After 254 Years

Ever since 1937, when St. John's College at Annapolis made education history by basing its curriculum on the Great Books, it has been getting occasional inquiries from women who wanted to enroll. Last week, after years of saying no, St. John's changed its policy. Next fall, announced the Board of Visitors and Governors, the college hopes to have 50 freshmen coeds --the first in St. John's 254-year history.*

The change was not made merely to please the girls. Faced with the draft, the college foresaw a drastic slash in enrollment, and President Richard D. Weigle feared that it might have to drop 25% of its faculty. Even now, St. John's has only 165 students, two-thirds of capacity.

How did St. John's males take to the new idea? At a special meeting of the Student Polity (St. John's for student council), Moderator (president) Stewart Washburn spoke up: "We accept women. There is nothing wrong with women as such. But they are going to necessitate a great number of annoying practical adjustments." St. John's was making a beginning at such adjustments by assigning one of its four dormitories for the use of the expected newcomers.

*With only Harvard (1636) and William and Mary (1693) founded ahead of it, St. John's (1696) is the third oldest college in the U.S.

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