Yale needs women how the first group of girls rewrote the rules of an ivy league giant 1st edition a

Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an

Ivy League Giant 1st Edition Anne Gardiner Perkins

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Praisefor YALE NEEDS WOMEN

"YaleNeedsWomenbreaksthroughthe male stronghold that once defined the Ivy Leagueanddeliversthe powerfulhistory ofagroup ofyoungwomenbold enough to reshape undergraduateeducation.Perk.ins'srichly detailed narrative is a reminder that gender equity has never come easily,but instead is borne from the exertions ofthose who precede us.You must read this book, not onlytounderstandourpastbutto glean criticalinsightintothefutureofour academic institutions."

-Nathalia Holt,NewYorkTimesbestselling author of RiseoftheRocketGirls

"JustintimeforthefiftiethanniversaryofthefirstclassofwomentoenterYale College,the author's own alma mater,Anne Gardiner Perkins has written an enjoyable and lively history ofthis event.Through extensive archival research and in-depth interviews with forty-two ofthe women who matriculated in 1969, Perkins focuses on the experiences of five of these women, recounting both their struggles and their triumphs as they encountered this bastion of male privilege.This beautifully written history also provides acomprehensive view ofthe many social and political changes that faced the young college women ofthis era as well aspointing out contemporary problemsoncollege campuses.YaleNeedsWomen isanimportantadditionto feministhistory."

-Henry Louis GatesJr.,Alphonse Fletcher University professor (HarvardUniversity),and host ofPBS'sFindingYourRoots

"Perkins tackles the discrimination these brave young women ofYale faced, thetremendoussexism andracismofthetime,withstories thatwillmakethis #MeToo generation shudder and rage.But amid these darker moments are the storiesofwomen whoshined,who triumphed,whotookthisopportunity for all that it was worthand showedYale-and the rest ofthe country-that womenofallbackgroundspossesstheintellectualrigorandleadershipqualities requiredtodeserve aplace atthisIvy League institution."

-Donna Freitas, author of Consent 011 Campus

"Yes,Yale needed women,but it didn't really want them. From the moment theyarrivedin 1969,thefirstcoedsfacedamaleadministrationandculturethat regardedthemasse'.\.'Ualobjects,isolatedthem,andofferedfew femalementors. In her compelling account of the tumultuous early years,Anne Gardiner Perkins tells how these young women met the challenge with courage and tenacityandforeverchangedYaleanditschauvinisticmottoofgraduatingone thousandmaleleadersevery year."

-Lynn Pavich,author of 771e Good Girls Revolt

":'!'tile Needs H�111e11 is a riveting and uplifting account ofthe experiences of Yale'searly womencoeds-firstadmittedin 1969.Itrevealsthemultiplebarriers faced by these pioneers as it chronicles their brave efforts to overcome them.Thankstothese championsof women'srights,withsimilar efforts across the country, opportunities for women have improved.The fight is not over. Thisinspiringbook is amust-read for everyone."

-Janet L.Yellen,distinguished fellow,Brookings Institution senior fellow,and former Federal Reserve chair

"YaleNeedsWo111e11is ariveting-andlong overdue-account ofhow the first 575 undergraduate women admitted to previously all-maleYale University in 1969 found themselves doing battle with 268 years of entrenched male hegemony inan Ivy League setting.Based on extensiveinterviews and archival research,Anne Gardiner Perkins weaves a tale of courage in the face of arrogance, frustration giving way to hard-won triumphs, and the redeeming power of shared visions and friendships.Perkins makes the story of these early and unwitting feminist pioneers come alive against the backdrop of the contemporaneous civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1970s and offers observationsthatremaineerily relevant on U.S.campuses today."

-Edward B.Fiske,bestsellingauthorofFiskeGuidetoColleges

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Rick,Lily,Robby,Mac,Gi1111y,andDear A11d i11 memoryefmyfather,Tom,andbrother,Robert

A NOTE ON TERMS

Some terms in this book may strike the modern ear harshly, but since this is a historical work, I have chosen to use the words used byYale students in 1970, including "freshmen" to describe first-year students regardless ofgender,"girls"and"coeds"for women,"blacks"forAfrican Americans, "Afro-American" for African American studies, "homosexuals"forgay students,"sex"forgender,and"master"forthe heads of Yale's residential colleges.

PROLOGUE

WhenIwasfifty-twoyearsold,Idecidedthatthetimehadcometo getmyPhD.Betterlatethannever.Theideawasnotentirelynew.My bestfriend,Hazel,andIhadmetinourtwenties,whenwewereboth historygraduatestudents,andIhadconsideredgettingadoctoratethen. ButwhileHazelwentontogetherPhD,Ihadfeltpulledtodifferent work,andaftergettingmymaster's,I'dgottenajobteachinginanurban highschool.Thirtyyearslater,Iwasstillineducation,nowworkingon policiesandprogramsforMassachusetts'spubliccollegesanduniversities. IwantedtostrengthenmythinkingabouttheissuesIworkedon,andI knewthatUMassBostonhadawell-regardedhighereducationprogram. Onceagain,thedoctoratebeckoned.

SoIbegan.MondaythroughThursday,IworkedatmyjobonBeacon Hill.Fridays,IwenttoclassatUMassBoston.Weekends,Istudied.My husband,Rick,didallthecookingand-let'sbehonest-everyother householdchoretoo.Butitwasexcitingtobebackinschoolagain.

Ineverintendedtowriteahistorydissertation,thoughHazelwould tellyouthatmydoingsowasentirelypredictable.Iplannedtoresearch somepracticaltopic,onetiedmoredirectlytomyjob,butinmyfirst

fallsemester,Itookarequiredcourseonthehistoryofhighereducation. Needingatopicforthefinalclasspaper,Iwondered,Whataboutthosefirst womenst11de11tswhoarrivedatYalein1969?Ibettherearesomeamazingstories there.Theideawasnotasrandomasitmightsound.Yousee,Ihadgoneto Yaletoo.

Iarrivedasafreshmanin1977,eightyearsafterthefirstwomenundergraduates.IstudiedhistoryandwrotefortheYaleDailyNews.Icovered women'sicehockeyandeventuallythepresident'sbeat.Inmyjunioryear, Ibecameeditorinchief.Yetthroughoutthatwholetime,Iknewnothing aboutthewomenatYalewhocamebeforemeandallthechallengesthey facedwhentheygotthere.

