The College has planned several activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of coeducation at the College and to encourage the Dartmouth community to reflect on changes at the College over the past 25 years.
"I think the anniversary is the perfect opportunity to assess where [the College] has been and where we are now and begin to envision where we want to go next," Women's Resource Center Director Giavanna Munafo said.
Munafo, who is chairing the 25th Anniversary of Coeducation Commemoration Committee, said she hopes the commemoration activities will also help the Dartmouth community look at the College has changed over the last quarter century.
"One of the things we have been stressing is that this is not only the 25th anniversary [of coeducation]," Munafo said. "Twenty-five years ago, a lot of things were changing and happening here at Dartmouth."
Munafo noted that the Native American program will hold its 25th Pow-Wow this year and the Black Alumni of Dartmouth will also celebrate their 25th anniversary.
"The fact that this anniversary is happening at the end of a century gives us permission to sit back and reflect on what we have done," Munafo said. "We want to pay attention to not just the achievements in the past, but also the struggles."
One of the major events planned is a panel discussion titled "Women and Men of Dartmouth -- How and Why the College went Coed."
Elizabeth Dycus, chair of the panel discussion sub-committee, said coeducation at the College and the institution of the Dartmouth plan were "bound together."
The D-plan was important because it allowed the number of male students to stay the same while women were admitted, but did not significantly raise the number of students on campus at one time, Dycus said.
Dycus said she thinks many students at the College today have trouble imagining an all-male Dartmouth.
"We hope students will be interested in hearing about Dartmouth's past," Dycus said. "Dartmouth is deep in traditions and they have been deeply affected by coeducation."
Dycus said she hopes students will organize themselves in discussion groups after the panel discussion.
"Each group will have a topic in which they are particularly interested," Dycus said.
The panel will be comprised of members of the Dartmouth community who were at the College when the Board of Trustees voted for coeducation.
Other fall events to commemorate the 25th anniversary of coeducation include a speech by Regina Barreca '79 titled "How Many Feminists does it Take to Change a Light bulb: Women, Humor and Surviving Dartmouth," a reception with College President James Freedman, a play titled "Mother Courage and Her Children" an exhibit in Baker Library.
"We spent about a year just gathering information, suggestions and input from people," Munafo said.
"It was very important to all of us involved that the planning process be collaborative and that all the parts of the campus that wanted an opportunity to help could." Munafo added.
Munafo said she thinks the committee has come up with a plan that she thinks is flexible.
Students at the College said they are very interested in learning about how and why the College coeducated.
Arnold Song '99 said, "I think it would be very interesting to see what [the College] was like before they came to the coed decision."
Song said he agreed with Munafo's opinion that the anniversary is an opportunity to bridge gaps in the Dartmouth community.
"I definitely think there is a lot of work to be done in bridging the racial gaps and sexuality gaps at this school," Song said. "Sometimes this school can be close minded about that."
Eliana Marcenaro '97 said she thinks "it is great that we are going to celebrate coeducation at the College."
"Coeducation was a very important step for this school and after 25 years I think it is important we discuss it," Marcenaro said.
Marcenaro said she thinks this is an excellent opportunity to talk about the historical events occurring in the rest of the world at the same time.
Esther Chang '97 said coeducation at the College is not something she would normally think about.
"It is not something I would generally consider," Chang said. "The fact that College is celebrating it gives me a chance to learn more about the school's history."
Those looking for more information on the commemorative events can monitor the 25th Anniversary of Coeducation Bulletin. The new bulletin contains a preview of events to take place in this year, a timeline documenting important events in the coeducation process and a list of events for this Fall term.
