Save Women's Education | Historic Pittsburgh

February 14, 1990

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Title
Save Women's Education
Creator
Pittsburgh Press, Steve Mellon
Date
February 14, 1990
Identifier
PCC000087
Description
On February 14, 1990 Chatham students like Michelle Weber gathered on the steps of Jennie King Mellon Library to protest an announcement made by Chatham President Rebecca Stafford that the school would begin admitting male students in the 1991-1992 school year. Their signs read "Better Dead Than Co-Ed" and "Save Women's Education." Five days later, a group of professors who had each taught at Chatham for at least 20 years drafted a letter to the President reaffirming their support of the "concepts, aims, and practice of single-sex education for women" and intention to protest "any action to alter the college's mission to accept male students, taken so precipitously as the present plans call on us to do." At this time, the total number of women's colleges around the country had been drastically reduced since the 1960s and many colleges that were facing financial difficulties were considering the co-ed option. President Stafford said that while Chatham was in the "strongest financial position," the goal in admitting male students was to increase course offerings, keep faculty competitive, and to ensure the health of the college in the near future when the number of high school seniors would continue to decrease. Chatham had also considered co-education in the 1980s. In September 1990, the Chatham Board of Trustees voted to delay the decision on co-education indefinitely. In 1994, the College for Graduate Studies began offering master's and doctoral programs in the liberal arts and professional disciplines for both men and women, while the undergraduate enrollment remained open to women only.
Place of Publication
College Campus
Type
still image
Genre
photographs
Subject
Pittsburgh, (Pa.)
Shadyside (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Chatham College
Women--Education--United States
Single-sex schools--United States
Stafford, Rebecca
Weber, Michelle
Geographic Subjects
College Campus
Source
Chatham University Chronological Photograph Files
Contributor
Chatham University
Collection
Chatham University Chronological Photograph Files
Rights Information
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