Meredith College: The All-Girls’ School
by Ashleigh Phillips and Emily Gamiel, co-editors, data collected by staff
image via Garry Walton
Upon entering the gates of Meredith,
you realize that this college is a unique
and close knit community. This atmo
sphere, according to the mission state
ment, “educates and inspires students
to live with integrity and provide
leadership for4h«-needs, opportuni- -
ties and challenges of society.” But is
this view reflected in our reputation
outside of the gates?
“What’s your impression of Meredith
College?” We asked this question to 75
different people around the Triangle
who have no Meredith affiliation and
recorded their immediate responses.
This was the basis for an experiment
that we thought was necessary for our
campus.
Our demographic was a small sam
pling and by no means represents
the entire Triangle. However, these
37 women and 38 men were found in
a wide range of Meredith College on
any given day. Although 43% of our
responses were collected from people
between the ages of 20 and 30, the
rest of the people we asked ranged
from 16 to 69 years of age.
We intended to compare the collect
ed responses with the values that our
website claims “serve as the founda
tion for our programs, our interac
tions with each other and our outreach
beyond the campus.” Those vaules
are as follows: integrity, intellectual
freedom, academic excellence, re
sponsible global citizenship, personal
development, religious diversity and
relevance.
The problem that we encountered
when analyzing the data was that only
one of the values were mentioned:
academic excellence. It was referred
to six times out of our 75 repsonses.
We divided the responses into posi
tive and negative based on the trends
that we found. We determined that
women and education were a positive
reflection of Meredith, while lack of
knowledge, stereotyping, and being
referenced as an “all-girls’ school”
were negative traits. The trends and
examples supporting each category are
presented here:
Positive responses: 16%
Women: Meredith was established
as a women’s college in 1891. How
ever, only 8% of data reflected some
form of distinction from an all-girls’
school.
— “It’s a good school. Empowers
women, but it’s expensive.” -Judy, 55,
teaching at a preschool
— “Ladies’ school. NC State is very
tough and Meredith is very quiet.” -
Yon, 59, Cashier at Wolfmart
Education: As mentioned earlier,
only six people, 8%, referenced the
quality of a Meredith education, even
though the college’s first priority is to
provide students with a challenging
and rewarding educational experience.
—“Great group of women with a won
derful teaching program.” -Rachel,
30, teacher visiting a Wake County
library
— “Um, I’ve never visited before, but
I’ve heard it’s the best college to go to
for teaching. The people I know that
go there really like it.” -Sarah, 16,
student at YMCA
— “Good liberal arts school for women
in Raleigh for a long time.” -BT, 69,
research tech at Crabtree Mall
— “Teaching college.” -Joe, 41,1.T.,
Ridge Road Shopping Center
Negative responses: 69%
“All-Girls’ school:” 1/3 of the
responses referred to Meredith in this
way. Of those 25 people, over half of
them couldn’t elaborate on those three
words.
— “High security girls’ camp where
after ill have to give my license to the
guard at the guard gate.” -Jeff, 20,
pre law student at UNC, on Franklin
Street
— “I know it’s an all girls’ school, but
that’s about it.” -Jessica, 23, Chili’s
server
— “All-girls’ school. I don’t know what
they study.” -Xani, 22, server. Subway
— “It’s an all-girls’ school. I went there
for governor’s school, and I remember
the cute atmosphere.” -Yasmeene, 21,
NC State Student, server at Mitch’s
Tavern
Stereotypes: 21% of the responses
included some form of stereotype
that has come to be associated with
Meredith. These include feminists,
lesbians, members of the upper class,
and other positions that conform to
the traditional roles of women, such as
being a good housewife.
— “Don’t you all wear those rings?”
-Emily, 27, apartment leasing consul
tant
— “Prudish.” -Stephen, 23, Technician
writer, studying in Global Village
— “It’s where snobby rich girls go to
get their MRS degree.” -Chris, 19,
NCSU student, waiting in line at Chi-
potle
— “A bunch of gung-ho girl power fe
males.” -Brian, 24, teller at SunTrust
Bank
— “Sheltered and inexperienced.” -
Matt, 35, bartender making sangria at
Joel Lane’s
— “Feminist girls that think they don’t
need a man in their life.” -Branden,
24, forestry researcher, picking out
movies in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart
Clueless: 15% of the responses re
flected little to no knowledge of Mer
edith, despite the fact that U.S. News
& World Report ranked Meredith third
among colleges in the South just this
year.
— “Meredith’s a pretty good school,
isn’t it?” -Mary, 34, associate director
of a small association in Raleigh
— “Is that a high school?” -Raj, 27,
RTP employee, hanging out in Busy
Bee
— “Never heard of it.” -Gabriel, 28,
shopping at Crabtree Mall
— “From what I’ve heard it’s a small
college. But where is it?” -Jordan,
19, NC State student, studying on 5th
floor Poe Hall
The other 15% of responses showed no
particular trend or positive or nega
tive affiliation. For more positive and
negative responses and editor favor
ites, see page 6.
IN THIS ISSUE...
State & Local: Obama’s Budget Proposal, Redistricting in NC, Possible Park Closings, What’s Up in Raleigh
Arts & Entertainment: Style Stalker, Nicki Minaj at Grammys, Ask Gigi, Rebecca Rants on Hair Feathers
Campus Life: Confessions of an Eating Disorder Survivor, Spring Break in Raleigh, Students Bring Dr. Suess to Life
Opinion: Whines and Gripes, Responses to “Welcome to College”