Columbia College President says co-ed transition could occur as soon as 2021

The school's Board of Trustees put forward a plan to admit men into the residential day program

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —As President of one of the oldest women’s colleges in the country, Dr. Carol Moore says Columbia College needs to fight a troubling trend.

“Enrollment has been dwindling for all women’s colleges and times change, cultures change, students want different kinds of things, and certainly students are looking for different kinds of opportunities,” Dr. Moore said.

To combat this, the Columbia College Board of Trustees recently put forward a plan for the college to admit male students, possibly as early as fall 2021.

Dr. Moore says once the plan is put into place, female students will have the option to take a track of classes consisting entirely of women.

Even though Columbia College has a smaller student body, Dr. Moore says there’s a proven way to get men to come to their campus.

“The most successful women’s colleges who go this route, they initially recruit men through athletics, so we will develop two, maybe three sports that will attract male students,” Dr. Moore said.

Dr. Moore said some sports the school is considering adding include soccer as well as track and field.

Some alumni say it was difficult to process the change.

“When the conversations began to first happen, I was very sad, but we do, I do feel confident in the administration and the board and people making their very, very best effort to ensure that the college continues and continues the affect the lives of many people,” said Rev. Tiffany Knowlin Boykin, a member of the Columbia College Board of Trustees.

There will be listening sessions for students and alumni to voice their concerns, but some board members say the changes won’t happen suddenly.

“I hope that people can take comfort in knowing that people are not flying by the seat of their pants, but we’re trying to be thoughtful that the work, the due diligence is going to happen before anything is implemented,” Rev. Knowlin Boykin said.