About the Strike

"One of the signature elements of the strike was women's voices—women raising their voices because they were passionate about what they believed in." —Janet L. Holmgren, President, Mills College

"Sometimes, in your lifetime, you're involved with something that may not just change an institution, it can change the world. I think you've done it."  —Warren Hellman, Chair of the Mills College Board of Trustees in 1990, as quoted by the New York Times on May 19, 1990

"Together, they found pride in self, pride in women's history, and pride in their own accomplishments. From this sense of pride, they drew strength and discovered a collective voice in their commitment to overturn the board's decision."  —Linda A. Moody in "Mills—For Women Again: The Role of Women's Spirituality in One School's Effort to Remain a Women's College"

"For the next two weeks, all normal activities on campus came to a virtual halt. Students blockaded campus buildings, put up banners proclaiming the strike, held rallies and established communication channels."  —Marianne Buroff Sheldon in "Revitalizing the Mission of a Women's College," a chapter from Challenged by Coeducation: Women's Colleges Since the 1960s

"The Mills College strike . . . became a pivotal case in the historic struggle to re-define the role of women in higher education as well as in the broader society."  —Robert A. Rhoads, as excerpted from "Student Activism in the 1990s and the Importance of the Mills College Strike," an article in the Mills Quarterly, spring 2000

About the Value of a Women's Education

"The reason for having women's colleges is not to exclude men. The reason for preserving and enhancing women's colleges is because the focus is on women in that educational context; it creates an environment, a classroom, a community where women's values and women's interests and engagement and empowerment are central."  —Janet L. Holmgren, President, Mills College

"In so many ways, this all-women's college prepared me to compete in the all-boys' club of presidential politics."  —Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, 2008 U.S. Presidential Candidate and 1969 Graduate of Wellesley College

"Mills College has an unwavering dedication to women's education and to providing an environment that fully supports women's leadership. What I recognized in the students who participated in the strike was just how resilient they were as well as how ready they were to take action, and those are qualities I look for in an applicant who is applying to Mills today."  —Giulietta Aquino, Dean of Undergraduate Admission, Mills College

"The core values of women's colleges are based on social justice, equality, human dignity, and ensuring the power of educated women to continue to influence society."  —Susan E. Lennon, Executive Director, Women's College Coalition, in her commencement address at the College of Saint Catherine on May 22, 2005

"The environment . . . gives women a place to dream without being restricted or blinded by culturally generated limits."  —Pamela Melroy, Third Woman NASA Shuttle Pilot and 1983 Graduate of Wellesley College

Notables

Four women in President Barack Obama's new administration are women's college graduates—Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Desiree Rogers, and Mona Sutphen.

Current demographic shifts make women's talent, training, and leadership skills critical to our nation's future success. (The White House Project Report: "Benchmarking Women's Leadership")

In general, women at women's colleges are more engaged than women at coed institutions. (2004 National Survey of Student Engagement study)

Research shows that when women are present in significant numbers, the bottom line improves—from financial profits to the quality and scope of decision making. (The White House Project Report: "Benchmarking Women's Leadership")

Research shows that graduates of women's colleges earn doctorates at a higher rate and in a wider array of disciplines, are more than twice as likely as graduates of coed colleges to receive doctorate degrees, enter medical school, and receive doctorates in the natural sciences; while women who graduate from coed schools are more likely to earn their degrees in traditional female fields, such as education. (Wolf-Wendel, 1998)

Studies have indicated that the primary advantages for women educated at women's institutions are improved academics, emotional confidence, increased opportunities for leadership positions, and enhanced post-graduation achievement. (Smith, Wolf, and Morrison, 1995; Kim and Alvarez, 1995; Monaco and Gaier, 1992; Riordan, 1994)

More than half of master's degrees in science (58 percent) were earned by women and nearly half graduated with PhD degrees in biological sciences. (National Center for Education Statistics)