June 5, 2009

Dozens of participants—marchers, singers, and speakers representing generations of Cliffies—took part in the Commemorative Service, which traditionally opens Radcliffe Day. Janet Corcoran ’79, MCR ’83 delivered the speech, while Mary Beekman ’75 directed the choir. Three readers shared the presentation of the Litany of Recognition and Thanksgiving, including Ellen McHugh La Follette ’54, Linda B. Miller ’59 (who also led the ceremony), and Erin McKenna ’09. The service at Christ Church Cambridge drew a larger crowd than in years past and focused the day’s activities closer to Radcliffe Yard.

Radcliffe Alumnae Awards Symposium

The Radcliffe Awards Symposium followed at the Loeb Drama Center, which was filled nearly to capacity. Dean Barbara J. Grosz presented the awards, after which the awardees spoke on this year’s topic, “Seeking Harmony in a Tumultuous World: How Does an Individual Make a Difference?” (Award winners and excerpts from their talks follow.) Joan Meschino ’87, a lawyer and public servant who chaired the 2009 Radcliffe Alumnae Awards Committee, moderated the event, which included a lively question-and-answer session.

Alumnae Recognition Awards

From left to right: Lisa Randall, Bonnie Tsui, Clara Longstreth, Raya S. Dreben, Sarah P. Chayes (Photo by Tony Rinaldo)

Raya S. Dreben ’49, LLB ’54 received an Alumnae Recognition Award for her groundbreaking career as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Appeals Court since 1979, as a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School from 1974 to 1977, and as a member of the second Harvard Law School class that included women graduates.

“[Sonia Sotomayor] has been criticized for asserting that a court of appeals is where policy is made. The criticism implies that a judge who has that view is an activist judge, in the pejorative sense: one who usurps legislative pedagogy. The problem with such criticism is that it misunderstands the function of a judge under our system. . . . Where there are no clear precedents, wise judges apply analogous ones or precedents elsewhere, recognizing always that the common law twists and turns based on society’s evolving concepts of fairness. It’s a test I feel honored and privileged to be a part of.”

Lisa Randall ’84, PhD ’87, RI ’03 received the Radcliffe Fellowship Award for her prominence in physics, based on her theories that the universe has hidden dimensions. Randall is the first woman theoretical physicist to gain tenure at Harvard and the first Radcliffe Institute fellow to be honored on Radcliffe Day.

“Women in math and science, or computation, are still viewed as odd. . . . Simply by pursuing the subject that draws and grabs us, I think women scientists end up as leaders. . . . We need to ensure that the environment exists where science can thrive and individual scientists are heard.”

Clara Longstreth ’59 received an Alumnae Recognition Award for her work cofounding and conducting the New Amsterdam Singers, a critically acclaimed amateur chorus in New York City, which she has helmed for forty-one years.

“The right combination of a passionate text and deeply felt music can yield transcendent experiences. It can also yield conflict, causing our group to resemble the ‘tumultuous world.’ . . . In choral singing the whole is very much greater than the sum of its parts. A group of individuals work hard for the common good, nourishing their souls and those of the audience.”

Bonnie Tsui ’99 received the Jane Rainie Opel ’50 Young Alumna Award for her work as a travel correspondent and frequent contributor to the Boston Globe, the New York Times, and Travel + Leisure.

“The reason I write remains the same no matter what the topic: to discover and share the stories of ordinary, unheralded people who contribute to our world in surprising ways and see what they can tell us about our collective experience. If I can invite a reader to spend some time with the people within the pages I write, if through the course of that I can make them feel a little less alone and part of a community, or to find a surprising commonality with someone outside their normal experience, then I’ve done my job. Making those connections possible is the difference that I strive to make.”

Sarah P. Chayes ’84 received an Alumnae Recognition Award for her award-winning reporting on and humanitarian work in the Middle East, including her coverage of the Kosovo War and the fall of the Taliban. In 2005, she established the Arghand Cooperative with the aim of discouraging opium production by helping farmers earn a living from other crops. Chayes currently works as a special advisor to the commander of the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

“The trip here, over, I’d say, the last five to six days, has been rather a mind-bender: from sitting on a dirt floor with tribal elders in southern Afghanistan, hearing about the Taliban penetration into their districts . . .; to drinking beers with General McChrystal in Washington two days ago; to, yesterday, being chief marshal for the Commencement services. It’s been quite surreal.”

