Female Colleges: The Seven Sisters

During much of the 20th century, people used to joke that many women only went to university to get an “MRS” degree; they didn’t go to university to earn real academic qualifications, they said, but only to be a ‘Mrs’: to find a good husband. In fact, up to the mid-19th century, women were excluded from America’s top universities altogether, places such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Columbia. There were no educational institutions of that high quality for women, and some educators believed that there should be.

MS LYON

In 1837, the pioneering teacher and feminist Mary Lyon founded Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. By 1890, six other comparable colleges for women had been founded in that state, in New York and in Pennsylvania. The colleges had excellent libraries, science labs, and first-rate professors. Their students could play team sports, take art classes and act in theatre groups. Each of these fine women’s institutions came to be associated with a top male university or college. In time, the schools organized social events where the men and women could meet.

GREEK ORIGINg

For many decades, however, the men’s universities still had almost ten times as much money as the women’s colleges did. Starting in 1926, representatives from these seven women’s schools mentioned above began to meet annually to discuss their finances. They called their informal association The Seven Sisters, alluding to the seven daughters of Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology. Representatives from all of the Seven Sisters colleges still meet annually, and they share central values: democracy, diversity, liberal social attitudes, and a sense of global responsibility. Above all, they believe that women can and should become leaders in the world. 

A WINNING FORMULA

The Seven Sisters colleges are similar in many ways. They are all small, with less than three thousand students each. Almost all students live on campus and have a lot of personal contact with professors. All of the original Seven Sisters colleges make it to the list of the hundred best schools in America every year, according to most rankings. The colleges also look similar, with many brick and neo-gothic buildings on park-like campuses with lakes, gardens, and beautiful old trees. And they all cost about the same: in total about $60,000 per year.

INSPIRING LEADERS

While people were still joking about the “MRS” degrees, Seven Sisters graduates were rising to the top in their professional fields. They include former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the late Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, the actress Meryl Streep and the writer Patricia Highsmith.

Another Seven Sister alumna, Hillary Clinton, returned to her alma mater, Wellesley College, on May 26, 2017, having just lost the U.S. presidential election. Nevertheless she gave an inspiring and good-humoured speech to the students who got their diplomas that day. Energized by the sight of those intelligent and empowered young women, Hillary felt like a winner.