October 13, 1967

An article, “How Dare They Do It?” by Dorothy Sieberling ’43 in LIFE magazine denounced Vassar’s possible move to Yale and to New Haven. A senior editor at the magazine, Ms. Sieberling asked “How can they consider plunging into a congested city at a time when colleges—and the human soul—crave space? How can theY contemplate trading an intimate personal environment for the mounting depersonalization of the multiversity?.” “Most of all,” she continued, “how can they abandon and destroy an institution of long and great distinction whose potential for valuable service and leadership is still strong?”

The article sketched Vassar’s history, traced the history of the Vassar/Yale negotiations, presented the work of the campus Committee on New Dimensions and contrasted photographs of the lawns and vistas of Vassar, of students in the Daisy Chain and of Main Building with a a smoky aerial picture of Vassar’s “probable site in New Haven…. It overlooks factory and slums beyond.” “An appeal to preserve Vassar in its setting,” Ms. Sieberling concluded, “is often dismissed as sentimental nostalgia. To this alumna, Vassar’s historic campus, its beauty, calm and amplitude constitute values vital to education and to life; they are a rare heritage of the past most in need of preservation today. How dare they do it?”

LIFE