Coeducation (arguments for)

In her memoir recounting her time at Dickinson, Elizabeth Low remembers her early days as a female student in the Preparatory School. She explained that there was little hostitlity toward female students in the Prep School. She explains that "There was not co-ed problem in the Prep. The boys made no distinction. Had we been refused admission to the society, we would have taken English in class." According to Low, however, black students were not affroded the same acceptance as white female students.

In her memoir recounting her time at Dickinson, Elizabeth Low remembers the treatment of female students by their male peers. She recalled that, "Some of these [female students] were attractive, charming young girls, but they were all co-eds, and woe to the one who tried to force herself to a recognition that was not given voluntarily." She further explains that "Personality was a factor, of course, and when linked to fine scholarship won not only the respect but admiration of male students. Some were ignored."

In her memoir recounting her experiences as an early female student at Dickinson College, Low recalls a fellow "co-ed" sophomore who "was more like a Dean than just another student." Though Low never mentions the woman's name, she explains that "She took her work seriously and co-education as her personal responsibility." Moreover, at an early party hosted by the sophomore "co-ed" she urged her fellow female students to sign a pledge proclaiming that "'We are set apart, destined for careers, we were superior and should not allow any entangling alliances to interfere with our life work." Unf

Upon her arrival at Dickinson College in 1886, Elizabeth Low was shocked to find that no housing arrangements had been made for female students. Unlike their male counterparts, early female Dickinsonians were not permitted to live in dorms on campus. Moreover, the school had not found housing in town for the young women.

In her 1951 memoir, Elizabeth A. Low recounts her time at Dickinson College as an early "co-ed." Low's memoir traces her career as a student in the preparatory school through to her latter years as a college student. Her story not only highlights Dickinson campus culture in the late nineteenth-century, but it also discusses what it was like to be an early female student at Dickinson College. Due to the large amount of information included in the piece, the document has been broken up into several posts with several themes including:

On June 26th, 1883, President McCauley presented his report on the 1883 school year, announcing the faculty desicion to admit women to Dickinson College. He explained that it was, "Resolved that the faculty recommend to the Board of Trustees that ladies be admitted to the classes of the College upon the same conditions as gentlemen." The following year, women were admitted to the sophomore and freshman classes.

President Cornelius William Prettyman argues in a letter to the Board of Trustees that Dickinson College should become "a coeducational college in the true sense of the term." He points out that 163 of the 253 students at the college were women and that, in the future, this number would only continue to grow. He adds that women "are entering college in ever greater numbers." Thus, he recommends that Dickinson College educate both male and female students in equal numbers and wishes to enforce a 50-50 ratio of female to male students.

On May 24, 1883, the faculty discussed whether or not female students should be admitted to Dickinson College. Referencing the discussion regarding coeducation that took place two years earlier, the faculty decided that the conditions of the college grounds were now suitable for female students. Thus, the faculty decided to "recommend to the Board of Trustees that women be admitted to the classes of the college on the same conditions of men." Nearly all the faculty, with the exception of Professor Harman, voted in favor of coeducation.

On May 31, 1886, Zatae Longsdorff went before the faculty to ask, "whether the Pierson Prize Medal Contest was open to all members of the Junior class without distinction of sex." The faculty decided that, as a member of the class, Zatae had the right to participate.

The men of the class of 1898 humorously lament in their class history about the lack of co-eds. The Microcosm states that the men were worried greatly because "'98 had no co-eds. The mere thought was at first unbearable." The male students continue on their lament of co-eds that "what would a class do without any of the dear ones to keep order in class meetings, fill the undesirable offices, soften the hearts of the Profs. by those bewitching smiles of which only Dickinson co-eds are capable or guilty (which ?), and the various other trifles which only the girls can do."