A women’s school, not a girls’ school

“It’s true that you can’t avoid becoming at least slightly feminist [at Wellesley],” Saratoga graduate Stephanie Hata admits, referring to the women’s college that she now attends in her fourth year. “A prime example is how many get offended when people refer to Wellesley as a girls’ school, because we are women.”

The environment at Wellesley College, located in Wellesley, Mass., invites a prevalence of feminist ideas; however, according to Hata, the school has “more of a liberal environment than a feminist environment.”

“Because we’re all women, we’re really open about talking about anything to people even if we don’t know their names,” Hata said. “It takes about a minute to get into a heated discussion about health care reform or the death penalty or how much money should be spent on education.”

At first, Hata, who majors in English, felt intimidated by her opinionated peers; now, she finds the student community both strong and supportive. The classes are small and the teachers encouraging, but best of all the school “works really hard to put forth the idea that we are all ‘sisters,’” Hata said.

Nevertheless, Hata acknowledges that attending a women’s university has its drawbacks.
“At times I wish that I could see guys more often,” Hata said, “because my viewpoint gets a little tinted by being around so many women.”