JOANNE DEAK — HOWGIRLS THRIVETo come

4 Madeira Today WINTER2010–2011

ABOUT AN

SScchhooool?l?

WhatWhat’’ss

BY MEREDYTH MOREDOCK COLE,ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL

In anticipation of educator andpsychologist Dr. JoAnn Deak’skeynote address, during Parents’Weekend II, I picked up her new-ly revised book, How Girls Thrive.Having received permission from

the author to reprint a segment of thebook for Madeira Today, I read with agoal of finding just the passage thatwould clarify how Madeira was engagingin best practices related to educatinggirls. It became clear to me that Dr. Deak,speaking from professional and personalexperiences with supporting scientificresearch, was describing an approach toeducating girls that I see played out onour campus every day. Deak’s goal inwriting the book was to provide parentsand educators with the knowledge neces-sary to grow confident, competent, self-reliant young women. She unwittinglypresents a watertight argument for the value of a Madeira education, anapproach to educating girls, which overthe past century has been adapted,enhanced and fine tuned by its founder,faculty and leaders.

A decade has passed since Deak firstwrote How Girls Thrive and many strideshave been made in issues of gender equi-ty in schools. However, it is with signifi-cant caution that Deak alerts her readersto a red-flag issue impacting girls today:stress and its effect on self-esteem. Whilecertain levels of stress are a necessaryelement of life, too much of it is debilitat-

ing and dangerous. Bullying and gossip-ing have gone viral. No longer can a girlreturn home after a fight with a friend to hear her mother say, “time heals allwounds; things will look brighter in themorning.” Today mean girls log ontotheir laptops to broadcast hurtful gossipacross the internet. What had been anargument between two now has an audi-ence of hundreds. Deak asserts, “The rea-son the development of self-esteem is socritical in girls is that they need to be assturdy and resilient as possible to handlethe moments and events in their lives thatare not always conducive to keeping theirself-esteem at a healthy high.” (p. 75)

Before I had even gotten throughChapter One, I was reminded of a recentconversation I had over dinner with sixMadeira seniors who were reflecting ontheir time at Madeira. They expressedtheir gratitude for the place and thefriends who, from day one, had allowedthem to be themselves, to be authentic.Since I am a former adolescent, the moth-er of a middle school girl, and an educa-tor, bullying and mean girl behavior arenot foreign topics to me. I was curious tohear from this group what their experi-ence with bullying had been at Madeira.Their response intrigued me. To a girl,this group of seniors could not recall atime they had felt bullied or had lashedout as a bullier. In fact, as our conversa-tion progressed, they each voiced adesire to reach out to new 9th graders,

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“Madeira surrounds its girls withpositive

connectionsand mes-sages.”

since their time to know them better wasgrowing shorter by the day. If bullying isa rampant danger to adolescents, asDeak and the media suggest, why is thisbehavior so foreign at Madeira? I sug-gest that, in addition to intellectualdevelopment through a rigorous four-year academic curriculum, Madeira nurtures and develops girls’ self-esteemin a uniquely powerful way. Madeira girlshave a level of self confidence that coun-teracts the need to exercise power bydemeaning others.

In 1991 the American Association ofUniversity Women (AAUW) supported a

research project investigating self-esteem differences in girls and boys. Thestudy found that girls rated their self-esteem lower than boys, that the differ-ence increased with age, and that girls’self-esteem has a more significantimpact on behavior and decision mak-ing than boys’. A 2008 study, titled RealGirls, Real Pressure: A National Reporton Self-Esteem, found a “self-esteem cri-

sis in this country that permeates everyaspect of a girl’s life including her looks,performance in school, and relationshipswith friends and family members.” (Deakp. 9) In the study a shockingly high per-centage of girls reported not being goodenough and turning to smoking anddrinking as a means to feel better. Addi-tionally, the data suggests that the transi-tion to “teenhood” is a time when girlslose their trust in adults.

