Which groups or individuals were most important to improving the lot of women at Yale in this era? What or whom do you think was the greatest impediment to change?

Change at Yale and other campuses in this era occurred because of the efforts of multiple individuals and groups. Which do you think were most important to improving the lot of women at Yale in this era? What or whom do you think was the greatest impediment to change?

Brewster was the single greatest impediment to change. He had the power, resources and experience to manage the change, but refused to do so without ever any valid reason. He was able to successfully increase enrollments for Black and Jewish students, so could have easily incorporated a more equitable female enrollment.

The single most important individual who worked tirelessly to improve the women's experiences at Yale was Elga Wasserman. Her task was made much more difficult by the lack of cooperation from all sectors of the University. Kingman Brewster was the single most obstructive individual and the person who was the biggest impediment to change. If he had instilled in his staff and the male students a vision of a coed campus where women were welcomed as peers and treated with dignity and respect the women who entered Yale in 1969 would have had a much easier transition into the male dominated campus. Instead, they had to fight for even their most basic needs to be met.

I agree re Kingman Brewster. It was shocking to me, but it shouldn't be, how passive aggressive he was on this issue. I have to remind myself, it was the two decades post WW2. My father for one thought it was creating a protective cocoon for his wife and daughters; he'd seen such horrors in the war and been so poor in his youth. He didn't understand why we weren't content in our sheltered life.

Kingman Brewster was the biggest impediment. The Board didn't vote in favor of more women and ending quotas either, but I think they would have got on board a lot sooner if he asked them to. I don't know as one organization was more important to trying to change the status quo than another. They each did their part and had to build on what had already been done.