University of Virginia Library

ADMISSION OF WOMEN TO THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

President Darden presented two letters from Mr. Perkins concerning this matter. The first,
dated June 14, read in part:

"There is no statute and so far as my search has disclosed there has never been a statute
prohibiting the admission of women to our undergraduate departments, but in my opinion the history
of the controversy of these admissions, coupled with the fact that Mary Washington College is now a
department of the University, conclusively indicates an intention on the part of our legislature
that women shall not be admitted to the undergraduate departments at Charlottesville

"The rule against these admissions is at present merely a ruling of the Board acting under
its general powers referred to above but it is my considered opinion that if the Board of Visitors
in the exercise of that power should decide to admit women to these departments, such action would
be directly contrary to the clearly expressed intention of our legislature."

On July 9, Mr. Perkins wrote:

"After considering the statement of the specific case as set out in the minutes, I feel
that my letter of June 14th should be qualified to the following extent:

1. In view of the increasing difficulty of obtaining or retaining qualified members of
our Faculty at the salaries which the University is now able to pay, it seems to me that an exception
might be made to the existing rule which will be confined strictly to the daughters of
members of the faculty, that is to say, professors, associate professors, and assistant professors.

2. This exception should apply, however, only in cases where in the opinion of the
Board it is necessary or advisable to admit such daughters to the college in order to obtain or
retain the services of the professor making the application.

3. If such admissions are approved by the Board they should be upon the following conditions:

That such daughter or daughters shall during their entire enrollment in the college,
live in the home of their parent or parents in the City of Charlottesville or the County of Albemarle;
and that such student should be at least _____ years of age when admitted.

"While I believe that making such an exception to the existing rule under the conditions
above set out is entirely within the power of the Board of Visitors, the question of the advisability
of such an exception is, of course, one of policy and not of law."

The President read from a letter from Mr. Roy Armstrong, Director of Admissions, University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill:

"Girls who live in their bona fide homes in the Chapel Hill township are admitted to the
University on the same basis as men. Girls are also eligible for admission to the School of Pharmacy
and to the School of Nursing as freshmen. All other women students must have completed two
years of college work before admission to the University.

"This policy is well accepted and I don't believe we have many complaints. There seems
to be no great pressure toward opening the University to all women students directly from high
school. I doubt that any problems are present because of the admission of Chapel Hill girls to
the University as freshmen. They live in their homes. Thus, there are very few problems for the
Dean of Women. . . ."

Mr. Gay stated that, as early as 1912, there was pressure on the Legislature to make the
University a coeducational institution. This fight was led by Mrs. Mary Munford. To relieve
this pressure, a bill was passed in 1918 directing William and Mary to admit women. In 1920 the
General Faculty of the University of Virginia, with the concurrence of the President, approved
recommendations of the Alumni Association that women be admitted to the graduate and professional
schools of the University under such terms and conditions as The Rector and Visitors may provide.
The Board of Visitors adopted these recommendations establishing certain requirements for admission
to these schools.

After considerable discussion of the matter, the President and Secretary were asked to
draw up an appropriate resolution to be submitted to the Board at its September meeting.