Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...

fraternities to close. Despite the setbacks, 53 chapters were established between 1860-1870.The Civil War paved a new path for Greek life. In 1870, only 11,000 womenbetween the ages of eighteen and twenty-one attended college, and men outnumberedwomen by a 5 to 1 ratio. 24The majority of women who attended colleges during thistime were daughters of professors. Though Oberlin was the first college to acceptwomen in 1837, other colleges did not start to accept women until the late1860's.Allowing women into college allowed schools to remedy the financial issues caused bydecreased enrollment during the Civil War. By 1870, one-third of universities allowedwomen to matriculate and by 1890, 40,000 women attended. 25As women enteredcolleges, they faced opposition from the male students, the faculty and those who resistedcoeducational institutions. 26 Women on college campuses felt those around themundervalued their intellect, claiming that women "lacked the brains to learn at a highlevel." 27This mentality only worsened with the release of Dr. Edward Clarke's Sex inEducation: Or a Fair Chance for the Girls in 1873. 28In his book, he claimed that awoman's brain and body could not "survive book learning" and damaged her health to apoint that it inhibited her reproductive system. 29Clarke's book received attention fromdetractors and promoters of coeducation alike, and served as threat to advocates ofwomen's education.24 Diana B. Turk, Bound by a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870-1920 (New York:New York University Press, 2004), 14.25 Turk, 1426 Turk, 1327 Turk, 1328 Turk, 1529 Turk, 158