Talks from the 50th Anniversary Weekend

Listed below are videos from the 50th Anniversary weekend. We invite you to watch, listen, and enjoy.

Yale Goes Coed
This panel focuses on Yale’s decision to admit women in 1969: the process, the decision, the reaction surrounding Yale’s transformation.

Moderator: Margaret Warner ’71, former Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

A Woman’s Place, A Man’s World: Yale, Society, and the ‘60s
This panel centers on the societal context in which coeducation occurred - including society’s expectations for women, the expectations women held for themselves, and the culture of all-male Yale.

Moderator: Beverly Gage ’94, Professor of History and American Studies; Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy, Yale University

A Fireside Chat with Sam Chauncey ’57 and Margaret Warner ’71
A conversation between Henry “Sam” Chauncey, Jr. ’57, former Special Assistant to President Kingman Brewster; former Secretary of the University, and Margaret Warner ’71, former Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

Bright College Years, 1969-1973
This panel features a discussion and reflection on the first years of coeducation by classmates, followed by audience participation: why we made the decision to come to Yale, what we found, and what we took away.

Moderator: Anne Perkins ’81, author of “Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant”

Why Coeducation Matters
This panel focuses on how coeducation transformed undergraduate life and learning, as well as the institution itself. What have been the successes? What work is yet to be done? What are the lessons about change and diversity that can be drawn from Yale’s experience with coeducation?

Moderator: Karen Lawrence ’71, President, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens; former President, Sarah Lawrence College

Dedication: The 50th Anniversary Commemorative Stone
Remarks by Yale President Peter Salovey and Elizabeth Alexander ’84, President of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, poet, essayist, playwright, and the dedication of the stone commemorating the 50th anniversary of coeducation in Yale College.

Saluting the First Women in Yale College
A commemorative program celebrating Yale’s first women undergraduates: a narration of milestones and events, 1969–73, with songs and performances by student groups and videos created for the occasion.

Service of Remembrance
A nondenominational service remembering and celebrating the lives of classmates who have died.