Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia, announced that in the fall of 2017, men will be living on campus for the first time. Up to this point, men have been admitted to graduate programs and some non-residential undergraduate programs.
But this fall, for the first time in the educational institution’s 175-year history, men will be living on campus as part of University College. This new entity will offer fast-track career programs in the health sciences, education and the performing arts. About 25 students will be admitted to each program annually. These programs will offer a path to a bachelor’s degree in three years. It is expected that men will be housed in a separate dormitory on campus.
The Mary Baldwin College for Women which encompasses the other undergraduate offerings at the university will remain a separate entity.
Pamela Fox, president of Mary Baldwin University, issued a statement that said that “introducing a new coeducational unit on our main campus may feel like a departure, but of course we have had men on campus and in our classrooms through the Adult Degree Program and other special opportunities since 1972. Their presence has not compromised the experience of our residential women.”
But some student and alumnae immediately raised objections to the plan. Many were dismayed that the decision was made without a period of discussion among members of the university community. An online petition with the title “Keep Mary Baldwin All Women” was started “to show the administration that there is a large amount of people that do not want this historic institution changed.”
Below is a video with President Fox discussing the new plan.