Dear ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Faculty, Staff, and Students,
Fifty years ago, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University welcomed its first fully coeducational class. It included 132 female students, who joined another 82 female transfer students already studying on campus. The fall of 1970 marked a turning point, both for the University and for these women, who chose to be a part of this University as it entered into a new era.
The Class of 1974 placed ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ at the forefront of an important national movement. Kenyon College, Trinity University, Princeton University, and Yale University admitted their first female classes in 1969. ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ, Johns Hopkins, and Williams followed suit in 1970, while Bowdoin, Brown, and Lehigh took the same action in 1971. The list would continue to grow throughout the decade.
Many of these first ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ women will tell you that they came to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ simply to gain an education and take advantage of the opportunities that ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ men had enjoyed for a century and a half. They desired to be active, engaged members of a rigorous intellectual community. Others will say that they wanted to be part of a change in American higher education. Their legacy lives on in the female undergraduates who conduct groundbreaking research in ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s laboratories and libraries, who lead student organizations, who share their creativity in our theaters and galleries, and who compete as ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Raiders.
Please join us in commemorating the immeasurable contributions that ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ alumnae have made to the excellence of this University. Visit colgate.edu/coeducation to find more information about upcoming 50th anniversary events, view recorded sessions, and contribute your own thoughts and memories related to this milestone in ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ’s history. I also encourage you to read the special coeducation edition of .
I thank the volunteers, including those on the Women’s Leadership Council, who are helping to organize our 50th anniversary celebration under pandemic conditions. Their creativity and energy — while not surprising after five decades of consistent support — are welcome and profoundly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Brian W. Casey
President