Last month WIAReport published a post noting that The College of New Rochelle in New York was considering making the transition to become a fully coeducational educational institution. Now, the board of trustees has made it official.
The College of New Rochelle in New York was founded by the Ursuline Sisters in 1904 as the College of St. Angela. It was the first Catholic college for women in New York State. The college assumed its current name in 1910. Men were first admitted to graduate programs in 1969. Today, the college enrolls about 3,100 students in undergraduate programs and 650 students in its co-educational graduate programs. Undergraduate programs in the School of Arts & Sciences at the main campus in New Rochelle have been open only to women. But beginning in the fall of 2016, these undergraduate programs will also be open to men. The college will add men’s basketball and swimming teams for the 2016-17 academic year with men’s volleyball and soccer to be added the following year.
Judith Huntington, president of the College of New Rochelle, stated that “for 111 years, The College of New Rochelle has been an innovative, dynamic, contemporary and values-based institution that has nurtured the personal and intellectual advancement of more than 15,000 women in the School of Arts & Sciences. We are eager to have this opportunity to do the same for many more women and now men.”
President Huntington added that “The College of New Rochelle has a long history of empowering women for leadership roles and we remain steadfast in this.” She said that the college would establish a new institute for women’s leadership and social justice and will strengthen the curriculum in women’s studies.