Why wasn't Pembroke included in the Seven Sisters

Applying to College
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<p>Does anyone know why the Seven Sisters was not the "Eight Sisters" (including Pembroke, Brown's historic sister school)? I'm quite curious and the internet does not seem to hold the answer...someone on CC must know! Thanks-</p>

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<p>It was in the 7 sisters: Radcliffe, Pembroke, Barnard, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley and Smith. The 7 sisters don't exist now, however, because Pembroke is totally part of Brown, and Radcliffe (as an undergrad college) is totally part of Harvard. The only "Radcliffe" now is a postgraduate institute.</p>

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<p>The Seven Sisters were: </p>

<p>Vassar
Wellesley
Smith
Mt. Holyoke
Bryn Mawr
Barnard
Radcliffe</p>

<p>Wikipedia (and other CC posts) confirm this...I might just be confused though...</p>

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<p>TerrarumOrbis, you are correct - Vassar was Yale's "sister", but decided to go co-ed rather than merge with Yale when Yale went co-ed. When I was applying to colleges (before many of the Ivies did go co-ed), I never even heard of Pembroke. When did it merge into Brown?</p>

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<p>Oh -- I forgot Vassar, which was the first to go co-ed, so was dropped out of the 7 Sisters, which shortly stopped being a term that was used.</p>

<p>Maybe Pembroke was never part of the 7 sisters because if I'm remembering correctly, Pembroke girls always took classes with the guys at Brown. They just were admitted under "Pembroke College," but as students, were fully integrated into Brown. That wasn't true of the females at Harvard when Radcliffe was begun. The Radcliffe girls couldn't even use the Harvard freshman library until the 1960s.</p>

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<p>Nope, what I just postulated wasn't the right answer. Perhaps Pembroke became a college after the other 7 sisters, so wasn't included in the list of the Seven Sisters. While Pembroke started in the late 1800s, it didn't become a college until 1928.</p>

<p>"Pembroke officially became a college in 1928, however, it no longer had separate degrees or faculty after 1954."</p>

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<p>Actually Vassar is still part of the Seven Sisters even though it is co-ed. According to the tour guide I had on my first visit to the college it retains its place in the group because it still has one all-female dorm on campus.</p>

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<p>Although my daughter reports that there are oldtimers around campus who still refer to current female Harvard undergrads as "Cliffies."</p>

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<p>Funny story on our Vassar tour.</p>

<p>Shortly after coeducation the men's rugby or lacrosse team or something like that begged Vassar to change the school colors from pink, after they played West Point and heard plenty about it.</p>

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<p>Haha yes monydad, I heard that story as well. I believe it was because the men's soccer uniform consisted of a grey t-shirt and pink shorts :-). Fortunately, the offensive pink has since been changed to maroon.</p>