For example, in the past, I've been involved in discussions of university policies on campus security and part-time employment that had particular significance for women. But I also see my role on the Academic Council as broader than that of a representative for women. I believe that, apart from President Rudenstine, I'll be the only member of the council with an advanced degree in the humanities. So, depending on the kinds of questions the council addresses, I might find myself an advocate for the humanities as well. In a letter he wrote to the Harvard community in May 1999, President Rudenstine set forth the agenda for the new dean in a manner that I have found very helpful as I've considered how to approach the tasks ahead.
Challenges are also opportunities.
The Radcliffe Institute's position within Harvard challenges us to draw on the extraordinary intellectual resources of the University and its schools and yet to maintain our independence from them. And the existence of thirty thousand Radcliffe alumnae presents this Institute for Advanced Study with a unique constituency, one no comparable institute possesses. This also gives us special access to a very gifted group of individuals, whom I anticipate calling on for advice and participation and, of course, for financial support. I see in this two-fold mission the opportunity of interrelating the two agendas in ways that transform scholarship while enhancing the impact of gender studies and advancing the role of women. In fact, I think the juxtaposition of these two commitments is a quite brilliant achievement of the merger committee.