Again, my experience working atMadeira for over two decades convinces

me that Madeira girls are bombardedwith positive messaging. Be it the smilefrom a passing student, the hug from afriend, the “way to go” from a teacher or

“come see me after class so we can spendsome more time on this,” our clubs, week-end events, athletic teams, roommates,housemates, extended friends and fami-lies — Madeira surrounds its girls withpositive connections and messages. Girls

do not slip through thecracks. While experimen-tation with drugs andalcohol is fairly commonamong high school stu-dents, it is not at Madeira.Girls will tell you thatmany choose not toengage in this experi-mentation because it isagainst the rules andthey value their place atMadeira. Others will tellyou they simply don’tfind themselves in thosesituations. In my time atMadeira it has beenextremely rare for a girlto turn to drugs or alco-hol for self-soothing; andin an environment assmall and caring as this,these girls are picked upon the radar of peers andadults relatively early.

In Deak’s discussionof the affective system ofthe brain, the emotionalcenter, she reminds us ofthe significant reactionsgirls and boys have toeveryday experiences atschool. “Most teachershave had the experienceof having a girl feel thatthe teacher does not like

her because of the grades she has beengiven by that teacher. A male physicsteacher found that when boys came tohim for extra help, they typically justwanted to get down to work and solve theproblem. Girls, however, wanted to dis-cuss how they were feeling about theirdifficulties and to be reassured by theteacher.” (p. 13) Teachers at Madeira arewell aware that affective variables have asignificant impact on the achievement ofgirls. Small classes and the opportunityto get to know girls outside of the class-

room create connections that run deeper.An English teacher may have a studentwho struggles to improve her writing inher class. The student feels a degree offailure, but because the teacher can com-ment on the student’s success at ModelUN, on the hockey field or in speaking toour community at All School Meeting,the relationship this student has with theteacher is not defined by the grade on anessay. My own experience as a student ina girls’ boarding school provided mewith teachers who demonstrated theirbelief in me before I believed in myself.I am grateful for those confidence-build-ing relationships to this day.

Girls at Madeira develop relation-ships with adults who act as mentors andmodels. Deak writes, “Studies in this areahave demonstrated that while a brief con-tact with a model / mentor (such ascareer day) can have some impact, thebest results come when the connection issustained over time. In this case, thepresence of a mentor can lead to dramat-ic improvement in the self-esteem andperformance of girls.” Teachers whocoach, live in dorms, and are occasionaldinner companions, Co-Curriculumsupervisors, and co-workers, Madeiragirls have opportunities to develop men-toring relationships and to begin to envi-sion their future selves.

Deak shares the story of going to vis-it an unnamed school on the East Coastto get a first-hand look at a “well-known”co-curricular program. While at theSchool, she had an opportunity to seegirls engaged in rock climbing. Themoral of the story Dr. Deak shares is thatMadeira’s ninth grade outdoor adventureprogram develops in girls a componentcritical to self-esteem and confidence.Imagine my surprise and satisfaction as Iread the account of Dr. Deak’s visit toMadeira. The Co-Curriculum programexposes our girls to the three compo-nents Deak suggests are critical to thedevelopment of self-esteem: connected-ness, competence and confidence.Specifically, Deak refers to challengecourses and outward bound type pro-grams, mentoring, co-operative learningopportunities as the four most criticalcomponents to a girls’ sense of self andachievement levels.

“The self-esteem factor, then, is key tothe successful realization of gender equity,female resilience, mental health and moti-

6 Madeira Today WINTER2010–2011

What’sCool CONTINUED

The head of school had heardabout the well-know volunteerprogram at a girls’ school in theEast and decided to send thetwo faculty advisors of ouremaciated volunteer programto visit this school. Off to theEast went the school psycholo-gist and the French teacher,both passionate about bringingback the spark that wouldignite our students’ desire tovolunteer. Little did they know

that what they would bring back, in addition to that spark,was the knowledge of one of the components of self-esteem.

Denise and JoAnn, the two passionate advisors of thevolunteer program, arrived on the campus with enough timeto explore other facets of the school and its programs. Deniseheaded for the French classes. JoAnn headed for the screamsshe heard coming from the far back part of the campus.

