School Vote Stirs Debate on Girls as Leaders
Evan McGlinn for The New York Times
Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., began admitting girls in 1973. More Photos »
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: April 11, 2013
ANDOVER, Mass. — When the elite Phillips Academy here went coed in 1973,
some worried that women would quickly take over this venerable
institution, the alma mater of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Samuel Morse and
Humphrey Bogart, not to mention both Presidents George Bush.
Multimedia
Evan McGlinn for The New York Times
Clark Perkins, 17, left, and Junius Onome Williams, 16, won the vote. More Photos »
In short order, the number of girls in the student ranks did roughly
equal the number of boys. The faculty today is more than half female.
And until her retirement last summer, the head of school was a woman,
for nearly two decades.
And yet some of the young women — and men — at the 235-year-old prep
school feel that Andover, as it is commonly called, has yet to achieve
true gender equality. They expressed this concern several weeks ago in a
letter to the student newspaper, The Phillipian, and like a match to dry tinder, it set off a raging debate that engulfed the campus.
The proximate cause of concern was the election, held Wednesday, for the
top student position, called school president. Since 1973, only four
girls have been elected, most recently in 2003. (The other top student
position, that of editor in chief of the newspaper, has had nine girls
and 33 boys.)
The letter writers said this was an embarrassment, especially at a
school considered so progressive. The paucity of girls in high-profile
positions, they said, leaves younger students with few role models and
discourages them from even trying for the top.
But the broader concern involved age-old questions of whether men and
women could ever achieve equality, the nature of sexism and the nature
of a meritocracy, which Andover very much purports to be.
“Right off the bat, it’s not a meritocracy for girls,” said Maia
Hirschler, 19, a senior from New York City. “They’re starting behind
because we don’t associate leadership qualities with them.”
John G. Palfrey Jr.,
the headmaster, said in an interview that Andover was only a reflection
of other schools and society at large as it grappled with these issues.
“We do not live in a post-gender, post-race, post-class society,” he
said. “Girls have not had equal access to top leadership positions.”
In an attempt to improve the chances of electing a girl president this
year, the school dropped the single presidency in favor of two
co-presidents.
Many more girls did enter the race, all with boy partners. Other teams
were made up of two boys. Over the last several weeks, the finalists
were winnowed down to one girl/boy team and one all-boy team.
Both teams said the race became ugly in ways they had not expected.
Clark Perkins, 17, from Fairfield, Conn., and Junius Onome Williams, 16,
from Newark, said they felt attacked for simply being boys.
“We had to grapple with this on a political level but also a moral and
personal level,” said Mr. Williams, who said he aspires to become
secretary general of the United Nations. “We had to ask ourselves, ‘Am I
doing an injustice to the female members of this school?’ ”
They decided they were not and said they would “not apologize for not
filling a gender-balance quota.” Mr. Williams, who is black, noted that
gender was only one demographic category. “Since 1973 there have been
only four females, but African-Americans have been admitted since 1865,
and we’ve had only three black presidents,” he said.
Mr. Williams and Mr. Perkins faced Farris Peale, 17, of Seattle, and Ben Yi, 18, of South Korea
Ms. Peale said that she had been Mr. Williams’ campaign manager — until
he chose to run with Mr. Perkins. “He picked a boy and I got mad, so I
decided to run myself,” she said. “Junius picked Clark because he
thought he would appeal most to girls who think he’s cute, and to
jocks.”
Mr. Perkins took offense at this suggestion, saying that he and Mr.
Williams ran together based on their previous student council experience
and leadership qualities.
After the votes were counted Wednesday night, the boys won (the tally
was not made public). Mr. Perkins said they hoped to heal the rift
in the student body.
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