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Originally Posted by alum
I do find it interesting that some of the remaining women's colleges are among the strongest LACs in the country (Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke...) while the 2 remaining male colleges (Hampden-Sydney (also in that south-central area of VA) and Wabash (IN) are not attracting the same caliber of young men.
Apparently R-MWC used to have several NPC orgs. While not unprecedented, this was somewhat unusual for a women's college. I wonder if they will be allowed to/ be interested in recolonizing once the guys get there?
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On the first point that's certainly true. I think that it's because for some reason, an all-women's college is more appealing to women than an all-men's college is appealing to men. I guess guys just like us.
I know that the primary reason W&L went co-ed is that admissions numbers were dropping and along with that the academic... er, strength of the student body was also dropping. Hampden-Sydney college is sort of infamous in the region. It was a fun place to visit but I think its academics may be suffering to some degree as well.
I know that a lot of the women's colleges in the area used to have NPC groups. Pi Phi had two such chapters, one of which was at Hollins. I forget where the other was. Mary Baldwin definitely had NPC groups as well, but these (like the others, I believe) in the first third or so of the 20th cent. They were certainly long-gone by the time my mom got there. I had some friends from MBC in undergrad who would have been interested in Greek Life but it's definitely not allowed there now by any means! I know that at least part of the rationale was "we're all sisters here;" it's meant to discourage cliques I think. Also, if I remember correctly, many of the women's colleges established student government at the same time they banned Greek Life.