Compromise Decision on Going Coed Announced at Haverford

The Board of Managers at Haverford College announced Saturday that it has compromised on the dispute over coeducation, deciding not to admit women into next year's freshman class while allowing women to transfer into other classes.

The debate centered around the relationship between Haverford, an all-male school near Philadelphia with about 800 students, and Bryn Mawr, a women's college of about 1000 students located approximately a mile and a half away.

At present, students at Haverford and Bryn Mawr may freely cross-register, providing a coeducational atmosphere. Most classes at the two schools contain approximately 25 per cent cross-registered students.

Bryn Mawr students, faculty and administrators feared that if Haverford should become fully coeducational, the spirit of cooperation between the two schools would suffer.

According to the compromise reached by the Board of Managers at Haverford, the school will admit female transfer students to the upper classes, but not allow women in the freshman class.

The board also re-stressed the importance of the two-college system.

"This is a step towards coeducation," while maintaining the "system of cooperation" between the two schools, John C. Whitehead, chairman of the Board of Managers at Haverford, said yesterday.

Many Haverford students were quite upset by the compromise. Paul Hollings a Haverford freshman, feels that the board showed a lack of nerve in the decision. "The students and faculty wanted this [full coeducation] all the way," he said.

Another Haverford freshman, Doug Rennert, says that students are considering sending a petition to the board asking them to reverse their decision.

While students at Haverford were disturbed by the decision, students at Bryn Mawr were quite happy with it.

Harris Lawford, president of Bryn Mawr, said the compromise made "substantial new steps towards strengthening the two-college system." The debate was not a question of single-sex education but of improving the two-college system, he said.

Whitehead added that the compromise should not be viewed as a transition step towards either full coeducation at Haverford or a merger between Haverford and Bryn Mawr.