St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-08-04
ShGH Young Lddics be -fdmihird
to our COitcgcS

''ilNN 1T tiiNii ''''''- - ~ NV
Of our Western COLLEGES, has been the
question discussed this year at several If
our Eastern commandments, and prom
iScs to be- in New ENGLAND, one Of thr
most prominent educational subjects iur
agitation tor several wears hence. The
opcuIn" Of the doors to women IN the
West las been deemed the result # Two
things first, the lack ot means 10 GU
dow and equip first cla>, la'li"> seminal
rics, and, secondly, comrrtilion on the
par! of COLLEGES too numerous tn meet
the educational nc,'e>-itic,; OF yuung men.
Yet Il few of these Institutions like An
tiorh and Obcrlin acted, not from rNpc-
dicncy bat from p'inci lie, and most
strcnunusly advura;cd the a~~nriltIcn of
seAts ON equal terms throughout the
courses Of study. Last year Michigan
University at Ann Arhnr, admitted ic-
male stu LENS both to her academic cnl
professional departments. lis prr:id,nt-
elect, before lie left Burlington. com.oi;-
ted himself fully /" the new policy. The
action of this, the foremost collv"" west
Of the Middle States and quite the peer
of any iii the land, 10 doubt increased
the attention to this topic i'll the east,
but thoughtful men already wer" con
sidcrin@ it. and Midllcbury Il year 400
appointed Il committee to report ON tie
feasibility of such admission. This year
several OF our New ENGLAND colleges have
had applications for admission of young
ladies to the Freshman class. Dart
mouth, with its usual conservatism, set
tied the matter in the faculty, or rather,
it is understood that the president took
the responsibility of sayin" my to the
appIIcamts Some of the alumai of Viii
liams, headed Ivy Prof. Eas,"m, strongly
advocated the reform and procured the
appointment of a committee 10 CONSIDER
and report at the next anniversary. Am
hcrsl did likewise, - that unless Middle
Lury-whirh hol,!@ its commencement
next week-woo5 the youn.s ladies before
mentioned, thry must either seek en-
trance to some Western college, or for
the present rclinqui-h their ambitions.
The question now at issue is not
whether Us coed opportunities for CEN
cral culture hall b. afforded 10 woman
rs Ia man--lhiS II conceded 10y all intel
li%cnt educators to this, Na>>ar Hut-
gcIs, and llmira coilr4cS, South HALEY,
Oxtuld, and bradford reminarir5 arr tht
practical answers Nor does il nccc~>l-
ri!y include that other still montcd point,
the training of women for those profcs
-iunal pursuits now 50 much munOpOllz
cl by m,n. In one phase ot the subject
this latter point Is invoked, since the
|
lcgc- is designed t" be introductory tC
professional life. But the prime end .
most Of these COLLEGES is culture. disci
plnc,-t Gaining of mental Ni"or AN,
facility. Hence, the main question i
twolod {; First, forpurposes Of the high
est culture, Is the same course of study
the best for both SEXES Secondly;
the material and method Of culture
throughout be the same, does it follow
that the association of the sexes for th
whole period Of training is desirable
In discussing the first division OF TIN
question it is worthy of notice that,
we compare the catalogues Of our bes
male and female colleges, we shall tint
the courses OF study very nearly til
same Nassar and Elmira pre- Grille
little less Latin and Greek and NOR
French and German than Yale, and al
fords superior advantages in music al,
art studies otherwise there is little dill
ference. This fact Is certainly signiii
cant as showing the growing convictio
OF the age that not very great distinct
ions are TO be made in the mental pow
ers Of the seXcs. The remarkable attain
mcnts of many women in almost ever
department of science, literature, an
art tend 10 cstabli>h,,thc same conclusion
Ii their mental powers are naturalT
the same H. mems, il development lies il
the same direction, if the faculties {
thought and expression are like, if dii
ferent media of com munication are nc
to be employed, if truth and error al
the same for women us for men, the
[ why should not the process Of educatiO
| he the same? For the lew Lranchc
exclusively pursued by young ladies it
as easy 10 provide extra instruction i
connection with the regular cullegiat
course as TO Aii,rd such special or eclec
5 tic instruction as now exists for the ben
/ eft of young men. +.