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Vasila Mirshamsova / The Daily Princetonian
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Fifty years ago, the Class of 1973 graduated from Princeton, among them the first class of women to be admitted as first-years to the University. In this issue, we celebrate that historic class and hear from its alumni.
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NEWS | 50 years of coeducation: in the words of the women of the Class of 1973
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Elaine Chan ’73 and Susan Nugnet ’73 in Chan’s Pyne Hall room
Photo courtesy of Elaine Chan. Photo taken by David Didio, The Miami Herald.
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In 1967, President Robert Goheen ’40 led a study on the possibility of admitting women as full-time undergraduates. Despite opposition, in 1969, 102 female first-years and 48 female transfer students enrolled. Six women from the Class of 1973 spoke with the ‘Prince’ on being a part of the first four-year class of women at the University and reflected on their generally positive experience as students, from athletics to eating clubs to student life. Despite admissions becoming gender-blind in 1974, it took until 2004 for female enrollment to reach 50 percent.
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Former Dean Nancy Malkiel talks joining the faculty as first women were admitted in 1969: After her time as a graduate student at Harvard, Nancy Malkiel joined the Princeton faculty in 1969, the same year that undergraduate women came to Princeton. She says, of her time as an assistant professor: “My department was quite welcoming ... other departments were much tougher on women at the assistant professor level.” Malkiel also talks about her time as Dean of the College and her role in the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, the Writing Program, and what students called the “grade deflation” policy.
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OPINION | Lesbian and sapphic communities on campus: in need of revival
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Lesbians discuss Princeton life, 1987
The Daily Princetonian
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In 1979, one article in the Daily Princetonian noted that “the most striking thing about the lesbian community at Princeton is that it doesn’t exist.” Community Opinion Editor Lucia Wetherill writes: “As a lesbian woman navigating Princeton’s campus in 2023, I find that the 1979 description of Princeton’s lesbian community still seems to apply ... ‘informal,’ ‘primitive,’
and ‘very fragmented’” She reflects, “In the two years since I passed through FitzRandolph Gate, I’ve found a kind, caring, and inclusive queer community. Yet I’ve never felt a real sense of lesbian or sapphic community on campus. This is not because of a lack lesbian or sapphic women on campus; I’ve made a number of lesbian and sapphic friends. That these beautiful and essential sapphic friendships do, in fact, exist, makes the absence of a community all the more noteworthy and painful.”
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How do I have it all? Women, careers, and Princeton’s blind spot: In the summer of 2012, Politics professor emeritus Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80 wrote an article in the Atlantic explaining “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.” A year later, Princeton’s first female President, Shirley Tilghman, stepped down from her position, citing spending more time with her family as one of the things she was most excited about. Ten years ago, Cameron Langford ’15 wrote in a column for the ‘Prince’ that “admitting a desire to be a working mother and a fear that you might not be able to make it work … means you’re that much closer to a solution.” Head Opinion Editor Abigail Rabieh claims that, “As a campus community, we have come no closer to acknowledging this conflict or to addressing solutions. If Princetonians of the past have been able to openly discuss this struggle, there’s no reason why modern-day Tigers should shy away from it.”
READ THE COLUMN →
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DATA | For the women of the Class of 1973, recruitment remained close to home
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Pyne Hall
Angel Kuo / The Daily Princetonian
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On April 20, 1969, Princeton’s Board of Trustees announced the first phase of the University’s coeducation: women would be allowed to enroll at the University as undergraduates for the first time in the fall. That spring, Princeton began to matriculate 102 female first-year students and 48 female transfer students — though they planned to admit 90 first-years and 40 transfers — for the upcoming academic year. It was a fast turnaround recruitment process, and, according to statements by the admissions staff, focused on a few schools. The Daily Princetonian looked at the geographic distribution of the class to shed light on that extraordinary year in admissions.
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From the archives:
The ‘Prince’ has covered the history of coeducation at Princeton in the past. Here are some of the most notable projects and retrospectives.
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If you have any feedback or concerns about today’s newsletter, please email managingeditor@dailyprincetonian.com
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Today’s newsletter was copy edited by Nathalie Verlinde. Thank you.
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