{"id":835,"date":"2014-03-24T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T08:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=835"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:51:39","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:51:39","slug":"chatham-students-protest-a-proposal-to-admit-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/03\/24\/chatham-students-protest-a-proposal-to-admit-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Chatham students protest a proposal to admit men"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Commencement <\/a>
Commencement at Chatham College, June, 1958 (Sun-Telegraph photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Unthreatened <\/a>
Unthreatened by the draft Chatham students take to protests, Sept. 16, 1969 (Press photo by Michael Chikiris) <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Soon one of the oldest women-only educational institutions in the U. S. may no longer be women-only. This year, Chatham, the 145-year-old college in Pittsburgh, is likely to undergo a historical change: to start allowing men into its undergraduate programs.<\/p>\n

“Is that necessary?” some students wondered. “Why?”<\/p>\n

The reaction to the news varied from negative comments by the alumni association protesting the move to one student\u2019s tweet, \u201cWHY DON\u2019T YOU WANT BOYS HERE?!\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time that Chatham considered going co-ed. \u00a0On February 16, 1990, Chatham students like Michelle Weber gathered on the steps of Jennie King Mellon Library to protest an announcement by Chatham President Rebecca Stafford that in the 1991-1992 school year the school would begin admitting male students. Our Steve Mellon, then the photographer for The Pittsburgh Press, captured the Chatham sit-in.<\/p>\n

The signs captured the sentiment: \u201cBetter Dead Than Co-Ed\u201d and \u201cSave Women\u2019s Education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five days later, a group of professors who had each taught at Chatham for at least 20 years drafted a letter to the President reaffirming their support of the \u201cconcepts, aims, and practice of single-sex education for women\u201d and intention to protest \u201cany action to alter the college\u2019s mission to accept male students, taken so precipitously as the present plans call on us to do,\u201d the Post-Gazette reported.<\/p>\n

In September 1990, the Chatham Board of Trustees voted to delay the decision on co-education indefinitely.<\/p>\n

Since the 1960s the total number of women-only colleges in the United States had been drastically reduced. For many of them the co-ed option was an effort to alleviate financial difficulties. Chatham had also considered co-education in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

The recent speech by Chatham\u2019s president Esther Barazzone sounded more alarming than the speeches of her predecessors proposing the drastic change. The climate for single-sex residential colleges has gotten precipitously worse in a bad economy, she said.<\/p>\n

Will Chatham go coed? It may have no choice this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soon one of the oldest women-only educational institutions in the U. S. may no longer be women-only.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesChatham students protest a proposal to admit men<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[1194,1211,980,1034],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/tumblr_n2t2n2GN7E1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C925&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":72,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/11\/14\/the-construction-of-chatham-center-the-city-within-a-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":0},"title":"The construction of Chatham Center, the city within a city","date":"November 14, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Once upon a time, Chatham Center was predicted to be the start of an Oakland-Downtown connection.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chatham-Center-5.jpg?fit=1200%2C941&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/09\/24\/the-spencer-family-of-amberson-avenue\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":1},"title":"The Spencer family of Amberson Avenue","date":"September 24, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The Spencer family lived in the house until 1950, the year their beloved mother died.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/tumblr_nc631tFVSn1rr5swxo5_r1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C840&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1030,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/01\/24\/artist-henry-koerner\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":2},"title":"Artist Henry Koerner","date":"January 24, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Henry Koerner was in his 20s when he fled Vienna in 1938 to escape the Nazis, who seized control of Austria.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/tumblr_mzu4bwkwTm1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=1008%2C735&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1526,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/08\/07\/shadyside-pittsburghs-greenwich-village\/","url_meta":{"origin":835,"position":3},"title":"Shadyside: Pittsburgh\u2019s Greenwich Village","date":"August 7, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Groovy. 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