Wilson Has Failed to Carry Out Its Mission as a Women’s College

To the Editor:

This past weekend the Board of Trustees at Wilson College deliberated how to change the college’s charter to eliminate the women’s college, which was founded in 1869.

Following the January 13 decision to make the college co-ed, the trustees appointed several committees to study and facilitate the change. This past week those committees issued their reports, and the college has posted them on its Web site.

One need not look very far into these reports to discover why the college cannot attract and retain students.

The number one conclusion of the Pedagogy and Curriculum Committee is: “There is a lack of agreement among faculty (and perhaps the college as a whole) of what it means to have a women-centered focus.”

How can a 143-year old women’s college not know what it means to be women-centered?

The administration and trustees at Wilson College have failed to carry out the mission of this historic women’s college as set forth in its charter. It is absolute folly to think that adding a few young boys to the college will save it. Only by reestablishing its identity as a women’s college and returning to its original mission can Wilson College survive and flourish.

Elizabeth Ashby Mitchell
Columbia, Md.