Atlanta Chapter of Washington and Lee University Alumni Association


April 24, 1984


Dr. John D. Wilson
President
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, Virginia 24450



Dear Dr. Wilson:

The Board of the Atlanta Chapter of Washington and Lee Alumni has just
completed a survey conducted by the nationally recognized Darden Research
Corporation in an effort to accurately reflect the opinions of the area's
483 alumni on the issue of co-education. The founder and president of
Darden Research Corporation is Claibourne Darden, a 1966 graduate of
W & L. The survey was designed in its entirety by Darden Research. Its
simplicity was insisted upon by Claibourne as the most accurate way to
gauge the general opinion regarding the issue at hand. All the responses
were mailed directly to Darden Research. There were no materials mailed
by the Atlanta Chapter concerning the issue, and no phone calls placed or
meetings held to discuss the topic or influence the outcome. The
information available to our members was the same as that which was
available to all alumni through The Alumni Magazine.

There are 483 alumni in the Atlanta area. Each received a questionnaire.
302 alumni completed the opinion poll and mailed them to Darden Research
where they were calculated. Of the 326 alumni who hold undergrad degrees,
69.3% responded. The overall response level was 62.5% of the total alumni
polled in the Atlanta area. Claibourne stated that, based on his
experience, the percentages would not have varied significantly with a
100% response. The results are as follows:

Attended Received
But Not Undergrad Undergraduate Law School
Graduated Degree & Law School Only
Strongly Favor 16.3 12.3 14.3 32.3
Mildly Favor 14.0 18.5 14.3 25.8
Mildly Oppose 32.6 15.2 21.4 22.6
Strongly Oppose 37.2 54.0 50.0 19.4

Total Response of All Polled

Strongly Favor 15.0
Mildly Favor 18.7
Mildly Oppose 18.7
Strongly Oppose 47.7

[pb]

Net Graduates
(All Holders of Undergraduate Degrees)


Strongly Favor 12.4
Mildly Favor 18.2
Mildly Oppose 15.6
Strongly Oppose 53.8

Of those who have graduated with undergraduate degrees, 69.4% oppose the
co-education.

The Board of the Atlanta Chapter, based on our collective contacts with
many alumni both here and elsewhere, has asked that the reasons we
perceive for the alumni's thought on the subject of co-education be
expressed to the Board of Trustees. We believe that this survey only
helps to emphasize the fact that those of us who have graduated from the
W & L undergraduate school regard this as a unique experience. While
emotion obviously plays a role in our decision making, it is created by
the tremendous debt we all have to W & L for having given us this
experience. We feel that a full appreciation of the potential and
positive effects of this experience eludes all but a few non-graduates.

The spector of a declining pool of students presents a problem for all
institutions of higher learning. It is only proper that all concerned be
made aware of the possible consequences of the decline. However, as
alumni, the solution of co-education came as a rather unexpected and dire
alternative to the majority of us. The University had recently completed
a successful fund raising campaign of over sixty million dollars which was
strongly supported by the alumni. One indication that the school is held
in high esteem is found in the results of the recent U.S. News and World
Report article. Furthermore, the number of applications for admission in
the fall of 1984 was within an acceptable range.

Granted, it is the job of the Board to be aware of and deal with
circumstances that could cause the University problems in the future. Now
that these storm clouds have been pointed out, we are convinced that there
are some alternative courses of action that should be taken to produce the
University with the qualified students desired while still providing that
intangible experience about which we all feel so strongly.

At this moment, to make a change of this drastic nature would be most
difficult for many to accept as necessary and inexorably changing the
University. It was not too long ago that Sewanee made this step with an
idea of maintaining a 25-75 ratio of female to male as being the stated
goal. Sewanee now has a 50-50 student population. The alumni now feel
strongly that they would like the opportunity to become more actively
involved in the recruitment of students to apply to W & L and also produce
among those accepted a higher ratio of enrollment at W & L. Expansion of
endowment funds would also substantially broaden the available pool from
which to draw applicants.

[pb]

To those of us who have graduated from W & L, it is hard to believe that
there are not 350 qualified male students who would gladly attend if only
they knew about W & L. Believing strongly in this view, Atlanta alumni
have become actively involved in the process of "spreading the word" with
gratifying results. There were sixty-one applicants from the Atlanta area
this year of whom forty-two were accepted. Both are records for the area,
proving qualified students can be attracted with proper effort by area
alumni.

Within a few days of the prospective students receiving their acceptance
letter, the Atlanta Chapter gave a party for the forty-two accepted
students and their parents. These prospective students were moved by the
fact that so many of us thought so highly of our school and wanted them to
share this experience. We believe a higher than normal acceptance rate
will result from our efforts.

It is our strong belief that co-education should not be adopted without
having first presented the alumni with the opportunity to do two things:
(1) vastly increase local recruiting efforts to both raise the number of
applications and the ratio of enrollment to acceptances for admission and
(2) contribute sufficient scholarship endowment to attract additional
young men to the applicant pool.

The recruiting and endowment alternatives must be addressed. Unless they
are and the alumni are given the opportunity and firm support of the
administration and faculty to meet these challenges, we regard the
introduction of co-education as grieviously and permanently divisive. One
result would be the alienation of a substantial portion of the alumni.

The challenges obviously would have to be met within a three to four year
period. Should they not be and the well-being of the University continue
to be endangered, co-education would remain a viable alternative - an
alternative then far more readily accepted by our alumni.

We are confident that this matter will receive the most thoughtful
consideration by you and the Board of Trustees.

Sincerely,

[B DuBose]

Beverly M. DuBose, III
President, Atlanta Chapter
For the Board

BMD:cgm


cc: Board of Trustees