Coeducation

Beyond Coeducation

Coeducation came at a time of unprecedented change for the University. The student body experienced significant growth and became increasingly diverse, national and world events fostered discontent and activism among students, and shifts in student attitudes saw changes to tradition-such as no longer dressing in coat and tie for class.

U.Va. had become a far different place from the University Mr. Jefferson had conceived in the nineteenth century.

 

 

 

 

Prior to 1970, the University of Virginia did not offer a women’s athletics program. Photographs before this time document that women routinely accompanied dates and friends to University sporting events but always as spectators—never as participants.

A few notable women were exceptions to this rule. While working on her master’s degree in Education at U.Va., Mary Slaughter played for the University’s tennis team. She became the first woman to participate in an athletic program and earn a varsity letter in any sport at U.Va. She continued her tennis career after graduating; the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association named her the Virginia State Women’s Champion in 1959, 1961, and 1963. Another female athlete, Mary Brundage, competed alongside male swimmers on the varsity team in 1966 while she was a nursing student at the University.

The University’s transition to full coeducation necessitated the establishment of a women’s intercollegiate athletic program. Club sports such as tennis, field hockey, and basketball started in the Fall of 1971 and achieved varsity status by the 1973-74 school year. By 1976, the women’s athletics program had expanded to include swimming, diving, and lacrosse.

In 1975, the provisions of Title IX pertaining to intercollegiate athletics went into effect. Title IX, a clause of the 1972 Federal Education Amendments, stated that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The 1975 provisions mandated that educational institutions provide equal opportunities and funding to men’s and women’s athletic programs.

Coeducation and the implementation of Title IX accelerated the growth of the women’s athletics program at the University, offering women many opportunities to excel on the playing field as well as in the classroom. Today, female athletes participate in twelve varsity sports at the University.

Upon their arrival in 1970, women in the first coeducational class set their sights on ambitious goals and met—or surpassed—them in their four years here. Disregarding the precedent of the past 150 years, these determined coeds excelled in the classroom and took leadership of a wide range of extracurricular activities.

By the time they graduated in 1974, these women had gained entry into organizations, societies, and leadership positions that had been closed to females for most of the University’s history. Women in the Class of 1974 became IMPs, members of the Raven Society, editors of The Cavalier Daily, Lawn residents, and Honor Committee members. Leaving their indelible mark on the University, these coeds established that women were “here to stay.”

In 1972, Cynthia Goodrich (pictured above) moved into 28 East Lawn, becoming the first female Lawn resident. More women received invitations to live on the Lawn the following year, and today, women comprise slightly more than half of the residents on the Lawn.