Pros and Cons of Hamilton?

merc81
Mon, 30 Sep 2019 22:59:26 +0000

The source of Hamilton’s essential distinction resides in its history. As Hamilton and other all-male institutions were arising from their single-sex pasts, Hamilton chose the imaginative direction of creating a coordinate college with a complementary curriculum as well as a generally different educational emphasis. If the current Hamilton appears academically and architecturally more diverse and interesting than its enrollment would indicate, this is at least partly due to this aspect of its history. As described in a recently published book,

Kirkland [Hamilton’s coordinate college] was the only coordinate college among the three [schools referenced] to pursue a reform agenda–in this case, educational innovation rather than gender equity.

And,

‘Let Hamilton have its steeples and towers; Kirkland would be a receptive, circular, open plan . . . As it happened, the circle became squared. But one corner of it, happily, was designed to be left open to the surrounding fields.’

(*Coordinate Colleges for American Women: A Convergence of Interests, 1947-78/i.)