Decadeslater,IsearchedforabookthatwouldtellmeaboutYale'sfirst vomenundergraduates,butthewomenweremissingfromhistoriesof Yaleinthatera.Thebooksfocusedinsteadonthedecisiontoletwomen in,asifthatweretheendofthestory.Butwhathappenednext?That'swhat Iwantedtoknow.Herewasacollegethathadbeenallmalefor·268years, andthen,suddenly,thefirstwomenstudentsarrived.HistorianMargaret Nashcallssuchmoments"flashpoints"inhistory,timeswhenthebright lightofasuddenchangeilluminatesallarounditandeverything,foratime, seemspossible.In1969,theU.S.women'smovementhadjustbegun.The BlackPowermovementwaschanginghowAmericanssawrace.Andinto thatmomentsteppedthefirstwomenundergraduatesatYale.

ItookadayofffromworkanddrovetoNewHaventoseewhatI mightfindintheYalearchives,andafterthat,therewasnoturningback. Thestorywasjusttoocompelling.Iwentbacktothearchivesasecond time,athird,afourth,stillmore,nowforaweekatatime.Eventually,I realizedthatifIreallywantedtounderstandwhathadhappenedatYale inthatflashpointofhistory,Ineededtotalktothewomenwhohadlived throughit.

PROLOGUE

The forty-two women I interviewed for this bookwere all wonderfulinvitingme into theirkitchens and livingroomsand placesofwork,talking with me far longer than the one hour I'd proposed, trusting me with their stories."Don't screw it up,Anne," one ofthem told me after we'd gotten to know one another, and she was only halfkidding. But by that point, getting this history right had become as important to me as it was to her. The women who gofirstandspeakouthelpshapea better worldforallof us, yet all too often their stories are lost.I wasnot going to letthat happen to this story.

I went back to the archivesagainand poredthroughbox after box of documents. I read hundredsof old newspaper stories and compiled thousands of pages of notes.For me, though,the realgift of this bookhas been the remarkable women I came to know in writing it, the first women undergraduates atYale. This is their story. I am honored to be the one to tellit.

Anne Gardiner Perkins Boston, 2019

ONE

268 Years of Men

THE WOMEN CAME TO YALE IN BUSES, PEERING OUT THE large glass windows at the men who had gathered on the sidewalk below to await their arrival. The girls fromVassarCollege wore brightly colored dresses and skirts cut up above the knee. Their hair shone from being combed and recombed on thetwo-hourdrivefromPoughkeepsie to New Haven.The guys fromYale had dressed up as well: button-down shirts, narrowties,andsportsjackets.The men'sfaceswereclean-shaven,and their hair was trimmed neatly above the ears. It was Saturday night, November 1967,and theYale men were ready forwomen.

Yale was still an all-men's college back then, and one of the only waysto find a girlfriend was to frequent the mixers thatbrought in busloads ofwomen each weekend from elite women's colleges likeVassar and Smith. On Saturday nights, the buses rolled intoYale at 8:00 p.m., each with their cargo offifty girls.At midnight, the girls returned from whence they came. In the four hours in between, theYale men sought to make their match.Guyswho had girlfriends already would show up at the Saturday football games with their girls on their arms and then appear with them afterward in the dining hall or a local restaurant.But

ANNE GARDI NER PERKINS

fortherestoftheweek,Yaleundergraduateslivedtheirdaysinasinglesexworld.

TopictureYaleasitwasatthetime,imagineavillageofmen.From MondaythroughFriday,studentsattendedtheirmen-onlyclasses,atemeals intheirmen-onlydininghall,tookpartintheirmen-onlyextracurricular pursuits,andthenretiredtotheirmen-onlydorms.Yaleadmittedscatteringsofwomengraduateandprofessionalstudentsin1967,butYaleCollege, theheartoftheuniversity,remainedstaunchlyallmale.Theranksoffaculty andadministratorswhorantheschoolwerenearlyallmenaswell.Ifyou weretopeekthroughthedooratanydepartmentmeeting,theprofessors seatedaroundthetablewouldinvariablybe"whitemenintweedsand casuallye::...-pensiveshoes,"asoneofYale'srareblackprofessorsobserved. Yalewasanoddplace,atleasttoamoderneye,butsinceitsfoundingin 1701,Yalehadalwaysbeenaplaceformen.

Yalewastheoldestmen'sclubinthenation-olderthantheKiwanis, theElks,andtheBoyScouts;olderthanNewYork'sUnionClubandSan Francisco'sBohemianClub;andolderthanPrincetonandDartmouthand thedozensofotherU.S.collegesthatalsobannedwomenfromapplying in1967.OnlytwocollegesinAmericawereolderthanYale:Williamand Mary,whichwentcoedin1919forfinancialreasons,andHarvard,where Radcliffewomenhadbeenattendingclassessince1943.Yaleneverhada sisterschool.Ontheweekends,though,forabriefspanofhours,afissure openedupinthatmen-onlyworld.ThebusesfromVassarandConnecticut College,fromSmithandMountHolyoke,pulledupatthecurb,andthe Yaleguysbeganvyingwithoneanotherforthebestoftheimported women.Theeveningalwaysbeganwithsuchpromise.

Thebusdoorsswungapart.Thewomenclickedopentheircompacts tochecktheirlipstickonelasttimeandthendescendedonebyoneinto thecrowdofmenbelow,wonderingwhatthenightwouldbring.Girlafter girlsteppeddownoffthebus,smiled,andfiledpastthegroupofcollege

YALE NEEDS WOMEN

boysstandingoutside.Theypassedthroughthestonearchwayofoneof Yale'stwelveresidentialcollegesandthenintothewood-paneledcommon roomwheremoreYalemenwaited.Themenhadbeendrinkingalready, clusteredingroupsaroundkegsofcheapbeerbroughtinfortheevent, bracingthemselvesforthenighttocome.

Agirlfriendwas"themostprizedpieceofchattel in thecollegeman's estate,"explainedoneYalestudent,butnotjustanygirlwoulddo.Shehad tocomefromoneofthecollegesthoughtsuitableforfutureYalewives, andshehadtobepretty.Ifaguybroughtagood-lookinggirlwithhim intooneofYale'sdininghalls,hisclassmateswouldshowtheirapprovalby bangingtheirspoonsagainsttheirwaterglasses.Guyswhoarrivedwitha datethoughtunattractivewouldgetribbedaboutitlater.AndsotheYale menchosecarefully.

AYalesophomoreappraisedthewomenwhonowfilledtheroom, pickedoutoneofthem,andapproachedherwithhislong-practicedline: "Say,aren'tyoufromCalifornia?"

Shewasnot,butthetwochattedanyway,tradinghometowns ai majors.Allthewhile,bothscannedtheroom-wastheresomeonebette tobepairedwith?