The screams seemed to be coming from a tall collectionof rocks that an Ohioan, like JoAnn, would call a smallmountain. However, the girls who were there were calling itmany other names, most of which cannot be printed here.The focal point of the screams was easy to ascertain uponarrival at the bottom of the mini-cliff. They were issuingfrom the mouth of a very petite, blond girl who was oh, sonicely dressed, and whose hair was oh, so fashionablystyled. She was standing on the top of a rock about sevenfeet from the ground with a rope tied around her middle.This rope extended to the top of the cliff where a facultyadvisor was leaning over the edge saying words of encour-agement to the girl below.

The look on JoAnn’s face must have been the promptfor a nearby adult to come over and offer an explanation.

“You see,” she said, “these are the freshmen and this is theiron-campus challenge course. All entering ninth gradersparticipate in these activities for the first semester ofschool while the sophomores, juniors, and seniors go intothe city for their weekly volunteer jobs. This is the firstchallenge. Each girl must make it to the top of the cliffbefore she is officially a [name of School] girl.” Her expla-nation was cut off by a much louder, longer, even more pen-etrating scream.

As JoAnn’s attention returned to the cliff, the cause ofthe scream was clear. The girl had moved up the cliff aboutten feet and was sharing her fear and frustration with heradvisor at the top. She begged to be let down or pulled upby the rope, and explained convincingly that her muscles

were giving out and she was about to faint. Her final wail— “I can’t do it!” From up above came the response — “Yes,you can!”

You could almost see the girl calculating what it wouldtake to get someone to rescue her. Then … she let go of therock. Presumably, she thought if she let go, her advisorwould have to haul her up by the rope and she would bedone with this horrible challenge.

Well, the previous screams were nothing compared tothis one! It must really hurt to have a rope cinched tightlyaround your waist holding your entire body weight. Haveyou observed how, in times of crisis, some people noticestrange details? Just then JoAnn saw the girl’s fingernails— they were long and nicely shaped, and painted green!She was so focused on the fingernails she almost missedthe look that flashed across the girl’s face as she looked upand saw her advisor was being purposefully inattentive toher plight. Surprisingly, her expression seemed to be one ofanger. Anger is what we psychologists call one of the mostpositive of the negative emotions. It tends to promote rapid action.

In the next instant the girl swung herself back to the cliffface, reached out, grabbed the nearest rock and regainedher purchase. The cost was one broken green fingernail.

At that point she looked up and seemed to be about tosay something, but looked at her advisor’s uninterestedface and continued to climb. We, the audience at the bot-tom of the cliff and the audience at the top of the cliff (advi-sor and some other students), were mesmerized by the dis-play in front of us. She was sweating now, her hair was notso neat, and she was breaking a green fingernail at the rateof one per every three or four vertical feet. But it was herface that was the most riveting.

The previous look of fear and frustration had faded.The closer she got to the top, the more frequently shelooked at her advisor. The ground audience was in agree-ment — her advisor should run for cover before the girl gotto the top!

Well, she did get to the top, with every previously per-fect green fingernail affected. Faces can be so expressive.No one there will ever forget hers as she gained her footingand looked over the top of the cliff at her vertical route. Shelooked as if she could climb a real mountain, like one ofthose monstrous ones in Nepal. She then turned on herheel, headed directly for her advisor and gave her a verylong and sincere hug.

The girl’s name? I never found out, or she would receivea copy of this book for providing such a great story for thesecond component of self-esteem — confidence.

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GREEN FINGERNAILSEXCERPTED FROM HOW GIRLS THRIVE BY JOANN DEAK, PH.D.

A STUDENTPERSPECTIVEBY HANNAH WHEELWRIGHT

• Three year senior boarder from Severn, Maryland

• Head of Boarding

• Volleyball and basketball player

• Last of seven children

• Obsessed with The Office

Imade it to Wednesday night of myfirst week boarding at Madeirabefore I retreated to my room and

buried my head into my pillow in a des-perate attempt to drown out the shrieksand high pitched giggles of the 27 oth-er girls in my dorm. I got used to it overtime, but my experience of transition-ing from living at home and going topublic school to being a boarder atMadeira taught me many unexpectedlessons about what it’s like to go to anall girls school.

