Perpetually shy of the critical mass to reach equilibrium between the sexes, Sarah Lawrence College has always had a roughly 75%-25% split between women and men. Many have argued the school should strive for greater parity. Many have argued equally passionately that the ratio is fine as it is. Despite the controversy and debate over the ratio, many men have been successful in their fields as a result of the Sarah Lawrence pedagogy: Among them are White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel ‘81, film-maker J.J. Abrams ’88, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright David Lindsey Abaire’92, acclaimed dancers John Jasperse ‘85, Rashaun Mitchell ’00, and Christopher Williams ‘98, senior attorney Mark P. Goodman ’83, and ground-breaking neurobiologist W. Ian Lipkin ’74.
“This silly report came out saying that we were a women’s college which admits men and essentially guaranteed coeducation to never fully take root…They’ve made it a healthier, richer and more diverse place…It’s crazy that we can’t get men to come here to enjoy the benefits of this wonderful education. It’s the lack of critical mass that keeps men from coming. Men need the feeling, especially as freshmen of being part of a community.
Ilja Wachs, Literature Faculty, Dean of the College, Sarah Lawrence 1965 –
“We were all surprised by the high quality of the applications. They were really astonishingly good. A lot of them were transfer students, who often had come from places they were very unhappy with. I remember several from Dartmouth and Princeton. These were still very dark, cold traditional places...Certainly some of my best students over the years have been men.”
Danny Kaiser, Literature Faculty, Sarah Lawrence 1964 –