Dear Members of the Campus Community,
As the fall semester is in full swing, I wanted to provide an update on our planning and intentions with respect to the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Holy Cross. As you know, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first women students at the College (and the 50th anniversary of the federal Title IX civil rights law). We have communicated previously about our aim to commemorate this milestone both by looking back at our history and honoring the pioneers of coeducation and by reflecting on where we are today and exploring the challenges we face in becoming the best community that we can be.
We intend to mark this historic occasion not with a single event—or even a single year’s worth of events—but rather with a more meaningful and inclusive commemoration that will span this academic year and next, which we are calling Lighting the Way: Fifty Years of Women at Holy Cross. While 1972 was the year that women first entered the institution, 1974 was when Holy Cross saw its first women graduate from the College (as some women had entered as transfer students), and so we will use that two-year timeframe to celebrate, honor, reflect and consider the impact of coeducation on Holy Cross’ past, present and future.
Programming is already under way, as I’m sure many of you are aware. The recent President’s 2022 Faculty Symposium focused on “Teaching at Intersections: On the 50th Anniversary of Coeducation.” The Office of the College Chaplains is hosting a series of campus events marking the anniversary called “Raising Our Voices in Church,” the first of which is a talk by New York Times bestselling author Cole Arthur Riley at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Mary Chapel. Holy Cross Archives and Distinctive Collections has published an online exhibit on coeducation: And Thus Entered Women: The Beginnings of Co-Education at Holy Cross from 1967-1976. Looking ahead, Holy Cross will formally honor five women’s basketball legends and retire their jerseys at a game at the Hart Center on Jan. 28, 2023. Holy Cross Magazine also plans a series of feature stories in several issues highlighting the 50th anniversary. There will be many more occasions for our campus and our broader alumni and family communities to take part in Lighting the Way.
A campus committee of faculty, students and staff is helping to coordinate, plan and promote events and other programming for this commemoration. Its members are:
- Kristyn Dyer ’94, Director of Alumni Relations (co-chair)
- Vickie Langohr, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies (co-chair)
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Cathleen Doane Cannon, Director of Parent and Family Engagement
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Rosa E. Carrasquillo, Professor of History and Helen M. Whall Chair in Race, Gender and Social Justice
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Emily Clemens ’23
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Megan Fox-Kelly ’99, Associate Chaplain
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Amina Gomez ’16, Assistant Director, Office of Multicultural Education
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Sarah Kirkpatrick, Director of Athletic Communications
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Angela Paik Schaeffer, Interim Vice President for Communications and Marketing
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Lorelle D. Semley, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of History
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Melissa Shaw, Editorial Director, College Marketing and Communications
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Maile Sit ’25
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Madeline Vargas, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Biology
My thanks to all who are serving on this important committee, as well as those in our alumni community who have already contributed to this effort and others with whom we will engage in the near term in dialogue and celebration. We invite your participation in numerous ways, including by sharing with us ideas for events, stories and other means of marking the historic occasion. The committee also would be delighted to help promote existing programming that connects to the theme of coeducation. Please be in touch with the committee by emailing coeducation@holycross.edu.
I look forward to joining with all of you in marking this landmark anniversary for Holy Cross.
Sincerely,
Vincent D. Rougeau
President