Lesson one: When you are a girl,surrounded by girls, everything is excit-ing, and this is a good thing. I’ve neverheard so much hype about the latestGossip Girl episode or Lady Gaga songas when girls on campus are ecstatical-ly yelping about them. This excitementwas also manifest on the night ofNovember 2nd 2008 when girls werebounding into each others dorms,eagerly sharing the latest updates onthe Presidential election. And nowhereis the enthusiasm more evident than inthe athletic arena, where girls go all outpainting their bodies, brandishingsigns, and screaming their guts out tosupport each other on the field, court,course, or pool. Girls’ natural fervor andgusto for life is magnified when theylive and learn together, and all girlsschools help girls learn how to channelthat passion into worthwhile efforts.The vivacious atmosphere cultivates amore intense drive for knowledge andusing that knowledge to improve theworld around them.

Lesson two: At an all girls school,girls can focus more easily on what real-ly counts. This doesn’t mean they stop

8 Madeira Today WINTER2010–2011

caring about shopping and boys, but itdoes mean that are able to concentratebetter on tasks in front of them. With noboys to compete over and no need todress up for appearances, girls candevote their full attention to academics,athletics, and other activities. While theystill have the opportunity to see boys onthe weekends, girls can use their timeduring the school week to center theirenergies on what really matters.

Lesson three: The friendships made atall girls schools become like sisterlybonds and last a lifetime. Whether madeby commiserating over a bad grade on atest, rejoicing over a sports victory, orhelping each other navigate through diffi-cult walks of life, bonds formed at all girlsschools are deep and lasting. As girlsgrow and learn over the years, the chal-lenges they face together unite them andteach them to work together. Like sisters,girls don’t always get along, but they arewilling to overcome their differences andmake compromises because they cherishthe ties that bring them all together.

Learning about the enthusiasm ofgirls, the benefits of a single sex educa-tion, and the long lasting relationshipsthat develop as a result caused me toconsider ‘sisters’ as those not only relat-ed by blood, but by a common drive forworking together towards commongoals with an eye to translate passioninto action. All girls schools zero in onthis drive and make it all possible. So ifyou decide to come to or send yourdaughter to an all girls school, you aremaking a great choice… but don’t forgetyour pillow!

SURVEY* SAYS…

Graduates of Girls Schools

achieve:

• Higher Intellectual C

onfidence

• Greater Academic En

gagement

• Better SAT scores

• Heightened Interest i

n

Graduate School

• Increased Extracurric

ular

Enthusiasm

• Stronger Communicat

ion Skills

* Data from the “Freshman Survey” collected

by the Cooperative Institutional Research

Institute at UCLA.

What’sCool CONTINUED

vation… girls whose self-esteem hasbeen heightened, may feel strong andcapable enough to speak out in class or to take that advanced placementphysics course.” (Deak p. 49)Graduates of Madeira know that,

while they may have only spent fouryears on campus, the impact of theMadeira experience is life-long. Theprocess of self-actualization, matur-ing and intellectual developmentthat begins a girl’s freshman year atMadeira is a transformative processthat remains with her for the rest ofher life.

To borrow Deak’s words, I believewe at Madeira have “designed andorchestrated” a home / school environ-ment where girls grow into resilient,kind and confident young women,young women who have the confi-dence and personal integrity to do theright thing both for themselves andfor others. If any parents are question-ing whether or not the Madeira Schoolis worth the investment, the distancefrom their child, or the traffic onGeorgetown Pike, I would suggestthey pick up a copy of Deak’s bookand consider her insights.

To watch JoAnn Deak’s completespeech at Madeira’s Parents’ Weekend 2, go to our website:www.madeira.org/JoAnnDeak

A DAD’S PERSPECTIVEBY G. CABELL WILLIAMS III

My daughters, Virginia ’07 andKatie ’11, have loved their yearsat Madeira. When the Madeira

fall semester begins next September 11my wife and I, for the first time in eightyears, will not have hordes of Madeiragirls sleeping over, raiding the refrigera-tor and watching hours of the “OC” whileplastered to the playroom sofa. I’m notsure we can bear the silence.

