Amid rising tensions with Harvard University, Radcliffe may close the book on its 104-year history as an independent college, a newspaper reported.
Conflicting fund-raising campaigns and disputes over the Cambridge property the onetime women's college occupies fueled differences between Radcliffe and its parent institution, The Boston Globe reported Sunday.According to a corrective plan obtained by the Globe, Radcliffe would retool itself into a research institution allied with Harvard. Radcliffe officials couldn't be reached for comment Sunday.
The school was founded in 1894 as an independent college, a status necessitated by Harvard's refusal to educate women on its campus, a policy that didn't change until World War II.
In 1977, Radcliffe moved out of undergraduate education, although women who graduate from Harvard still get a Radcliffe seal on their diplomas, a practice that would end under the plan.