April 7, 2005:12:30-1:45p.m., Henry Wells Room, Long Library, Wells College

Present: Sarah Alexander (APPC), Bruce Bennett (APPC), Cathy Bellomo (AFA, EMT), Candace Collmer (ASA), Carolyn Denard (APPC, EMT), Katherine Doktorich (AFA), Cynthia Garrett (ASA), Hannah Goldberg (Wheaton College, provost
emerita), Pilar Greenwood (AFA), Ellen Hall (APPC, AFA, ASA, EMT), Scott Heinekamp (ASA), Alice Jordan (APPC), Nancy Karpinski (EMT), Diane Koester (ASA), Karla Leybold-Taylor (APPC, ASA, EMT), Laura McClusky (AFA), Leslie
Miller-Bernal (AFA), Nicole Pellegrino (APPC), Sally Sievers (APPC), Amy Staples (APPC), Susan Talbot (APPC), Muin Uddin (APPC), Jeri Vargo (APPC).

Ms. Goldberg began the meeting by saying she had surmised already in her short time at Wells that many people feel there has been insufficient communication about the transition to coeducation. She observed that the "power structure of Wells" was seated around the table, the implication being that we ought to be able to address the perceived lack of
communication. She ended her opening comments by asking us to use this opportunity to ask her anything at all, while noting that of course she realizes that Wheaton is not Wells.

Here is a paraphrased, abbreviated version of questions asked and Ms.Goldberg's replies:

Mr. Heinekamp: Did aspects of Wheaton's mission other than the part about educating women change as a result of coeducation?

Ms. Goldberg: Wheaton already had a gender balanced curriculum when the decision for coeducation was made (it was made, incidentally, because Wheaton officials realized that the student body would shrink and diminish in quality if it remained single sex). The gender balanced curriculum remained after coeducation; men now benefit from it as well as women.
Wheaton still takes women very seriously, so in that sense the mission has not changed.

Ms. Greenwood: What type of programs were put in place to nurture the participatory culture at Wheaton?

Ms. Goldberg: Wheaton had over a year to make the transition to coeducation, a luxury Wells doesn't have. Immediately after the decision was made five task forces were formed. These included members of all campus constituencies. The task forces were Student Life, Intellectual Environment, Community Relations, Reach and Reputation, and Athletics. Prior to the
creation of these task forces, and the inclusion of faculty on them, faculty members had very left out, which they had been.

In addition to the task forces, a series of Teaching and Learning workshops was held at my home on Friday afternoons. The topic of these for the first year was the dynamic of the coed classroom. For example, how to deal with male dominance in the classroom? Women act differently in the presence of men; women are more reticent in the classroom. The workshops discussed ways to give women opportunities to talk without putting them on the spot. Pedagogy is extremely important, because though the number of males at first was small (80 of 1100 students), they took up more space and class time.
Again, the curriculum itself did not change as a result of coeducation. Four brave souls even offered to have their classes videotaped for their colleagues in the Teaching and Learning workshops to watch. It was startling to see how even the most ardent feminists on the faculty responded differently to men in their classes.

Ms. McClusky: Were the workshops mandatory?

Ms. Goldberg: No.

Ms. Staples: How can we help current students who are upset by the decision for coeducation?

Ms. Goldberg: Wheaton students were just as upset as Wells students are. Most students came to Wheaton not because it was a women's college, but because it was (and is) a good liberal arts college. They came to love it as a women's college, though. Students were members of the five aforementioned task forces, so students convinced other students to help make the best of
the decision.

The men who came to Wheaton were outnumbered on opening day by press and photographers. They got very used to being photographed. They were the boyfriends and the brothers of current students, and the grandsons and nephews of former students. They were very much like the women who came to Wheaton. They were not marauders and rapists. (Some of the makes who came to visit when Wheaton was single sex, incidentally, were marauders.) One faculty member predicted the first men to come would be minus 10 on the macho scale.

Men came because Wheaton was a first rate liberal arts college, and one told that to a reporter the first day, to my great relief.

Mr. Uddin: What is the male to female ration at Wheaton?

Ms. Goldberg: It's 40/60 now; we might like to get to 50/50, yet 40/60 represents a higher percentage of males than at some historically coed institutions.

Ms. Sievers: Is the classroom dynamic still the same, with the men dominating?

Ms. Goldberg: Not as much, but they still pay attention to that issue so that it doesn't become a problem. The second year after the transition it turned out that entire judicial board was male, so we encouraged women to run. Work is ongoing! Wheaton is attentive to gender, consciously coed. Students leave with changed attitudes about gender.