I remember when Virginia first start-ed at Madeira. She would come down-stairs in the morning with her hair piledin a ball on the top of her head. She hadon flip flops, sweat pants and a sweatshirt,all embossed with the of Madeira logo. Ithought to myself, “Isn’t there a dresscode at Madeira?” She looked more likeshe was going to a slumber party thanschool. She would smile, tear out the doorwith her seventy-five-pound knapsackthen return twelve hours later to bathe(optional), study and sleep. Meals wereare all at Madeira.

“The food is good!“How is that possible,” I thought.

Nobody likes the food at their school. Four years later with Katie and it’s

exactly the same.We all know that Madeira provides a

top-notch education taught by a first-classfaculty and administrators but what is itthat makes Madeira so special and somemorable for the girls who attend? Whyare they so happy when they are there andwhy, for the rest of their lives, do theyreflect so fondly on their years at Madeira?

I think it begins with the simple factthat Madeira is an all-girls school. I askedKatie why that was so special and she said

“I am able to focus more on school. It’s amore comfortable atmosphere. I can askquestions in class and not feel intimidat-ed. (Without boys) It’s less competitivewhich means girls are not as catty. It alsogives me a chance to make closer friends”.

I asked the same question of Virginiaand she said “I was less distracted. I wasn’tafraid to speak up in class. I cared lessabout my appearance. And I wasn’t afraidto be smart because it’s a common mis-conception that boys don’t like smart girls.”

Is that true? I like smart girls. Well,whatever it is, it works.

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AN ALUMNAEPERSPECTIVEBY BEVERLEY MBU ’06

• 1L student at George Washington University Law School

• Graduate of Wellesley College

• Kickboxing, cooking and fashion blog reading her way through the many joys of law school

• Not so secretly obsessed with all manner of criminal/legal TVdramas

Why an all girls school? In someways, the answer is extremelysimple. It gives women an

unfettered opportunity to be who theyare, who they have been, and who they’vealways wanted to be. Today we live in adynamic world where we are exposed tomore cross-cultural and transnationalinfluences than ever before. And yet assome things change, others are remark-ably consistent. No matter where you liveor the varied influences in your life, it isfor you to put everything together inorder to become your own individual.Thanks to the mothers, wives, activistsand businesswomen who have gonebefore us, young women today no longerhave to fight as hard to be allowed tobecome who they are. And yet there isstill, and I believe always will be, a needto nurture young girls and women andgive them full permission to be exactlywho they are.

At Madeira orientation the analogyused to be (and I hope still is) centeredaround what was in your “backpack.” Theidea is that you carry your values withyou to this new environment, but youdon’t have to abandon them in favour ofall the new and challenging things astrong academic environment will giveyou. When you are in an environmentthat tells you who you are before wasgreat, who you are now is to be com-mended, and the sky is the limit as towho you could be in the future, youbecome fearless. And that, to me, is whatdifferentiates graduates of single sexinstitutions. If you learn to speak beforeholding yourself back and learn toencourage others by listening to what

they have to say, it doesn’t matter whatenvironment you go to after you leavebecause you are destined for success. Atthe core of an all girls school is that suc-cess is not about where you live, howpretty you are, or even necessarily abouthow smart you are. It is about discover-ing who you are, giving yourself permis-sion to blend your past and your presentknowledge into one. It is about knowingwhat makes you strong, what makes youunique and taking inspiration from oth-ers on a similar journey. I believe inspira-tion and strength comes from every-where, but never have I been moreinspired by what the women around mehave done or are doing to follow theirown individual ideas of success. When ayoung woman has an opportunity to bein an environment that says she hasevery right to be who she is, the questionbecomes, why not an all girls school?

