The First Women in the Ivies

November 8th, 1968, was a historic day in women's education because it was the day Yale officially allowed the brightest women in the country to enroll in courses. Prior to this day, Yale was exclusively male, and despite a lot of opposition from many men, 588 women were admitted into Yale that year. Women were now no longer barred by their gender from attending one of the most prestigious colleges in the country.

However, breaking this barrier came with pros and cons. Francine Welty, a graduate from the class of 1971 recalls asking her professor to write a medical school recommendation, to which he replied “Do you want me to write about your long blond hair or your beautiful legs?” Men still treated women in a degrading way, “especially in the initial years, women recalled the sensation of being constantly watched, of always being asked for the ‘women’s point of view,’ even in math classes.”

Although women fit right into Yale when it came to the academics. In fact, Yale produced a statistical survey designating “that [women] worked harder and got somewhat better grades than the 940 men graduating with them” Nowadays women are equally represented on campus, making up 48.8% of Yale’s student population.

Heinzelman, Kate. “Yale's First Classes of Women Look Back.” Yale Daily News Protests Marked Vietnam War Era at Yale Comments, yaledailynews.com/blog/2002/02/20/yales-first-classes-of-women-look-back/.

Knight, Michael. “Yale's First Full Class of Women, About to Graduate, Looks Back With Pride and Hope.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 June 1973, www.nytimes.com/1973/06/03/archives/yales-first-full-class-of-women-about-to-graduate-looks-back-with.html.

“On the Advisability and Feasibility of Women at Yale.” Yale Alumni Magazine, yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2583-on-the-advisability-and-feasibility-of-women-at-yale.

Lozada, Carlos. “How Harvard, Princeton and Yale Discovered Women.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Oct. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2016/10/14/how-harvard-princeton-and-yale-discovered-women/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f9d56ca6e751.