Richard Moll – Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

Letter from Associate Dean at Wheaton (Evelyn Banning) to Dean of Admissions at Bowdoin (Richard Moll)

This letter (Document SB, 7) regarding the 10-College Exchange program was sent shortly after discussion of the program began in October of 1968. In the beginning stages, this program would coordinate the exchange of students between ten private Northeast colleges. Bowdoin was strongly interested in this program because it “would lead to other things”, as stated in the notes from the Ten College Exchange Meeting at North Hampton on January 8, 1969. These “other things” included the discussion of co-education, as these exchange students would be the first female Bowdoin students. This program mediated official coeducation. It was not long after that Trinity and Wellesley Colleges requested membership, thus changing the name of the program to the “Twelve College Exchange.”

As suggested by this letter, female student interest in Bowdoin was immediate. Bowdoin’s Dean of Admissions, Richard Moll, was forced to postpone the discussion of application procedures with Evelyn Banning because the program had not yet been formally approved. The Wheaton female students mentioned in this document represent a larger group of women who were excited about the prospect of receiving a Bowdoin education.

It was not until the end of January 1969 that the college information and relevant forms were to potential applicants. In 1970, the first 12 women were invited to study at Bowdoin as a part of the Twelve College Exchange. This opened the door to countless discussions of coeducation during the following years and finally to the admission of a full class of female students in the fall of 1971.

Letter from Associate Dean at Wheaton (Evelyn Banning) to Dean of Admissions at Bowdoin (Richard Moll)
SB7

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

Interview with Richard Moll, Head of Admissions, by Samuel Shapiro ’14

AK20.1 - Image of first applicants with Dick Moll

Audio: click title below to begin listening

Shaping Coeducation Through Admissions: An Interview With Former Head of Admissions Richard Moll

As the head of admissions during Bowdoin’s coeducational process, Richard Moll was instrumental in ensuring the success of women at Bowdoin. He was given great freedom, allowing him to determine how best to attract women to this newly coeducational institution. To hear how he helped shape the first classes of women at Bowdoin, and hear his take on the entire coeducational process in the context of the time period, click the audio link.

Intriguing Pieces:
Time: 00:02:57
Quotation: [In reference to what role the admissions office had towards the advent of coeducation] “A lot that we didn’t have at Bowdoin College is probably because we didn’t have women. For example we had very limited programs in the arts, in music, we had sort of a raucous social scene and many of us thought it would be somewhat more even and balanced and mature if there were women. And consequently, the administration at the time […] were very interested in hearing what the admissions office had to say…”

Time: 00:11:00
Quotation: [In reference to what changes Bowdoin made to prepare for the arrival of women] “We did not make a lot of changes before a large number of the young women arrived. But we certainly had our ear to the ground on what they wanted that we didn’t have…”

Time: 00:24:05
Quotation: [In reference to the impact of coeducation within the greater context of the time period] “I disagree with the point of going coed being the biggest factor at the time. Clearly our making SATs optional in 1969 was the biggest thing that has ever happened to Bowdoin. The applicant pool tripled almost overnight and suddenly we were considered a progressive college and alone in that progressive category of optional SATs…”

Citation: I, Samuel Shapiro, interviewed former head of admissions Richard Moll on November 2nd, 2011, in his home in Brunswick, Maine. We discussed the role that the admissions office had in the coeducational process, as well the influence administrators had and resulting changes that occurred on campus.