Reflection #42 (Only 1034 to go!): Going Co-ed (Part I)
The period of time from 1963 to 1974 was a pretty hectic, and troubling, time in our nation. Even at Saint Ignatius, it was reflected in small acts of "civil disobedience"...students refusing to leave the gym at the end of an assembly, while chanting, "Hell, no; we won't go!"...and not so small events...the "walk-out" by students in support of racial equality.
The 6 years following '74 seemed to become more gentle. It included leisure suits and disco. But there was still the push-and-pull of social struggles. One was the “women’s right” movement. Without going into detail, women were demanding greater participation in areas that had originally been the domain of men. Women wanted to be doctors, not just nurses, pilots instead of "stewardesses" (female flight attendants in today's vernacular), and CEO’s instead of secretaries. Well, you get the idea.
That brings me to Saint Ignatius’s participation. I did no “research” for this reflection; I’m telling it as I remember. If others have a different, and perhaps more accurate, recollection, so be it. As I recall, sometime in 1978, Father Bowen convened a committee (of which I was a member) to consider whether Ignatius should admit young women. If this were going to happen, it had to be decided before the entrance exam was given in January of 1979.
The deliberations and concerns were interesting. For example, several members of the committee, reflecting the feelings of alumni, thought that the tradition of the school as a male-only institution should be preserved. My biggest concern centered around the location of the school as it related to the communities that had populated Ignatius up to that point. Would parents from Beverly, for example, be willing to send their daughter to the near-west side of Chicago. (What if we went co-ed, and no girls showed up.) As I recall, when the final vote of the committee was taken, it was decided that more “demographic” study/investigation was needed.
These proceedings occurred before the summer of ‘78. When we returned to school after the summer break, we found out that Fr. Bowen had made the decision: We were admitting women in the fall of 1979. There were some fascinating sidelights to this event. While a motive probably included doubling the potential student "pool", there was also a "rumor" going around that a state legislator had put some pressure on Fr. Bowen to go co-ed. I don't know if that was true.
Another interesting phenomenon was that, while some alumni voiced their opposition to going co-ed, several were still willing to send their daughters to us. Some folks associated with a Catholic girls’ school in the area felt that Ignatius going co-ed was responsible for their having to close, because we drew of too many of their prospective students. I couldn’t say whether that was the case, but, since then, other all-boys’ schools have since gone co-ed, and girls’ schools in their areas have remained vibrant. Years after Loyola Academy, Marist and Fenwick went co-ed, the so-called "sister" schools are still going strong...as far as I know. Some of the boys' Catholic high schools went co-ed by merging with, being absorbed by, neighboring girl's schools
As far as I know, Saint Ignatius was the first all-boys school in the Chicago area to go co-ed. Nazareth Academy in Lagrange Park was a girl's school that admitted boys sometime earlier.
The next "Reflection" (Part II) will be about the first school year that young women were a part of the student body.
The period of time from 1963 to 1974 was a pretty hectic, and troubling, time in our nation. Even at Saint Ignatius, it was reflected in small acts of "civil disobedience"...students refusing to leave the gym at the end of an assembly, while chanting, "Hell, no; we won't go!"...and not so small events...the "walk-out" by students in support of racial equality.
The 6 years following '74 seemed to become more gentle. It included leisure suits and disco. But there was still the push-and-pull of social struggles. One was the “women’s right” movement. Without going into detail, women were demanding greater participation in areas that had originally been the domain of men. Women wanted to be doctors, not just nurses, pilots instead of "stewardesses" (female flight attendants in today's vernacular), and CEO’s instead of secretaries. Well, you get the idea.
That brings me to Saint Ignatius’s participation. I did no “research” for this reflection; I’m telling it as I remember. If others have a different, and perhaps more accurate, recollection, so be it. As I recall, sometime in 1978, Father Bowen convened a committee (of which I was a member) to consider whether Ignatius should admit young women. If this were going to happen, it had to be decided before the entrance exam was given in January of 1979.
The deliberations and concerns were interesting. For example, several members of the committee, reflecting the feelings of alumni, thought that the tradition of the school as a male-only institution should be preserved. My biggest concern centered around the location of the school as it related to the communities that had populated Ignatius up to that point. Would parents from Beverly, for example, be willing to send their daughter to the near-west side of Chicago. (What if we went co-ed, and no girls showed up.) As I recall, when the final vote of the committee was taken, it was decided that more “demographic” study/investigation was needed.
These proceedings occurred before the summer of ‘78. When we returned to school after the summer break, we found out that Fr. Bowen had made the decision: We were admitting women in the fall of 1979. There were some fascinating sidelights to this event. While a motive probably included doubling the potential student "pool", there was also a "rumor" going around that a state legislator had put some pressure on Fr. Bowen to go co-ed. I don't know if that was true.
Another interesting phenomenon was that, while some alumni voiced their opposition to going co-ed, several were still willing to send their daughters to us. Some folks associated with a Catholic girls’ school in the area felt that Ignatius going co-ed was responsible for their having to close, because we drew of too many of their prospective students. I couldn’t say whether that was the case, but, since then, other all-boys’ schools have since gone co-ed, and girls’ schools in their areas have remained vibrant. Years after Loyola Academy, Marist and Fenwick went co-ed, the so-called "sister" schools are still going strong...as far as I know. Some of the boys' Catholic high schools went co-ed by merging with, being absorbed by, neighboring girl's schools
As far as I know, Saint Ignatius was the first all-boys school in the Chicago area to go co-ed. Nazareth Academy in Lagrange Park was a girl's school that admitted boys sometime earlier.
The next "Reflection" (Part II) will be about the first school year that young women were a part of the student body.
I had always heard when Ignatius first admitted girls that the boys held welcome signs and were glad for the addition, unlike some schools where the inclusion of girls created some hostility. Any truth to that?
ReplyDeleteMeg Gillespie '01
Meg, As a member of the class of 1980, I remember the first day of my senior year with a banner strung across the back of the building that read "Welcome Girls", There were 13 brave ladies joining the class of '80 that day.
ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Meg