Mary Elizabeth “Molly” (Lordan) Schemmel is one of the sixty-nine young women in Gonzaga Prep’s inaugural coed senior class for the 1975-76 school year. To kick off our 50 stories for 50 years series, we offer her reflections about what it was like to be one of the firsts.
In January of 1975, Holy Names Academy announced that it was closing its doors. The 66 girls in the junior class were unsure of what their senior year would look like. In March, a note was sent home to all Holy Names families requesting our attendance at an important meeting that evening at the school. However, the suspense ended when TV stations announced on the local evening news that Gonzaga Prep would be opening its doors to girls that fall. The 88 years of all-male Jesuit education were about to come to an end.
But this was not the first time girls had attended class at Gonzaga Prep. In the fall of 1974, chemistry class was offered at Prep to girls in the HNA junior class. Every day, about 10 girls drove to Prep to be instructed by Kurt Kromholtz `55, a highly regarded academic in his field. We were greeted with cat calls, whistles, and an occasional pinch. This experience impacted our response upon hearing of the coeducation announcement. “Why did we have to leave our trusted institution, its traditions, its familiarity, its opportunities, to potentially face harassment daily?
On the first day of school, girls were welcomed by a poster that said “I am woman, hear me roar.” And roar they did! Sixty-nine senior girls joined about 150 senior boys. Some girls were shocked to learn that they had male locker partners. There were traffic jams in the hallways, resulting in the need to make some stairways one-way.
There were classes in storerooms and on the stage in the gym. Girls got lost trying to find classrooms. At “recess” on the first day, girls gathered at their lockers in the senior hall to find nary a male student in sight. They were all in the cafeteria eating donuts—their school, their traditions.
A new girls’ service organization was formed to mirror the long-standing Knights of the Leash, the organization for boys. There were many “helpful” suggestions by the boys for possible names, including “Dames of Gonzaga,” “DOGS” for short, or “Ladies of the Knights,” also rejected. Ancilla was selected, meaning “serving girl.” This group supported one of the foundational pieces of a Jesuit education: service to others.
Athletic programs at Prep had long enjoyed a reputation for success. That fall, the football team earned a 3-way tie for the league championship. Holy Names and Marycliff students had been the “pep club” for Prep athletic teams. After years of cheering for unknown boys, girls found themselves sitting next to boys in class whom they had been cheering for for years. Connections began. Friendships were being formed.
The boys' varsity basketball team placed second at state that year. Many students traveled to Seattle to support the team. These opportunities for support fostered the idea that the two separate institutions that had been forced to come together could unite in a common purpose.
The first coed year was also the first year of the Search retreat. Prep reached out to Gonzaga University to ask about the programs they offer to their students that could be implemented at Prep. Two GU students brought Search to Prep and ran the program the entire year. It built not only individual connections, but also fostered the faith lives of the students in the Jesuit tradition. The Search program remains a hallmark of a Gonzaga Prep education. Over the course of the year, the students and school administration alike grew in their recognition that girls at Prep might actually be a really good thing. The cat calls, whistles and pinching had ceased, friendships were formed, new traditions were started, and lifelong friendships formed.
Molly Schemmel's husband, Dr. Mark Schemmel `81, and children Meghan `11, Hailey `13, and Ben `17 are all proud Gonzaga Prep alums.
