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]] LIST AND TIMELINE OF WOMEN'S COLLEGES See Also: List of current and historical women's universities and colleges in the United States See Also: Timeline of women's colleges in the United States 19TH CENTURY HISTORY Education for girls and women was initially provided for in the 18th Century by Moravian settlements in Pennsylvania and North Carolina . Moravian College , founded in 1742 in Germantown and later moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was originally called the ''Bethlehem Female Seminary''. It began to grant undergraduate degrees in 1863 and became the ''Moravian Seminary and College for Women'' in 1913. In 1954, it combined with the boys school, ''Moravian College and Theological Seminary'' and became coeducational. {Link without Title} The Moravians of Salem, North Carolina began what is now Salem College in 1772 in Winston-Salem . Institutions of higher education for women, however, were primarily founded during the early 19th century, many as Teaching Seminaries . As noted by the Women's College Coalition : :The formal education of girls and women began in the middle of the nineteenth century and was intimately tied to the conception that society had of the appropriate role for women to assume in life. Republican education prepared girls for their future role as wives and mothers and taught religion, singing, dancing and literature. Academic education prepared girls for their role as community leaders and social benefactors and had some elements of the education offered boys. Seminaries educated women for the only socially acceptable occupation: teaching. Only unmarried women could be teachers. Many early women's colleges began as female seminaries and were responsible for producing an important corps of educators. The Rise of Women's Colleges, Coeducation Irene Harwarth, Mindi Maline, and Elizabeth DeBra further note that, "women's colleges were founded during the mid- and late-19th century in response to a need for advanced education for women at a time when they were not admitted to most institutions of higher education."1 Early proponents of education for women were Sarah Pierce ( Litchfield Female Academy , 1792); Catharine Beecher ( Hartford Female Seminary , 1823); Zilpah P. Grant Banister ( Ipswich Female Seminary , 1828); and Mary Lyon . Lyon was involved in the development of both Hartford Female Seminary and Ipswich Female Seminary. She was also involved in the creation of ''Wheaton Female Seminary'' (now Wheaton College, Massachusetts ) in 1834. In 1837, Lyon founded ''Mount Holyoke Female Seminary'' ( Mount Holyoke College ), the "first of the Seven Sisters ."2 Harwarth, Maline, and DeBra note that, "Mount Holyoke’s significance is that it became a model for a multitude of other women’s colleges throughout the country."3. Both Vassar College and Wellesley College were patterned after Mount Holyoke. 4 Wesleyan College was the first college chartered for women, receiving its charter in 1836 . Vassar was the first of the Seven Sisters to be chartered as a college in 1861. in 1862.]] While there were a few Coeducational colleges (such as Oberlin College founded in 1833 , Antioch College in 1853, and Bates College in 1855), most colleges and universities of high standing at that time were exclusively for men. The first coordinate college, H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College , (with Tulane University ), was founded in 1896. It was followed a year later by Evelyn College For Women , the coordinate college for Princeton University . Other notable coordinate colleges included Douglass (with Rutgers University ), Pembroke (with Brown University ) and Radcliffe College (with Harvard University ). Historically black colleges See Also: Historically black colleges and universities Bennett College and Spelman College are historically black women's colleges which were both developed during the later half of the 19th century (although Bennett did not become a women's college until 1926). Bennett has been described as the ''Vassar of the South'' and Spelman as the ''Radcliffe College of historically black colleges''. Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou have recently offered public support to Bennett College .5 In addition, Mount Hermon Female Seminary was originally founded in 1875 and closed in 1924. Public colleges See Also: Public university In 1884 the legislature of the state of created Georgia State College For Women in 1889 , and North Carolina created North Carolina Women's College in 1893 . This is similar to the establishment of Douglass Residential College (Rutgers University) which was founded as the ''New Jersey College for Women in 1918'' by Mabel Smith Douglass. ]] Seven Sister colleges See Also: Seven Sisters (colleges) Colleges for women were founded in the Northern United States during the early and mid 19th century. Seven of them ( Mount Holyoke College , Smith College , Vassar College , Wellesley College , Radcliffe College , Bryn Mawr College and Barnard College ) were grouped under the title of ''The Seven Sisters'' in 1927. Seven Sisters of the South See Also: Seven Sisters of the South ''The Seven Sisters of the South'' refers to a group of highly regarded American women's colleges in the Southern United States . The moniker is a response to the group of women's colleges in the Northern United States which are known as the Seven Sisters . 20TH CENTURY HISTORY Women's College Coalition The Women's College Coalition (WCC) was founded in 1972 and describes itself as an "association of women's colleges and universities – public and private, independent and church-related, two- and four-year – in the United States and Canada whose primary mission is the education and advancement of women." Women's College Coalition:About Us Seven Sisters Colleges ]] Two of the Seven Sister Colleges made transitions during and after the 1960s . The first, Radcliffe College , merged with Harvard University . Beginning in 1963, students at Radcliffe received Harvard diplomas signed by the presidents of Radcliffe and Harvard and joint commencement exercises began in 1970. The same year, several Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories began swapping students experimentally and in 1972 full co-residence was instituted. The departments of Athletics of both schools merged shortly thereafter. In 1977, Harvard and Radcliffe signed an agreement which put undergraduate women entirely in Harvard College. In 1999 Radcliffe College was dissolved and Harvard University assumed full responsibility over the affairs of female undergraduates. Radcliffe is now the ''Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study'' in Women's Studies at Harvard University. The second, Vassar College , declined an offer to merge with Yale University and instead became coeducational in 1969. The remaining Seven Sisters decided against coeducation. Mount Holyoke College engaged in a lengthy debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On 06 November 1971 , "after reviewing an exhaustive study on coeducation, the board of trustees decided unanimously that Mount Holyoke should remain a women's college, and a group of faculty was charged with recommending curricular changes that would support the decision." 