Inthenextroomover,thedininghallhadbeenturnedintoadance floor,withchairsandtablesshovedovertotheside,thelightsturnedlow.A youngmanaskedoneofthenewlyarrivedwomenifshewantedtodance. Shesmiled,andthetwoenteredtheroom.

Abandblaredsaxophoneandelectricbassfromthefront,themusic soloudthatconversationwasimpossible.Therewas littletodobutnod andsmile,pretendingtohearwhattheotherpersonsaid.Afewcouples over,onegirl,putoffbyherpartner'sawkwarddancemoves,pretendedshe wasdancingwiththeguynexttohim.Thesongended,andsheretreated totheladies'room,hopinghewouldbewithsomeoneelsewhenshe returned.Thepairsintheroomreshuffied,withmenwhosoughtanew

partnerexcusingthemselvestogetabeerandwomenwhowantedtomove on e>..-plaining theyneeded to go find theirroommates.The code in both caseswas thesame--not you.

Through thefirsttwohoursofthemixer,thecyclecontinued-choose, discard; choose,discard; choose, discard-a game ofmusical chairs where eachperson hopednottobetheonewhoturnedupalonewhen themusic stopped.

"Say,aren'tyoufrom California?"

By 10:00 p.m.,the pairings became less fluid,the matches more firm. Thequestion shifted:Wouldyoulike to seemyroom?

A senior with long blond hair had heard this line too many times blefore."No,"she answered,"I know all about your room." It had been a mgnightforheralready.AYalefreshmanhad offeredto giveheratourof Jiecampus.Anotherguy had offered to showher his rock collection.As oneYaleman observed,"Some girlsthatI'vetalkedto have the idea thatall wewantfrom themis sex. Maybe they're right,but what else can you do whenyou don't getto know them and haven't got the time to establish a naturalrelationship?"

Atmidnight,thebusesreadied to leave,and thewomenfiled back out through the stone archway,some corning from the depleted crowd at the mixerand othersfrom the men'sroomsthey'd been visiting.The opening intoYale'svillage ofmen once again closed. The buses ofwomen pulled outandbegan thelong drive homewhile the menpushed thedining hall tablesandchairsback intoplaceand the band carted away itsinstruments. Allthatwasleftwasthesmellofthe beer.Andso therhythmofYalecontinued as it always had,with men-only weeks followed by weekends with women.Change,however, hoveredjustaround the corner. But no one at Yaleseemedtorealize howfastitwouldcome.

YALE NEEDS WOMEN

Theschoolyearpassed.AnotherclassofYalemengraduated,andanew onereadiedtotakeitsplace,justasthecyclehadgonefordecades.Yet beneaththatveneerofsameness,thingswereshiftingatYale,andKingman BrewsterJr.,Yale'spresident,wasthereason.

By1968,Brewsterwasinhisfifthyearaspresidentandhadestablished himselfasaleaderwhowasdeterminedtobringaboutchange.Hehad taskedhisadmissionsdirectorwithincreasingthenumbersofblackstudentsatYale,andhe'dsupportedblackstudents'effortstocreateanAfroAmericanstudiesmajor,oneofthefirstinthenation.Heincreasedthe financialaidbudgetsothatalladmittedstudentscouldattendandhalted theadmissionsofficepracticeofcheckingonstudents'familyincome beforedecidingwhetherornottoadmitthem.Brewsterhadhiredsomeof themostrenownedacademicsinthenationtostrengthenthefacultyand raisedYale'sprofileinthenationalpress.Andintheprocessofallofthis,he hadattainedaprominencethatsurpassedthatofmostpoliticians.

BrewstermadethecoverofNewsweekin1964andwasnamedby PresidentLyndonB.JohnsontoaU.S.presidentialcommissionthefollowingyearandtoasecondonein1966.In1967,theNew¼rkTimes publishedagushingfive-pageprofileofBrewster,andtalkbeganinsome cornersofapossiblecabinetpositionorevenaU.S.presidentialrun.That sameyear,BrewstermadethecoverofTimeandchairedaUNpolicypanel onpeacekeepingmissions.IfYalemen,assomesaid,weredestinedfor leadership,thenKingmanBrewsterwasstridingconfidentlydownthepath ofhisdestiny.

Beginwiththename:Kingm�n-orasoldfriendsandcolleagues sometimescalledhim,simply"King,"hischildhoodnickname.Forifever therewasapersonwhoembodiedtheidealofmanhoodatYale,itwas Brewster.Hewas"animposingfigure.Big,"saidoneYalestudent,andthose whomethimwerestruckbyhispresence."Whatever'it'is,hehadit," remarkedoneYaletrustee.Brewsterwashandsomebymostaccounts,with

ANNE GARD IN ER PERK INS

acraggysortoffaceandbrownhairthatwasjustgoinggrayatthetemples.HeworepinstripesuitsandshirtshandmadeinHongKongandwas descendedfromancestorswhohadcomeoverontheMaY.flower--thefirst trip.Hecarriedwithhim"theassurancethatcamefrombeingadirect descendantoftheElderBrewster,"explainedoneofhisfriends."You know,'Thisismyplace."'AndlikeeveryYalepresidentsince1766butone, BrewsterhadgonetocollegeatYale,since,aseveryYalemanknew,quipped theHarvardCrimson,"aYalemanisthebestkindofmantobe,andonlyYale canproduceone."

YetjustwhenitseemedonemightbeabletosumBrewsterupin aphrase--thepatricianleader,theultimateYaleman,thenation'smost well-knownuniversitypresident-aconfoundingpieceofevidencearose tocomplicatethepicture."Hewasaverycomplexman,"observedstudent KurtSchmoke.

\Brewsterencompassedaspanofseemingcontradictions.Hewas _Jo!iticallyconservativebutopen-mindedonmanyissues.Hewasbotha blue-bloodNewEnglanderandamanwhosoughttolearnfromothers, regardlessoftheirpedigree.Hewasreservedbutsparkledatsocialgatherings,wherehewouldamusehisfriendsbymimickingvariouspoliticalpersonalitiesoroncebysingingwithgustoanimpromptuperformancefrom My Fair LAdy. Hewasforty-nineyearsold,yetonsomeofAmerica'shottest issues-Vietnam,race--hestoodnotwiththemenofhisowngeneration butwiththegenerationthatchallengedthem.

