Pembroke Study Committee records (OF.1B.5zp)

Historical Note

Acting President Merton P. Stoltz, under the authorization of the Brown University Corporation, established the Pembroke Study Committee in November 1969. The committee's charge was to "look into all facets of University life affecting the education of women at Brown University; to examine the effectiveness of the coordinate model as it exists here and at other institutions and alternative models, and to make recommendations to the President and the Corporation for such modifications in the present organization of education for women as it deems desirable."

Comprised of three faculty members, three corporation members, three students, the Pembroke College Dean, the presidents of the Alumnae Association and the Pembroke Council, and Acting President Stoltz (ex-officio), the committee read, heard, and discussed reports from Pembroke College administrative offices and faculty, from Brown University offices and faculty, and from other universities, many of which had held or were holding similar discussions about coeducation and mergers. Chaired by Professor of Biology Elizabeth H. LeDuc, the committee issued a "Majority Report" and a "Minority Report," on May 8, 1970. Among the majority's recommendations to the Corporation was that Pembroke College's administrative functions merge with those of Brown University's, and that women fill positions at all levels of the merged administration. The minority stressed a need for further study. Both groups recommended a center for women be established. On November 12, 1970, the Advisory and Executive Committee of the Corporation effectively decided to merge the undergraduate women's and men's administrations, with full approval from the corporation as a whole coming on January 8, 1971.