Given the small number of women in the first class at Yale, I was surprised by this decision. My primary concerns were safety and support. I realized while reading that this arrangement, spreading the women out, made it more difficult for them to "organize" and advocate for themselves. Separated, there were only one or two people focused on increasing the involvement of women in extra curricular activities (sports, marching band, journalism)-primarily because the women were so isolated from one another that they didn't know what was affecting the others in their class. The locks on the doors issue may have been addressed earlier on if the women had had an opportunity to meet and discuss their issues and concerns as a group of 250. There was little opportunity for them to share their experiences with one another regarding what was working and what wasn't. I think (I hope) there might have been fewer attacks on women if larger groups were walking together to their dorm rooms after an evening of studying at the library or returning from an evening class--
I think of the seating charts I used to make for my fifth graders. I learned quickly to spread my talkers around the room; never near one another if at all possible. This made MY school day easier. I can't help but wonder if the plan to split the women among the 12 colleges was more nefarious than it was presented to be. There were fewer women to interact with by dividing the 250 into 12. They didn't have an "audience" for their concerns (an audience who could be empathetic and supportive), and they were definitely isolated. This arrangement also served to remind them how "small" they really were.