Women's Colleges in the Southern United States

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Women's colleges in the Southern United States refers to undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations consist exclusively or almost exclusively of women.

1 List of current women's colleges in the South
- 1.1 Seven Sisters of the South
2 Former women's colleges
3 Defunct women's colleges
4 Coeducation
- 4.1 Randolph College
  - 4.1.1 Responses from Presidents
  - 4.1.2 Response from Randolph College students, parents, faculty, and alumnae
5 See also
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit] List of current women's colleges in the South

Hollins University

Other women's colleges in the south include:

Bennett College (Greensboro, North Carolina) - historically black college
Brenau University (Gainesville, Georgia)
Columbia College (Columbia, South Carolina)
Converse College (Spartanburg, South Carolina)
Hollins University (Roanoke, Virginia)
Judson College (Alabama) (Marion, Alabama)
Mary Baldwin College (Staunton, Virginia) —Has co-ed graduate program^[1]
Midway College- (Midway, Kentucky)
Meredith College (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Peace College (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Salem College (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) —Has a co-ed Continuing Education program
Spelman College (Atlanta, Georgia)- historically black college
Stephens College (Columbia, Missouri)
Wesleyan College (Macon, Georgia)

[edit] Seven Sisters of the South

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The Seven Sisters of the South refers to a group of highly regarded women's colleges in the Southern United States.^{[citation needed]} The moniker is a response to the group of women's colleges in the Northern United States which are known as the Seven Sisters.^{[citation needed]}

Agnes Scott College

Two of the members are said to be:

[edit] Former women's colleges

LaGrange College - (LaGrange, Georgia)
Louisburg College - (Louisburg, North Carolina)
Randolph College (Lynchburg, Virginia) - originally Randolph Macon Woman's College, the college changed its name when it became coeducational in 2007
Sophie Newcomb College in Louisiana which has been assimilated into Tulane University
University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, Virginia)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

[edit] Defunct women's colleges

Synodical College (Fulton, Missouri) - founded in 1842, it closed in 1928
Mount Hermon Female Seminary (Clinton, Mississippi) - founded in 1875, it closed in 1924 - historically black college

[edit] Coeducation

Beginning in late 2004, public debate concerning coeducation resurfaced (decades after the first debates began in the late 1960s) when, citing decreased enrollment, Wells College (New York) ^[5] announced that it would be adopting coeducation in 2005. A number of other schools also either became coeducational or merged, such as H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College which is now a part of Tulane University.

[edit] Randolph College

In 2006, Randolph - Macon Woman's College announced that it would be adopting coeducation and became coeducational in 2007. Former Interim president, Ginger H. Worden, argued (in a 17 September 2006 editorial for the Washington Post) that, "today, the college is embarking on a new future, one that will include men. Yet that original mission, that dedication to women's values and education, remains. The fact of the marketplace is that only 3 percent of college-age women say they will consider a women's college. The majority of our own students say they weren't looking for a single-sex college specifically. Most come despite the fact that we are a single-sex college. Our enrollment problems are not going away, and we compete with both coed and single-sex schools. Of the top 10 colleges to which our applicants also apply, seven are coed. Virtually all who transfer from R-MWC do so to a coed school. These market factors affect our financial realities. " ^[6]

It was re-named Randolph College on July 1, 2007, when it became coeducational.

[edit] Responses from Presidents

Agnes Scott College - President Elizabeth Kiss argues in a statement on the college's website, "while we sympathize with the conscientious deliberation and agonizing debate that led the Randolph-Macon Woman's College Trustees to their decision, our vision of the future is very different from theirs [...] research conducted by Hood College in 2002 concluded that three attributes were essential to the success of a women s college: steady enrollment, large endowments and an urban or semi-urban location. Agnes Scott scores high marks in each of these categories: our enrollment has grown by more than 50 percent since 1995; our endowment of approximately $300 million remains one of the largest in the country for a college of our size;our location in the thriving urban area of Decatur and Atlanta is a wonderful asset for our students, " ^[7]

Columbia College - President Caroline Whitson argues in a 17 October 2006 article that "the role for women’s colleges has been questioned recently after the decisions of the boards of both Randolph Macon Women’s College in Virginia and Regis College in Massachusetts to break with their tradition of women’s education by going coed. This has raised the question of whether the idea of single-gender education is still relevant. The answer lies in whether measurable differences exist in the outcomes for graduates of women’s colleges and in whether the benefits they receive are important for their futures and for society [...] Graduates of women’s colleges [...] are more than twice as likely as their peers who graduated from coed programs to hold traditionally male-dominated positions in technology, medicine and economics. They are also more than twice as likely to complete graduate degrees." ^[8]
Sweet Briar College and Hollins University - President Elisabeth Muhlenfeld and President Nancy Gray wrote in a 14 September 2006 article that "for women, some of the most distinctive and effective choices are the nation's women's colleges. As leaders of two such institutions, Sweet Briar College and Hollins University, we have witnessed firsthand the difference a single-sex atmosphere can make in the personal and intellectual growth of our students. We therefore were saddened when Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg announced Saturday that it would become coeducational. R-MWC has been our friendly rival and distinguished sister institution in Virginia for more than a century. We wish the college well as it moves forward, knowing how difficult this decision to change the mission of the institution in fundamental ways has been. But we also note that R-MWC's decision means that one less option now exists for young women to gain the advantages that come from attending an excellent college focused boldly on women."^[9]

[edit] Response from Randolph College students, parents, faculty, and alumnae

In response to the announcement, there were numerous protests on campus including rallies, blocking administrative offices, mass requests for transfer transcripts, banners all over campus, striking from classes, and participation in quiet protest to highlight lack of student voices in the board of trustee votes.^[10]^[11]

This led to the formation of a non-profit "Preserve Education Choice" (PEC),^[12] comprised of students, faculty, and alumnae who are trying to reverse the decision. Two lawsuits were filed by Preserve Educational Choice.^[13] On January 23, 2007, both lawsuits were dismissed in Lynchburg Circuit Court.^[14] A 2 July 2007 article announced that PEC raised enough money to appeal both dismissals.^[15] A 09 July 2007 article announced that a group of nine students brought the case to the Virginia Supreme Court where "Richmond lawyer Wyatt B. Durrette Jr. asked the state's high court to grant an appeal of the group's lawsuit, which Lynchburg Circuit Judge Leyburn Mosby Jr. dismissed in January."^[16]

On 30 June 2007, professor emeritus of romance languages, Charlotte Stern, published the 24 page letter, How the Board of Trustees Hijacked R-MWC Right Before Our Eyes: An Open Letter to the R-MWC Community on the website, Preserve Educational Change.^[17] This letter was "endorsed by 19 others, ranging from alumnae, former professors and a former president of Randolph's board of trustees. Dated June 30, the letter was sent to former and current faculty, administration and trustees, and widely circulated among alumnae."^[18] The 21 July 2007 The News & Advance article, She said, she said: The coed debate broken down, summarized a few points of the letter and included responses from Randolph College.^[19] The article also referenced, Ginger Hill Worden, Interim President, responds to What Every Trustee Should Know and 20 Reasons Why You Should Change Your Vote, a response published on the college website, which discussed earlier debates concerning the decision to adopt coeducation.^[20]

The Virginia Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals in both the student contract and charitable trust cases. The appeals are expected to be decided in 2008.^[21]