Here to Stay

Reflecting on the legacy of the first class of undergraduate women at UVA 

The campaign to secure unfettered access to higher education for women took decades of activism and advocacy, and mainstream skepticism over the viability of coeducation persisted until shockingly recently. Many august institutions dragged their feet until the passage of Title IX codified equal access to higher education. The University of Virginia was the last public university in the United States to admit women; the first class of female undergraduates at Jefferson’s University received their diplomas only in 1974. Written by a member of that historic class and rich with vivid details and anecdotes, Here to Stay describes the challenges they faced and the trail they blazed at a university that proudly advertised itself as a school for “Virginia gentlemen.” Drawing on a wide array of sources, Gail Burrell Gerry documents how UVA prepared for the women’s arrival and explores what their status as trailblazers meant at the time, what it has meant to them since, and their legacy at UVA today. In addition to chronicling Gerry’s experiences as part of the class of ’74, Here to Stay is a compelling account of all the 367 women who found themselves on the front lines of landmark institutional and social change—and the thousands more like them throughout the country—relating how they made their mark on a bastion of tradition and entrenched male privilege.