Thestudentslovedhim.Fortheir1968fund-raiser,Yale'sstudentadvisoryboardsoldT-shirtsprintedwiththeslogan"Nexttomyself,Ilike Kingmanbest."Thefollowingyear,whenBrewsterenteredacontentious campus-widemeetingonthefutureofROTCatYale,fourthousandstudentsrosetogivehimastandingovation.Onthesubjectofcoeducation, however,BrewsterandYalestudentsstoodapart.Indeed,ofallthedissonancesthatdefinedKingmanBrewster,thecontrastbetweenhisprogressive

YALE NEEDS WOMEN

stancesonrace,religion,andclassandhisconservativeviewsongenderwas perhapsthe moststriking.

Brewster refused to frequent clubs that discriminated against blacks orJews,and the signature change ofhis administration had been opening Yale's doors to moreblack students and students from families that could neverbeforehaveafforded to send their sonstoYale.Butwhen it came to women,Brewsterwascontent with the worldasitwas.Heenjoyedmanya mealatclubsthatbanned womenfromthemaindiningroomatlunchtime, and asto the ideaofendingYale's268 yearsasa men'sschoolbyadmitting women undergraduates...well,whywouldanyone wanttodo that?

By 1968,Yale students had been telling Brewster the answer to that question for more than two years,ever since Lanny Davis became chairman ofthe YaleDailyNewsin 1966."Coeducation should nowbebeyond argument," Lanny wrote in his debut editorial, which declared that the time was long overdue to end "the unrealistic,artificial,and stifling soci; environment ofan all-maleYale." Lanny didnot stop therebutproceede to publish a barrage of pro-coeducation columns and editorials, more than nineteen in all, over the next five months."Lanny beat the drums day in and day out and, in a wonderfully positive way, harassed the hell out ofus,"saidBrewster's top adviser,Sam Chauncey. And when the Yale DailyNews spoke, the men who ranYale generally listened.The Newswas one ofthe oldest and most powerful student organizations on campus. Past chairmen had included Supreme CourtJustice Potter Stewart, Time magazine founderHenry Luce,and Kingman Brewsterhimself,who read the YaleDailyNews and met regularly with the paper's chairman to get a read on studentopinion. Whenitcametoadmittingwomenundergraduates,however,even the NewscouldnotconvinceBrewsterthatthetimefor change had come.

Brewster was hardly alone in his stance.America's most elite colleges had longmaintained theirreputation notjustbythe typesofstudents they

ANNE GARDINER PERKINS

let in but by those they kept out:Jews, blacks, working-class kids-and women. Even after the wave of coeducation that followed the CivilW.1r, uppingtheproportionofcoedcampusesfrom25 percentbeforethewarto 60 percent by 1890,the vast majority of top-tier colleges and universities inthe United Statesstayedall male. Coeducation wassolelya symptom of financial weakness, opined Harvard president Charles Eliot in 1873. The colleges thatcould affordto turn down women'stuitions-America's oldestandmostprestigious-would continue to do so.

Nearly a century later, President Eliot's prediction held true, and in 1968,thelistofU.S. colleges that stillbanned women undergraduatesreads like an academic who's who:Amherst,Boston College, Bowdoin, Brown, Carnegie Mellon,Claremont McKenna, Colgate, Columbia, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Fordham, Georgetown, Hamilton, Harvard, Haverford, roly Cross, Johns Hopkins, Kenyon, Lafayette, Lehigh, Notre Dame, 'enn, Princeton, Rutgers, Sewanee,Trinity,Tufts, Tulane, Union, UVA, Washington and Lee,Wesleyan,West Point and the other military academies,Williams,and-ofcourse--Yale. Afew,likeHarvard and Brown,had createdsisterschoolsthatkeptthewomennearbywithout putting themon equaltermswith men,butnoneadmitted women tothesamecollegethat themenattended."In themindsofmany,"observedthe Ed11catio11al Record, '"all-male'education hasbecome synonymouswith'prestige'education."

Thatstatusquo wasjust fine with Brewster,and unlesshechanged his positiononthematter,Yalewouldstayjustasitwas.Brewster'spoweratYale ran unfettered by the constraints that frustrated other _campus presidents. He was notjust a member ofthe Corporation,Yale'sboardoftrustees,but itspresident, and"the faculty adored him,"observed oneseniorprofessor. Brewster hadraisedtheir salariesandstrengthenedtheir reputation,andthe glow from Brewster's accolades shone on all ofthem. Nonetheless, even J{jngmanBrewstercould not always shape theworldashe wishedto.

The events ofthe spring of 1968 had shaken him. Martin Luther

YALE NEE DS WOME N

KingJr.'s assassination inApril had struck particularly hard,for here was a man whose handBrewsterhad clasped when,as one of the first acts ofhis presidency,he had awarded King an honorary degree. That same month, studentsatTrinityCollege.justfortymilesup the roadfromYale,had held a group of trustees hostage untilTrinity acted on a long-stalled student demand fora scholarship fund forblackand other disadvantaged students. A largerprotestat Columbia three weekslaterended with more thantwo hundred studentsinjuredand sevenhundredarrested.

Over the summer of 1968, Brewster retreated with his family to their waterfront home on Martha'sVineyard, where he spent his days in Bermuda shortsand sneakers,sailingand talking withfriendsandpresiding overthe grill at eveningcookouts.Andthere,peckingout the wordswith t\VO fingersonhis typewriter,Brewster wrote theinitialdraftof hisannual presidential report,his statementof Yale'saccomplishmentsin theyearjust passed and the goals fortheyeartocome.Ashe lookedaheadtothe fallof 1968,Brewster set forth two centralquestions:How much say should students havein university governance?Whatwasthe university'sresponsibility to the New Haven neighborhoods that surrounded it? Brewster typed out hisanswers,whichin turn became hisprioritiesfortheyear.Hisreport was silent entirely,however,on thepossibility ofcoeducation.

The summer ticked away,and as it did,the twine thatheldthe nation together continued to unravel. In June, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. InAugust, Chicago police assaulted protestors at the Democratic National Convention.And in the background was the constant drumbeat oftheVietnamWar, where U.S. troop levels had surpassed halfa million. The growing women's movement would unsettle the givens ofBrewster's life still further, but in the summer of1968, it wasjust gaining its footing. NOW, the National Organization forWomen, was only two years old. Consciousness-raising groups had just started meeting in women's living rooms and kitchens. MostAmericans did not yet grasp the extent

ANNE GARD INE R PER KINS

ofthediscriminationagainstwomenineducation,employment,andthe law.AsidefromBettyFriedan's17,eFeminineMystiq11e,themajorworksof second-wavefeminismwereyettobewritten.

OutonMartha'sVineyard,thedaysgrewshorterwiththecomingfall; thetimetopackawaytheBermudashortsdrewnear.Brewsterfinishedhis president'sreportandreadiedtoreturntocampus,notyetrealizingthatthe agendafortheyearaheadwouldbesetnotbyhim,butbystudents.