6 Smith College also made a similar decision in 1971.7 In 1969 , Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College (then all-male) developed a system of sharing residential colleges. When Haverford became coeducational in 1980, Bryn Mawr discussed the possibly of coeducation as well, but decided against it. 8 In 1983, Columbia University began admitting women after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College for a merger along the lines of Harvard and Radcliffe (Barnard has been affiliated with with Columbia since 1900, but it continues to be independently governed). Wellesley College also decided against coeducation during this time. ]] Mills college On May 3, 1990 , the Trustees of Mills College announced that they had voted to admit male students. 9 This decision led to a two-week student and staff Strike , accompanied by numerous displays of Non-violent protests by the students. 10, 11 At one point, nearly 300 students blockaded the administrative offices and boycotted classes. 12 On May 18, the Trustees met again to reconsider the decision, 13 leading finally to a reversal of the vote. 14 Other Colleges Pembroke College merged with Brown University . Sarah Lawrence College declined an offer to merge with Princeton University , becoming coeducational in 1969. Connecticut College also adopted coeducation during the late 1960s . In addition, due to its status as a Public Or Government Institution , the Mississippi University For Women become coeducational after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in '' Mississippi University For Women V. Hogan '' (1982). The ruling found that as a publicly funded institution, the university would be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment 's Equal Protection Clause if it denied admission on the basis of gender (in this case, men). 21ST CENTURY HISTORY Wells College Beginning in late in the early 1990s . http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2004/10/04/news/news02.txt A website called ''Wells for Women'' was also established http://www.geocities.com/wellscollegepetition/ When the decision to adopt coeducation was approved, students filed a lawsuit which was eventually rejected. http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2005/wellscollege.asp Wells became coeducational in 2005. Randolph College Interim president of Randolph College , Ginger H. Worden, argued (in a 17 September 2006 editorial for the the '' Washington Post '') that, "today, the college is embarking on a new future, one that will include men. Yet that original mission, that dedication to women's values and education, remains. The fact of the marketplace is that only 3 percent of college-age women say they will consider a women's college. The majority of our own students say they weren't looking for a single-sex college specifically. Most come despite the fact that we are a single-sex college. Our enrollment problems are not going away, and we compete with both coed and single-sex schools. Of the top 10 colleges to which our applicants also apply, seven are coed. Virtually all who transfer from R-MWC do so to a coed school. These market factors affect our financial realities. " 15 Response from Randolph College students, parents, faculty, and alumnae After the decision to adopt coeducation was announced, there were numerous protests on campus including rallies, blocking administrative offices, mass requests for transfer transcripts, banners all over campus, striking from classes, participation in quiet protest to highlight lack of student voices in the board of trustee votes. 16, 17 This lead to the formation of a non-profit "Preserve Education Choice" (PEC) http://www.preserveeducationalchoice.org, comprised of students, faculty, and alumnae who are trying to reverse the decision. Two lawsuits were filed by ''Preserve Educational Choice''http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/21/AR2006102100901.html. On 2007 article announced that a group of students brought the case to the Virginia Supreme Court where "Richmond lawyer Wyatt B. Durrette Jr. asked the state's high court to grant an appeal of the group's lawsuit, which Lynchburg Circuit Judge Leyburn Mosby Jr. dismissed in January." Va. Supreme Court hears argument for appeal of coed challenge On 2007 ''The News & Advance'' article, ''She said, she said: The coed debate broken down,'' summarized key points of the letter and included responses from Randolph College. 20 The article also referenced, ''Ginger Hill Worden, Interim President, responds to What Every Trustee Should Know and 20 Reasons Why You Should Change Your Vote'', a response published on the college website, which discussed earlier debates concerning the decision to adopt coeducation. 21 The appeal was denied on 31 July 2007 by a panel of three Virginia Supreme Court justices. 22 Responses from presidents of women's colleges and students
Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College President Joanne V. Creighton states in a 21 May 2007 article, "some might think that women's colleges are now redundant or outmoded and that they should, therefore, follow Radcliffe's example by either assimilating into a formerly all-male institution or going coed themselves. While many have done so, about 60 women's colleges remain in this country, and only one of the "Seven Sisters," Vassar, went coed and did that in 1969, nearly 40 years ago. Why do Mount Holyoke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Wellesley -- and dozens of other women's colleges -- stubbornly carry on as single-sex institutions?" 29 She responds to this question by suggesting a link between Drew Gilpin Faust 's (a woman's college graduate) new role as Harvard University 's first female president and the continuing importance of women's colleges. She also compares women's colleges to Virginia Woolf 's, '' A Room Of One's Own .'' 30This article was taken from a longer paper, "A Tradition of Their Own or, If a Woman Can Now Be President of Harvard, Why Do We Still Need Women's Colleges?" delivered at the Harvard Graduate School Of Education on April 16, 2007.http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/president/14897.shtml Other colleges Immaculata University and Lesley College also announced that they would be adopting coeducation around this time and became coeducational in 2005. In 2006, H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was dissolved as part of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (it is now a part of Tulane University ). In 2007 , Douglass College merged with Rutgers University , changing its name to the ''Douglass Residential College.'' While a part of Rutgers, it will offer dormitories and classes exclusively for women. Regis College became coeducational in 2007. FAMOUS ALUMNAE OF WOMEN'S COLLEGES Women's colleges in the United States have produced a number of important alumnae in the arts, politics, and in the sciences. 31 Actors, authors, dancers, and directors:
College Presidents:
Government Officials:
Journalists:
Social & Computer Scientists:
Misc.:
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