July 31, 1983



Dear Dr. Wilson-

I have re-read your interesting Report to Alumni several times. I
found it objective and certainly pointing out some of the needs of the
University.

The question of coeducation in undergraduate programs is certainly
one I would rather not hear. Let me put it another way, I would deeply
feel that coeducation at my W & L would be a breach of our pledge to
tradition. The absence of co-education may cause problems. We have
endured problems for well over 200 years and I feel our great institution
will prevail.

You said it well and I would like to remind you, sir, of your words--

"It cultivates loyalty--by being true to the important principles it has
inherited by custom, habit and rule, from those who came before. May
it always be so."

You certainly have my deep trust, thoughts and prayers. I am sure
you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office.

My very best wishes to you.

Respectfully,



John R. Baldwin '50

[pb]

August 17, 1983



Mr. John R. Baldwin
[address redacted]
Bethesda, Maryland 20817

Dear Mr. Baldwin:

I have just returned from a trip to my mother's home in Michigan
and find your good letter--for which many thanks.

I believe the coeducation question is never entirely going to go
away here. I have been besieged by inquiries about it since I arrived.
Faculty members, many of whom graduated from Washington end Lee, strongly
favor the further extension of our policy (from the Law School to the
undergraduate units). Some alumni also are deeply troubled by our
reluctance to change, especially those working admissions. I
realize, of course, that most alumni hope a change of this sort can
be avoided, mainly in the interest of continuity (as you have suggested
in your note).

I promise that I will, in the examination of this matter, use but
one focal question: what is required in the long-term interest of a
strong, vibrant Washington and Lee? This will necessarily require both
objective and subjective considerations. Among the latter must be the
question of what strengths in our academic and social lives we derive
from being essentially all-male (I say "essentially" because, as you
know, we have women undergraduates in residence every year as exchange
students). I truly don't know the answer to this, though I keep looking
and asking others to help me. Perhaps you could help by sharing with
me your perceptions. I know our status costs us good candidates for
admissions. I know it is not helpful to have our social life dictated
by late-night driving back and forth over the roads. I know fraternity
parties have deteriorated markedly in recent years. What I do not fully
know is what we owe for all the good things there are here to our
single-sex definition.

I mean it truthfully when I ask for your help in this regard. I
am staring in the face the most serious decline in college-going young
people this nation has ever experienced. It could turn out to hurt us
grievously if our numbers and quality decline proportionately. Nothing

[pb]

Mr. John R. Baldwin
August 17, 1983
Page 2


keeps me awake more than that single objective fact.

I've written at greater length than I meant to. Forgive me if
you can.

Most sincerely,



John D. Wilson
President

JDW/bcb