The Board of Randolph-Macon Women’s College, now Randolph College, voted last year to change its single-sex education policy and admit male students. The Virginia Supreme Court agreed to review two cases challenging the transition.
From the AP:
The first lawsuit, filed by nine students, claimed the school’s board of trustees breached its contract with students by voting to go coeducational and by adopting a new curriculum. The lawsuit sought to delay the enrollment of men until at least 2010, when currently enrolled students have graduated.
The second lawsuit was filed by seven of the nine students involved in the first lawsuit plus two donors. It claimed that under Virginia trust law, the board of trustees can’t use the college’s assets once it admits men because the school accepted donations from those who gave to the college when it was primarily for women.
Inside Higher Ed has more.
– Kathleen Bergin
Generally, these lawsuits to stay the admission of men have gone nowhere. The cy pres doctrine may well allow a school to declare it can no longer function under the terms of an original bequest.
While there is a cogent argument for maintaining single sex education for women, there are stronger forces militating against that when the economics have become unsustainable.