December 17, 1898

President Taylor, lecturing on “The Education of Women” at Cooper Union, looked back over the past 30 years and proclaimed the question of the practicability of Matthew Vassar’s project soundly and affirmatively answered. More recent concerns, such as the claims that their education might be leading women away from marriage, he said, were valid only insofar that it was true that education, whether for women or me, opened possibilities that remain largely closed to those who have no broad, liberal education. Taylor also dismissed notions that special and specific courses of study might be more appropriate for women. “Colleges,” he said, stood “for a liberal education, and young women as well as young men would be amply equipped for the ordinary demands of life if they secured a practical education of broad and liberal scope.”

The New York Times