President Blanding Weighs Women's Educational Needs

Sarah Gibson Blanding became the first woman president of Vassar on October 11, 1946, and she has devoted the past five years to investigation of Vassar's fulfillment of the education needs of women.

She stated her principles clearly is the 1950 President's Report: "No thinking person would suggest the particular problems of women must not be given very real consideration by those concerned with their education, but this does not mean that these problems can be solved merely by adding new subjects to the curriculum.

"Nor does it mean that the problems peculiar to women," she concluded, "are as numerous or as difficult as the problems facing both men and women in this present age of uncertainty and fear."

This the only courses Vassar offers specifically for women are ten in child psychology, two in hygiene, and a seminar in euthenics.

Location: Good and Bad

President Blanding admits that Vassar's isolated location presents some obvious problems, but she credits it with several advantages. The highly residential nature of the college leads to close and normal relationships between instructors and students, and Miss Blanding told the CRIMSON that she feels such "friendships in intellectual interests are a motivating principle in doing better work."

In her first year as president, Miss Blanding fostered a new student constitution, signed by representatives of faculty and student democracy she considers extremely valuable, both in creating a good relationship in college and in educating in democratic processes. Despite its top-heavy bureaucracy, "it works awfully well," she said.

Lack of Self-Interest

She has found, she said, "when you have a critical problem, you never find students voting as students."

Starting with the admission policy, she aims to bring to Vassar a "cosmopolitan student body," representative in respect to geographic origin, income, and as many other respects as possible.

The scholarship program of $225,000 annually distributes an average of $800 to a little over 17 percent of the students, or half their college bill. The grants vary of course, from nominal stipends to full scholarships.

The Draft Affects Vassar

President Blanding tries to keep unnatural pressure away from scholarship girls, giving great weight to extra-curricular activity and accounting for freshman "floundering."

In the present situation, she told the CRIMSON she expects the draft to force many men's colleges to begin accepting women, increasing the competition for the outstanding female college applicants.

"If the need for woman power increases, however," she said, "it would be wise to get either compulsory or voluntary registration of college women."