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New Orleans’ Tulane University acted within its legal rights when it eliminated its women-only undergraduate institution, Newcomb College, in 2006. According to an article by John Pope in The Times-Picayune:
By a 3-2 vote, a state appeals court today sided with Tulane University in a suit seeking to force the university to reopen Newcomb College. The plaintiff [Susan Henderson Montgomery], a great-great-great-niece of the college’s founder, has not decided whether to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
In her lifetime and in her will, Josephine Louise Newcomb gave about $3.5 million for the school, an amount worth about $50 million today. The plaintiff has contended that Tulane violated the terms of her relative’s gift — to keep the college open perpetually — when it closed the school. The court sided with Civil District Judge Rosemary Ledet, who has ruled that no such condition existed.
Newcomb founded the college, the coordinate women’s college of Tulane, in 1886 in memory of her daughter.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Tulane, which has been coeducational since 1970, closed Newcomb College to save money. Newcomb alumni and several relatives of the founder objected and formed an organization (see image above) to try and revive the school.
Tulane changed the college into the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute, which “supports undergraduate women at Tulane by providing academic and leadership programming, hosting speakers, symposia and international summits, funding student research projects …and fostering mentor and networking relationships with Newcomb alumnae and other community leaders.”
The new name leaves it unclear whether the institute is a memorial to Miss Newcomb or to the college itself. [Image via]
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Laura on October 15, 2010 1:58 PM:
When challenged, Tulane admitted there was no financial reason to close Newcomb. Under pressure from alumnae, the university created the institute but it cannot offer the same experience and benefits that the college gave students. The Future of Newcomb College is the non-profit organization working with the plaintiff to restore Newcomb College.
David on October 16, 2010 6:11 PM:
I understand the nostalgia and sense of identity that goes with having a Newcomb College. However, the facts are that for decades the classes, dorms, admissions and faculty have been merged, either in fact or in practice. There was no discernible difference or advantage between Newcomb College and Tulane College (which was the College of Arts and Sciences prior to that renaming) and the overlap and duplication of administration and other functions to keep up the appearance of a separate college for women was inefficient and immaterial.
Laura on October 21, 2010 10:37 AM:
You see David, that was the beauty of Newcomb. YOU didn't see the difference but WE did! Newcomb students could access all the advantages of Tulane, while sharing the unique experience and programs of a women's college. This experience created a bond among alumnae and a loyalty within Newcomb that makes it all worth fighting for. And whether the "overlap and duplication" of functions was inefficient is immaterial; the college had its own endowment to fund those functions. And lastly, I don't recall any men living on my hall in JL ;)