Coeducation at Haverford :: School Papers

Haverford College did non begin as the institution that it is to sidereal day. A convention of concerned supporters constructed the secondary school on the premise that it would provide a fine education for Quaker young men. On its founding day in 1833, the Haverford Schools notion of a liberal and guarded education for Quaker boys became a reality. Jumping forward in time to 1870, a fateful change was on the horizon the faculty and students had voted to go coed. However, the Board of Managers did not concede and Haverford remained single sex for oer a century afterward the students and faculty had spoken. It wasnt until 1980 that a freshmen class comprised of both(prenominal) men and women entered Haverford. Yet it is the go prior to 1980 that is the topic of this paper. The series of about 10 years forward a Haverford female student would unpack her belongings in her board to gradetle down for four years of an intense and demanding education, both in and out of the classr oom, was a time of much reevaluation and consideration on the trip of the students, administration, and faculty. The 70s were vibrant and passionate years in the context of the debate over coeducation as students, faculty, and administrators voiced their opinions often in Haverford and Bryn Mawrs weekly newspaper, The News, forums, interviews, formal discussions, reports, and Collections (school gigantic meetings) on both Bryn Mawrs and Haverfords campus. The essence of the coeducational debate fell between two camps. One side argued that continued cooperation with Bryn Mawr was the best choice for both schools. The other said that it was time for Haverford to prevent its identity from merging with Bryn Mawrs and to rate out on its own as a coed institution. The battle lines were cadaverous and the debate continued with zeal for most of the decade. Economics played an master(prenominal) role in the debate. Haverfords President John Coleman saw that Haverfords financial state o f matter was in jeopardy if it did not expand in size. He withal saw that by prohibiting 50% of the population in an expansion would go down the caliber of students at Haverford. Bryn Mawrs president Wofford felt passionately that the fate of Bryn Mawr be on the decision of Haverford. His concerns were exacerbated by the seemingly coercive patterns Haverfords Board of Managers set by claiming to let the issue of coeducation rest but then by addressing the possibility again each year.