1970 – Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

Memorandum to President Howell

In considering the transition to coeducation, colleges and universities around the United States began to reflect on the many changes that would occur or be required in admitting the “opposite sex”. Prospective changes included those to living facilities and dormitories, dining halls, infirmary and athletic buildings, and notably, college curricula. Bowdoin addressed the anticipation of women entering the student body by creating an Ad Hoc Committee on Coeducation. The role of the subcommittee was to examine the various changes within the aforementioned areas that would result due to women’s admission.

Like many of its collegiate and university counterparts, Bowdoin anticipated specific curricular modifications that the entrance of women would necessitate. On August 26, 1970, the Ad Hoc Committee wrote this memorandum (Document SW, 32) to President Howell to discuss the introduction of 300 undergraduate women in two stages, and in particular, to address the changes for both faculty and staff, and academic buildings they felt the entrance of women would require.

Akin to the views of other higher educational institutions at the time, the Ad Hoc Committee asserts that an increase in faculty members was not initially necessary. Rather they contend that a greater monitoring of the curriculum provisions by the Curriculum and Education Policy (C.E.P.) committee is needed since they believe the admission of women would lead not only to a general “inflation in course offerings” but also to the reduction of various academic departments such that “others (presumably those who course offerings are most relevant to women undergraduates) [would be] permitted to expand.” The Ad Hoc Committee also suggests the expansion of the current art instruction facilities is “advisable” regardless of the introduction of women but “imperative” given their anticipated admission.

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“Coeducation Plan is Proposed” The Bowdoin Orient February 13, 1970

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.

GB12 - "Coeducation Plan is Proposed" The Bowdoin Orient February 13, 1970

“Tale of Another Gender” The Bowdoin Orient

On October 9, 1970, The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin’s student run newspaper interviewed two perspective first year students about Bowdoin College becoming coeducational. Titled “Tale of Another Gender” (Document GB, 16) the article discusses two women’s attitudes about Bowdoin becoming coeducational. Women were excited about the idea that Bowdoin was now admitting women students and responded confidently to issues that would arise due to being the first women admitted to this previously all-male institution. The two women interviewed in the article, Leslie Hastings and Shelby Hayden, are fans of this new coeducation and fans of Bowdoin as a whole.

Other colleges like Bowdoin were also pondering the question of becoming coeducational. Williams College and Rutgers University both began admitting women in 1971, and Dartmouth followed shortly after in 1972. Universities and colleges, along with Bowdoin were slowly beginning to make the change to becoming coeducational.

The picture above the article shows the image of changing times a Bowdoin, with women now applying for admission.

GB16 - "Tale of Another Gender" The Bowdoin Orient

Letter from Richard Moll to Liddy Berry

This letter (Document 17, SB), from the Director of Admissions, Richard [Dick] Moll, to Elissa [Liddy] Berry, marks receipt of the first formal application from a female in Bowdoin’s history. Bowdoin matriculated its first class of women in the fall of 1971. There had been female students at Bowdoin as early as 1969 as part of the Twelve-College Exchange, but they stayed at most one year. Elissa Berry was one of the first women to spend four years as a Bowdoin student, graduating in 1975.

Berry came from a long line of Bowdoin grads: from a young age, she had set her sights on Bowdoin. There was only one problem; Bowdoin was an all-male institution. This did not deter Berry who planned to study at Bowdoin by any means necessary, and who considered applying to a Twelve-College Exchange institution so she could apply for a semester at Bowdoin. During the fall of 1970, Bowdoin announced that it would go coed the following academic year. Once Berry heard the news, she had her application completed and submitted within the week.

This letter reveals the excitement surrounding coeducation at Bowdoin. Berry was one of 147 women on Bowdoin’s campus during the 1971-1972 academic year. These courageous women served as the trailblazers for future Bowdoin women. Their enthusiasm overshadowed the potential risks of being in a significant minority. Like the applicants, Bowdoin staff members were also excited about coeducation. Richard Moll’s words in this letter affirm this as he describes the “appreciation and excitement” felt on campus.

SB 17