The Telegram & Gazette recently talked to faculty, staff, students, and alumni about the importance of the 40th anniversary celebration of coeducation on the Holy Cross campus.
Some believe the College might eventually have closed had it not embraced coeducation. “I'm not sure the school would have survived another decade had it not welcomed women to campus,” said Jacqueline D. Peterson, vice president for student affairs and dean of students and chair of the Coeducation Coordinating Committee. “Diversity in education is so important. It helps students ease into the real world.”
While the transition went well, women still faced obstacles. “Those students needed a very strong social environment to survive,” said Theresa McBride, a history professor who joined the faculty in the fall of 1973. “The truth is that that first class of women excelled academically from the start. They consistently rose to the occasion of the faculty.”
Marian Earls, who grew up in Worcester, was a member of the inaugural class of 1976. “I never felt isolated or out of place,” she told the reporter. “And I never had any trepidation about attending the school.”
Female students today are grateful for the efforts of “the pioneers from 1972,” according to the article.
“Those women did a lot to open doors for us,” said Katherine Grant ’13, from Bronxville, N.Y., whose mother also attended Holy Cross. “Like other women here, I feel confident, and, if want to, I can go into a room and speak my mind.”
- Read the Telegram & Gazette article
- Learn more about the 40th Anniversary of Coeducation Celebration at Holy Cross
This "Holy Cross in the News" item by Cristal Steuer.
