Alumnae Lose Another Battle to Reverse Co-Education at Wilson College

Three years ago, Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, announced that it would admit men to its traditional undergraduate programs for the first time since the college’s founding in 1869. In the fall of 2014, male students were permitted to live on campus for the first time.

Some alumnae of the college strongly objected to the transition to co-education. While they were unsuccessful in persuading the board of trustees to keep Wilson as a women’s college, a group of alumnae took their case to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The state agency declined to take any action so the alumnae group went to court.

Now the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has dismissed the lawsuit, claiming the alumnae did not have the legal standing to bring the suit. The judge in the case said that the alumnae were not directly affected by the board decision as they graduated from Wilson College many years ago. The judge wrote, “To have standing to appeal a decision of a government agency, a person must show both that she has a direct interest in the matter and that she is aggrieved by the agency decision.”

Wilson College reports that there were 397 new students who enrolled this year. Total enrollments of 923 are up 21 percent from a year ago. Men are 15 percent of all undergraduate students.