The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1875-05-26
Women i'm the Colleges.

pune, writing from Ann Arbor, MlchI
gan, gives some interesting information
of the practical workings of the co-edu-
cation OF the sexes in the University OF
Michigan, at that place. We quote:
, In the literary departm snt cO-educa-
ton Is acknowledged on all sides to be a
success. During the few years OF trial
many questions in regard to woman's ca
. pacity for sustained and heavy intellect
ual labor without Ill results following have
been practically settled. Among the sixty
seven women in this department many
might be selected who are living refuta-
tons of DR.. Clarke's theory Their robust
forms and full faces prove, in their own
cases at least, that their study is not I'M
dermining their constitutions, nor making
of them physical wrecks. There are not
a few who have come to Ann Arbor in
comparatively poor health, and who,
alter years solid labor, have been really
benefited by their life here. They all
say that the regular life, the constantly
recurring subjects of interest and of nov
city, the pleasurable excitement of daily
preparation for Rotations, and the sat
isfaction of working toward some aim,
more than counterbalance the injuries
which might follow excessive fatigue and
too intense mental application. Their
happy and contented looks speak volumes
for the way in which they enjoy their
work. Their attendance upon college
compares favorably with that Of the men.
There are numerous cases of lady stu
dents who have not missed recitation
for two or even three years; and when
compelled to be away, it was not on ac-
count of sickness, but because of neces-
sary absence from the city, or from some
unforeseen circumstance.
The dress of these women who have
dared to step little out of the beaten
track of "woman's sphere" and 'woman's
/ duties" is not at all different from their
/ sisters at home. They are compelled of
necessity, from the amount of work re-
quired of them, to dress plainly, but they
do not allow this to exclude neatness nor
taste i'll its arrangement. There is many
Il woman in the university who would be
singled out in a crowd of well dressed
women anywhere as person of taste and
refinement.
/ When women were first admitted
to the university the great majority
of lOokers-on regarded the experiment
with suspicion, and even contempt. 1t
was generally predicted that none but
course-grained, loud-voiced and brawny
''shriekers" in boomers and short hair
would dare to enter the university. Time
has showed how false were the predic-
/ tiOns. Women with soft voices and gen.
/ tic manners are the rule here, not the
exception. If there are some whose
manners might be called cloud" their
want of popularity among the women as
well as the men, prove that the unchang-
ing laws of nature are at work here as well
as elsewhere. The lady and the hoyden
soon find their level. LONELINESS of man
ner and character are attractive, even in
a woman who has struggled with the
problems of the Integral Calculus, or
mastered the Greek of Sophocles and of
Plato. The students regard the presence
of women in the University in a quiet,
gentlemanly, matter-ofcourse manner
They meet them in the halls and on the
stairs, in the recitation rooms, and on the
college grounds. Wherever there are
classes, there are women. And one does
not perceive any failure on the part of
the gentlemen to extend to the women
those little, delicate attentions, which
have in all time, been instinctively grant
ed them, and which (the truth must be
spoken) are so dear to every woman's
heart. There is no presuming upon ac-
quaintance from the mere fact of having
recited together. 1t is really matter of
remark how few acquaintance are made
among the students here, when one re-
members that they see each other daily, |
and constantly hear each others charac-
tiers dssected and discussed by friendly
and unfriendly critics. One lady, re-
Gently graduated, told me, not long since,
that she never spoke to a classmate,
among the gentlemen, until her senior
year, and then only after formal intro
duction. All are kept so busy that there
is really very little time for social inter-
course. The most that can be done is to
meet friends, on Friday and Saturday
evenings. There are few women who
have the courage to attempt to keep up
society while attending college. But oc-
casionally one is found who does under
stand both. l have one especially in
mind. The most sarcastic wit would
scarcely be able to find any trace of the
traditional 81 blue stocking" either in
dress or manners. On the day the Junior
hop was given-by the way the most
brilliant social affair this year in Ann
Arbor-besides her regular duties she
listened and took notes to a lecture from
the professor in Greek on Epic poetry
and the Homeric discussion, and, in the
afternoon, she heard another lecture
from the professor in Latin on Roman
antiquities. In the evening this demure
little student of the day could scarcely be
recognized-radiant under the gaslight, in
pink satin, honiton lace and powdered
hair Certainly queer nselange of du-
ties and pleasures for one day. The wo-
men are here. And from all that | can
learn and observe, l do not see that the
women, whose desire for study and de-
velopment leads her to accept this grand
opportunity placed within her grasp, is
in any danger of becoming masculine, or
'unwomanly," by reason of the broader
intellectual culture and discipline she is
gaining day by day, nor that the stu
dents have been injured by her presence,
nor that the standard of scholarship has
/ been lowered.
A VicIimized Young Man.
An aDousio1 sforxy - told of a t-ouno