Princeton University - Bric A Brac Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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considered bv a senior With the advent of coeducation at Princeton in 1969, the university began to assume a new image. The all-male orientation of previous years began rapidly to deteriorate. It was not long before we had women engineers, women jocks and women bartenders. From Marsha Levy ' s acceptance of the Pyne Prize in 1973 to Wendy Zaharko ' s accomplishments on the squash court, we saw women excel in all areas of Princeton life. The change was accepted by some, welcomed by many and rejected by others. Certainly the sight of girls going into McCosh, East Pyne and the library was a strange phe- nomenon for men of the classes of 1969-1972. There was a lot of adjusting to be done. Unfor- tunately, to the women it seemed as if they were doing it all. One graduate of the Class of 1973 vividly recalls the stares and looks of astonish- ment that often preceded her into a classroom. During my freshman year the stories of coed experiences were continually floating around. Thinking back on them, I can ' t help but laugh, although much of the laughter comes from ex- amining my own experiences with Princeton women and from finding that even today the stories hold a certain amount of truth. To a degree coeds are still not accepted by some male members of the university commu- nity. The reasons for these views are for the most part subjective, but they still deserve to be heard.

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molivdlmfi cip )li(:(J(i()iis Princeton, one of the last male strongholds, regarded as the acme of male superiority in a world struggling to at- tain feminine rights, at long last opened its doors to the better half several years ago, opening a new spectrum for the woman choosing the college most suited to her needs. What a decision, especially for the woman consid- ering braving the new world of the Princeton coed, a to- tally new breed. The question of why women choosi- Princeton baffles many, including the women themselves. However, some factors stand out as common motivations. Underlying ev- eryone ' s decision-male as well as female-is the unde- niable academic excellence of Princeton. As one coed states. You start from the top schools that you hope you ' ll be able to gel into, and then you work from there. looking at other extra factors, both pluses and minuses. Princetons scholastic qualities are unquestionable, and it is with this knowledg e that every coed works to narrow But why Princeton? Why not Harvard or Yale, similar in many respects, or perhaps one of the women ' s col- leges? Obviously, one of the major considerations for any woman thinking about Princeton is the coeducational factor, the ratio of three to one playing a big role, an un- deniable role. For a girl looking for a coeducational school, Princeton is well suited to her needs. However, as strange as the fact may seem to guys, being a girl at Princeton does have its disadvantages. For example. some girls find it difficult to establish close girl friends; others find that the reaction they encounter when they say they ' re from Princeton is undesirable-either that people think they ' re Princeton-bound simply bccau.se of the ratio, or that others treat them with a stand-offish air One coed, in desperation, has taken to extending her hand and saying. You can touch. I ' m human. Even with these problems, girls still flock to Pinci ' ton ' s hnilowed halls. In addition to hv. convfuitional consid- erations of size, location, and opportunity, one of the most common reasons for girls to choose Princeton seems to be exactly that element which some feared coeduca- tion would destroy-its tradition. Tales of cane spree, stealing the clapper, football games and party weekends create an aura of togetherness, a sense of a Princeton spirit hard to equal. As a Princeton baby born and raised on the Princeton tradition of football games and wild reunion weekends. I can testify that Princeton tradi- tion played a major role for me as well as for many other alumni daughters. However, the tradition manages to per- vade every aspect of Princeton life, making itself felt to even the most casual passersby. Why Princeton? Perhaps the one overriding reason lies in the people here, and the; alums which seem to fill every corner of the United States, and the sense of love and loy- alty for Princeton that they manage to create in even the most casual conversations. After all, where else do alums return annuuUy. submitting in 90° weather to outrageous costumes and a parade through the campus in wild array, flanked on all sides by cheering friends, family, alums, and undergraduates? These same undergraduates, while they may complain and fuss and often shake fists at the University, will be the first to say that even though Princeton has its faults, there ' s nowhere else they ' d rather be. Basically, then, the reasons for feminine interest in Princeton are the same as those of their male counter- parts. However, there is one change that most women would like to see. and that is in the prevailing alumni re- action to coeducation. That reaction alone remains a sore .spot in a campus that has succes.sfuUy integrated males and females-so well, in fact, that Amherst, an all-male school thinking of going coed, chose Princeton to study. Complaints of horrible, blue-jean-clad coeds destroy- ing Princeton life unjustly condemn a new breed of women, capable of adjusting to an all-male establishment with grace, femininity, and accomplishment. We only ask that we be given a chance to prove ourselves to these dis- gruntled alums, and that they wait to judge until they have experienced the Princeton woman. Only when this is accomplished will the last barrier to complete accep- tance at Princeton be hurdled, and only then will Prince- ton become the acme of a cniHlur.alionnI institution.

