Women as Day Students

Last week, I started a series on the history of Wofford’s move from being traditionally all-male to fully coeducational. Though many people assumed the college had always been all male, history tells a different story, a story of fairly constant enrollment of women in small numbers and in special cases. One letter to the Old Gold and Black in 1967 asked “Is Wofford College a men’s school or not? I thought it was, but there’s a woman in my French class.” The writer went on to ask why the college felt it fair to let this woman in and not others. The editor’s note after the letter explained that the college had a rule that allowed wives of faculty members to take courses.

In the winter of 1969, in President Paul Hardin III’s first year in office, the faculty voted in favor of coeducation. By a vote of 38-4, with nine abstentions, they recommended that the Board of Trustees that the college become a coeducational institution. Some faculty expressed the hope that “such a change would have a beneficial academic effect.” President Hardin told the newspapers that “I personally have formed no opinion one way or another about the matter—I’m still studying all facets of it very carefully.” He acknowledged that with other colleges becoming coeducational that the time was right for Wofford to study the question. He also suggested that if the college became coeducational, that “it would be on a full scale basis” with “provisions for boarding facilities for women, and that all facets of campus life” would be open to them.

The Old Gold and Black, which in 1955 had headlined an editorial with the words “Girls as Dates, not Classmates” had changed its tune with a new generation of students. Their editorial in February 1969, with the faculty debating the issue, was headlined “Our Last Argument for Coed.” The newspaper thought that socially, the argument for coeducation was strong. The writers believed that having women on campus would mean students would be more likely to stay around campus on the weekends. More importantly, the authors felt that coeducation would improve the intellectual life of the campus. “After almost four years at Wofford we see no evidence to show that this college could not benefit by the addition of a few more intelligent people.” They didn’t believe women would come to Wofford to look for the “Mrs.” Degree and in fact, noted that “women have the annoying tendency to compete with males and might stir some of us to actually prepare for a class.” The editorial writers also expressed the hope that coeducation would improve students’ attitudes toward the college and want a bigger voice in the way the college was operated.

The board of trustees, in the spring of 1969, declined to change the existing policy of allowing women only in summer school classes. However, by the fall of 1970, having discussed the issue off and on for nearly two years, the trustees approved the following policy:

Women students, who live in commuting distance, may be encouraged to enroll at Wofford to seek a regular degree.

With that, Wofford took its first step toward full residential coeducation. Resident facilities would not be provided in 1971, but women who wished could enroll in classes as day students and earn degrees in the regular semester. 

The way the college encouraged women to enroll may seem a bit antiquated to our eyes.  A postcard announcing the college's plans to admit women as day students was produced.

Next time: The experience of Wofford’s first women day students, and the college’s move to full coeducation.

Comments

[Sarah McLean Cannon '05]

Thank you for sharing Wofford's history through the blog. Reading your Web site is an easy way to stay connected to the college.

[Phillip]

Thanks - I am enjoying sharing the college's history, images, documents, and such with everyone. I've got a few more posts about coeducation to write, but if people have questions or topics they'd like me to talk about, please let me know and I'll see what I can do. I hope to put some sound files up soon as well.