Rasheedah Phillips
Why Bryn Mawr?
As a young woman growing up in an urbanized setting and attending public schools all of my life, when the time came to start planning and searching for colleges, I searched for schools that I felt fit my persona, that I would be comfortable attending for some of the most integral years of my life. My search included schools such as Temple University, and Pennsylvania State University, higher education institutions that allowed me to challenge myself, but at the same time would put me in a setting where I would be with others just like myself, fitting into the standard American university fashion.
The thought of an all women’s college never once crossed my mind in envisioning my “perfect school”, and when it was introduced to me, it was through the prodding of a high school counselor who felt that my intelligence would be better realized and liberated at a school such as Bryn Mawr. After carefully researching Bryn Mawr and all it had to offer as an elite academic institution with stringent admissions requirements and its strong reputation as one of the best liberal art colleges in the nation, I had little doubt that, as far as my intellect and devotion to a rigorous curriculum went, I could run with the best of them. But I remained skeptical that, socially, financially, mentally, and to some degree, academically, I could fit in with the top women in the country who got accepted into a school such as this. I certainly had my biases about all-women colleges, and to find that Bryn Mawr was the best of the best certainly did not help to curb them; if anything, it created more.
My prejudices remained intact up until the day of my scheduled campus visit, overnight stay, and interview on October 7-8, 2001. Stepping up to the door of the admissions office, many of my resolves all but dissolved, as I was kindly greeted by several groups of women who guided me through registration, campus tours, alumnae speeches, and a most excellent dinner, attended by the College President and a presentation of classical music played by four talented young women. I was absolutely enthralled by the beauty of the campus, and pleasantly taken aback by the size, cleanliness, and grandeur of the residence halls. Though these things did help to curtail much of my cynicism about the “all-women college”, I believe that the experience that really attracted me to Bryn Mawr began when my hostess picked me up in the admissions office.
She includes quotes from George Boggs, president of American Association of Community Colleges, who says, “colleges are going to have to adapt to serve this population,” and that “community colleges have been the most adaptable institutions around…they are very flexible in trying to meet the needs of the students (Sander 784).” Sander makes the connection for the reader that with the influx of baby boomer students colleges will be forced to make changes in an effort to accommodate
After centuries of exclusion from the rest of society’s tasks, women decided to voice their opinions about their rights. In the early 19th century, the United States decided to reform the educational institutions, seeking to raise their standards. However, male students were the sole beneficiaries of this reform; women were not admitted into universities. Emma Hart Willard, one of the most prominent voices for women’s education, ran Middlebury Female Academy: an institution where geometry, philosophy, and other topics were taught. She proposed to establish her school to New York and have it publically funded, but New York refused; she built her school there anyway. Two years later she founded Troy Female Seminary. Emma Willard’s courage provided opportunities for other women’s rights activists. Although there was an influx of revolutionary women, many women were excluded. African American and other minorities were not included in the fight for women’s rights. Emma Willard had many reservations about the institution of slavery. Like the Antebellum period, there was a sense of improvement, but still a repetition of
Susan Faludi unfolds a world of male domination and its interrelationships within its confines and places women in the center of her story. Indeed it truly took an extremely self-confident woman to even entertain the idea of entering an all-male academic college like the Citadel, whose front gate practically reads like that of a young boys fort that makes the bold statement, “No girls allowed they have coodies.” Shannon Falkner was a strong willed woman with an immense amount of confidence to completely omit her gender on the Citadel application to enter this college. As if gender was not an issue, or should have never been an issue in
College life is a journey taken by many high school graduate in effort to explore a higher form of education, and most importantly build a new life outside the boundaries of their families to sustain a long path of toward successful career and to some, building a new family of their own. In the United State we are blessed with an education system that is never available worldwide. Laws are placed to allow every students regardless of ethnicity, gender or class a chance to pursue education in among the most prestigious universities in the world such as Ivy League school as well as many large public universities with many programs. This vast number of education institutions available of every type of students create this big diversity leading the U.S. to be the frontrunner of education in the world.
Roebuck, Julian B., and Komanduri S. Murty. Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Their Place in American Higher Education. Westport: Praeger, 1993. Print.
