Westhampton College: "A
Gem of a College"
Higher education for women came of age in the United
States in the second half of the nineteenth century,
an outgrowth of the first wave of feminism at mid-century
as well as the growing recognition that a prosperous
society required an educated populace. During this period,
many still believed that the role of higher education
for women was to provide them with the social skills
and information necessary to be good wives and mothers.
The Women's College of Richmond, founded in 1854
as the Richmond Female Institute, conformed to this
model by offering junior college education rather
than a four-year degree. However, many of its graduates,
as well as other capable young women, sought an institution
where they could earn a baccalaureate by taking courses
as rigorous as those offered to men. In 1898 Richmond
College began accommodating their needs by admitting
a small number of non-residential women students.
In 1900, the college awarded the first Bachelor's
degrees to women.
In 1906, with the support of the Virginia Baptist
General Association, Richmond College determined
to create a college for women. "The school we propose
to establish will be no experiment," President Boatwright
wrote the following year. "Nor will it be co-educational,
as some seem to fear. There will be two colleges
under the control of the corporation known as Richmond
College. In our college a woman can take her degree
of Bachelor of Arts or Science without ever sitting
in a class with men." Thus was outlined Richmond
College's coordinate system, whereby the men's and
women's colleges would be administered by the President
and Board of Richmond College but have their own
deans, faculties, courses, and buildings. The property
and franchise of the Women's College of Richmond
were transferred to Richmond College, with WCR graduates
eligible for admission to the new women's college
if they met its entrance requirements.
With the acquisition of the Westhampton campus
in 1911, construction began on the new Richmond College
and on Westhampton College, the women's college.
The latter's original building, today's North Court,
housed virtually all the requirements of an autonomous
institution: classrooms, library, dining hall, reception
rooms, administrative offices, and residential space.
In keeping with the coordinate model, Westhampton
students also had their own student government and
in time developed distinct college rituals and traditions.
Westhampton College opened for classes on September
17, 1914, under the administration of Dean May Lansfield
Keller, the first women to receive a doctorate from
the University of Heidelberg and the first women
to be named dean of a Virginia college. Dr. Keller
remained dean until 1946, devoting her entire career
to establishing an institution that maintained the
highest academic standards and prepared women to
follow whatever personal and professional goals they
set.
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