174.The following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staff of Grove College, a private institution, to the college's governing committee.
"We recommend that Grove College preserve its century-old tradition of all-female education rather than admit men into its programs. It is true that a majority of faculty members voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage more students to apply to Grove. But eighty percent of the students responding to a survey conducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, and over half of the alumni who answered a separate survey also opposed coeducation. Keeping the college all-female, therefore, will improve morale among students and convince alumni to keep supporting the college financially."
The arguer of this recommendation suggests keeping the Grove College all-female on the basis of two surveys. However, the arguer considers too few of whether admit men into the college or not.
First of all, the validity of the two surveys cited in the argument is suspectable. How many students and alumni did they ask? How many respondents are there? For the survey of students, how many faculties did they survey? Are these students telling their true thoughts? Are they influenced by their classmates? Did the survey require their names? And for the survey of alumni, are they all sponsors of the college? Will they stop supporting the college if men were admitted? Until all these questions are answered, the two surveys are valid.
Even granted the two surveys are valid, a decision can not be made on the basis of them. Assumed that the students and alumni don't want coeducation, should the college follow their inclination? No, the college should consider this issue from the aspect of education. Men and women are coexisting in the society, when the students graduate, they will go into a society which half people are men, so they need to learn how to get along with males. If coeducation is better for the students, the college's administrative staff should consider enrolling men. A college's most essential mission is education instead of catering to students' requirement.
Finally, there is no evidence shows that coeducation will decrease students' morale or stop alumni's support. May be after men start to study in the college, current students will relate well to them, and there will be good atmosphere for studying. Afterwards, alumni are glad to see this and then give more financial support than before. Therefore, admitting men may not be a bad choice.
In sum, the groundless argument can not strongly support the recommendation. And the president and administrative staff should deliberate on the necessity of coeducation.