ToYaleseniorDerekShearer,theideathatwomenwerenotgood enoughtoattendacollegelikeYalemadenosense.Hehadonlytolook athisfamilyforevidencetothecontrary.HissisterBrookewasoneofthe smartestkidsinherhighschool.Hismotherwroteforlocalandnational magazines,andDerekfeltproudtowritejo11rnalist insteadofho11se1v[fe on theformsatschoolthataskedhismother'soccupation.Derekhadattended acoedpublichighschoolinCalifornia,andhisfriendsthereincludedboth boysandgirls.Hedidnotliketheall-maleatmospherehefoundatYale,and hewasdeterminedtochangeit.

Yalestudentsandtheirviewsonthedesirabilityofcoeducationhad changedinthefouryearssince,Derekhadarrivedasafreshman.Some Yalemenwerestillhappytoattendanall-maleschool,withitsbondsof brotherhoodandfreedomfromthepressure(albeitself-induced)ofperformingfortheoppositesex.Butby1968,thebulkofYalestudentsdid notwanttospendtheircollegeyearstrappedinavillageofmen.Many sawtheirsingle-sexexistenceasunnatural.Othersjustwantedgirlfriends. Anumber,likeDerek,weremovedbytheunfairnessofapolicythatgave themachancetogetintoYalewhiledenyingtheirsisterstheopportunity toevenapply.LikethegrowingnumberofYalemenwhogrewtheirhair longorworemustachesandbeards,thesenewviewsreflectedthechanging

values of youth across the nation.And atYale,some of that shift had been inadvertently causedby Brewsterhimself

After Brewster instructed his new admissions dean, Russell Inslee "Inky" Clark, to admit the top male students in the country regardless oftheirrace orclass orreligion,theprepschoolboyswhohadlongformed the majority atYale hadto competeagainstabroaderfield,and theirnumbersdeclined. In theirstead.Yale admitted more students from public high schools,schools that with rare exception were coed.

All-maleYale,whill

normal for the kids from all-maleAndover and all-male Exeter,was n normal to this growing group of public high school graduates, and L Derek's senior year, half ofYale's four classes had been chosen by Inky Clark.

DerekheldoneofthetopstudentpositionsatYale:chairmanofthestudentadvisory board.The rolegranted himregularmeetingswithBrewster, and Derek used that pulpit to pushBrewster on a topic that Brewsterdid notwish tobepushedon."Completeandimmediatecoeducation,"Derek told him in February 1968,wasYale's"mostpressingeducationalneed."All thattalk cametonaught,however.justliketheearlierstudenteffortstoend Yale'ssingle-sex status.Brewstersimply didnotwantYaletoadmitwomen undergraduates."Kingman was not comfortable with the idea ofcoeducation," explained Sam Chauncey, whose title asBrewster's assistant gave little indication ofthe degree ofinfluence he held. Chauncey had occupied the office nexttoBrewster'seversinceBrewsterbecamepresident in 1963.The two talked every day:first thing in the morning, asissues arose during the day, or by phone ifBrewster was out oftown. Chauncey was privy to thoughtsBrewsterdid not sharewith others,andwhile he always supportedBrewsterinpublic,ChaunceywasfreetochallengeBrewsterprivately on issueswherethe t\vo mendisagreed-coeducation,forexample. Yet here Chauncey met the same resistance asYale students. Brewster "believed in change,"Chauncey observed,"except when it came to things

that,·verereallyimportanttohim."KeepingYaleanall-maleschoolwas oneofthem.

Despitehisnationalreputation,Brewsterhadlivedhislifebehindthe wallsofamarkedlyinsularworld.Agraduateofanall-boysprepschool, Brewsterhadattendedall-maleYale,wherehe'dmetVassarCollegejunior MaryLouisePhillips,thedaughterofaYaleman,atafraternityparty. They'dmarriedthefollowingyear.AsYale'spresident,Brewsterspenthis dayssurroundedbymen,andwhiletheelegantdinnerpartieshehosted beganwithcouplesseatedtogether,afterthemealthemenretiredtothe omparlorforbrandyandconversationwhilethewiveswereshuntedoff ;ewhere.ForBrewster,thenotionoftwoparallelspheres,oneformen indoneforwomen,wassodeeplyembeddedinthestructureofhisdays thatitwashardtoimagineanalternative.

"Kingmanknewgirlsandwomenassomeoneapart,"explained AssociateDeanJohnWilkinson,oneofBrewster'sinnercircle."Hewasn't accustomedtowomenwhowerehisequals."Thatperceiveddifferencewas atthecenterofBrewster'soppositiontocoeducation.

ToBrewster,admittingwomenstudentsthreatenedthecentralmission ofYale:graduatingAmerica'sfutureleaders.By1968,Yalehadproduced SupremeCourtjustices,aU.S.president,andasmallarmyofU.S.senators, governors,andCEOs.AlongwithHarvardandPrinceton,Yalewas"widely viewedasthetraininggroundsforthenation'sleaders,"wrotehistorian JeromeKarabel,andYalewouldconfirmthatreputationtwentyyearslater, wheneveryU.S.presidentbetween1989and2009wasaYaleman.

"Weareanationalinstitutionwhoseambitionisnothinglessthan totrytoframealeadershipforthenation,"BrewstertoldYalealumniin 1966,andadmittingtherightstudentswasthekeytoattainingthatgoal. Theroleoftheadmissionsoffice,Brewsterinstructedhisstaff,wasto "makethebunchyjudgmentastowhetherornotwithYale'shelpthecandidateislikelytobealeaderinwhateverheendsupdoing."Sincewomen

YALE NEE DS WOME

N werenot leaders,Brewsterreasoned,theywouldbe takinguplimitedspaces thatcould have gone tomen.

IfBrewsterhadwantedevidenceofwomen'spotentialasleaders,allhe hadtodowaslookouthisofficewindow.Two blocksupatYale'sgraduate school, future Federal Reserve chairJanetYellen was getting her PhD in economics,whilefutureUCBerkeley chancellorCarolChristwasgetting hers in English. One block away,future secretary ofstate Hillary Rodham had just been accepted atYale Law School, where future Connecticut Supreme Court chiefjustice Ellen Peters was on the faculty and future Children's Defense Fund founderMarianWrightEdelman had graduatec six yearsearlier.