Ms. Sievers: How are new hires trained in this philosophy?

Ms. Goldberg: There has been very little faculty turnover since the decision was made. Those with tenure don't leave.

Ms. Sievers: But they do get old and retire.

Ms. Goldberg: From the moment of the interview, I mentioned the issue of gender in the classroom. I am very concerned with how the coed classroom looks, sounds and feels. I would let new hires know the campus is hospitable to women and men. Let them know you're serious about that.

Ms. Sievers: Is faculty support still provided?

Ms. Goldberg: Yes, but it's not as necessary as it used to be. We still have the Teaching and Learning workshops. The faculty ratio has remained 50/50 male/female.

Ms. Greenwood: In addition to the Teaching and Learning workshops, were there any others related to administration, not classroom issues?

Ms. Goldberg: Yes, there were things geared toward student life, the residence halls and advising. We noticed, for example, that the women tended to come for advising too often and too early, while the men showed up too little, too late. The dean of students was very alert to issues in the residence halls.

Ms. Denard: This is a recruiting question, so maybe you can't answer it. How do we recruit men to Wells?

Ms. Goldberg: You will be accused, as Wheaton was, of showing preferential treatment to men. Wheaton did not do that, and in fact, we showed that the men we accepted were actually outperforming the women in terms of GPAs and
test scores. Don't prefer men. Don't accept them if they don't meet your standards or you'll start getting dumped on with inferior students. Let it be known that you don't want the leftovers, at any cost. A male body, if not qualified, is not worth it. Use coeducation as an opportunity to reshape the institution, to get done what you want to get done. Picture what you
wants Wells to look like. The merry-go-round won't stop this way again!

The men who come to Wells will need the help of the women students; some won't want to help.

The Men's Group at Wheaton created buttons that honored the class of 1991, the last all female entering class, and remembered the legacy of women's education. The men's group did this!

Ms. Collmer: How do you draw in reticent men?

Ms. Goldberg: Yes, there were some of those. They need help. The Men's Group was created by male faculty and staff members who wanted to serve as role models and mentors for the male students. They had about 15 members all together. The group lasted five years, then outlived its usefulness. The women's legacy at Wheaton is not be forgotten.

Ms. Miller-Bernal: What type of support was there for lesbians, bisexuals, gays?

Ms Goldberg: Wheaton students created a LGBT group, whose meetings were even
noted in the (commencement?) and alumni reunion programs. Diversity means
diversity. What else? Any vestige of harassment was dealt with immediately.
Faculty were instrumental in this.

Ms. Sievers: We already have an active LBQTA group. How will males fit into this?

Ms. Goldberg: Gay men were added to the existing groups. There was once an allegation of harassment of a lesbian and this was taken very seriously. Coeducation didn't have a profound effect on whether the college was hospitable to lesbians and gays.

Ms. Alexander: How have your sexual harassment and assault statistics changed since coeducation?

Ms. Goldberg: There was already a lot of sexual activity on Wheaton's campus before coeducation. There have been sexual assaults committed perpetrated by both outsiders and by Wheaton students. These incidents are dealt with very
harshly. We try to be proactive and educate about date and acquaintance rape. Men have been expelled for sexual assault. Sometimes the police are called; sometimes not, it's handled internally. I don't know the actual figures since that's not really my area.

One man did comment once that he felt all men at Wheaton get looked at as potential rapists. He didn't want those who weren't to be stigmatized. In general, the male students are better than the ones who used to visit when Wheaton was single sex.

Ms. Denard: Were there any sexual assaults before men came to Wheaton.

Ms. Goldberg: I don't think so. My best advice is to encourage a feeling of openness, there are no stupid questions, people should feel free to express themselves.

Ms. Denard: How you keep students of color from getting lost in the discussion about coeducation, from feeling their concerns have been put on the back burner?

Ms. Goldberg: I understand the issue. We had a general education requirement that focused on diversity and one that focused on non-Western perspectives.
These were, admittedly, hard to define and, therefore, implement. We also had a faculty subcommittee on diversity.

We have significantly increased the percentage of faculty of color since going coed. The same has happened with students of color. Once you get a certain number, more are willing to come. That has obviously helped the situation Carolyn referred to. I worked hard to recruit faculty of color; I hired five in one year once. We also had a multicultural advisor and a multicultural house.

Ms. Alexander: Were there male students of color in the first coed class?

Ms. Goldberg: Yes, the first ones were athletes, which wasn't good because of the stereotype about that. Then it got easier.

Respectfully submitted,

Karla Leybold-Taylor, Registrar and secretary pro temp