6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

What do you mean by break ranks at all male colleges? Are you talking of military colleges? That are run by the government? You make an interesting point, and I applaud that.

However, I go to Wells College. It is a private institution. The women there are protesting much more than their beloved college becoming co-ed. I suggest you look past the media and dig to find the real issues behind these women. Read some blogs, you can start with the links found in the syracuse.com article where your blog is also quoted:
http://www.syracuse.com/newslogs/newstracker/index.ssf?/mtlogs/syr_newstracker/archives/2004_10.html#035800

Believing in single sex education for women may be encouraging gender stereotypes. However, I am not encouraging gender stereotypes in the way I live my life. That is what matters. It has nothing to do with the sex of the individuals in my classes. College isn't just about the classroom or student government. I go to Wells because I have a desire for the environment of Wells. Have you ever visited Wells? The campus is quiet and clean. There are parlors in every dorm decorated with lovely furniture, types which I have not seen at coed schools and do not think would stand up to coed use. There is a special feeling that exists at Wells that exists no where else.

Do you think that public bathrooms should be coed? What about locker rooms? What about girl and boy scout troops? There is something to be said for division of the sexes in some instances, or they would never be divided. Why not leave that line, when it comes to college education, to private institutions to decide?

As long as Wells College is a private institution, I stand firm behind my belief that it should be single sex.

Way to go! I am a Wells alum, and I can definitely say that going there was one of the worst decisions I've made so far in my life. I was essentially cajoled into it by my mom, because she was too afraid that if I went to a coed school I would get raped. I only stayed there because it was tiny [I came from a high school with a graduating class of 64] and the Romance language department was everything I wanted in a Romance language department. (Plus I had three male profs that I adored.)

I got harassed endlessly while I was there...first off about my disability [people accused me of sending them death threats and smearing my feces on the bathroom walls...and the administration believed the same rumors REPEATEDLY], and later, when I came out as an FtM (female-to-male transsexual}, about that. When I was seen doing my classwork, I was constantly asked why I wasn't doing any political activism instead. (Wasn't interested, wanted to live my life and get into grad school.) My point is that living on a female-only campus seemed psychologically unsound to me.

To my old friends at Wells I say: Don't worry about your voices being silenced by guys, the whole country can hear you now as it is. And remember, like they taught us in Women's Studies, gender's just a construct. Which means the very idea of a "women's college" is worthless according to gender theory. (And also the idea of "men's" and "women's" restrooms, but that's another story.)

Anyhoo, I can definitely say I'm much happier as a graduate student at a coed institution. Guys, girls, and others alike respect me and the work I do. I hope that Wells turns into such an institution that gives students a broad knowledge of the world, refardless of gender.

So you don't think the environment will be quiet or clean if men were to attend? There are breeds of the male gender that can be trained so that they are civilized and take good care of their surroundings. :)

For the most part, the crashing of lines regarding gender has been within the domain of women. When's the last time you've heard of a boy wanting to be Clara in the Nutcracker, or on the girl's volleyball team?

It is considered "ok" and in the realm of "you go girl" when a woman crosses over into what is traditionally the man's world.

My contention is that the line should be permeable in both directions.

Thanks for your comments and support. Obviously, all female doesn't mean all good. There are extremists in every walk of life.

I started at Wells some - oh, my heavens, 11 years ago. I remember being told that Wells had joined other Women's colleges in signing a letter of support for the male-only policy at the Citadel.

I cannot tell you how much I loved Wells. It was a great place of learning - my largest classes had 20 people, most had around 10, some less - my Russian and advanced Italian had only 5. Can you imagine what kind of attention you could receive from your professor, the questions you could ask? My professors knew my name, where I came from and expected me to be in class with my readings done and prepared to participate in class discussions.
Wells taught me more than academic subjects. I learned how to stand up for what I believed, as I was challenged daily on beliefs I had never questioned. I learned how to love and respect someone who believed very differently from me, and how to have conversations without losing sight of the PERSON with whom I was talking. I learned tolerance, and I don't mean the liberal "accept-everything-and-embrace-it-yourself" tolerance. I mean the true "you-are-different-from-me-but-that-does-not-make -you-a-bad-person" tolerance.
I gained female friends for the first time in my life. Oh, I'd had girl friends in high school, but subconsciously, we were all competing for the attention of boys, or something. There is not one girl friend from high school to whom I am still close. But my Wells friends... put us in a room together for the first time in 6 years, and it is like we were never apart. When I have had a bad week or a crushing blow or terrible heartache, it is my sisters I call, it is to Aurora I long to go.
Somehow I gained a strength from my years at Wells. When I am faced with a daunting project or a crazy week or even that last lap in swimming pool, I pull on the strength I grew at Wells. It was not easy being on a campus of hormonal, crazy, opinionated, passionate, compassionate women in the middle of nowhere (I used to joke that I went to church every week for my weekly dose of testosterone). It was not easy standing up for my values and my knowledge of right and wrong on such a liberal anything-goes campus. But I learned something from that refiner's fire: I know who I am. I know who I am. And Wells helped me discover that.
I am saddened to hear of the co-ed decision. I rather had hoped my daughter would someday have such an experience as I had. But, I would much rather have a home to go to with new family members, than have the creditors take it away from everyone. I have heard people say that the decision was closed and there was no input. I don't know everything the board knows. And neither do most of the people who have complained. But I have to trust that they are doing what they feel is the best thing for the college. I bet it was a hard decision to make.

Thanks for your thoughtful post, Aaric. All the replies I've received so far have been totally not what I expected to receive from a Wells student or alum. I definitely had some pre-conceived notions and realize that I painted with much too broad a brush.

I hope the reason for the decision to go co-ed is shared with everyone...it seems like the least that they could do in light of everyone's strong feelings.

could yall send some info about all colleges going coed..its for my JR. REPORT AT MY HIGH SCHOOL