IThis blindness towomen'spotentialasleaderswasnotBrewster'salone Judging byAmericans'choices atthepolls,hewasrightinstepwithhisera. Inthe fallof1968,all50ofthestategovernorswere men,aswere99ofthe 100 U.S.senators and all but 11 ofthe 435 members ofthe U.S.House of Representatives.Yale's brandwas producing nationalleaders,andifexamples ofwomen leaders could not befound-despitewomen'sexclusion to date from nearly every avenue to power-thenYale was going to waste as few admissions slots on women aspossible.

Brewster was a skilled political tactician, and for the two years following Lanny Davis's editorial onslaught,he keptYale students at bay by holding out the possibility ofa sister school, a solution that would have brought women to NewHavenwithout actually having to admitthem to Yale. Brewstereven tried foran entire yearto convince all-womenVassar to abandon its campus in Poughkeepsie and move 120 miles east to New Haven. Whenthatplan fellthrough,hewasreadywithanother:Yalewould happily builditsownwomen'scollege-assoonasadonorsteppedforward to pay the more than $30 million that Brewstersaid it wouldcost for the additionalfaculty,staff,andfacilities. Andthere the issue sat,nicelystalled, until student adviserDerekShearergottiredofwaiting.

ANN

DerekgraduatedinJune1968withoutmakingmuchprogresswith Brewster,buthewasn'tdonewithYaleyet.WhileBrewstersatpeckingaway at hispresident'sreportinMartha'sVineyard,Derekwasbusymakingplans ofhisown.EvenifhewouldnotbeatYaletocarrythemouthimself,he knewplentyofstudentsintheclassesbelowhimwhowerejustastiredof Brewster'sintransigenceoncoeducationashewas.PerhapsDerekcouldprovideasparktoignitestudentactivismforchange.

WhenYalestudentsreturnedtocampusinSeptember,theyfoundthat Derekhadbeentherebeforethem.Onentrywaybulletinboardsandhallwaydoors,ontreesandtelephonepolesDerekhadstapledabroadside thatfeaturedalargepictureofhisyoungersisterBrookeandthequestion "Please,Mr.Brewster,whycan'tIcometoYale?"Youcouldn'tmissit,and therewasnodenyingtheboldnessofthe"OperationCoeducation"idea thatitproposed:BringonethousandwomenstudentstoYaleforaweek. ConstructgeodesicdomesontheOldCampustohousethem.Andsee whatKingmanBrewstersaidthen.

Yalemayhavefeltlikeanall-maleislandtothestudentswhowerepushing forcoeducation,buttheuniversitywasnottotallydevoidofwomen. Womenwerepresentattheedges,aswivesandmothersandgirlfriends orassecretariesanddininghallworkers.Afewhadevenfoundplacesin therolesusuallyreservedformen.In1968,YaleCollegehad2tenured womenonitsfaculty-and391tenuredmen.Yalewasnotaloneinits preferenceformaleprofessors,andwomenfacultywereequallyscarce atcampusesthathadlongbeencoed.Just4percentofthefullprofessorsattheUniversityofMichiganwerewomenand2percentatthe UniversityofCaliforniaBerkeley,eventhoughbothofthesecampuses ,hadbeeneducatingwomenstudentssincethe1870s.AmongU.S.

YALE NEEDS WOMEN

colleges,Yale's male-dominant culture may have been an extreme,but it was no aberration.

Although Yale's graduate and professional schools were technically coed in 1968,that wasn't how it felt to the women. Invisible is the word they used to describe themselves. Women graduate students made up lessthan 10 percent ofYale'sstudentbody,andtheywerespreadoutacross eleven different graduate and professionalschools,fromthedivinityschool atopProspectHill tothemedicalschooltwomilessouthontheotherside ofthe highway.

Yale's treatment ofwomenassomehowlesscapable ordeserving than men did notstop at women'sscantnumbers. Malegraduatestudentswere given housing in a prominent building at the centerofcampus,while the women were assigned to an ugly 1950s structure several dark blocks past the cemetery.Yale'sHealthServicedid not offergynecology,andthe prescriptions there were preprinted with the title"Mr.,"as ifwomen would neverneed medicine or somehow did not exist.Yale had one ofthe finest gymsin the world,but women werebannedfromenteringit.WhengraduatestudentCarolChristarrived atYale'sfamedElizabethanClub withher male classmate,he wasusheredinside,while she was whisked back out to thesidewalk.Women were notallowed.

LifeforwomenatYalemighthavebeeneasierhadtherebeensomela· or court ruling to prohibit colleges and universities from treating women unfairly, but in 1968 discrimination against women at U.S. colleges and universities wasperfectlylegal.TheFourteenthAmendment'sprovisionfor equalprotectionunder thelaw hadnotyetbeenjudgedto include women. TheEqual PayActof1963 exempted professional women,includingfaculty and administrators.TheTitle IV protections ofthe Civil RightsAct of 1964 applied to race but not gender;TitleVII excluded colleges and universities from its ban on employment discrimination.Title IX, which would ban discrimination in any federally funded education program or

activity,was not even under discussion. For the rime being, those atYale who soughttochangethe status ofwomen wouldhave to fightthat battle on theirown.

HadYale's current students been the only ones pushing coeducation,Brewster might have held out a little longer.ButYale's rivalry with Harvard and Princeton forthe nation's top highschoolstudents began at admissions,andthatwaswhere thewomanquestionfinallystruckanerve.

In the fall of1968,thestudentswhoshapedYale's directionwere notjust thosewho alreadywentthere butthose whokept turningYale down.

"Speakingstrictlyfromanadmissionsstandpoint,adecision toeducate women atYale...is not only desirable but virtually essential," Inky Clark told Brewster inJune. The numbers did not look good. By 1968, more than40percent ofthe students accepted byYale were choosing to attend othercolleges,with the majoritycitingYale'ssingle-sexstatusasthe reason. Worsestill,more thanthree quartersofstudentsadmittedto both Harvard andYale picked Harvard,and again the problem wasYale's lack ofwomen students.Yale menfaced a two-hourcarridetoVassarorSmith foradate, hile a Harvard guy who sought female companionship could turn to 1e Radcliffegirl sittingnexttohiminclassorvisit the women atnearby SimmonsorWellesley. IfYalewasgoingtokeep itsstandingas one ofthe top two orthree colleges in the nation,the availability ofwomen was an amenityitcould nolongerdowithout.

