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Academic
By CindyCreasy,W75
Equality J/i l ft>tl 1 reYS
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Richmond CollegePresident Frederic W. Boatwrightand WesthamptonCollegeDean MayL.Ke/ler
osingfor the 1914RichmondCollege yearbook,the 99 membersof the Anti Co-EdClub-Motto:"ToHellWithCoEducation" -made theirlastsolemnstand. The next editionof '!beSpider-'Ibe Webwasyet to be spun-had a contribution fromMayL Keller,deanof the new WesthamptonCollegeforwomen, "The Seven AgesofWoman," and concludedtriumphantly : "Neverbeforehassnchperfect equalityexistedin the educationof the boy and the girl." That"girls" couldbenefitfromthe sameclassic.iiinstruction"boys" received wasa radicalnotionat the tum of the century, hut RichmondCollegePresidentFrederic W Boatwrightendorsedit. As earlyas 1893, in an articlefor the ReligiousHerald, he deploredthe poor stateof educationfor women, particularly Southernwomen. He felt"theyshouldn't be satisfiedwith justlearninghow to tat and a littleFrench," saidStuartL Wheeler,URassistantprofessor of clao;sical studies,who ha,;researched Boatwright 's correspondence . Withthe president's encouragement , RichmondCollegeinvitedwomento attend its classesin 1898. Fiveyears later, the Baptist GeneralAssociation ofVirginiadeclared that "the hour hasarrived" to establisha collegefor women"affordingscholastic standardsin keepingwith the best colleges in the land." The Baptists ' proposalcoincidedwith RichmondCollege's growingpains, so the launchingof the women's collegewasto accompan y a move to the WestEnd campus. "On the wholequestionof coeducationthere wasat the time a gooddeal of sensitiveness amongVirginians ," wrote Dr.RH. Pitt in '!beFirstHundredYears. Thus, the newwomen's college wasto be autonomous , with its own dean,classes and socialrules. Boatwrightinvestigated fivecolleges for womenthat were affiliatedwith men's colleges,and foundthe mostpromising modelforWesthampton at WesternReserve University in Cleveland. "The librarianand the scienceprofessorstold me there wasnot the slightest friction or troublein the use of thesecommon utilitiesby men and women," he reported. Contemplating the academicprogram of Westhampton , Boatwrightsurveyedthe catalogsof eighttop institutions."The organizersof collegesforwomenhavebeen cautiousand havewanderedbut littlefrom the beatentrackworn smoothby the older
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