A Taste of Coeducation

The undergraduate "Focus on Coeducation" became sharper when nearly 200 Mt. Holyoke girls came north last month for five days' participation in a program arranged by the Dartmouth Committee on Coeducation.

Purpose of the extended invitation, as announced by the Committee's Donald Elitzer '69 and John Blair '68, was to give the girls "an intensified experience" of Dartmouth life, and some basis on which to judge the proposed one-year exchange program.

"Intensification" was the order of the visit for, while the coeds roomed off campus and paid their own room and board, they were offered all College facilities including classes, swimming, winter sports, and Thayer Hall dining, to name a few. Although the academic side of College life was stressed, the social side was not neglected. Pete Seeger sang Saturday night in Webster Hall, and was perhaps the headliner among activities including the Saturday night Boston University basketball game, complete with feminine cheerleaders and a Colby Jr.-Mt. Holyoke contest conducted between the halves of the game. Top of the Hop was the scene of a Sunday night Punt, with Mt. Holyoke providing jazz piano and a jug band.

A discussion of the success of the girls' stay was held on their last evening, attended by Mt. Holyoke's Assistant Dean Barbara Rau and Dartmouth's Dean Seymour.

The Dartmouth rendered it own verdict in advance by greeting the visitors on opening day with a banner headline: "Mt. Holyoke, We Wish You Could Stay Longer."