Limited Engagement

Kirkland College 1965-1978: an Intimate History of the Rise and Fall of a Coordinate College for Women

After three years of planning, Kirkland College opened in 1968 as a small, liberal arts college for women, coordinate to Hamilton College in upstate New York. The author was the first, last and only President. Planners envisioned a female counterpart of Hamilton which could introduce women without distressing alumni, and allow needed curricular expansion. But Kirklands advisors and administrators wanted innovation. Its openness, inclusiveness and curricular choices affronted many Hamiltonians. When, at last, Kirkland sought further support to undertake a necessary endowment campaign, Hamilton let the young college go under in a contentious and wasteful way. It closed in 1978.