What’s going to happen to R- MWC?
I’ve been doing more thinking about the possibility of R-MWC going coed to maintain enrollment numbers. They have recently succeeded at raising $100 million+ through the Capital Campaign, which should allieviate concerns about money. If women do so well at women’s colleges, why is this an option?
I got ideas from the College’s financial newsletter and U.S. News and World Report. Then I read the College website’s Strategic Planning information. I have read some before, but it answered my questions. As far as the donated money, not all is given in a lump sum. Some is future giving or allotted for specific purposes. Sister-class traditions were developed over time by the students. New traditions would likely emerge. One article I linked to from their site spoke about two women’s colleges, Hood and Sweet Briar, which have both had to choose what to do in this difficult situation. Hood went coed. Sweet Briar, however, made some changes, but continued being single-sex. This gives me hope that just because the researchers came up with this solution for R-MWC, does not mean that R-MWC’s Board will accept it.
Even if they do, I’m feeling a little hasty about signing the petition. I love the College and I don’t know what will happen if they do let in men, but the school will certainly change. I guess my main issues are the feel of the school, what the single-sex environment enables, and the traditions. The College is more concerned about the academic advances that are supposed to draw in students and what will get students in there to profit from those advances. I certainly care about the academic standards, but also that women not suffer from favoritism towards women in the classroom.
I don’t know what exactly makes the College “truly distinctive in the marketplace,” but I know that if I had been asked ahead of time if I would choose a single-sex institution, I don’t know that it would have been my first choice. It just worked out that way. It had good options for classes and dancing but it was only after I visited the campus that I knew it was for me. How do you market that?
A recent U.S. News & World Report featured “America’s Best Colleges.” R-MWC ranked 89th in Best Liberal Arts Colleges. The following is from Admit it: Women have a Man Problem: “As it becomes more difficult for women to gain admittance into many schools, some foresee a renaissance in unisex education…. Just because women are more represented in higher ed today doesn’t mean that their lot has improved forever…,” referencing the wage gap between lifetime earnings of men and women. Now, female high-school applicants must sell themselves more aggressively if they hope to be included in the women admitted. They may find that schools which are typically male-dominated are easier to get into, as they want to have a more equal enrollment.
Does the Board think going coed will help? Will men actually enroll? The College will have to figure out what will bring them in too.
“A problem for [Admissions Counselors], as for much of the rest of the campus, is that until about six weeks ago, many remained skeptical that the steering committee would recommend the change to coeducation. It seemed very remote and very unlikely, and thus not something that there was any reason to bring forward.” These are the words of William Coulter, a professor of English and Dean of the College, addressing this years new students who didn’t knowing how soon this change could happen.
This reflects how I felt about this issue also. I seemed much farther off, and now it’s being sprung on us all.
It is always sad when your college, a place that helped you become who you are today, has to make changes to “save” itself. I found it really hard to accept when the college I graduated from was bought by another college and had to change it’s name and it’s enrollment status and many other, little, yet very important things.
How do you feel now though? Do you still want it to remain as a womens college? or do you feel differently?
As an outsider it seems sad to see a “special” school have to become more “normal”, under any circumstances, but it seems even more unsettling to think that all womens or even all mens colleges may be a thing of the past, and I say so simply because I believe in choice, the more choices the better.
I absolutely want it to remain a woman’s college. It was incredibly beneficial to me and though many people may not recognize it’s worth, I want it to stay the way it is. Growing women should always have the opportunity to learn in an environment where they can learn about and develop their strengths.
I wholeheartedly agree with you: Keep R-M a WC! I’ve had contact with a couple of faculty members and I’ve been very surprised that these highly educated people have been so taken in by the Board’s stance. They tell me that without the change to co-ed, the College will close in 10 years. But everything that I’ve read suggests that the switch to co-ed is a very hard row to hoe, so to speak, that can take several decades to become viable (especially now that the era of gender integration is over!). I think that the signers of the petition indicate how quickly the College will lose alumnae support if the change occurs, and I have a hard time envisioning how the College will survive even 10 years if the alumnae back away. And the tide is turning back to single-sex education, even (especially?) in primary and secondary schools. Can a renaissance in women’s college popularity be far behind?