Radcliffe Medal Winner Reno Calls for 'Edu-Care'

By Alvin Powell

Contributing Writer

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno challenged universities and educators last Friday to help build bridges between different elements of society, so that people will be better able to confront the drugs, crime, and domestic abuse that plague this country's youth.

"The academic world can lead us away from the specialization that avoids collaboration," Reno said. "We do not raise a child with a specialty. We do not build a nation with a specialty."

Reno, the first woman attorney general in U.S. history and a 1963 graduate of Harvard Law School, spoke at the annual luncheon of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association in Radcliffe Yard. The association awarded Reno its Radcliffe Medal, given to individuals whose lives and work have a significant impact on society.

In a broad-ranging speech, Reno called for early childhood programs combining elements of education and day care, which she dubbed "edu-care." She also called for new efforts to fight domestic violence, to promote drug treatment, and for a national examination of beliefs concerning children and guns.

Radcliffe President Linda S. Wilson also spoke before the gathering, addressing alumnae concerns about Radcliffe's future raised by recent media reports.

"This is a vibrant, healthy, thriving institution," Wilson said.

Wilson went on to say that Radcliffe is in the midst of a planning process to define its future role and that it will discuss possibilities with alumnae when the process has produced some firm proposals, possibly in the fall.

Wilson spent the first part of her half-hour speech enumerating Radcliffe's achievements in the past year, including the creation of a new student advisory council and creative writing workshops, speakers who attended events at Radcliffe, and publications produced by its different institutes.

She also spoke of Radcliffe's fundraising success, saying that annual giving has doubled in the past year.

"You might say we're on a roll," Wilson said.

Reno joins a long list of distinguished recipients of the Radcliffe Medal, including last year's recipient, opera singer Jessye Norman. Others include historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in 1996, national correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault in 1995, former Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in 1994, and American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole in 1993.

Reno was sworn in as the 78th attorney general in 1993. She has headed the Justice Department through a variety of controversial situations, from the standoff at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City to the government's antitrust lawsuit against computer software giant Microsoft.

Born in Miami, Reno grew up in the family home on the edge of the Everglades and spent much of her career in Florida, in private practice and as state attorney for Dade County, a position to which she was elected five times.

Reno spoke to a receptive audience of more than 1,000 Radcliffe alumnae and University officials, who were sheltered from Friday's windy yet sunny day by a large tent erected on Radcliffe Yard.

Reno was given a standing ovation when she was introduced by Radcliffe Alumnae Association President Jane Tewksbury. Tewksbury described Reno as someone who has "demonstrated over and over again that she can take the heat."

Reno, who said she was touched at being honored with the Radcliffe Medal, has a reputation of being an advocate for children and made that priority clear in her speech Friday.

Recent statistics that show crime is down create a danger of complacency, she said. People should seize the opportunity to attack the root causes of crime. Doing nothing, she said, will lead to a resurgence in crime, to a widening of the wage gap between the rich and poor, and to "unease, dissension, and division."

After years of investing in technology, Reno said it is time to invest in people. She enumerated several different ways to ensure children grow up safe and away from the lure of crime.

She called on everyone to do his or her part to help children and to work to strengthen families. She called for a focus on domestic violence, saying that children who grow up in households with domestic violence are in danger of repeating that behavior when they grow older.

"If schools and employers work together on domestic violence, we can change the culture of this nation so our grandchildren will look back and say, 'They did what?'" Reno said.

Reno also said society ought to be able to figure out a rational system of child care up to and including shifting work schedules so that parents can be home from work when a child gets home from school, perhaps even then returning to work to complete their day.

Other points of Reno's speech included:

* Early childhood education for children ages 0 to 3.

* Keeping school buildings open to house programs for children during after-school hours.

* Increased emphasis on nonviolent dispute resolution, including new training for teachers.

* A new effort to change the national culture about guns and youth, so that guns stay out of the hands of young people and are only used by adults trained in firearm safety.

* More drug treatment programs.

* More job training programs.

Despite the conflicts and controversies she's been involved in since becoming attorney general, Reno said she hasn't become cynical about the nation's future. The future, she said, rests with children and, given the proper care, they can overcome adversity in their lives.

"Children are some of the toughest little creatures you ever saw," Reno said. "If you give them half a chance, they'll succeed. Let's give them a real chance so they'll really succeed."