DeltAlum-
I'm not sure which college you attended (Is it Oberlin?), but now that I know when I have a better idea of a time frame for context. My mother graduated from college in 1973 so you're almost the same age.
I'm doing a search to see what colleges were all male. I did find some interesting info. Schools in the West post Civil War were more inclined to admit women than their Eastern counterparts. In fact of the 97 co-educational colleges at that time, 67 were in the West. As the West grew, land grants were offered to start state universities which began accepting women as early as 1855 at U of Iowa. BTW the 'West' meant west of the Mississippi River.
So I guess that I am approaching this topic from a Northeastern perspective. In the 1860's and 1870's, the women colleges which became known as the Seven Sisters were created as an opportunity for women to receive an education that was equal to the classical education offered to men only at the "elite" schools in the Northeast some of which comprise the Ivy League. Of course, this was a century before you went to college. Some of the Ivy Leagues remained all male until the early 1970's.
I agree that 'opportunity' might be a better word than 'right'. I grew up a child of the 1970's and 1980's. I was told that I could be anything that I wanted to be when I grew up. I also attended a school that had 99% college admission rate so college was an expectation and a necessary step.
Hybrid Mode
