When Hari Kern ‘64 attended Ithaca College, IC’s campus was still downtown with dorms and classes lining Buffalo Street. The 1960s were a time of change. The Civil Rights movement was under way, and the United Stated had started its involvement in the Vietnam War. Women comprised 32% of the workforce and only earned 60 cents on the dollar. Women could not own credit cards, could not make contracts, and could not buy or sell property. Women were looking to change all this, and academia was a place where they were making strides—in 1960, 29% of college students were women; up from 23% in 1950.
Has the world changed that much for women since 1964?
By Kim Wunner, March 27, 2025
A look at feminism through the eyes of Hari Kern ’64
Hari Kern '64 and IC's Ariel Palau '15 talk about what has changed for women since the 1960's.
Hari Kern '64 and IC's Ariel Palau '15 talk about what has changed for women since the 1960's.
"Throughout your life, you're going to look for change. I mean, that's that nature of being a human being. We're always looking ahead, trying to make things better."
Hari Kern shows us her Ithaca College ID from 1960. Photo Credit: Erica Baker
Hari Kern was part of that influx of women into higher education. A child piano prodigy, the Illinois native knew she wanted to study piano but since she was unsure of the career path it could offer her, she desired a liberal arts school. A friend in high school mentioned Ithaca College. At the time, Hari was considering Oberlin College because of its strong music program and the opportunities it offered to send students to study abroad in Germany. The more she learned about IC, the more it sounded like Oberlin. She applied to both schools, but IC won out in the end. While the college did not have study abroad programs then, it did award Hari a full scholarship.
She arrived, sight unseen. As Hari remembers those years, “I was really happy at college, actually. I think they were some of the best four years in my life. It was very special. My piano teacher was excellent. He was George King Driscoll. He was just a master. And I loved my living situation at that time. If you were around there, you had people playing on drum pads and voices. None of it was soundproof. Onto the street ... horns and everything ... just this cacophony of stuff ... it was so great.”
Shows the Williams Hall residence wing, 130 E. Buffalo St., with the dining & office wing to left.
Shows the Williams Hall residence wing, 130 E. Buffalo St., with the dining & office wing to left.
Hari’s experience and the experience of the other women at Ithaca College differed from that of their male counterparts. There were different rules governing women’s behaviors. Women had a curfew of 10:30 pm on weekdays and 12:00 am on weekends, while male students did not have a curfew. If women were out past curfew or caught in men’s dorms they faced expulsion while male students did not face the same consequences. And, women were not allowed to wear jeans or pants to class.
Hari and Ariel look at Hari's collection of memorabilia from her days at IC. Photo Credit: Erica Baker
In 1963, Hari was elected Vice President of the Women’s Student Government. This presented her with opportunities to challenge the status quo.“We knew it wasn’t fair. We said it wasn’t fair, and we tried to change it. The Clinton House, which was a hotel in downtown Ithaca, was being sold. We fantasized that it would make a wonderful women's honor dorm. We had the idea that if you had a certain grade point average you would qualify. We were even, you know, making these rules. This idea that a select group of women with high grade point averages could live in a dorm like that and have the same privileges as men.” That idea didn’t go anywhere, but the spirit of a changing tide stayed with Hari.
After Hari graduated, she studied at Yale University before moving to Detroit and earning a master’s degree in psychology. There, she found a passion as a therapist and founded a practice focusing on wellness for artists. She had a child. As her life developed, music and psychology remained constants. Always an academic and interested in her community, she found a home at Michigan State. She and a dear IC friend, Amanda who also lived in Michigan, started giving recitals on campus, getting to know the faculty and staff.
Hari Kern '64 at her home.
Hari Kern '64 at her home.
It was during the 1970s and 1980s when Hari was able to quench her thirst for travel. She visited Europe and the Asia several times, as well South America, and, yes, Germany. On those trips she visited one of her best friends from Ithaca College, Mimi Mabuchi '64, who moved back to Japan and another friend, Mieko Kawagoe '64, a voice major from Ithaca College who now lives in Tokyo and with whom she still FaceTimes. Her most recent trip was to London.
“A year abroad at the [Ithaca College] London Center would be so enriching and what I think will make changes in the world for the better” she said. “Travel opens up ideas and things to people in the world. And it’s like a window into the world. That’s a force for good.”
Inspired by that understanding of the power of exposure to other countries, peoples, and cultures, Hari wanted to provide an opportunity for students that was not available to her when she attended college. With help from Ithaca College’s Advancement team, she created the Harriet Kern London Center Scholarship to support students with demonstrated financial need who will attend the London Center, IC’s longest established study abroad program.
“Travel opens up ideas and things to people in the world. And it’s like a window into the world. That’s a force for good.”
Hari Kern strives to be a force of good. From her time at Ithaca to her therapy practice, she has combined the passions driving her to create music and to help others. Hari doesn’t identify herself as a changemaker. Her example shows us that sea change happens, one person at a time. We need the crusaders the likes of a Betty Friedan or a Simone de Beauvoir, and we also need the Hari Kerns who ask questions and find solutions.
When asked what wisdom Hari had to pass on to younger adults, she offered these apropos words:
“Throughout your life, you're going to look for change. I mean, that's that nature of being a human being. We're always looking ahead, trying to make things better, whether it's about gender equality or whatever, but what's needed is patience. You have to hang in there with it because it's slow, always kind of bucking counter forces. And that the important, important thing is perseverance and hanging in and being rooted in what you think is right, the right way to go.”
Study Abroad at IC!
The Harriet Kern Scholarship and other study abroad scholarships offer students opportunities at the London Center and beyond.