I wonder the extent to which student activism on race has existed at Vassar. Similarly, I also wonder if student activism has led to changes in racial equity and inclusion at the college. If there is a rich history of student activism, there may be an incentive by the college to downplay this history, to portray the past college administrations in a better light (and therefore reduce skepticism of the current administration) and/or to prevent students from believing such activism is effective. I worked as an activist at my high school, and I know the school administration did not take kindly to me, so I am curious if Vassar is different, especially in their tellings of college history. This question was sparked by seeing mentions of student sit-ins at Main Building in 1969 and 1990 on the Buildings and Belonging page of the Vassar website.

More generally, is the history of race at Vassar covered sufficiently by Vassar itself? Through my short time searching the Vassar encyclopedia, I couldn't find any information about the integration of non-white students into the college, though I could find information about the integration of men. The other resources we had to read were on the Vassar webpage, so it seems like somewhat of a mixed bag.

I also don't know the history of Vassar's admittance of black students. I don't just want to know when admittance of black students was first formally allowed, but also when it actually became common practice. Anita Hemmings was the first woman of black descent to graduate from the college, but that was through passing as white. Did admittance practices change after her graduation or did she have little effect?