St. Thomas first opened its doors to female students on Sept. 7, 1977, making 2022 the 45th anniversary of co-education at St. Thomas.
The first-year class included 177 female students with Carla Anderson, a current member of the St. Thomas Alumni Board, among them.
“It was definitely a transitional period of time,” Anderson said. “It was the talk, the conversation in the community and the conversation around the Twin Cities area.”
On Oct. 18, 1976, the Board of Trustees voted 16-2 in favor of accepting female students as full-time undergraduate students.
The Oct. 29, 1976, issue of The Aquin contained the following statement from the Board of Trustees in its resolutions: “There are educational, social and religious advantages, as well as opportunities to serve a larger number of people by becoming co-educational.”
According to Anderson, most of the St. Thomas faculty was supportive of the switch to co-education. While she recalled hearing from classmates that not every professor was accepting, she never personally encountered that negativity from faculty.
“There was amazing support from many, many of the professors,” Anderson said. “They wanted us to succeed, and they were there for us every step of the way.”
Women’s basketball coach Ruth Sinn, class of 1984, echoed that sentiment about her time as a student, saying St. Thomas “wasn’t a male school that just had female students.”
“The professors we had were all very inclusive, very excited about the opportunity that we get to grow St. Thomas,” Sinn said.
Despite the faculty being supportive, not all of the older, all-male classes were as inviting. Some female students would receive comments about attending St. Thomas solely because they were “looking for husbands.”
“There were plenty of people that were not so excited to see the change,” Anderson said about her peers.
However, according to Anderson, this improved as her college years went on.
“That part of the experience got better and better because soon they were graduated out,” Anderson said. “The people that remained were very supportive and very embracing.”
For Sinn, the improvement in her college experience came through athletics. When she started college, Sinn recalled that women’s NCAA basketball was “starting its existence,” meaning regulations were not nearly as present as they are in today’s game.
“During that first year, we might have played 48 games,” Sinn said.
By the time Sinn graduated, she saw many improvements in women’s athletics.
“It was really interesting to watch how the game itself and the structure and the regulations moved from my freshman year to my sophomore and junior years,” Sinn said.
Sinn expressed her pride in how St. Thomas has continued to grow since her time as a student.
“St. Thomas has a very inclusive environment, where they support you and want to help you achieve excellence,” Sinn said.
Anderson echoed Sinn’s sentiment.
“I couldn’t be more proud looking around at especially, of course, the women that are there,” Anderson said.
In the 2022 fall semester, of the approximately 6,000 undergraduate students at St. Thomas, 48% are female. While being part of the first female class was not without its challenges, Anderson feels honored to be part of St. Thomas’s history.
“It’s very fulfilling to see such a robust and thriving school and to think we were a part of that change,” Anderson said.
Derek Badger can be reached at badg7629@stthomas.edu.