Haverford College did not begin as the institution that it is today. A group of concerned Quakers constructed the secondary school on the premise that it would provide a fine education for Quaker young men. On its founding day in 1833, the Haverford School's notion of a "liberal and guarded education for Quaker boys" became a reality. Jumping forward in time to 1870, a decisive change was on the horizon: the faculty and students had voted to go coed. However, the Board of Managers did not concede and Haverford remained single sex for over a century after the students and faculty had spoken. It wasn't until 1980 that a freshmen class comprised of both men and women entered Haverford. Yet it is the decade prior to 1980 that is the topic of this paper. The series of about 10 years before a Haverford female student would unpack her belongings in her room to settle down for four years of an intense and demanding education, both in and out of the classroom, was a time of much reevaluation and consideration on the part of the students, administration, and faculty.
Ragtime takes place at the beginning of the 20th century. This was the Progressive Era. Even though Ragtime is fictional, it still says something about history and shows real people and events that happened. Ragtime gives an accurate picture of what New York City was like at that time through the people, industry and events in history. “Fiction by the pointillist method: Drop by drop, color by color, Doctorow builds up a wildly shimmering portrait of New York City at the beginning of the twentieth century. Like many other historical novelists, he mingles real and fictional characters. His originality here is one of scale and energy; several invented families find themselves entwined with (among others) Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, J. P. Morgan, and Emiliano Zapata.” (Byrd, Max) It shows a city separated by class, but changing due to the changes happening in mass entertainment, industry, and government. Moral reforms, the women’s suffrage movement and Americanization of immigrants was taking place. The musical helps depict the social changes in American Society. Based on 3 families from 3 different stations in life. One group is from the rich white neighborhoods of New Rochelle, NY. They live sheltered privileged, entitled lives. Another group is the African -American. The last group is an immigrant family that came to America looking to better themselves.
McCandless, Amy Thompson. "Preserving the Pedestal: Restrictions on Social Life at Southern Colleges for Women."
...er the last century women have made enormous contributions in the sciences, art, and medicine, proving that those fields are not just for men. By completing their education women have proven that they can handle the many stresses that go along with college, such as dealing with others, exams, and receiving a diploma. Women have also been dealing with immense stress through the years, with both having children and maintaining their families.
Entry to community college allows just that. Addison explains, “just follow any one of the 1,655 road signs, and pop your head inside—yes, independent film, a first independent thought, a first independent study” (212). Many potential college prospects are turned away because this self-discovery found in community college cannot be found in private college; however, Addison insists that community college is the golden ticket to regain these would-be scholars. To begin, acceptance is necessary for admittance to many colleges—not community college. In the words of Addison, “down at X.Y.C.C. it is still possible to enter the college experience as a rookie” (213). Any student desiring education, preparation, and self-discovery does not need to look any further than community college, which, for some students, is the only shot at the college experience. On top of this, community colleges provide opportunities like no college—public or private—could. Community colleges provide introductory courses that could not be found in regular institutions; this allows students to explore and get their feet under them. To find and pursue an interest proves more difficult at a college because intense classes are provided from the beginning, whether students have declared a major or have yet to decide. In sum, Addison claims that an atmosphere designed
A college education is something that women take for granted today, but in the 1800’s it was an extremely rare thing to see a woman in college. During the mid 1800’s, schools like Oberlin and Elmira College began to accept women. Stone’s father did a wonderful thing (by 19th century standards) in loaning her the money to pay for her college education. Stone was the first woman to get a college education in Massachusetts, graduating from Oberlin College in 1843. Her first major protest was at the time of her graduation. Stone was asked to write a commencement speech for her class. But she refused, because someone else would have had to read her speech. Women were not allowed, even at Oberlin, to give a public address.
Sawhill, Isabel V., and Stephanie Owen. "Why We Still Think College Isn't for Everyone." http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2013/05/13-college-for-everyone-criticism-response-owen-sawhill. Web blog post. Brookings. The Brooking Institution, 13 May 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
The women that come to MU mostly would take one out of the three pathways: primed to party, cultivated to success and motivated for mobility. Women who are primed to party are mostly affluent and out of state. They are directly drawn by “party school”. Women who cultivated to success are mostly affluent and from out of state. They come to MU for academic reason. Women who are motivated for mobility are from working class and low-middle college class family. They dream to escape their hometown and economic status
Music before the 20th century was very different when compared to the music of the 21st Century. There were distinctive occasions for each type of African music. West African music, the African Diaspora, and the music of the Colonies each had different musical instruments.
"The first women to enter this male-ordered campus were venturing into unmapped terrain." (Sadker 229) Not only does gender inequality li...