“If you wantsomeplacewhere your

ambitions, yourabilities, andyour achieve-ments are atthe center, agirl’s school ora women’s college is that place.”

and intriguing world. Your careers willinvolve colleagueship with women andmen from places you aren’t even aware of now. You will face issues arising fromsocial, cultural, and economic environ-ments that are very different from theones in which you were raised. And youwill discover that some of those foreignenvironments exist within your ownnation. Your ability to move acrossboundaries — national boundaries, cultur-al boundaries, linguistic boundaries, eco-nomic boundaries — will be essential toyour future impact on the world. Inselecting Pilar Cabeza de Vaca as Headof School, Madeira has wisely acknowl-edged this profoundly important reality.A truly international educational leader,she will lead Madeira into an increasing-ly global future.

And, of course, Madeira has alsowisely, but not surprisingly, selected analumna of a women’s college. Your ownLucy Madeira, of course, herself attendeda women’s college before starting aschool for girls.

It’s easy to demonstrate that womenwho attend single sex schools and col-leges succeed disproportionately in awide range of academic and professionalfields. It’s also easy to demonstrate thatthey often become passionate supportersof their alma maters, dedicating theirprofessional and philanthropic energiesto women’s education, encouraging theirdaughters to attend women’s schools,and other ways working to make surethat other young women enjoy the edu-cational benefits they received. YourHead of School and I are just two of manyexamples I could cite of women whoseown single-sex educational experiencesinspired a passion for women’s education.

And yet, as everyone here knows,there is active debate about whetherschools and colleges for girls and womenhave a place in today’s world, especiallyhere in the United States. For example,

recently the Atlantic magazine ran a cov-er story entitled “The End of Men.” Per-haps you read it? It cited statistics show-ing that women now outperform men ineducational attainment generally and inseveral professional fields, and it raised

the question of why girls’ schools andwomen’s colleges are needed. We didn’tneed the Atlantic to raise that questionfor us: I’m sure that many of you havebeen asked by friend, neighbors, and rel-atives why you’d want to attend a girls’school. I know many students who areconsidering coming to Sweet Briar strug-gle with whether choosing a women’scollege can be entirely “normal.”

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REMARKS ON THE OCCASION OF THEINSTALLATION OF PILAR CABEZA DE VACAAS HEAD OF SCHOOL AT MADEIRA

BY JO ELLEN PARKER, PRESIDENT OF SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE

What’sCool CONTINUED

Congratulations, Pilar, and con-gratulations to the MadeiraSchool on this wonderful occa-

sion! I am honored to share in it with you.With some trepidation, I’ll mention

that I first encountered your new Head ofSchool 39 years ago when we enteredBryn Mawr as first year students. I saythat with a clear memory of what itsounded like to me, when I was in highschool and heard supposedly distin-guished elders reminiscing about thingsthat happened several decades before Iwas born. To turn the nostalgia up to 11,I’ll also mention that another of ourclassmates, Margot Brown, went on tobecome the mother of your own historyteacher, Mr. Jared Peet. The Bryn Mawrclass of ’75 turned out to be of moreimportance to Madeira than we couldever have imagined!

I recall being somewhat in awe ofPilar Cabeza de Vaca. Having been edu-cated in a small town in Kansas, I foundher very name to be glamorously exotic.Having never met anyone from Ecuadorbefore, I assumed that a girl from Quitowould be worldly and sophisticatedbeyond anything I could imagine. Whichwas, now that I think about it, probablypretty much the case. For that matter, Iwas vaguely intimidated by Mr. Peet’smother, too — she had come from LosAngeles, which was in those days nearlyas foreign to me as Quito was. It was along time before I realized that to girlsfrom Quito and LA, a student whose fam-ilies’ roots were in Grundy County Mis-souri was pretty exotic too.

Which brings me to the first thing Iwould like to say today. Your new Head ofSchool has called herself a “global citizen”and has talked and written about theimportance of international perspectivesto a 21st century education. Here atMadeira, under her leadership, a newgeneration of women will be prepared to navigate and succeed in a complex

Which brings me to the second thingI’d like to talk about today. And that is thevarious arguments for women’s education.Historically, of course, many women’s col-leges and girls’ schools were foundedbecause other institutions of secondaryand higher education admitted onlymales. In that era, the argument for insti-tutions for women was clear. Women’seducational institutions were needed tocreate access that was denied elsewhere.

