For the first time since the College became coeducational in 1972, the freshman class has more matriculating women than men -- 526 women and 522 men.
The numbers signify an important accomplishment for the College and for College President James Freedman, who has made gender parity a top priority since coming to Dartmouth eight years ago.
"When I became president in 1987, women were 30 percent of the school and I felt we should bring the numbers up to par," Freedman said in a telephone interview last night.
"It has taken us eight years to accomplish that and I am very pleased," he said. "It makes Dartmouth stronger both academically and socially."
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg said the number of female applicants to the College has been growing steadily since the College became coeducational.
For the Class of 1996, 3,169 women and 4,907 men applied for admission. Just four years later for the Class of 1999, 4,455 women and 5,465 men applied -- an increase of about 1,400 women and 600 men.
Although the Class of 1999 is the first class with more women students matriculating than men, the Class of 1998 was the first class to have more women admitted than men -- 1,076 to 1,074. But the final matriculation numbers for the Class of 1998 were 547 men and 508 women.
The College admitted 1,055 women and 1,107 men for the Class of 1999.
Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia said she feels the achievement of gender parity in a class marks an important milestone in Dartmouth's history.
But "having past this milestone, what I would like to see is ... the campus redirect efforts to celebrate coeducation and our community," said Sateia, who was hired by the admissions office in 1974 to help recruit female applicants.
Sateia said in 1981, then Director of Admissions Edward Chamberlain thought that a class at Dartmouth would reach gender parity by 1987.
Women's Resource Center Director Giavanna Munafo said the event is "a highlight for the Dartmouth community, since Dartmouth made a commitment to gender equity."
Munafo said the achievement "will give us an opportunity to think about where to go from here."
"It is also important ... to think about co-education in a broader sense -- in ways we can broaden it to incorporate the various groups in the College's history that have not really been included in the community," she said.
One student, Khalid Osbourne-Roberts '98 said, "I think it is an accomplishment. However, I believe that we should stop focusing on numbers and start focusing on the situation for the respective groups, both men and women, at the College."
"Just because the numbers are equalizing slowly over time does not mean that the situation has improved," he said.
Furstenberg attributes the increases of applications -- of both women and minorities -- to aggressive recruiting and better national recognition.
"We're out there telling the positive things about Dartmouth, focusing mainly on the academic qualities," Furstenberg said.
"About eight years ago there was some negative publicity about conservatism and racism, but that has really faded," he said.
Furstenberg also said the academic quality of applicants has gone up along with the number of female and minorities applicants.
Furstenberg said the Class of 1999 is the strongest academic class ever to enter the College.
"Demographically, within the nation, increases in women and minority students don't always go with higher scores. Higher scores and more diversity says we are attracting top students from all groups, which is really terrific," he said.
