“You’re going to get a concept that maybe this really is one world and why the hell can’t we learn to live together like decent people.” ~ Astronaut Frank Borman, on seeing the entire earth from outer space as he and the crew of the Apollo 8 returned from orbiting the moon.
On November 14, 1968, Yale University announced it would admit women. Yale, founded in 1701, is located in New Haven, Connecticut.
Yale has graduated five US Presidents, 19 Supreme Court Chief Justices, and many living billionaires, as well as numerous heads of state. In 1793, Lucinda Foote passed the entrance exams for Yale, but was rejected on the basis of her gender. Women studied at Yale as early as 1892 in graduate-level programs.In 1966, Yale began discussions with its sister school, Vassar College, about merging to foster coeducation at the undergraduate level. At that time, Vassar was all-female and part of what was known as the Seven Sisters – an association of seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. The colleges – Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley – served as sister institutions to the Ivy League when the Ivy League still only admitted men. Yale introduced coeducation in 1969, and Amy Solomon was the first woman to register as a Yale undergraduate. The undergraduate class of 1973 was the first class to have women starting from freshman year.
Note: It cost $3,300 for the 1968-69 year at Yale. It’s a bit more expensive these days.
BONUS MUSIC!
Here’s the #3 song from Billboard’s Year-End Top 100 Singles for 1968
“Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro
Martha Reynolds Writes 
Woman’s rights; Civil rights; human rights. In so many ways, we still live in the stone age. I can only find peace in the fact that I am one who knows what happened, and wishes things only get better. Great post.
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Martha,
Thankfully, times have changed giving not only women the right to be educated but knocking down the many racial barriers. People today need to show their appreciation for the liberties they now enjoy. Thanks for the education. 🙂
~Curious as a Cathy
A2Z iPad Art Sketch ‘Y’ for a cute Yak
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Hi Martha – it’s interesting how universities and schools have changed in last decades … 60s onwards. Thanks for this … I didn’t know much – other than the names … yet the logic applied in the UK universities too … thank goodness for changing times now – cheers Hilary
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Hilary, when I went to college (a Catholic college), there were no co-ed dorms.
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It has taken me so much concentration to get these posts done I’ve neglected my “regulars!” I will be round bright and early TUESDAY to catch up! “Honey.” The first time I heard this song I was driving home from school. I was a junior in high school. I started to cry so hard I had to pull off to the side of the road and just sit. Never had experienced a song that moved me that much. Only have two other times since then with “The Rose” and watching Paul Potts sing “Nessun Dorma” for his audition on Britain’s Got Talent. Lordy! I bawled like a baby and the damn thing was in Italian! Couldn’t understand a word he was singing. But it was so beautiful. I still pull it up and watch it on a bad day sometimes.
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Cheryl, isn’t it wonderful that music and lyrics have that power? I’ve had a few of those moments, too.
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Music is the universal language. I think that was one of the points of the movie Close Encounters. 😀 Whether people know they words or not, they can still share the tune.
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Wow, I’m shocked that this happened as late as 1968. Being able to go to whatever college we want is something we take for granted now.
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It makes me realize how many momentous events and changes have happened in my life, Tizzy. Thanks.
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Thank goodness for people in the 60s that brought about such change. BTW, I love Bobby Goldsboro’s voice!
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Thanks, Denise. I was surprised that “Honey” finished so high up in the Top 100, but I like it, too.
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I went to school on a full scholarship, but even so, my yearly tuition at a state university was under $400 in 1968. Besides, my mother did not want me to attend college at all and going away to school was verboten. Oh how I wish I had that kind of opportunity.
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Denise, my two sisters and I all went to Catholic Providence College. My father had graduated (1940) and my cousin was in the first full graduating class of women. It was pre-determined! But I’m grateful that they allowed me to spend my junior year abroad in Switzerland. As you know, it was life-changing for me.
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