College Holds Male-Only Listening Session to Reflect on Coeducation at Amherst

On Monday, the Office of the President, in collaboration with Student Affairs, hosted a listening session on the effects of coeducation as part of their recently launched initiative “50CO: Celebrating 50 Years of Coeducation.” 50CO was announced to students in an email from President Michael Elliott on Monday, March 9. 

“Over the next 15 months, we will honor the trailblazers who took the first difficult steps toward the Amherst College of today and celebrate the generations that followed,” the email stated. While the email also expressed hope that “the entire community will join us in marking this special milestone,” this particular celebration was not open to the entire Amherst community but was reserved for male-identifying students only. 

Regarding the inspiration for this event, Head of Coeducation Programming John Massoganeé shared in an email to The Student: “There were a few main reasons we decided to host this event. For one, 15 months of focus on women’s additions to the college is a long time, and we don’t want our male-identifying students to feel left behind.” Additionally, Massoganeé noted that the college wanted to create an open discussion for the Amherst students who were the “most affected by coeducation.”

The writer of this piece was given special permission to spectate the discussion, but was encouraged to make herself “practically invisible” to not intimidate the attendees out of “speaking their truth.”

Within the conversation, a few main topics took center stage, including a general reflection on the history of coeducation at Amherst, concern about the lack of tradition at Amherst, an interest in the revitalization of fraternities, and a discussion of the male student experience today and in the future. Notably, one of the guests at the listening session was Amherst alumnus President Michael Elliott, though he chimed in only on occasion to offer historical points of reference to the students in attendance. 

The talk was moderated by Associate Director of Inclusive Action Todd Johnson, who prepared a variety of discussion prompts and questions. Hosts of the event only permitted The Student coverage on the condition that “all attendees would not be named for the purpose of fostering a safe environment.” The introduction to the event was an icebreaker-style question that asked the students to share their name, class year, and to “use one word to describe what Amherst’s all-male history means to you.”

“Proud,” “honorable,” “inspiring,” and “envious” stood out among the contributions. Following the initial share-out, the conversation turned towards the history of coeducation at Amherst. Johnson provided basic facts about the voting process to approve coeducation: On Oct. 15, 1974, the faculty voted 95 to 29 to “reaffirm ... its sense that Amherst College should become a college for men and women.” On Nov. 2 of the same year, the trustees voted 15 to 3 in favor of coeducation.

In response to this information, one student at the event stated: “Now, I’m not saying I’m upset there are women here, that’s not what I’m saying at all, I’m just saying it wasn’t unanimous then ... and maybe it isn’t unanimous now ... among students at least.”

The conversation on the history of male-education at Amherst quickly turned to reminiscing on what was lost in the transition. “We have no traditions anymore,” said one student. “It feels like we’re losing our history,” echoed another. 

A specific sore spot among attendees was the lost tradition of “decorating” the nude Sabrina statue with various clothing items and performing various lewd acts with the bronze cast. One student expressed their disappointment: “I don’t get why the statue had to go into hiding ... doesn’t having her around show that we respect women?” 

Another attendee echoed this sentiment, describing adorning Sabrina as a time-honored Amherst tradition: “I don’t see why we can’t keep decorating the statue, I mean it’s been in hiding so long we don’t even get the chance,” he said. A different student chimed in: “Yeah, some people decorated the [Robert] Frost statue last semester, and no one said anything except on Fizz. If someone can dress him up, surely we should be able to mess with her too, it’s only fair.”

Upon further investigation after the talk, it appears that the Sabrina statue had been repeatedly harassed for over a century, whereas the fall 2025 Frost statue adornment lasted for less than 24 hours before its removal.

A final bit of nostalgia among attendees focused on the history of fraternities at Amherst, which were abolished in 1984 and banned officially in 2014. In reference to increased concerns about housing distribution within Amherst, one student posited that the reinstatement of fraternities could ease some of the housing tensions on campus. “With the construction of the new student center, the triangle and the hill will become even less favorable places to live,” the student said. “If we return those buildings to their original fraternity status, it would attract a lot more people away from central campus and the Greenways.”

In the spirit of bridging binaries, one student attempted to appeal to the sensibilities of the administrators in the room, arguing that the way to bridge the student-athlete divide at Amherst is through the reinstatement of fraternities.“I mean think about it, what’s the main thing people complain about with the divide? Parties,” the student said. “What would frats fix? Parties. N[on] A[thlete] R[egular] P[erson] and athlete brotherhood would make it so parties cater to everyone, sport or not.” 

Johnson also shared with the attendees the current gender makeup of the college: 54% women, 44% men, and 2% another identity. Many students appeared shocked by this information, with one economics major vocalizing their surprise: “That’s crazy, almost everyone in my classes is a guy.” In fact, the college has been majority-women since 2008, in line with a decades-long trend of women pursuing and achieving college degrees at higher rates than men. 

As the conversation neared its end, Johnson directed the conversation to the future, asking students about their vision for the prospects of men at Amherst. In response, some students pointed to concerns about the longevity of male attendance at Amherst: “I mean, after all, affirmative action is probably the reason I got in here in the first place ... I mean, what’s next? Banning sports teams?”

In the future, the college will continue to host events for all members of the Amherst College community. After the talk, Elliott shared that they’re hoping to expand this style of discussion to include Amherst alumni. “We’re going to invite the men back to campus to have pre-coeducation and post-coeducation listening groups, but more information on that is to come soon,” Elliott said.