An alumnus from the Class of 1945 recently wrote a letter to the Princeton Alumni Weekly bemoaning the feminization of Princeton since the introduction of coeducation in 1969.
My fear is that the Princeton Univer-sity I knew has been taken over by a female majority (for better or worse). I am surprised that other male graduates are not upset by these developments.
Then, one final snipe:
I will bet that you will not print this letter. Your masthead shows that your editorial staff is almost entirely female.
Well, the letter was published, blogged about all around the Internet, and commented on by other alumni.
The best comment, from David Kaufmann ’80:
I, too, would bewail the loss of masculinity if I had any idea what Mr. Schmid is talking about beyond loose ties, the faint smell of sweat, and a tendency towards public drunkenness.
Why would any male student of this fine University “bemoan” the presence of women? Since you were clearly denied exposure to the appeal and talent of these coeds, I probably should not expect you to know that I (speaking for myself) am proud of the progress of education and the growth of the female population in Ivy league schools. This trend does not denote that men are any less intelligent and, if it did, it would be incredibly “cave-man” of us to get “upset” by the competition. We have a FEMALE President (a very good one) who symbolizes a leap in this Boys’ Club you’re so fond of and suggesting that we should be upset by its loss. I could ramble on about how chauvinistic this letter is or how you need to set your watch to 2009, but I’m sure my female colleagues will let you have it better than I can.
I will take this time to “bemoan” the use of the Princeton Triangle Club with the heading “You See What We Have Become?” Umm, according to my records, the Princeton Triangle Club has been donning the lovely drag since before you were born…it’s not what we’ve become, it’s what has been and will be; this also applies to the presence of women in academia, so get used to it.
’09