A New Admissions Policy ...
The terms "sex-blind admissions" and "equal access" mean different things to different people, which is quite likely the reason for their conspicuous absence from the Trustees' statement, unanimously approved at their April meeting, announcing a new admissions policy:
"Dartmouth College has traditionally pursued a highly selective policy of admissions in order to 'educate men and women with a high potential for making a significant positive impact on society.' In this admissions process a variety of personal qualities and characteristics are normally taken into consideration.
"During the period of transition to coeducation the College treated men and women differently in the admissions process by limiting the proportion of women in each entering class. Beginning with the Class of 1984, men and women will not be treated differently in the admissions process.
"The College will continue to use other criteria in the highly selective process which insures the admission of a diverse student body into the Dartmouth community."
Concern over the unbalanced ratio of men and women enrolled at the College, and over the limitation on the number of women to be admitted each year, has been growing on campus since the start of coeducation. The established three-to-one ratio gave way in 1977 to a policy of gradually increasing the number of women in each entering class, while limiting the total enrollment of men and women to roughly 4,000. The system of incrementally increasing the number of women required a corresponding decrease in the number of men admitted and was projected to achieve something close to an equal ratio in the early 19905. People who liked the scheme pointed out that as long as the number of men and women admitted remained proportional to the number applying, the College would have de-facto equal access. Opponents argued that the system discouraged female applicants and was inherently discriminatory.
On the Thursday' before the Trustee meeting, approximately 250 students participated in an open meeting with the Trustee Committee on Student Affairs (COSA) to discuss the ratio and admissions policy. In contrast to similar meetings in previous years, no one spoke in favor of retaining restrictions on the number of women to be admitted. The Trustees present acknowledged "the many thoughtful letters" they had received and appeared to be suprised by both the unanimity and intensity of student opinion favoring what most students called an immediate "equal access admissions policy."
Most of the men and women who spoke were articulate and persuasive in describing what they saw as the detrimental effects of "equality on the installment plan," arguing that the consequent tensions and dissatisfactions were pervading student life at the College. "Dartmouth is the only place I've ever been where it's considered radical to want a normal, healthy, environment," one student claimed.
Following the open meeting, COSA met in regular session with student, alumni, and faculty representatives and with College officers. Director of Admissions Edward Chamberlain Jr. '36 and Director- designate Alfred Quirk '49 presented an admissions report which, according to President Kemeny, influenced the Trustees' decision. Kemeny said the report showed that the goals for admission "set in 1977, for the first two years were on track, but last year fell behind schedule." Quirk later explained in a telephone interview that the message from the Admissions Office to the Trustees was that the ratio in the most recent class "would be different if we didn't have the limitation of 330 women."
The Board received COSA's recommendations on Friday, along with a petition signed by 200 faculty members, and discussed the admissions issue on Friday and Saturday before unanimously approving the new policy. The following Monday afternoon President Kemeny announced the decision to a meeting of the faculty that was well attended by professors, administrators, and interested students. The announcement was greeted by a standing ovation, cheers, and, in short order, a spirited ringing of the bells in Rollins Chapel, loud and long enough to rival the celebration of football victories over Harvard. The general expectation had been that the Trustees would compromise or defer action until a later meeting. Kemeny expressed his surprise by saying he "did not think the Board would go this far." He issued a warning, however, that "If the Board of Trustees had been faced with an ultimatum or confusion, it would have tabled the subject for a year."
As pleased as they are with the new .policy, a number of its student and faculty supporters have said that unless women are actively recruited and made to feel welcome the campus ratio will change only slowly. No one predicts a dramatic change next year. Still unanswered are questions of whether or not more women will now apply to Dartmouth, how their qualifications will compare to men's, and how the numbers of men and women admitted will compare. Admissions officers decline to speculate. Quirk said he is taking care "not to interpret what the Trustees said" because the Trustees "don't want to be tied into numbers." He argued that the Trustees' statement "should stand by itself." Quirk did explain that from now on candidates will be treated "in a single applicant pool." In the past, the Admissions Office has in effect admitted one class of men and another of women. "No one is in a position to know what next year's class is going to look like," Quirk pointed out, "except that it will be around 1,050 or 1,060 students."
