
“Harvey Mansfield gave this unbelievably embarrassing talk,” Spitzer said. “His judgment against it was so Neanderthal and so egregious that people didn’t want to be a part of that.”
Still, the efforts to improve the new department’s standing did not end. Young recalled being disillusioned when very few departments actually put someone up for the newly created tenured position that allowed for a joint professorship in Women’s Studies and another department.
“It was shocking to me that there were departments that didn’t care, even with the opportunity for a free senior faculty position,” Young said.