For Women's History Month, Fogelson Library is featuring books about women in the major disciplines offered for study at the College of Santa Fe.
Studio Arts: Artemisia Gentileschi
Photography: Diane Arbus
Performing Arts: Greer Garson
MOV: Leni Riefenstahl
Graphic Arts: Kรคthe Kollwitz
Creative Writing: Claudine West
Every few days there will be a short biography of one of these women here. But we will start with the history of women at the College of Santa Fe.
Women were first allowed to take classes at CSF in 1955. They were "restricted" to evening classes and special workshops in certain disciplines. By the 1965-66 academic year, about 110 women attended these classes. Then in the Fall of 1966, CSF became fully co-ed. Total student enrollment that semester was about 1130, and 100 were women. Twenty-nine of these women were full-time students, eligible for the same financial aid and academic privileges as the full-time male students.
Money for a women's dormitory was allocated in October 1968. At that time women students numbered 216.
A decade later the co-eds, less than 10% of the student body in 1966, had become more than 50% of the students. A press release from March of 1978 begins "Now that women students comprise a majority of the CSF population..." This press release tells of a new organization, the Women's Student Support Group (WSSG). The group's purpose was to assist "the needs of the 668 women attending CSF." That spring semester [1978], women made up 52% of the enrollment. Interestingly, at that time the average age of the CSF co-ed was 28 years old. The goals of the WSSG included creating a day-care center and a drop-in visitor center for women, especially for commuting students. The group was given two rooms in Kennedy Hall for their space. The co-directors of the WSSG, a faculty member and a doctoral candidate, "said they were shocked to find the level of awareness concerning women's issues..." when they first arrived at CSF.
This information, and much more, is stored as newspaper clippings, campus newspapers, photographs, and other paper memorabilia in the Fogelson Library Archives.
