Mary Baldwin University, a historic women’s college in Staunton, will start accepting applications to the University College Program, the school’s first residential program to accept men, its president announced November 28.
While some alumnae have scorned the decision, one man who’s already enrolled in a graduate program at the school supports the administration’s decision.
“I’m happy they’re going co-ed. Every time I walk on campus, I feel out of place,” says Garrett Schwalbach, a student in the Shakespeare and Performance program, one of several programs that is already co-educational. Wading through the university’s swells of women often makes him feel like a “wounded gazelle on the Serengeti,” he adds.
Jokes aside, Schwalbach points to Sweet Briar—another private women’s college in the state—which abruptly announced it would be closing its doors for good because of “insurmountable financial challenges” in March 2015.
Similarly, Mary Baldwin’s website says the students enrolled in the women’s college—the university has a number of other programs—provide about a quarter of its total tuition income, though it accounts for 60 percent of its total costs, and that it “operates at a growing and significant loss.”
At Sweet Briar, alumnae banded together, fundraised and saved the school from closing. Many Mary Baldwin alums now say it’s time for them to take the same steps.
Erin Cartwright, who graduated from the Staunton school in 2005, is an active member of an alumnae group called Boldly Baldwin. Members of her organization met at their alma mater December 3 to address current students’ concerns about the news.
“We discovered that the students were just as surprised and disheartened by the announcement as the alumnae were,” she says. “We feel that single-sex education is extremely valuable. …It helps to create an environment where women can feel empowered, where they have many opportunities to experience leadership positions that, at a co-ed institution, might not be as readily available to them.”
What has been even more disappointing to alumnae is the lack of transparency from the university, following what Cartwright says was a very transparent process of rebranding from a college to a university earlier this year.
“We have a lot to offer,” she says. “We could have helped prior to them making that decision. We were trained to be critical thinkers at Mary Baldwin, so to see our leaders disregarding that ability on our part is worrisome to us.”
In a December 8 letter, President Pamela Fox addressed concerns: “Recent declines in enrollment in the College for Women elevate the need to add additional programs quickly,” she wrote. “We strongly believe there continues to be a need for all women’s learning environments, which is why we are fighting to maintain ours. But those who choose to attend are making a choice that only 3 percent of women will even entertain.”
And where does the university need help most?
“The emphasis in starting the University College Program was that they’re hoping to increase their revenue sources to improve the overall solvency of the university,” says alumna Cartwright. “Basically, the university is in dire need of funds.”
Amongst structural issues and mold damage, she says, “Some of the students shared with us that there were bugs in their dorm rooms. That doesn’t seem especially hygienic.”
Crista Cabe, the vice president of university relations, says administration is working to address those issues. “Historic buildings and the challenges with them are something that many colleges and universities experience and deal with on a yearly basis.”
She says the university hopes to enroll 100 students in new programs (including the University College Program) next year, which should generate an additional $1.3 million in revenue. To date, 1,136 prospective students have applied for those spots.
Currently, 656 undergraduate women are enrolled in the Mary Baldwin College for Women, 577 men and women take graduate school classes and 528 men and women are involved in the university’s online and adult programs.
