Kirkland Survey: the ’70s
From a survey of seniors (class of 1974):
What is most important to you about Kirkland now?
- The freedom it allowed me . . .to grow, to make mistakes, and to learn the way I felt I had to, in a very independent, personal way.
- The students with whom I’ll graduate, the deep friendships I have made, and the people I love here.
- The one-to-one academic atmosphere
- The lack of grade pressure
Do you now feel Kirkland was the right choice in terms of social satisfaction?
Initially my attitude was totally anti-fraternity and anti-Hamilton, but much to my surprise I found I enjoyed many of the Hamilton men I met and many of the fraternity social activities. I’ve met some people whom I genuinely like as friends, although their attitudes may conflict with my own at points.
From a survey of all four classes:
What were your major reasons for selecting Kirkland over other colleges? (three answers allowed; selected responses)
Because it’s:
- a woman’s college: 5%
- Coordinate with Hamilton: 28.9%
- Evaluations instead of grades: 40.9%
- Innovative: 34.6%
- Non-traditional: 34.6%
[Editors’ note: More than 20 students who chose “because Kirkland is innovative” followed it with, “or so I thought.”]
When you decided to come here, how important was it to you that the social life was coed?
- Very important: 65.1
- Somewhat important: 26.6%
Do you believe the social life here is
- Very good: 4.3%
- Good: 20.6%
- Okay: 38.5%
- Bad: 24.3%
- Very bad: 9.6%
Do you believe that coordination promotes healthy or unhealthy relationships between the sexes?
- Very unhealthy: 6.0%
- Somewhat unhealthy: 25.9%
- Neutral: 20.9%
Do you think it would be a good idea to change Kirkland’s academic model to:
- A women’s independent college: 3.7%
- A coeducational independent college: 8.0%
- A merger with Hamilton: 8.0%
- A coed school, still coordinate, with an emphasis on women’s concerns: 22.2%
- Remain the same: 40.5%
Elisabeth Horwitt K73
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