Commentary on the Strategic Planning Process
Virginia Hill Worden ’69, Interim President

The following editorial appeared in the Lynchburg News & Advance on August 20, 2006.

 

It is a great joy for me to return to Lynchburg , where I spent four wonderful years as a student at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, from which I graduated in 1969. As interim president during this pivotal year, I feel the need to address the questions and concerns that have been raised in these pages concerning the changes in strategic direction under consideration by the College’s Board of Trustees.

The Trustees began a planning process in 2003, with the goal of ensuring that the College continues to thrive as a women’s college into the future. As part of the process, they commissioned marketing research that tested the market response to some of the characteristics that are hallmarks of the College. The marketing data indicated that the single-sex character of the College was a significant obstacle to achieving our enrollment goals. The Trustees announced to the community in November of 2005 that the board was commissioning marketing research to determine if, as a co-ed institution, the College would have a strong reception in the marketplace. In mid-June that research indicated a coeducational global honors college would appeal to both men and women.

No one at the College, including the Board of Trustees, wants to make this decision. More than 70 percent of the Board of Trustees are alumnae of the College and know firsthand the benefits of attending a single sex college. However, we must face the realities in which we are dealing. The market for private, liberal arts colleges is highly competitive, and only about 3 percent of college-bound high school women express a willingness to consider a women’s college. Of the top 10 colleges to which our applicants also apply, seven are coed institutions. And virtually all students who withdraw from R-MWC do so to transfer to coeducational colleges. We cannot hide from these facts. Nor can we hide from the need to address what the College must do in order to maintain its quality educational offerings in the future.

Some have expressed surprise at the idea of R-MWC going coed and have said the College has not been open during this process. While we understand their feelings of frustration, disappointment, and sadness, we must point out the College has communicated its situation since the first market research data was reported in the fall of 2005.

In October and November, letters were sent to College constituents providing information about the strategic planning process, the challenges facing the College, the possibility of admitting men, and encouraging constituents to share comments and opinions. In January 2006, the President’s Report, which was available on our website and mailed to all alumnae and friends of the College, provided an in-depth look at the challenges facing the College and other women’s institutions and discussed in detail the continuing strategic planning process and the option of going coed with a distinctive identity.

In addition, throughout the winter and spring, the Board of Trustees held forums and meetings for students, faculty, staff, and alumnae both on campus and in the 14 largest alumnae chapters across the United States .

During this time, the College’s Website has also contained information, FAQs, and other information about the strategic planning process and has offered a link for input and feedback.

In considering opening our doors to men as part of a plan that includes an enhanced “global honors” emphasis, we are not disavowing our belief in the benefits of a single--sex education. After all, we’ve been an academically rigorous woman’s college for 115 years. What we are doing is addressing the realities of our marketplace as we seek to ensure a robust future for an academically strong R-MWC.

While we have an endowment of $140 million, we have a spending rate that is well beyond prudent and the cost of attracting students to our college has become untenable. The simple truth is that in order to maintain what we currently offer, much less expand and improve the College’s programs, we must make some tough decisions. Enrollment must increase, and we must make certain that we are stewarding our resources in the most responsible manner.

Many of the comments that have recently appeared on these opinions pages have expressed the thought that the addition of men on our campus will turn this great college into a mediocre one. While I can attest to the benefits that I and my sister alumnae have received from learning in a single-sex environment, I also believe that it is a disservice to our students and the faculty that supports them to believe that the addition of men in the classroom will rob them of their ability to lead and to speak their minds. R-MWC’s commitment to developing strong women leaders, thinkers, and innovators will not waver. Nor will the campus lose its deeply held values. Its honor system, its academic quality and standards, the close relationships between faculty and students, and the traditions that have been celebrated for over a century of the College’s history will all be upheld as this College embraces this future.

I know of no one who undertook this planning process with the thought that the College might become co-ed. But I cannot subscribe to the “better dead than coed” rhetoric that has been swirling around this issue. If you walk on our campus you will experience some of the magic that permeates this College. With more that 11 percent of our students coming from 47 countries, R-MWC is indeed a world unto itself. Stroll down the brick-lined paths on campus, and you will see students from different cultures, races, religions, and backgrounds studying and living together in an environment where acceptance and tolerance are a priority. The small, close-knit community embraces its students and provides opportunities that are desperately needed in the world today.

R-MWC is more than a wonderful environment for its students. We provide jobs to this community, a wealth of events and speakers to the public, and contribute greatly to this city in many other ways. The closing of R-MWC would clearly leave a void and would be an affront to the College’s founders, its strong academic reputation, and all who have given so much to this institution.

This is not an "us" against "them" situation. We value and welcome the opinions and comments of our alumnae and students and have done so during the strategic planning process. However, the ultimate decision regarding the future of the College rests with the Board of Trustees, whose members must wrestle with the data, research, and facts and try to separate their own feelings as they make this decision in September. They have the responsibility for looking beyond the emotions we are all feeling and making the best decision for the College’s future. We cannot continue to take a wait-and-see approach. We must make these decisions now, when the College is strong and able to execute the changes in a way that ensures success.

If the Trustees vote to open the doors of this College to men, we will do so with the same strength of character and the same attention to each student that has been a powerful force for the good in our alumnae since our founding. Our mission is to prepare our students to make a difference in the world around us and to equip them to embrace our College Motto: Vita Abundantior, the life more abundant!

Sincerely,

Virginia Hill Worden ’69
Interim President