Response to Hood College's Announcement to Become Fully Coed
October 20, 2002
President Patricia McGuire

Yesterday, Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, announced that it would accept men into its residential program, thus bringing to a logical conclusion Hood's 30 year move into coeducation. While some headlines announced that Hood had 'gone coed' as if all of a sudden, the facts are different --- Hood has had male students in its undergraduate daytime program for 30 years. We wish Hood well as it clearly moves into a new moment in its distinguished history.

Reporters also want to make the single-sex v. coed story very simple, so they want to know if Trinity will 'go coed' next. In fact, Trinity already offers two coeducational programs in the School of Professional Studies and School of Education.

However, we believe that we have the best of all possible worlds! Trinity's commitment to maintain our historic women's college in the College of Arts and Science is clear. We believe that women still deserve to have this highly successful educational option available to them. We know from the track records of our students and alumnae that our form of education is both valid and durable. Some of the nation's most powerful women in government and business are Trinity grads ---- Nancy Pelosi '62 is the highest ranking woman ever in Congress; Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines, is always on the Fortune list of the 50 most powerful women in business. But beyond our celebrities, we know that Trinity has made women confident and powerful for all of life's many opportunities and challenges. We see no reason to step away from this commitment.

Trinity is the only women's college still operating in the Washington region. We have seen a dramatic enrollment increase in the women's college this year --- the first year class is 40% larger than last year's, which was also signficantly larger than the prior year's class. The construction of the Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sports bolsters this trend and also announces our continuing commitment to women's advancement and success. The Washington region has supported our commitment in significant ways, both through charitable gifts and employer partnerships for education.

I am happy to speak with any member of the campus community who would like to learn more about how to make the case for women's colleges today. Thanks for your continuing commitment to this great College!!

Gratefully,

President Patricia McGuire
202-884-9050