The recent near-closure of Sweet Briar, an all-women's college in Virginia, has rekindled the debate over the continuing relevance of single-sex education.
Single-sex education has a long history, because for millennia many institutions of higher learning refused to admit women; Plato's Academy in fifth-century Greece was all-male (ok, two women were allowed to study there), and so was Dartmouth, my alma mater, until 1972.
SWEET BRIAR, Virginia – Last spring, Sweet Briar College, a 115-year-old women's college in rural Virginia, made headlines when it suddenly announced that it would close.
Energetic and loyal Sweet Briar alumnae rallied to save their beloved school, forming a nonprofit and social media campaign to resuscitate the institution. But the near-death experience raised broader questions about the fate of single-sex colleges in America.
