Coeducation (arguments for)

At the previous meeting on June 27, 1878, the Board of Trustees decided to adopt a resolution allowing women to enroll at Dickinson College. They then sent the resolution to the Faculty for approval. After looking over the resolution, the Faculty agreed that the admission of women was not in the best interest of female students. According to the faculty, "there are certain proprieties & adaptations that can not be overlooked.

The day after the formation of the "Committee on the Admission of Females," the committee presented its report. Presented by Clarence J. Jackson, the report was immedately adopted.

Following the formation of the first "Committee on the Admission of Ladies" in 1876, a second "Committee on the Admission of Famales" was formed on June 25, 1878. The committee was comprised of three Trustees.

At the third session of the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees in 1877, Colonel J.A. Wright presented the report on behalf of the Committee on the Admission of Women.

During the second session of the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees in 1876, General James Fowler Rusling moved for the appointment of a committee of three to "consider the advisability of admitting ladies to the studies of the college or of making some provision for conferring degrees upon bodies." Rusling suggested that Colonel Wright, a member of the Board, lead the committee as Chairman. The motion was carried and the president appointed Colonel John Armstrong Wright, Charles Joseph Baker Esq., Reverend John Wilson to the committee.

In her 1905 oration "Dickinson's New Era," Florence Hensel Bursk argues for improved conditions for female students at Dickinson College. Following the Denny Hall fire of 1905, alumnea and friends of the college began donating to the restoration of the hall and the overall insitution. Bursk asserted that such contributions engendered the "birth of a new era" at Dickinson College. Despite the great strides being made by Dickinson during this period, Bursk argued that conditions for female students were lacking.

This oration analyzes whether or not women should be permitted to study and practice law. Low argues that since procured positions within the medical field, philanthropic organizations, newspapers and academia, "humanity has been lifted up during the period in which she has been permitted to play her legitimate part in the drama of human life." However, she argues that woman's work is not done and that women must continue to fight for equal acess as men will not freely give up their power within closed professions, particularly the law.

Published in the 1890 Microcosm, “Co-Education” describes the introduction of coeducation at Dickinson College.  The author of the piece asserts that coeducation at Dickinson was a direct result of the Methodist influence at the school and women’s participation within that church.  Thus, female students were accepted to the college on the same terms and with the same privileges of their male counterparts. Moreover, the author of the piece adds that the women at Dickinson contributed  to the beauty of the campus.