The Pierce Report attempted to anticipate many changes that coeducation would usher in at the college. The committee’s general plan included considerations of admissions, housing, facilities, and curriculum (Document GB, 12). One major decision by the committee was to admit transfers as well as first year students in an attempt to spread the women among the classes. In the first year, Bowdoin admitted 29 junior transfers and 39 exchange women to supplement the 66 members of the first year class of 1975.
This committee attempted to consider nearly every area of the college that would be impacted by coeducation. By publishing this excerpt in the student newspaper, the committee attempted to share its findings with the entire student body. Oral histories of women from the early years clearly reveal that even with this input, however, Bowdoin’s understanding of what coeducation would really mean. As women arrived, Bowdoin learned that additional changes were needed to make women feel more at home in this environment. For example, one demand by the early classes of women was to have working locks on every door of their residence. Other demands would follow.
