Winthrop 's transition to a co-education

BY KAITLYN SCHALLHORN
 

J.P. McKee, vice president for finance and business at Winthrop, received a graduate business degree from Winthrop in the 70s. Photo by Stephanie EatonIt’s hard to believe that just 36 years ago Winthrop University was an all-female school.
 

Dr. Roger Weikle, dean of the college of business, began teaching at Winthrop just as the transition to a co-ed school took place.
 

“Being in a world that was mostly male dominant, it was quite different to come to a place set up for women – dressing rooms, bathrooms and even weight rooms,” Weikle said.
 

“Everything was set up to accommodate women,” he said. “Men were just part of the minority.”
 

Winthrop College, as it was known at the time, officially opened its doors to full-time male students in the fall of 1974. However, these were not the first male students on campus. A period of time existed when Winthrop allowed men to come on campus and take a select few classes, but could not obtain any degree.
 

Weikle remembers the Rock Hill community in general was “very supportive to the idea and welcomed men into the area.”
 

The school was not growing at the time because the number of women who wanted a single-gender school was rapidly decreasing. Weikle describes the integration of males as “very pragmatic for survival and growth.”
 

With males suddenly allowed to become full-time students, women were inevitably affected. They didn’t care as much what they looked like when they came to class. The atmosphere was very relaxed. Once the men got here, it became much more formal, Weikle said.
 

While the community was extremely supportive of the incorporation of males into the Winthrop family, not all the females were. Weikle recalls, “The idea of giving up their space was not something they all thought was acceptable.”
 

Weikle admits he didn’t really talk to many men about why they came to Winthrop or how they felt about residing at a predominately female school. However, he did notice the males tried to be “a little more macho” since there were so few there.
 

He said they competed with each other.
 

“They impacted each other more than the girls did,” Weikle said.
 

During this time, not many student organizations existed. Most of the classes competed against each other.

Each class had their own mascot and colors. Much of the anxiety that came with the integration of males was due to the fact that Winthrop had to figure out a way to fit the men into these competitions.
 

Not long after men moved onto Winthrop’s campus, those class-wide competitions died out.
 

“The whole idea of having men in the competitions was hard to deal with,” Weikle said.
 

During this time, the interest in athletics among women at Winthrop was very high.
 

“If you were a man and went into the weight room, you would get a lesson in humility,” Weikle jokingly recalls.
 

J.P. McKee, vice president for finance and business at Winthrop, was one of the first men to attend Winthrop. McKee started his graduate program in 1975 in pursuit of a business degree.
 

“I spent most of my time with business students,” he said.
 

McKee was married at the time he started school. He and his wife lived off campus on Charlotte Avenue. He said his wife was very supportive of his decision to come to Winthrop.
 

“She never had a problem with me going to a predominately female school. I guess she just didn’t think anyone else would want me,” McKee said laughing.
 

McKee worked as a graduate assistant and eventually worked for Weikle. He was involved in the business program at Winthrop, which, at the time, was a “two-year business program for women where they learned to type and take shorthand,” McKee said.
 

“I don’t know what Winthrop would be like today if it was still all-female,” he said.
 

Weikle was also very supportive of Winthrop’s change many years ago.
 

“Things are definitely bigger, better and stronger,” he said.