Coeducation Conversations

ASB: So I’ll tell you why I came to Lafayette—I’d love for it to be all these intelligent reasons. But when I graduated from high school in 1970, it was the beginning of the push for civil rights and affirmative action and Title IX. Colleges were feeling pressure to look for students of color. They sent buses down to my high school in Philadelphia and to take us to their college to visit. A lot of us would go because it was a cool thing to do on Saturday. One of the trips was to Lafayette. I got to the campus, and I fell in love. I thought it was the most beautiful place on earth. And so my coming here had nothing to do with what they offered academically. I was like, ‘I like the way it looks.’

I’d love to hear what brought you to Lafayette.

JN: I was looking for something small with a community feeling. I didn’t want to feel like I was going to drown in a sea of too many students. I also was interested in getting a dual degree. I am graduating with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering. I’ll be coming back in the fall for the Chinese language and culture Bachelor of Arts. I want to continue school, maybe graduate studies in city and regional planning, specifically transportation planning. I also do want to study abroad again in China. I was able to get into an interim program in 2019 in South China with two professors at Lafayette, and it was a life-changing experience.

What was your experience like being on campus in the first class of women?

ASB: In addition to being in the first class of women, it was a year in which they had a greater population of African American students. I was used to being in a situation where I was one of the few women and one of the few Black students, so none of that was strange to me. I was an economics major, I was an RA, I was in McKelvy Scholars. I spent a lot of time with the Association of Black Collegians (ABC).

I also remember two things about being in the first class of women: Number one, they had bathtubs in Ruef Hall, when no one could figure out why, because there was no way any of us were using those bathtubs. The other thing was the Pardee Hall doors were so heavy. I was a 90-pound weakling. I literally couldn’t open the doors. I would have to get there early and hope that someone would open the doors for me so I could get to class. After a couple weeks, I guess facilities figured it out. One day I could actually open the door, and I know it wasn’t because I had developed muscles.

JN: During the first weekend or second weekend I was on campus, ABC had a cookout, and that’s where I was able to meet more people who looked like me and find a sense of community. Not that I didn’t feel comfortable on campus, but there’s a sort of yearning for finding people who looked like me and understood the different things that I would be going through. It was something I cherished.

How did ABC shape your time here?

ASB: We gravitated to ABC as a place of familiarity, a way to let your hair down. It was everything—from just hanging out and playing cards, to studying together. We were each other’s support system. We also had a real passion about having an impact on the school, trying to leave it more welcoming for the students that will come behind us. So advocating with the administration to hire more Black faculty, for more Black studies programs. We also did community service work. One of my favorite programs was called Black Children Can. Every Saturday, we would bring kids up from the Easton community, and just bring them into a college environment and let them know they would be welcome in this space. We did programs, we took them on trips. That was one of my fondest memories.

How has your extracurricular experience been?

JN: I made it a point to get involved in activities. During my freshman year, I was a part of the precision step team. I joined the rugby team in my sophomore year. I’m part of ABC and QPOC, which is the Queer People of Color organization on campus. Being a part of organizations like that allowed me to meet more people as well as learn more outside of just math, science, and problem-solving. That was a way I was able to build community.

ASB: Tell me a bit about the research you’ve done.

JN: Over the summer, I was looking for more connections with Lafayette alumni of color in the transportation field. I was looking at how a lot of essential workers had been affected by the stay-at-home orders. Some people were laid off or furloughed. Some of my friends had to work during the pandemic in order to support their families. My mom is a flight attendant, so she was still working, but also not working. It was a mixture of things. I connected with Dr. Mosi London, Class of 2010, who was starting research on COVID-19 and how it affected environmental justice areas. From that I created my own realm of research, in which I looked at how essential workers had been affected during the prime of the pandemic.

ASB: One of the things I notice about Lafayette now is the availability of all these learning experiences, like doing the research you’re doing, or going overseas, or being involved with the Dyer Center or the Hanson Center—none of that existed when I was here. I’m not saying we didn’t get an excellent education, but there’s so much available for students now.

