Overview

The University of Wooster (now College of Wooster) was chartered in 1866 and officially opened in 1870 as a Presbyterian-affiliated institution. In the 19th Century, education opportunities were limited, and schools were mainly segregated based on genders and race. Moreover, women were considered inferior and incapable of taking college classes. Wooster, however, did not follow the social norm at that time and committed itself to co-education from its start. Wooster’s first president, Dr. Willis Lord, asserted in his inaugural address that all people — regardless of gender, race, and color – should have the same access to education. Indeed, women students at Wooster took the same classes as their fellow male students. Due to this, Wooster became popular for women students to attend at the end of 19th Century. By 1881, Wooster enrolled 40 women in total.

Although more and more women from in and out of town chose Wooster, women students were not represented enough on campus. There were no women faculty members teaching classes or mentoring students. However, Annie B. Irish’s visit in 1881 changed the University of Wooster and brought hope to women students. She gave a lecture as a guest speaker, which was not normal at that time due to the scarcity of women in academics. Her visit gave hope to some women students that Irish would represent them on campus. Wooster student Nelli Waterson approached Irish and expressed their need for a female advisor on campus. In 1882, President Taylor hired Annie B. Irish to teach German as the first female faculty member, and she eventually received her PhD at Wooster. She was the first de facto Dean of Women as well. Tragically, five years later she died of scarlet fever at the age of 28 while visiting her sister. Even though her time at Wooster was short, Irish impacted the university community and women students with all her contributions.

The Women’s Advisory Board, then called Women’s Educational Association, was such an organization that supported Wooster’s women students as they navigated through co-education. In 1883, Annie B. Irish, fellow faculty wives and townswomen founded the organization with the goal of supporting women students. In 1892, the “Wooster Women’s Educational Society” changed its name to the “Women’s Advisory Board” and has supported women students academically, socially, and financially ever since. Despite women’s participation in higher education at Wooster during the 19^th Century, Wooster did not provide women students a space to live on campus, which made it more difficult for them to form a community and commute between homes and the campus. Thus, the Women’s Advisory Board wanted to build a more supportive and accessible environment for women students. Irish and other Women’s Educational Society members devoted themselves to fundraising. Taking advantage of campus events such as the commencement ceremony, Women’s Advisory Board members raised funds through selling lemonade, crackers, ice cream and cake. It was not until Fredrick Hoover left a generous donation of $8,000 in his will for a women’s dormitory that construction finally began. Hoover Cottage housed women students starting in 1896 and was an important site for student life – regarding both academic and social activities. For 65 years, Hoover Cottage was a “home” for all Wooster women students where they shared their academic and social life together. They referred to themselves as “Hooverities”. 

After its first success in creating a better environment for women students, the Women’s Advisory Board continued to expand its community influence. As more women began to enroll in universities nationwide, it became clear that women students no longer needed the close support that had been so crucial in earlier years. However, the Women’s Advisory Board’s work was not finished, and they transitioned to providing financial support to women students. Since 1961, the College of Wooster Women’s Advisory Board has created 23 scholarship grants with the value of $1,510,594.20 to help students from different backgrounds. For example, the Helen Hoover Secrest Scholarship was one of the scholarship grants that was named after a former Women’s Advisory Board president. They have hosted annual fundraising events such as “Invest in Girls Candlelight Tea,” “Alpenfest”,“Mayfest Benefit Brunch” and “Cat’s Meow” to expand their influence.  

The Women’s Advisory Board not only provides financial support to women students, but has also hosted many on-campus events. Since 1974, the Women’s Advisory Board has hosted annual dinners for student leaders on campus in members’ homes, but later the dinner took place in the President’s house. The organization has also supported international students since 1967. Events such as the International Orientation picnic and Spring dinners cooked foods from different cultures and gathered faculty, students and the Women’s Advisory Board members together. The organization also co-hosted graduation dinner for international students when International Student Services proposed the event collaboration.  

With more than a hundred years of history, the Women’s Advisory Board has played an indispensable role in supporting Wooster students through building a friendly community for students on campus, giving scholarship grants to students, and hosting social events.