Innovators Website
About
When Vassar College went coed in 1969, it lost something—its identity. If Vassar was no longer the preeminent women’s college in the country, what was it? Just another topnotch liberal arts college?
Reshaping the college’s identity has probably been the most significant long-range challenge the Office of College Relations has had to face. And it was a challenge from within, because women who graduated before 1969 identified strongly with the college as a women’s college.
Interestingly, the college’s origin as a women’s college—as the first college to offer women an education on par with the Ivy League—provided the key. Matthew Vassar, the founder of the college, was truly a pioneer. So were the first women who had the guts to defy societal norms and get a college education. So were the first men who had the guts to apply a century later.
Vassar Innovators profiles nearly 100 Vassar people who have made significant innovations in their fields, from the founding of the college to the present day. The website also had a print counterpart, the Innovators issue of Vassar Views.
Designers: Chris Silverman, Richard Deon