ThefinalstrawwasPrinceton.OnSeptember14,whileDerekShearer wasputtinguphis"Please,Mr.Brewster"postersatYale,Princetonreleased an extensive study ofcoeducation that concluded that women students were "vital to Princeton's future." Princeton had not yet acted on the report; its trustees were still considering the report's recommendations. ButherewasathreatBrewstercouldnot ignore.Itwasbadenoughlosing topstudentstoHarvard.Losingthemto Princeton,stillasecondchoice to Yale formostapplicants,would neverdo,andifPrinceton went coed and

Yaledidnot,Yalemightwellfinditselfdroppingtothirdplaceamongthe IvyLeagueschools.ThePrincetonreportwhettedYale's"senseofcompetitiverivalry,"saidBrewster,andpushedhimwherehemightnothave otherwisegone.

TwoweeksafterPrincetonissueditsreport,Brewsterreleasedaneightpagememoranduminwhich,forthefirsttime,heheldoutthepossibilityof admittingwomendirectlytoYale.Helistedtworeasonsforthechange:"the lossoffirst-ratestudents"whoturneddownYaletoattendcollegeswith "coeducationalattractions"andthePrincetonreport,whichinaddition toitscompetitivethreatprovidedan"impressiveanalysis"ofthefinancial implicationsofcoeducationandthebenefitsofadmittingwomendirectly ratherthanopeningasisterschool.MissingfromBrewster'srationalewasany notionofadmittingwomenforreasonsofequityorfairness.Nonetheless, coeducationatYalewasfinallyupfordiscussion.

YetstillBrewsterstalled.Yalecouldnotmoveforwardwithcoeducation,hesaid,untilitreceivedthat$30milliondonation.Andno,hehadn't askedanyoneyet.Brewster'sjustificationforhis$30millionfigurewas basedontheideathatgoingcoedwouldcauseYaletoincreaseitsenrollmentby1,500students,thenumberofwomenundergraduatesBrewste: proposedinhiseight-pagememorandum.Butin1968,Yalehadplenty01 spaceforwomenstudentsifitsimplychosetoreducethenumberofmen ineachenteringclass,andithadafat$575millionendowmenttodipinto shoulditwanttobuildthefacilitiesandhirethefacultyneededtoexpand.

EvenInkyClark,anallyofBrewster's,gavelittlecredencetoBrewster's pricetagargument:"Itwasabogusissue,"hesaid."Itreallywasbogus." ByOctober1968,therewasnothingstoppingYalefromadmittingwomen studentsexceptBrewster'sreluctancetodoso.

DerekShearer's"Please,Mr.Brewster"posters,however,hadnotgone unnoticed,andasthefallsemesterof1968gotunder-..vay,theclamor forcoeducationfromYalestudentsonlygrewlouder."SoWhereArethe

Women?"bellowedthe YaleDaily Newsinaneditorialon thefirstMonday ofclasses. The following week,junior Mark Zanger, the leader ofYale's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SOS),joined the offensive."Women Now.TalkLater,"demanded his October4 Yale Daily News column, which charged that Brewster was only "pretending" to take the coeducationissueseriously.

PerhapsBrewstersimply hopedthe coeducationfervorwouldgo away, butAviSoifer,aYalesenior,was notgoing to let it drop. While Operation Coeducation anditsidea ofbringing women students toYale for a week hadfirstbeenproposedbyDerekShearer,Aviwastheonetotake thenext step.Like Derek,Avi had attended a coed public high school, where the presenceofgirlsaspeersandclassmateswasthenorm.Avihadbeenfollowingthe coeducationissue sincehissophomoreyear, when he had covered Brev.·ster's attempt to lureVassar to New Haven for the Yale Daily News, and he had come to know a few women graduate students who helped himseethe waysin whichYale women were assigned a parallelyet lesser existence.By September 1968,Aviwas ready to act,and in September, he pulledtogethersomefriends and gotto work.Kingman Brewster did not knowityet,butOperationCoeducation-or"CoeducationWeek,"asAvi's

[upcametocallit-wasunder

way.

On October 15,three weeksafterBrewster releasedhismemo noting competitive pressure to go coed,Avi Soifer and his teamwent public withtheirplans.CoeducationWeekwouldstartonNovember4 andbring 750women collegestudentstoYaleforsixdays.The womenwouldlivein dorm rooms vacated by obligingYale students, attend classes, participate in forums and panels on coeducation, and give Yale men the chance to interact with the opposite sex "under more natural conditions than the infamous mixer." CoeducationWeek wouldprove to alumniand the public thatYale students were"serious and sincere about normal coeducational life in the near future,"saidAvi, and it wouldprodYale to adopt

YALE NEE DS WOME N

coeducationnowratherthaninthatvague distantfuturetowhichBrewster perpetually postponedit.

The day afterAvi announced the CoeducationWeek plans,more than fifty studentssignedon to help makeithappen.Thelogisticsrequiredwere staggering.Twenty-two teamswere dispatched to sign up women participants from colleges throughout the Northeast. Other students went door to door in the residence halls,asking their classmates if they would move inwith friends for theweeksothatwomencouldstayin their rooms.The committee needed fifteen thousand dollars to pay for the women'sdining hallmeals.Thewomen,they decided,wouldcoverhalfby contributingten dollars each,andthe committee would pay fortherest (orat least most of it) by asking the social committees ofYale's twelve residential colleges to throw in three or four hundred each,the costofamixer.There was meetingafter meeting ofcommitteesandsubcommitteesandthensubgroupsof subcommittees.On onenightalone,Aviwenttotwelvedifferentmeetings.

It'snotclearhowseriouslyBrewsterhadtakenDerekShearer's"Please, Mr. Brewster"posters, but he was paying attention now.On October 21, Avi wassummonedtomeetwitharoomfulofadministratorsandBrewster himself.Brewster was not pleased.CoeducationWeek washappening too soon, he argued.Avi was bringing too many womentoYale.Yale studen shouldjust be more patient.

"Well,"saidAvi,"we may goaheadanyway."

"I wish you wouldn't,"Brewster replied.Butitwasalready too late

The rest ofOctober filled with the buildup toward CoeducationWeek, and on Monday,November4,750 women studentsarrivedinNew Haven ready to spend a week as"Yalies."Girls fromVassarand Smith,from Bryn Mawr and Brandeis and Connecticut College,filled out their registration

formsandmetthemenwhoseroomstheywouldbeoccupying."All overthecampustherewassomethinggiddyintheair-likeagiantjoke thateveryonewasinon,"observedonevisitingwoman."Lotsofsmiling ,venton."

Someofthemenwerestillhurriedlyputtingfreshsheetsontheirbunk bedsasthewomenarrived,butonthewhole,thefirstdaywentsmoothly. Thevisitingwomenreceivedmealtickets,listsofsuggestedclassesto attend,andacalendaroftheweek'sevents.Avi'steamhadsentoutdozens ofpressreleases,andTime,Life,andNewsweekwereallthere,camerasflashing."Womenarepeopletoo,"AvitoldtheNewYorkTimes,andtheTimes ranhisstatementasitsquoteoftheweek.

