Men on campus. Men in the classroom.
The state's oldest women's college officially welcomes its first class of male students today, ushering in a new era at Wells College.
It surely will be an odd, somewhat surreal feeling on campus this week, but also an exciting time for many involved at the Aurora school. Unfortunately, there may also be hard feelings and resentment, which will linger on the campus for some time.
That sentiment may not completely dissipate until the school's sophomore class has graduated, the last class which applied to and enrolled at Wells College as a women's institution. There may still be some students who feel deceived by the trustees, and harbor some level of bitterness throughout their remaining years on campus.
And there are the proud alumni, some of whom were most proud of the school's long-standing commitment to educating women.
For many, time will eventually heal the pain that these changes have caused their love affair with their school. Others may never get over the decision; it is no longer the same school for them.
But there may have been no school for them had the trustees not decided to convert to coed. The college was losing money and enrollment, and needed to stabilize and grow for the long-term. And already it's paying off. Wells received 900 applications this year, triple the usual amount. Their goal to eventually increase the number of full-time students from 390 to 550 seems a very realistic expectation.
This first year will be a rocky adjustment period for everyone. Not only are there more students on campus, which may stretch some of the resources, but there will be the obvious lifestyle adjustments in and out of the classroom for the men ... and the women. We hope that everyone will have a little patience as the school puts on its face of the future, and that school officials will continue to respect its 137-year history and reach out to those who protested the change last October.
This may not be the same Wells College that many current students and alumni hold dear.
But the difficult decision made last fall by college officials may ensure that there is a Wells College to hold dear for years to come.
It surely will be an odd, somewhat surreal feeling on campus this week, but also an exciting time for many involved at the Aurora school. Unfortunately, there may also be hard feelings and resentment, which will linger on the campus for some time.
That sentiment may not completely dissipate until the school's sophomore class has graduated, the last class which applied to and enrolled at Wells College as a women's institution. There may still be some students who feel deceived by the trustees, and harbor some level of bitterness throughout their remaining years on campus.
And there are the proud alumni, some of whom were most proud of the school's long-standing commitment to educating women.
For many, time will eventually heal the pain that these changes have caused their love affair with their school. Others may never get over the decision; it is no longer the same school for them.
But there may have been no school for them had the trustees not decided to convert to coed. The college was losing money and enrollment, and needed to stabilize and grow for the long-term. And already it's paying off. Wells received 900 applications this year, triple the usual amount. Their goal to eventually increase the number of full-time students from 390 to 550 seems a very realistic expectation.
This first year will be a rocky adjustment period for everyone. Not only are there more students on campus, which may stretch some of the resources, but there will be the obvious lifestyle adjustments in and out of the classroom for the men ... and the women. We hope that everyone will have a little patience as the school puts on its face of the future, and that school officials will continue to respect its 137-year history and reach out to those who protested the change last October.
This may not be the same Wells College that many current students and alumni hold dear.
But the difficult decision made last fall by college officials may ensure that there is a Wells College to hold dear for years to come.
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