Admitting Women

I read with interest “When Women Came to Princeton,” but was disappointed that the article neglected to mention the contribution of undergraduates in mobilizing support for and advocating on behalf of coeducation. As a founding member of Students for Women at Princeton and an advisory member to the Patterson Committee, I can attest that students played an important role in raising the issue of coeducation among those on campus and in advocating for the adoption of the Patterson Committee report in the expanded Princeton community.

I recall devoting several days one summer to interviewing an admission officer at Stanford and writing an article for The Daily Princetonian. I also remember attending a forum with Professor Patterson and explaining to alumni that coeducation was principally about education, keeping Princeton competitive, and contributing to the development of well-rounded individuals.

Many others made similar contributions. Indeed, the fact that two-thirds of all undergraduates responded to the Patterson Committee’s survey on coeducation and 83 percent of those expressed support is a tribute to the success of those efforts.

If the Patterson Committee provided the recipe for coeducation, students provided the yeast!