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For some pt-oplt ' soci.il litr .it I ' lincctoii I1UMI1S little; for others it is ex crythiiij . 1 i ' ' think th.it 1 fit somcwhrre in the middle. From tliis position it is e;isier to see both sides. When speaking iibout social life and the effect of co- education, we have to ask whether women have affected it and. if so. what their effect has been. Unfortunately, by many of my friends Princeton womiMi h.ive gone unnoticetl; or. indeed, Prince- ton women have .iffected them adversely. Per- haps this is a statement only about my friends but 1 really don ' t think so. Rather 1 see it as a failure on the part of many Princeton women to contribute to the social life of this university. Of course, not all the blame is theirs. One of the major problems at Princeton is the unequal sex ratio. With three men to every woman it is quite difficult to meet and share ex- periences with a coed. From the engineer ' s point of view this is even more difficult since the male-female ratio is significantly greater than three: one. Even in those classes where the ratio is almost equal, it remains quite difficult to meet coeds. Of the Princeton women I know, there are not more than a handful that I have met in class. Of these, most are mere acquaintances. The amount of effort necessary to meet and date a coed is phenomenal. I know of one girl who was almost continually booked up for three weeks in advance. Needless to say. putting up with that kind of competition is more than most guvs can take. Another factor in the male rejection ot Princeton women comes from a desire to view women as being feminine; However, many a coed wants to be just another guy. One such example of the Princeton woman ' s drive for complete equality appeared last year when two well known female jocks decided to play lightweight football. Their desire was so strong that they even threatened to go to court if they were not allowed to play. Their wishes were granted but their mouths were bigger than their desires, and when spring conditioning came around, our two females did not. Certainly, one can understand a woman ' s de- sire to be academically and intellectually equal, but is it so much of an insult for a man to want a woman to be a little feminine? According to some coeds with whom I have spoken, this is exactly the ca.se. They do not feel they will be equal until their sexuality is completely ig- nored. Unfortunately, one definite problem with coeds is that they fail to see themselves in the capacity of females, so how can a guy think any differently? Along with coeducation came a decline of tra- ditionalism. Of course, this is another subjective view of mine. Not everyone thinks tradition should play a part at Princeton. One Princeton ti,i(iilH)ii still trying to survive is the all-male citing club. A person ' s private; life; should be his own; in consj-quence. the; disgust many women feel toward a club that will not admit them bor- ders on the ridiculous. Perhaps if they would view the all-mahr club merely as a viable alt(!r- nalive to th(! coed clubs rathcT than as a p(;r- soiial insult, they would be less upscM. While (iveryone is not going to agree with uh.it I have said. v(rry little searching is re- (piinMl to find that Princeton social life has not y(!l completely adjusted to cotiducation: this fact is made evident by th(! numb(!r of imports flooding the campus each w(M!k(md. For me a coeducat(Ml social life has been a satisfying ex- perience. For othi rs it has not. Quite; evid(!nlly there are still a number of problems that must be solved. Nevertheless, my grt atesl desire is to see a Princeton where men are men and women can view themselves as women without trying to deny their own femininity. Only then will a coed social life at Princeton reach the same heights achi(!ved by coed academics.