As fall approaches, parents and students are prepping for the back to school rush, however, for the 2010 graduating class, they will once again begin a new journey as they enter into the world of university life, and life as an adult.
Although the number of schools that serve primarily women is shrinking, and some may feel that going to an all girls’ school is taking a step backward in the gender equality issue, this unique group creates a small, close knit sisterhood that often lasts a lifetime. Many of these schools are among the oldest in the country, most are private, and they hold firmly to their traditions. Some of the activities that are most looked forward to on these campuses have their origins in the schools’ early years.
Many women’s universities uphold the traditions of days long past, such as what happens to a girl upon announcing her engagement. At Agnes Scott College, they toss the woman into the alumni pond in the university garden, while students at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, tell the story of the school’s class ritual where juniors receive their class rings at the Junior Banquet. The woman wears her class ring on her left pinky with the chapel facing her heart for as long as she attends the school. Once she receives an engagement ring, the class ring moves to her right pinky, and once she leaves the school, she turns the ring so that the chapel faces away from her heart.
Other common traditions include mentoring programs where the upper-class women mentor the freshmen in a big sister/little sister style, as well as rituals where the students gather for special occasions in a “step sing,” which occurs on a particular set of steps at the school. They sing school songs and conduct other activities to foster a sense of companionship and sisterhood. It is something very special that not everyone gets to experience.
Throughout the nation, there is only one exclusively female college, Bennett College in Greensboro, NC, which is also the only college that does not allow men to attend classes at any level. The school, originally established to educate emancipated slaves, held classes at elementary and high school levels in the basement of what is now St. Mathews Methodist Church. In 1926, the school bucked the trend of other schools when it changed its co-ed campus to a female only campus.
Many other universities around the country have female only undergraduate policies, but allow men to receive graduate degrees. Originally founded as religious seminaries, nearly all of the women’s schools are now accredited universities. “The Sisters” universities are a special group of schools in the Northeastern part of the country, founded between 1837 and 1889 they were among the first universities for women. The group originally included four in Massachusetts, two in New York, and one in Pennsylvania, however, over time, Radcliffe College merged with Harvard, and Vassar College went co-ed. Although originally called “The Seven Sisters,” due to the seven campuses, today, only five remain, and these schools now allow men to take classes as part of exchange programs or other relationships, but their official school registrations are for other universities. Therefore, the women remain as the only officially registered students at the “The Sisters,” thus maintaining their distinction of being the only official students at their individual universities.
Spelman College in Atlanta is not only a women’s college, but also a historically black college, with their partner campus of Morehouse College being exclusively for men.
Universities for women are somewhat of a novelty in the US, but they are the norm in many other parts of the world. Saudi Arabia, for instance, is in the process of creating the largest women’s university in the world. Africa also has female only universities, as does India, Pakistan, China, and Korea. The idea of educating women separate from men is not a new one, but for many women, considering attending a women’s only school can be a foreign idea. Look at it this way girls; it is like a slumber party that last four years with hundreds of your closest friends.
Sources:
http://www.bennett.edu/history.asp
http://www.ccl.sbc.edu/general/documents/traditions_booklet.pdf