Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

John R. Thelin
Some of the major changes in the small colleges
in the 1970s and 1980s had less to do with deliberations
about academic programs and more to do with fundamental
discussions about student constituencies. The effect of these
changes on women’s colleges—including mergers, closures,
and decisions to become coeducational—were especially
significant. Gradually yet persistently, many historically
single-gender institutions opted for coeducation. It was
not an obvious or easy choice, as it altered an institution’s
distinctive character and constituency. On balance, the move
to coeducation tended to be most helpful for colleges that
had been exclusively for men. These institutions usually
enjoyed an increase in the number of applicants plus a rise in
the applicants’ high school academic records and SAT scores.
But generalizations cannot replace the careful,
sometimes difficult consideration of each institution’s
own situation and prospects. Bennington College in
Vermont, for example, continued its curricular tradition
of progressive education in the arts and humanities while
shifting from an exclusive focus on the education of women
to coeducation. Kenyon College in Ohio opted to become
coeducational in 1969 and began a period of expansion.
Pitzer College in California opened in 1965 as a college
for women with a progressive, experimental curriculum.
Less than a decade later, Pitzer retained its curricular focus
while opting to become coeducational. At the same time,
several other independent institutions decided to maintain
their traditional commitment as women’s colleges. Among
these were Agnes Scott, Alverno, Notre Dame of Maryland,
Hollins, Mary Baldwin, Mills, Mount Holyoke, Saint Mary’s
in Indiana, Scripps, Spelman, and Stephens. While most
colleges that had historically been just for men eventually
adopted coeducation, this was not always the case, as Wabash
College in Indiana continued to flourish academically and
financially as an institution exclusively for men. In Los
Angeles, two historically single-gender institutions, Loyola
Institutions such
as the College of
Notre Dame of
Maryland chose
to maintain
their traditional
commitment as
women’s colleges,
at a time when
many were
opting to become
coeducational.
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