The achievement of gender parity for the Class of 1999 is a significant accomplishment, but the College's work is not finished -- gender parity does not equal gender equity.
The matriculation numbers for the Class of 1999 -- 526 women and 522 men -- certainly mark a milestone in the College's history and are a tribute to the administration's efforts to get more women to apply and attend Dartmouth.
For example, the number of women applicants has increased from 956 in 1972, the College's first year of coeducation, to an all-time high of 4482 for the Class of 1999.
When College President James Freedman came to the College in 1987, women made up about 38 percent of the freshman class. Freedman said in an interview with The Dartmouth yesterday, "I felt we should bring the numbers up to par."
While Freedman's goal was reached this year, the achievement should not be reflected upon a short while and forgotten.
Instead, the achievement of gender parity should mark the intensification of a discussion about a more serious question -- gender equity.
Gender equity is not just a matter of equal numbers, equity is a matter of attitudes.
As one sophomore pointed out, "Just because the numbers are equalizing slowly over time does not mean that the situation has improved."
Women should be treated as equals in the classroom and in the College's social scene. And although vast strides have been made in making the College more equitable for women, inequalities remain.
In particular, the social scene at the College needs improvement. There are twice as many fraternties as sororities, and many women still say they feel uncomfortable in Dartmouth's fraternity-dominated social scene.
The administration should continue to expand programs such as the Women In Science Project and Women in Politics and should further its efforts to attract top female professors and ensure that women have solid support services.
The College should use the achievement of gender parity as a stepping-off point to explore the issue of gender equity more fully and to redouble efforts to ensure that women are not only present in equal numbers at Dartmouth, but are in fact equals.
