RPI Becomes Coeducational

Introduction

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY, established by Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1824. It was initially called the Rensselaer School, then renamed to the Rensselaer Institute in 1834, before being renamed once more to what we know it as today: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The University was strictly a male-only school until 1942, although there is record of 8 women enrolling into a special mathematics course at RPI.

Despite the school's high ratio of men to women, Shirley Ann Jackson was the first female president to be elected in 1999.

Trials

In 1873, Elizabeth R. Buswell became the first woman to formally apply to be a student at RPI. However, via newspaper clipping, RPI's Professor Drowne urged Buswell not to continue her application as he believed "her position as the only lady student would not be pleasant." Ironically, it was stated that the "institute makes no discrimination in regard to sex".

Buswell consequentially decided not to pursue her application. Later in 1918, once again the attempt for RPI to become coeducational was made. Alfred Renshaw, brother in-law to RPI President Ricketts, and RPI trustee created a motion to allow women to enroll at RPI, largely due to the loss of male students to WW1. However, Renshaw's motion lost and was followed by a counter motion by trustee Henry W. Hodge. Hodge's motion stated "resolved, that at the present time it is not advisable to allow the admission of women students," which was unanimously voted for by everyone but Renshaw.

First Woman Professor

In 1918, the same year the motion for women to join RPI was rejected, the first female professor was appointed. Hazel Brennan was hired as an assistant Chemistry professor. The following year, Marie De Pierpont was hired as French professor, and became the first woman to be a head professor at RPI. She held such positions until leaving the institute in 1932.

First Women Admitted

In 1942 RPI opened registration to women for the first time. The hesitation to admit women stemmed from Van Rensselaer himself, known for being misogynistic. His counterpart, Eaton, however was fond of the idea of making RPI coeducational. Back in 1834, Eaton was "forced to instruct girl students privately in a separate room of his residence, gloriously called the "sheep pen" by the regular male students" (Van Klooster, PhD).

By 1966, 24 years after the admission of women, the male to female ratio was 19:1.

The eventual decision to accept women as students at RPI was in order to replace male students serving in WWII. The first class of women accepted into RPI were Mary Ellen Rathbun in Metallurgical Engineering, Camilla (Trent) Cluett in Architecture, Elizabeth English in Biology, Lois Graham in Mechanical Engineering, and Helen Ketchum in Architecture. Of these women, Graham and Rathbun became the first to graduate in 1945.

Unfortunately, there is a lull in active recruitment of female students and faculty from the 1940s-50s. As a result, from 1947 until 1963, "17 out of 54 graduating classes had no women graduates" (Monger 2021).

Conclusions

As of 2023, RPI continues as a coeducational polytechnic institute. Currently, the University's undergraduate population is made up of 31% women and 69% men with a ~7,000 students total. While the male to female ratio is a little over 2:1, one can see a gradual reduction in that ratio.

Sources

“Home.” Institute History. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://archives.rpi.edu/institute-history. Monger, Jenifer. “Home.” Mary Ellen Rathbun Kolb Oral History, March 26, 2014. https://archives.rpi.edu/blog/2014/03/26/mary-ellen-rathbun-kolb-oral-history. Monger, Jenifer. “Home.” Women's History Month: Those Who Led the Way, March 8, 2021. https://archives.rpi.edu/blog/womens-history-month-those-who-led-the-way. “Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Diversity: Racial Demographics & Other Stats.” RPI Demographics & Diversity Report. College Factual, February 19, 2023. https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute/student-life/diversity/#:~:text=The%20full%2Dtime%20RPI%20undergraduate,for%20all%20students%2C%20go%20here. “Visit Rensselaer!” Quick Facts | RPI INFO. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://info.rpi.edu/quick-facts. Unknown. (2023, February 24). Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute#:~:text=RPI%20became%20coeducational%20in%201942,ratio%20was%20around%205%3A1. Unknown. (2023, March 11). History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Wikipedia. Retrieved March 17, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rensselaer_Polytechnic_Institute#:~:text=The%20history%20of%20Rensselaer%20Polytechnic,speaking%20world%20and%20the%20Americas. Van Klooster, H. (1949). 125 Years of chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.