In the "Locals" section of the 1884 Dickinsonian, the paper pokes fun already at Zatae Longsdorff, the first female student at Dickinson. The paper questions to its audience to, "Ask Miss Longsdorff, Sr., what she thinks of the Junior class."
In the July issue of the 1884 Dickinsonian, it briefly mentions this short phrase in its 'Miscellany' section. "Hurrah for Co-education!" was placed in this section randomly amongst other short unrelated paragraphs. This phrase is unique because it shows up a few months before the decision to have co-education at Dickinson.
In March of 1885, the Dickinsonian published a piece illustrating early "co-ed's" experiences in the classroom. The Dickinsonian wrote: "Scene, the German class; Miss L translating, 'Alas! I am only a woman; if I were a man I would do something better than this.' Wild applause from the rest of the class."
In 1884, a toast to the new female students at Dickinson College was published in the Dickinsonian. The toast read, "The Ladies of Dickinson! May they add learning to beauty, and beauty to learning, subtract from the age of wisdom, multiply cheerfulness, divide time by industry and recreation, reduce idleness to its lowest denomination, and raise scholarship to its highest power!"
The Dickinson College Catalogue from 1880-1881 has the first reference to a female student at the prepatory school. The list of prepatory students includes "Z. L. Longsdorff," presumably Zatae Longsdorff.
In October of 1884, The Dickinsonian published their first issue following the institution of coeducation. The "Locals" section includes an instance in which a professor forgot that he had female students in his class. The excerpt reads, "Prof. R.-- 'Now gentlemen--Oh! I beg your pardon, Miss Longsdorff.'" Zatae Longsdorff, the female student mentioned in this peice, was the first woman to graduate from Dickinson College.
In October of 1884, the Dickinsonian formally recognized coeducation at Dickinson College and explained that, "Co-education starts at Dickinson with a good prospect of success. Including those attending the preparatory school we have among us nearly a dozen of the fair sex."
In the October 1884 edition of the Dickinsonian, the staff of the paper addressed the resentment many male students felt toward the new female students. The author explained that "the impression seems to prevail that there will be too much "Co" and not enough "education." However, the article further explained, many of the male students admited that they realized that going coed was the "right thing to do."
The first mention of coeducation in the Dickinsonian appeared in October of 1884. The male editors of the Dickinsonian advised male faculty to not, "show any partiality to the co-eds. (Co-eds. in the parlance of to-day means girls) After-recitation communications cannot be tolerated. Private instructions to a co-ed are only justifiable where the subject is particularly hard to grasp."
An article in The Dickinsonian's celebration of the college's 90th anniversary entitled "Dolly Destroys Dickinson Tranquility As Students Protest Coed Admission" explains the 1884 furor over the admission of a coed on campus. When Dolly Longsdorf became the first coed, writes the author, the Freshman divided over the "coed question." Dolly and the Board of Trustees stood their ground, and sixteen women were admitted to the college by 1890. The college needed to remodel Old West in order to accomodate female students.