Then and Now

The Transformation BY MATHEW M. MANDERY ‘61

AS I WALKED through Brooklyn Tech’s doors, a 14 year-old freshman entering its enormous facility for the first time, little could I imagine that I would someday be principal of this incredible STEM high school; let alone be instrumental in establishing and leading an alumni foundation whose educational programs would help Tech maintain its role as a beacon of STEM education.

I see as one of Brooklyn Tech’s most significant growth changes the inclusion of female students. In 1922, Tech opened as an all-male technical high school with the goal of preparing young men for leadership roles in industry. The era’s prevailing perspective was that engineering and technical areas were male endeavors.

The Tech I attended maintained this viewpoint. The curriculum was similar to that our founding principal, Albert Colston, had instituted; the school remained focused on educating only young men. The only encounters with women were the female teachers and dances with Bay Ridge High School, an all-girls school. So it remained until nearly a decade after my graduation, when young women were finally admitted.

I proudly returned in 1983 as Tech’s principal. The school had transitioned in little over a decade to 40% female – a very significant change given the school’s 50-year history of allmale culture. Gradually, the curriculum and majors were evolving to reflect the work world that its young men and women would enter. A facility updating that should have taken place in the early 70s was finally happening, bringing bathrooms and locker rooms for young women – who were soon excelling academically and holding leadership of clubs, student government and athletics. Indeed the prestigious “All Tech Award” was given to young women. At Homecomings, alumni from Tech’s first five decades were startled and impressed with the incredible presence and accomplishments of our female students. I came back for a third time in 1999, to lead the Foundation’s effort to build a strategic partnership with Brooklyn Tech to bring about a complete modernization of the curriculum. Young women had leadership roles in all aspects of the school community. The transformation from an all-male technical high school of excellence for the “machine age” to a co-ed, specialized STEM high school of excellence had taken place. This issue of TechTimes shows how Tech, powered by its student body of young women and young men, is poised to celebrate its centennial and move into its next hundred years as a leader of secondary STEM education.

Dr. Mandery, the Alumni Foundation’s Chief Education Officer, is the only alum in Tech history to serve as appointed principal (1983 – 1987).

A Pioneer Remembers Sue Mayham ’76

BY JEANINE RAMIREZ ’88

NO FEMALE ALUM has had a longer-lasting and deeper impact on the Brooklyn Tech community than Susan Mayham ’76, Alumni Foundation board member. Founder of the Ruby Engineers, a group recognizing and supporting female students, she has passionately advocated for Tech, and for Tech women specifically. If anyone can be said to “bleed blue,” it is Sue.

• Financial industry pioneer youngest female manager on Wall Street; rose to Vice President of Bank of New York in a stellar three-decade career

• Alumni Foundation Vice President • Captain and Founder of Tech

Twirlers • Developing confidence at Tech that drove her banking career: “I wasn’t an engineer, but I knew how to engineer my career. The architecture of my career was the real

Transitions BY ELIZABETH SCIABARRA

IT WAS 1971, my very first year as a Brooklyn Technical High School teacher, and young women had started being seen in Tech’s previously all-male hallways and classes. It was amazing how the culture of the school changed.

While most schools in New York City were already coed, Brooklyn Tech and a few outliers were not. The enactment of Title IX forced the issue. Some boys suggested that the standards of the school would go downhill with the admission of young women, while others greeted it as an opportunity for a better social life. Still others showed discomfort at the thought of academic competition between boys and girls. But those first girl entrants were even more emboldened to take math, science, and engineering courses to “prove” themselves.

Even teachers were skeptical — particularly those who taught in the shops. The thought of young women pouring metal in foundry, or running a lathe or using a slide rule in a technology class, simply didn’t click. After all, how would teachers “handle” girls being in the classes, and what stories could they tell with females in the room?

There were big challenges. A Sex Equity Committee was established to make certain the building complied with Title IX. Bathrooms had to be converted, locker rooms renovated. The content of classes had to be examined so it did not solely reflect the male voice. We had to create extra-curricular programs aligned in number and performance to the boys’ programs.

Several young women teachers in the school stepped up to take charge of activities: volleyball, swimming, track and basketball came into being, first as clubs and then as PSAL teams. I coached cheerleading. Over 85 young women took part — boosters, cheerleaders and twirlers.

We indeed were trailblazers. After all, where else would a competitive team that was almost all Black and brown, be competing at venues that were almost all white? This was our first lesson in tolerance and working hard to be the best, despite the lack of acceptance from across the country. These activities gave me the opportunity to interact with young women in the areas of leadership, collaboration, having a strong voice, taking steps to demonstrate skills, and teaching each other skills that would raise the bar for all. Many discussions about life, relationships, reaching goals, exercising abilities, and meeting one’s full potential were part of the cheer experience.

Young women indeed found their place at Tech: in classrooms they succeeded academically. In government, they became leaders and articulated the ways in which others had to [continued on page 33]

strong base that I learned from Tech. I became the youngest officer in my day at a time when women were still secretaries and assistants.”

• Daily challenge in the early days of a co-ed Tech: “One girls’ bathroom. On the fifth floor. fifth floor south. It’s still there.”

• Joining teams and clubs: “We started them. We got volleyball. We got basketball. We got swim team. We had tennis. But none of them were PSAL sports.” • On bonding with female classmates: “We came from five boroughs. We had a shared experience. We joined teams to hang out. Some joined the cheerleaders: that way we had an after- school social life. We went to football games so we could hang out on Saturdays. A lot of us to this day are still close.”

• Among her contributions to Tech: “I donated my twirling uniform and shoes to the Tech Museum. I kept the baton.”