University of Virginia Library

Graduate Women

Until the Board of Visitors' Coeducation
decision, the College was officially an all-men's
school. There are, however, over 1100 women
attending the University.

Women have long been accepted in the
graduate schools, and many women also
transfer to the Education School for undergraduate
work in their third year.

In the College, there have been few
exceptions to the all-male rule. It is recorded,
though, that a woman was accepted to the
1932-1933 first-year class. Since then, the
number of College women is uncertain.

Last May, however, four women filed suit
against the University because of its restrictive
admissions policy. The plaintiffs, the three
women already cited and Miss Nancy L.
Anderson, claimed that, despite the Board of
Visitors' February resolution, their civil rights
as guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments to the Constitution were being
denied.

The women felt that as a state institution,
the University could no more discriminate
against them because of sex any more than it
could against anyone because of their race,
creed, or national origin. These guarantees of
due process and equal protection under law
have been upheld in such Supreme Court
decisions as Bolling v. Sharp (1954) and Gaines
v. Canada.

The University denied the charges, citing
their decision to co educate, and calling the suit
"unnecessary." However, Judge Merhige issued
the temporary injunction, and his brief could
be a preview of the September 29 District
Court hearing.

Judge Merhige said, "Recognizing that
education is one of the more important
functions of the State government, any failure
to afford equal opportunity to all qualified to
pursue same amounts to irreparable damage...

"If racial segregation in State-supported
institutions is a denial of the due process of law