You’re probably familiar with the McDonogh Network. It’s an organization of Black alumni. One of the things that we wrestle with is how we can be supportive of the students who are on campus.

JN: I would love it if the McDonogh Network worked more with the Engineering Division. I also think being able to bond with alumni through campus organizations and groups would be valuable. It doesn’t have to be about business or networking—just being able to know more people are here to support and that they’re an email or a call or a text away.

LA: So, Polly, we’re celebrating 50 years of coeducation at Lafayette. A lot of things have changed for women in engineering.

PP: Yes, since you were a student here, how do you think things have changed?

LA: It never felt unusual to be a woman in my engineering classes. What was different is there weren’t many female faculty. Of course, I had you as one of my professors. But in chemical engineering, you were the only female faculty member at the time. There were four female faculty within engineering. And now we have 12. It changes how you feel as a student, right? You have somebody to look up to, to be the role model. And it normalizes that conversation we have all the time about work/life balance. It really has always influenced me, how you talk about your family and have pictures of your kids and Legos on your desk that your kids made. At Lafayette, we have gender parity within our engineering program. I think women feel very comfortable in our classes, and research opportunities are increasing. With recent funding and the Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholars Program, there are more opportunities now to get involved than when I was a student.

How have things changed for you from the faculty perspective?

PP: I’ve been here 30 years, and there have been some changes. When I came, I was the only female faculty member, and I wasn’t even sure how to dress. The men wore suits and ties to teach, so I had to figure out my own dress code. Another thing that changed is that there was no maternity leave policy; there was a disability leave. Six weeks after I had my son, I had to come back, and I really wasn’t ready. But now, I think we have a very good parental leave policy.

LA: So we’re here at LeopardWorks, and I know you teach here. How has your teaching changed over the years?

PP: Yes, my teaching has really changed, and part of it is because of facilities like this. Thirty years ago, I taught Fortran on a chalkboard because there weren’t computers for each student. Right now everything I teach is pretty much hands-on. LeopardWorks is a great facility for having the students build things or create things. Always at Lafayette, we have had the opportunity for one-on-one interaction. I enjoy working with the students and getting to know them in the research labs, seeing them grow and evolve, seeing when students find their strengths. I enjoy that moment when they realize that they can do something that they didn’t think they could do. When the light bulb goes on, and they finally understand something, that’s very exciting.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

LA: I think now it’s having the students teach me. I’m sure you have stories about that too. I think when you first start [as a faculty member], just like you described ways to dress, the focus is on setting a tone in your classroom—that you are the professor. But as you become more mature in the classroom, you realize that we’re all learners. Although we are professors, we have a lot to learn from our students. I really enjoy the conversations that we have at Lafayette with our students. I think that’s why I loved it here so much as a student and one of the reasons why I came back. When students get a job or an internship, or they win a fellowship, they come running down the hall with a big hug, and I love those moments, those personal relationships that we build with students over time.

One of the things that I’ve been thinking about is that for women engineers here at Lafayette, it’s so normal to be a female engineer in a supportive environment. But when you go to the workplace, there are challenges that women have in dealing with gender bias. Have you had any conversations with students who have gone into industry?

PP: Yes, I think just being aware of what problems previous students have encountered on the job is helpful. Some students I’ve kept in touch with have been working for these small companies where they aren’t the only woman, or it’s a younger company that has more opportunities, and it seems easier for them to advance. At the big manufacturing companies, the people who hire them want them to succeed. And so I encourage them to find a mentor there who will help them learn within the company’s culture.

LA: It’s been great that we bring back alumni from different industries who can share experiences. We’ve now also added biomolecular engineering and environmental engineering, and we have seen a rise in the number of female engineers in our own major and our own disciplines. I think companies will evolve, and there will be more opportunities to grow. Hopefully, the future continues to improve in that way.

Featured here are excerpts from each pair’s conversation. You can watch a video and read a transcript of the complete conversations here.

Learn more about how the College commemorated its coeducation anniversary here.