spring 2012 columbia college women

COVER ARTICLE25 Years of CoeducationIn May 2012, it will have been 25 years since the graduation of the first fully coeducational class atColumbia College. In preparation for the Spring 2012 CCW Newsletter, which takes a brief look at thismilestone, we asked some graduates of the Columbia College Class of 1987 to share their memories onwhat it was like to attend Columbia way back then.The Columbia College Class of 1987 graduates.PHOTO: L. BrumbergOn moving into the dorms: “The dayI moved into Carmen Hall it struck methat I was part of something special.There were banners throughout thecampus welcoming the first women’sclass. A Daily News reporter followedme into my room and took picturesof me unpacking and asked mequestions about what it felt like to bepart of history. The next day the DailyNews ran an extensive article aboutthe arrival of woman at ColumbiaCollege and featured photos of myselfand other women moving into theirdorm rooms. It was very exciting!”showcasing the names of famouswomen writers over the malenames etched into Butler’s façade.Apparently the student had madean earlier attempt at this duringgraduation – and was nearlyarrested. Oddly there seemed tobe no awareness in the article ofthe 1987 graduation banner. Notonly have female authors not beenfully integrated into the Core, eventhe history of the original bannerhad apparently been lost less thantwo years after it appeared.COVER ARTICLEAny examination of coeducationat Columbia will turn up a mixedbag of positives and what I like to refer to as “situations that cause us to desire future change.” Speakingwith female graduates from the last 10 - 15 years, there is the sense that coeducation is so much a partof Columbia College as to be almost a non-issue. As you will see in the next article, “Coeducation andEntrepreneurship,” considerations about equality between men and women in the workplace, however,are still present and evolving.— Laura Brumberg, M.D., CC ’87“The bathrooms being fairly gross [and] I remember‘shared’ showers late at night. . . . There also usedto be a sacrifice of a ‘virgin’ on the sundial.”Best dorm story: “. . . the dead body in the rugfrom the dumpster.”Biggest change over the four years in terms ofcoeducation integration: “We started a health careprogram for women [but] we first had to build thefacility. From that, ‘Go Ask Alice’ evolved.”“. . . Don’t forget the banner placed over ButlerLibrary at graduation with women authors on it.”“I remember the banner hanging over Butler duringour graduation ceremony. I figured that listing allthose great female authors on the building wasindicative of the changes in the Core Curriculumsoon to follow. I’m still waiting for those changes.”“I was a reporter for the Spectator. During mysophomore year, I had the honor of interviewingLawrence Wein. We talked about his experiencesas a student at Columbia, his generous donation tothe Columbia athletics program and the dedicationof Wein Stadium at Baker’s Field. Mr. Wein told methat if all the women at Columbia were as prettyand smart as me, Columbia should have admittedwomen a long time ago. He was a charmer! Ihad material for a great story and an unforgettablememory.”While doing some research on coeducation I cameacross the 1992 - 1993 Winter edition of ColumbiaCollege Today online. The issue was examiningthe state of the College 10 years after the initialcoeducation decision. In it, Martha Howell, Ph.D.,Miriam Champion Professor of History at Columbia,described an incident in the fall of 1989 wherea female student was allowed to place a bannerPHOTOS: T. Fong10 11