Lucinda Foote

Lucinda Foote was an American student who applied to study at Yale College in 1783, some 186 years prior to women being admitted. Consequently her application was rejected, despite meeting the entrance standards. Her name was later used by protesters supporting the admission of women to the University in 1963.

Biography

In 1783, female student Lucinda Foote undertook the entrance exams for Yale College, at the age of 12 years old. Based on the results of the exams, in both Latin and Greek, she met the required standard to study at the university. However, she was rejected on the basis of her gender by the List of [Presidents of Yale University|President of the University], Ezra Stiles.
Stiles wrote of Foote's application:

Legacy

When the subject of the admission of women to Yale University was raised in 1963, the student demonstrators referred to themselves as the Lucinda Foote Committee. When the prospect of naming two new colleges within the University arose in 2014, history professor Jay Gitlin suggested naming them after Foote or Grace Hopper.