i spotted these signs on my daily walks with sonny and Eve. at first i didn't think much about it... it's a sign but see'n it everyday made me think.1. 40 years isn't that long. my mother-in-law graduated from little Hiram College before 1969.
2. F&M has been around since the late-1700s.
3. This doesn't seem like that good of a thing to celebrate.
4. what exactly is the "Legacy of Women" that this sign is trying to convey? That it's great F&M is co-ed or that women had to endure 182 years of being ignored before they were accepted?
so this made me want to know more about this college that's right across the street. here's what i found on wiki:
Since its inception, Franklin and Marshall was an all-male institution, although Franklin College had enrolled female students and women were permitted to attend summer school classes at F&M beginning in 1942. Continuing a trend in single-sex schools across the country, the Board of Trustees announced on January 17, 1969 that it had voted to admit women to F&M, a decision that was unanimously and enthusiastically supported by male students. In the fall of 1969, 82 freshman women and 34 female transfer students were enrolled in F&M's first coeducational class.
it is my humble opinion that maybe the signs are ill-worded. this doesn't seem like a legacy that i'd want to celebrate. maybe it's me expecting a little more from the 17th-oldest college in the United States, but this celebration of being one of the "lasts on the co-ed boat" doesn't sit well with me. your thoughts?
5 comments:
Hmmmm. I have some differences of opinion with my alma mater but if they want to celebrate the decision that kept the college alive it's OK with me. I started at F&M in 1974. If the college hadn't gone co-ed it probably would have gone belly up.
I have an question backatcha - what do you think of women's colleges? (Answer carefully - Sarah goes to Mount Holyoke.)
PS: the verification word is shwit. What would a shwit be?
First: It seems sensible that the male students would enthusiastically support female students, in 1969. I mean c'mon...it was the end of the sixties.
Second: Celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music.
Third: I think the problem lay in the brevity of the celebration banner. That medium (a la bumper sticker and church billboard) is too short to convey nuance.
Fourth: What a wonderful opportunity for the university to hold a forum or symposium related to the topic...hopefully exploring the best part of what you said: That they are celebrating being one of the last colleges to accept women as students.
Fifth (and final): Is it ever appropriate for there to be a gender-selected university? This is not a loaded question, I'm honestly wondering this. Should people, or should they not, have the availability of a training ground that has only men. Or only women. Or only people who have graduated high school. Or are over the age of 17. Or are spanish-speaking as a first language. Or whatever.
As one who started at F&M in 1973 - a member of the 4th class of women...I do think it is something to acknowledge and celebrate. Many on campus, faculty and students, were still quite hostile to the idea. It was not always easy to be a woman at F&M from 1973-1977.
F&M wasn't one of the last all-men colleges to go coed....and there are still plenty that aren't. I wanted to go where my brother went - Hampden-Sydney in VA...couldn't then and STILL can't!
That said, I'm also a fan of colleges that are historically African-American or historically for women...they provide a great safe and challenging space for groups that have been very oppressed at that level.
@ Rachel Gawn (?): i dunno if inclusion at gunpoint is the type i would want.. but i guess i'm happy that they did it! as for women's colleges, i'm with Cyndi that it's awesome thing to have.
but i depart and question how holistic of an education can you get in that setting? i haven't ever attended one and know only a few ppl who have graduated from such institutions and in conversation with them, i see the need for a diverse education. as for a "shwit" it could be someone with a crappy sense of humor who thinks they're witty? no clue!! haha!
@ Chris: " I think the problem lay in the brevity of the celebration banner" yeah... and the wording. and the decision to celebrate 40 years.. why not 50? just weird all around to me.
@Cyndi: cool! i didn't know you were in the first class! thanks for share'n!
what are y'all thoughts on "single-focus" colleges? i guess that'd be the best term to use...
"@ Rachel Gawn (?): i dunno if inclusion at gunpoint is the type i would want.. but i guess i'm happy that they did it! as for women's colleges, i'm with Cyndi that it's awesome thing to have."
Yup - it's me (I'm poor at figuring out how to post on a blog so I just chose anonymous, assuming you'd figure it out.) And since I started at the same time as Cyndi I guess I actually started in '73. So much for an F&M education.
"but i depart and question how holistic of an education can you get in that setting?"
Good question. I think it depends on the person and their reasons for attending a single gender school. I attended one for a year (Chatham - in Pittsburgh, transferred to F&M)and while I admired the freedom it allowed the women to express themselves I knew it wouldn't help the very shy person I was. Sarah enjoys it for the freedom - girls speak up more in a class without boys - but also finds it odd. However, her school is part of a 5 college consortium so she can take classes at the 3 colleges that include guys. She's loving the fact that her summer college experience includes boys.
PS: now the verification word is kator, as in "That kator is such a shwit!"
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