On May 26, 2002, 122 women graduated from Berea College. They are the latest in a long line of women who have been a part of this coeducational institution since its founding. Although women’s access to higher education doesn’t seem out of the ordinary today, when John G. Fee began his school in 1855 educating men and women in the same facilities was as radical as educating black and white students together.

Berea was the first coeducational institution in Kentucky and in the South. As President E. Henry Fairchild noted in his inaugural address, coeducation provided opportunities both academic and cultural that “neither sex can acquire, in its highest degree, alone.” However, we have much more to learn about the pioneering women—students, staff, and faculty—who worked to make Berea’s commitment to educating men and women a reality.

With a new women’s studies major begun this year, and the College’s continuing commitment to “create a democratic community dedicated to education and equality for women and men,” this Berea College Magazine highlights some of the notable women of Berea, as well as the College’s work to ensure that quality education of men and women continues.

Ann Mary Quarandillo,

Editor