Distinguished Service Awards

The following alumnae were presented with Distinguished Service Awards at the Dean’s Dinner on the evening of June 4, 2009.

Louise Fisher Abbot ’49
Judith Kapstein Brodsky ’54
Sheila Malone King ’54
Stephanie Lang Martin ’59
Marie Louise (M. L.) Scudder ’59

2009 Radcliffe Awards Committee

Joan Meschino ’87, chair
Katie Austin ’09
Judith Farris Bowman ’61, past chair
Carol Freedman Lieberman ’61, MAT ’62, RS ’91
Yael Goldstein Love ’00
Jane Roland Martin ’51, EdM ’56, PhD ’61, BI ’81
Medb Mahony Sichko ’79, JD ’83
Pat Harrison, editor of Radcliffe Quarterly, Radcliffe Institute
Ann Kamensky, development officer, Radcliffe Institute
Shane A. Dunn, program assistant, Radcliffe Institute

Radcliffe Day Annual Luncheon

A capacity crowd of 900 gathered under the tent in Radcliffe Yard on June 5 to celebrate Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court. “It’s been an amazing century for us,” O’Connor said, pointing out that women now make up about 50 percent of law students, even though they account for only about 20 percent of the judiciary and 16 percent of equity partners in law firms. “Considering how dramatically conditions in this country changed for women in the last hundred years,” she said, “I think it’s difficult not to have optimism about our future.”

As she introduced O’Connor and awarded her the Radcliffe Institute Medal, Barbara J. Grosz, dean of the Institute, recognized the former justice for her pioneering role on the Supreme Court and for her service in all three branches of Arizona’s state government. Grosz lauded O'Connor's defense of an independent judiciary, her advocacy of the relevance of international law to the American judiciary, and her efforts to educate the public, especially students, about the United States Constitution.

“Justice Sandra Day O’Connor came to the United States Supreme Court from ‘big sky country,’ bringing respect for practical solutions, the modesty of knowing one’s place in the world, and a deep appreciation for the rule of law, which, as she has said, ‘offers the best approach to secure freedom and equality for all people,’” Grosz said.

Injecting a note of humor, Grosz pointed out that O’Connor is the first Radcliffe medalist to have been inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

The cowgirl who grew up on the Lazy B Ranch in Arizona and attended law school at Stanford University, graduating near the top of her class, had a rocky beginning as an attorney. O’Connor described how she couldn’t even land an interview for a job as a lawyer and was forced to begin her career by working for no pay as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo County, California, where she shared an office with the secretary. “I loved the work,” O'Connor said. “I was in public service and was privileged to get questions from county officers and boards and commissions that made a difference, that mattered.”

O’Connor said she took off about five years from her career when she was raising her children. “I was terribly worried I wouldn’t get another job because I had such a hard time in the first place,” she said. The audience roared when she added, “But I did. It seemed to work out reasonably well.”

Her lively speech was peppered with humor, including a reference to a “debilitating medical condition” suffered by Myra Bradwell, who applied to become a member of the bar in 1869 in Illinois. Seems Bradwell’s “condition” was the possession of two X chromosomes. “The first one was okay,” O’Connor said, “but it’s that second X chromosome that’s tough to overlook.”

 
Barbara J. Grosz, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Drew Gilpin Faust

Before O’Connor spoke, Grosz delivered a brief update on the Radcliffe Institute, reporting that Radcliffe, like the rest of the University and other academic institutions, has been affected by this year’s economic turmoil. “Despite the stress of these changing circumstances,” she said, “Radcliffe continues to move forward, bringing intellectual excellence and excitement to the Harvard community.” Grosz said it had been a year of “inspiring innovations and focused growth” in the Radcliffe Fellowship Program, the Schlesinger Library, and the Academic Engagement Programs.

She mentioned the Institute’s successful gender conference, “Gender and the Law: Unintended Consequences, Unsettled Questions,” which also featured a United States Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Court.


Photos by Tony Rinaldo