Over time, though, more and moreinstitutions began to admit women.When Ms. Cabeza de Vaca and I were theage of today’s Madeira students, most ofthe elite men’s colleges in the U.S. werein the process of admitting women forthe first time. Once that happened, theargument for women’s institutions beganto shift. People began to notice that gen-der inequities continued to exist in coed-ucational institutions. Women wereadmitted, but they were less likely to beelected as student body presidents, lesslikely to be physics majors, less likely tohave access to prime athletic facilities,less likely to be chosen for prestigiousfellowships. The arguments in favor ofwomen’s educational institutions beganto shift away from an emphasis on accessand toward an emphasis on achievement.The argument that women students canbe free of gender biases in a single sexenvironment, biases which might distorttheir opportunities in a coeducationalenvironment, was often advanced.

There is still, I believe, a good deal oftruth to this argument. While women areoutperforming men in educationalattainment generally, as measured by the

completion of the bachelor’s degree,there remain distinct fields in whichwomen are underrepresented. So, forexample, it’s clear that graduates ofwomen’s colleges are more likely to goon to earn PhDs in physics than womenwho attend coeducational institutions.You know from your own Madeira expe-rience that here, your teachers believeyou can do anything your talents anddedication will permit you to do. What Imean is that if you are not doing well inmath, no one will think it’s becauseyou’re a girl! Great gains are being made,but educational inequities continue toexist in coeducational settings, and in myview this constitutes one strong argu-ment for women’s institutions.

However, I believe that even if suchinequities were to be eliminated, even ifall gender bias disappeared, thereremains an important argument for sin-gle sex education. To my mind, it has todo with a simple shift of preposition.

Often we think about girls’ schoolsand women’s colleges as existing for theeducation of girls and women. Butincreasingly I find myself thinking aboutthem as providing education FOR girlsand women. I’d like to spend my lastminute or two saying a bit about whatthat means to me, and what I think itmeans for Madeira.

Education FOR girls and womenmeans that schools like Madeira and col-leges like Sweet Briar can say somethingthat no coeducational institution can say— which is that every program, everyresource, every activity is directed towardto the success of female students. If you

want to be someplace where your ambi-tions, your abilities, and your achieve-ments are at the center, a girl’s school orwomen’s college is that place. And, yes, Iwould say the same thing for single sexinstitutions for males; I think it is fair tosay that for many young men a single sexoption can be extremely beneficial.Madeira is entirely FOR its women stu-dents as no coeducational school couldever be.

But an education FOR women meanssomething larger as well. As Madeirastudents and faculty, or alumnae ofwomen’s colleges, we here today enjoyenormous educational privilege. As peo-ple dedicated to education for women,we must make sure that we remain mind-ful of women who are less educationallyprivileged than we. If anyone is to teachand learn about the status of women andgirls around the world, we should. If any-one is to support community programsto benefit girls and women near our cam-puses, we should. If anyone should go onto do medical research on women’shealth issues, to pursue legal careers inhuman rights, to make public policy thatis family friendly, to develop economicprograms that empower women finan-cially, to create legislation that protectsthe youngest and the oldest, to bringpeace and safety to war zones, it shouldbe graduates of girls’ schools andwomen’s colleges.

So, to Madeira, I say this: don’t simplyeducate women students here. Educatestudents FOR women here, educate stu-dents FOR women in a global society inwhich the economic, educational, and cit-izenship rights of women are still inmany places contested and insecure.And congratulations, Madeira, on find-ing just the Head of School who can leadand inspire you in that effort.

To Pilar Cabeza de Vaca, I say con-gratulations and thank you. Congratula-tions because you have landed what Ibelieve is probably one of the very bestjobs in America. Thank you for being partof an educational experience that openedthe eyes of a girl from Kansas to a larger,and global, world. And thank you for giv-ing your leadership to a cause we bothcare about deeply; the cause of makingour global society better for all by increas-ing the power of educated women.

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