Westminster was an all-male institution for 127 years, until 1978 when the process to admit women had been started. After a 15-month-long study, they decided that single-sex admissions were going to lead to a decline in the school's enrollment. Alumni were in favor of this change at a ratio of 10:1. Most students on campus were fond of the idea of coeducation as well, due to raised academic standards and a more selective admissions process. The first woman to apply was Betsy Schultz Humphreys '83, from Fulton High School, who filled out the application the day the change was announced.
In the Fall of 1979, Westminster had its first class of 32 women who joined the college. However, only 11 of these women graduated from Westminster. Janice Mathews-Gordon was officially the first female graduate of Westminster College in the Spring of 1981, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in art.
“After 128 years as a men’s college, Westminster’s first class of women came to Fulton, all 32 of us, in the fall of 1979. I was one of three female transfer students, joined by 29 female freshmen. Much like today, colleges were largely coeducational, and overwhelmingly so in the Midwest, so we arrived on campus wide-eyed, optimistic and wholly unprepared for what we would face.” – Janice Mathews-Gordon, ’81, Leadership Magazine, Fall 2014
In late November 1978, SGA executive committee organized two ad hoc committees to help with the coeducational integration the following fall. One committee was assigned the task of providing coeducational counseling for the new female students about any issues they might face regarding the integration, and the second committee was to help structure coeducational extracurriculars, like intramurals, student programs, and the concert-lecture series.
One of the ramifications of going co-ed was a damaged relationship with our neighbor school, William Woods University. William Woods University was an all-women institution, and for many years previously, Westminster and William Woods had worked together to provide coeducational opportunities and events, as well as share educational resources. However, with the November 1978 announcement of Westminster going co-ed, William Woods planned to take legal action to block the admission of women to Westminster.
William Woods was cited in the Fulton Sun saying they thought that Westminster admitting women would decrease their admission, and they felt that Westminster had gone against previous agreements made between the two schools. In 1974, there had been a federation plan agreement that the two schools would provide a five-year advance notification on any potential chances. William Woods felt like the introduction of coeducation at Westminster went against this agreement.
on January 29, 1979, a settlement agreement was reached. Westminster would limit the amount of women allowed in their freshman classes for the first three years of coeducation.
Research for this guide was collected by Faith Beckmann, Archive Student Assistant, March 2024.