Theweek'seventsweresomewhateclectic.MondayfeaturedawelcomeceremonywithYale'schaplain.TuesdaybroughtanElectionDay rally;RepublicanpresidentialnomineeRichardNixonwaspollingsoclose toDemocratHubertHumphreythattheoutcomewasanyone'sguess. WednesdayincludedacoeducationdiscussionwithYale'sundergraduate dean.Buttheeventthatmayhaveraisedthemostquestionsamongthe youngwomenvisitingYalewasashowingofpornflicksthattheYaleLaw SchoolFihnSocietyhadscheduledtocoincidewithCoeducationWeek. ThemovieswereshownMondaynightinaclassroomrightontheOld Campus,andtheYaleDailyNews,whichtookparticulardelightinthe event'stiming,featureditonthefrontpage.WhenavisitingRadcliffestudentstoppedbytheNewsbuildingonMondayandofferedtowritean article,theyassignedhertocoverthepornfestival.

Sheattendedoneoftheearlyshowingsandwatchedseveraltenminuteshortsbeforewalkingoutearly."All ofthemconsistedofladies removingtheirclothingandwrithingaround-allbythemselves-onsofas, beds,andevendesktops;•shewroteinthestorytheNewspublishedon thefrontpagethenextday.Herexperienceofwritingareviewofaporn festivalwhileinthemidstofallthosemaleYaleDailyNewsreporterswas

unsettling. "There I was atYale...sitting in a strange newsroom, writing some story about some lady masturbating with a cross," she wrote a few weeks later. "It was bizarre and slightly absurd.All at once I was feeling isolatedand quitelonely."

Most Coed Week visitors avoided that type of hazing, and by Wednesday,Yale students were gleeful with the success ofthe experiment. Thatevening,theYale marchingbandconcluded its weekly practice with an impromptu parade.With trumpetsand sousaphones proclaiming their presence, the band members marched through the courtyards ofhalfa dozen ofYale's residential colleges and on toward their final destination: PresidentBrewster'sfront lawn.

All along the way, students came down from their rooms to join the band,andby thetimethecrowdofYalestudentsandvisitingwomenarrived at Brewster's house, its numbers had swelled to the hundreds. The band playedYale football songs,and Brewster cameoutonto thefront porch ina jocular mood,with his wife,Mary Louise,beside him."Give us adate!"the students cried, urging Brewster to commit to coeducation.Brewster asked thebandleaderif he could borrow his megaphone,andthen,ina nodtothe college his wife had attended, proclaimed to the crowd,"Vassar was goc enough for me!"Thestudentswantedabetteranswer."Giveus adate!"th repeated,and this timeBrewsterdid:"In 1972,there will be womenatYale: But that was not soon enough."Next fall!"shouted the students."1969!"

Things movedquicklyfromthere.CoeducationWeek"wasjustavery smart political act," observed John Trinkhaus, the head ofone ofYale's twelveresidentialcolleges."Itgotnationalpublicity,andsomehow brought the whole affair to a head." Meanwhile,Princeton seemed poised to act. On Thursday morning, November 7,Brewster called a meeting with a one-itemagenda:admittingwomenundergraduatestoYale.AviSoiferwas there,as was the current chairman ofthe YaleDailyNews,Sam Chauncey, and afewmore ofBrewster'stop advisers.

ANNE GARDINER PERK INS

Two days later,Brewster headed down to NewYorkto meet with the Yale Corporation. Trustee Irwin Miller hadbeen arguing for coeducation since 1967,warningthat"the quality ofadmissionatYale...will undergo a long,slowdecline unlessthere are women." Hewasnotalone in hisviews, and the Corporationvotedto acceptfive hundredwomen students for the fallof 1969.Brewster's$30millionpricetagissuewassetasidewithbarelya murmur.Yale wouldmake dowith the existingfacilitiesand faculty:rooms designed for three students would holdfour, and the few extra staffprovidedforthewomen wouldbe coveredbythewomen's tuitions.

Before Brewstercouldgopublic withthe decision,one final step was needed.OnThursday,November 14,hepresentedhiscoeducationproposal totheYale College faculty.Thevotewas200:1 infavor, withthe sole negativevote comingfromhistoryprofessor George Pierson,a man who had arrived atYale asaseventeen-year-oldfreshmanin 1922andwasstill there forty-sixyearslater.

The next morning,on elite college campuses across the country,men in presidents' suites set down their coffee cups in surprise. They looked at the front-page story in the NewYorkTimes:"Yale Going Coed Next September." Really? Yale? The last anyone outside the university had 1eard,Yalewasstillwaiting for someone towrite a$30 million check,and here was no mention ofany donation.Yet clearly the decision wasfinal. It said right there in the article thatYale's faculty had approved the plan the daybefore and thatYale'strusteeshadvotedyes ina secret meeting in NewYork.

Yale had left itselfjust tenmonths to transforminto a coeducational institution. "This is a crash program for next year,"Yale College Dean Georges May told the Yale Daily Neu,s. Within four days ofBrewster's coeducation announcement,Yale received eighthundred lettersofinterest from female students-some still in high school,some already in college.

By March, nearlyfour thousandwomenhadapplied.They hailedfrom all

YALE NE EDS WOME N

over the country: Chicago, Little Rock, Brooklyn, Honolulu,Tulsa, and Cleveland.Step one,then,was to read through all those applications from womenthat the admissions office staffing had not planned for. The housing problemquickly becamepressingtoo,since BrewsterdeclaredthatYale wouldnotreducethenumberof incomingmenjust because itwasadding somewomen.Andwhataboutstudent organizations?Someonehad to ask each of them if they wouldallowYale'snewwomen students tojoin.

The list went on and on.The locks needed changing.The outdoor lightingwasinadequate.VanderbiltHall,wherethewomenfreshmenwould live, needed shades on the windows.The gym had to end its no-women rule. TheYale Health Centerwould have to hire a gynecologist.And then there was the worry of potential pregnancies. CouldYale do anything to avoid that?

Asforthe realchangesthatwouldshiftanall-maleinstitutiontoonein which women stood equal with men,therewasno time.Such change was not, in fact,what Brewster had in mind. The goal for September,declared his hastily formed coeducation planningcommittee,was to admit women "with the least disruption of the current pattern" of education atYale as possible. It would be up to Yale's first women undergraduates to do the disrupting required.But first,they wouldhave to get in.