The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1893-09-30
CesEducation in The University.


with the boys. Below we reproduc
his article;
| The Fairmont index edited b
Col. G. L. Smith, one of the Regent
| of the University, advises the friend
of co-education that if they do no
wake up and take care of their in
terests, the ladies are in danger o
being shut out OF the State Univer
sity.
This announcement, coming from
one on the inside, will be read will
surprise and establishment by th
people Of West Virginia.
| Every friend of education, wheth
err in favor of education or not
and especially every friend of tn
higher education of women. will b,
moved to exclaim: "What doe,
this mean?p
! What does it mean, indeed? Doe,
anybody vouchsafe an explanation
Does it mean that the world il
going backward and the experiment
of co education in the leading edu
cational institutions is about to b,
abandoned?
The answer is, no On the con
trary the trend is all the other way
! Co education is now the established
rule. The institution which has mo-
adopted it is the exception, and re
garded as behind the times.
Does it mean that the experiment
at the University has not been salts
factory; that the ladies there have
not succeeded?
The answer is, no. On the con
trary they are among the brightes,
students on the roll. and have beer
successful competitors with the boys
in every department to which they
have been admitted
Does it mean that the morals and
reputation of the girls are in danger
by their being thrown together with
the boys when away from homer
The answer is emphatically, no
On the contrary not a breath OF
scandal has ever occurred in the
University ON this account. The
fact has come to be demonstrated
that there is no place on earth that
the sexes are more secure from i'm
proprieties than when thrown to
gether in the schools-not even in
their homes A hundred eyes are
always on them. Every girl and
every boy is always on his and her
best behavior. They cannot afford
to indulge the semblance of an i'm
propriety. They would risk their
reputation in the school by so doing
The old bugbear of scandal as O
danger in co-education has been So
effectually and completely exploded
by the results, that even the mouths
of its worst opponents have been
closed in this regard.
What, then, .does il mean?
Does it mean that the system has
been deleterious in its influence upon
either the girls or boys?
The answer is, no. But on the
contrary it has made the boys more
manly and the girls more womanly
and each sex has been a spur to the
ambition of the other. 1t has dem
onstrated, indeed, what the best
educators everywhere concede, that
every boy or girl who is educated
apart from the opposite sex is def.
cient in the prime requisites of use
full and successful life.
What can be the motive or infu
ence that is working to exclude the
girls from the benefits of the Uni.
versity after they have been admit
ted, and in the absence of any com.
plant that their presence in the Uni
versity has been in any respect del
eterious?
We understand that the only
ground which the abolitionists find
to stand upon, is the small number
of ladies in attendance.
1t is truly desperate case that
must rest upon such grounds as this:
The public does not know, but the
young ladies of the State, who want
to get in the University, and have
been repulsed, know, that the mum
Der now in attendance is indicative
not of the desire and disposition OF
the young ladies of West Virginia,
but of the restrictive effect of the
narrow and discriminating rule which
excludes them. The public does not
know that the doors of the Univer-
sity have never been opened to young
ladies in generous and liberal sense
Apply the same restrictions to boys
that are applied to girls and there
would not be many more bows than
girls in attendance.
The preparatory department is
CLOSED against the girls. Only the
advanced departments are open to
them; and when these were opened
it was anticipated by the opponents
Of co education that none would get
in. 1t was concession they made
believing it to be virtual exclusion
That so many young ladies have
been able to get in over these bar.
ries has been surprise and disap-
pointment to the enemies of co ed
ucation.
Co-education has not had fair
test in the University An unjust
and unjustifiable discrimination has
been made against the girls, and is
still being made There is as little
justice in the discrimination as there
is reason in the arguments against
co-education.
Let the Board of Regents give the
young ladies of West Virg MIA a fail
chance. Letsthem throw down The
fences and do away with the exclu
siveness with which this matter has
been handled. Open wide. the doors
and make liberal provisions for the
education of our girls, and it will
give the University place in the
hearts of the people it never had he
fore. 1t will make the Universit,
what it was designed to be-a pub
lie institution for the benefit of thu
people, and all the people will take
an interest in it, and its roll of stu
dents wilrun up into the hundreds
Don't take step backward, but
rather go forward. No institution car
be run on narrow and exclusiv,
basis in this day Of the world.
There was big fire out at Gibson,
saw mill, about three miles this sid,
of Tunnelton, last Friday night. i