COEDUCATION "is a crime before God and humanity, that the physiology protests against and that experience weeps over... It emasculates the boys, stunts the girls; makes semi-eunuchs of one sex and agenes of the other," --former Harvard professor E.H. Clark in his Sex in Education, published in 1874.

For the first time since its founding in 1701. Yale College in September of 1969 admitted female students. This being the fourth year that women have been accepted in increasing numbers. Yale is currently confronting the issue of sex-blind admissions (admissions without regard to an applicant's sex but keeping the male-female ratio between 60 and 40 per cent.) The Yale Corporation recently postponed a decision on the university's admissions policy until December 9 in order to give alumni representatives more time to poll their constituents. While Yale alumni ponder, debate pervades the campus as the students and Yale administration grapple with the issue of equal admissions. For weeks discussions have taken place in a peaceful yet intense atmosphere.

On the other hand, Harvard, which accepted Radcliffe women into its classrooms in the 1940s, is lagging behind Yale in even debating the, full recognition of female students on an equal basis with men. It is doubtful whether President Bok's 2.5:1 male-female ratio plan will be able to stand the test of time. Harvard, whether it be today, in a month or in a year, is and will be faced with the same issues Yale is attempting to resolve, 2.5:1 ratios, can only result in temporary abatement of what many consider a moral argument.

Recently students at Yale overwhelmingly supported admitting more women through a sex-blind admissions policy. In a recent petition circulated by the Yale College Council, 3016 students signed the following statement: "Yale should admit applicants without regard to sex and with a 40 per cent minimum proportion of either sex. Beginning with the class of 1977, the goal should be total coeducation, and Yale should engage in active recruitment to ensure the most qualified applicant pool." The statement said the students support "an end to Yale's discriminatory admission policy and an end to overcrowding."

There has been no such clear concern on the part of Harvard with sex-blind admissions. Absent are the massive petition drives, meetings with corporation trustees, and face-to-face discussions with faculty, Administration, and alumni. Rather, the Harvard-Radcliffe student body seems to be content with a planned 2.5:1 male-female ratio by 1974. Discussions center more on the new girls in the Yard and the number of Cliffies in Kirkland House. In general, the student body at Harvard appear to be sleep-walking through the halls of coeducation.

DISCRIMINATION is one of the major thrusts behind the call for sex-blind admissions. Most students at Yale-feel that it is up to the administration to justify the present discriminatory quota policy. The burden is on the administration, the students claim, to explain why women are treated differently when it comes to the human intellect.

It is commonly known that, proportionally, women's average SAT scores tend to be higher than men's scores. Not only did a Yale trustee attest to this fact, he bluntly commented that women are simply more mature physically and mentally at age 17 than men are. If so, the students believe that for Yale to admit the most qualified students, it must enable its admissions office to choose sex-blind so that the qualified women, many of whom, at present, do not even apply because of the high male-female ration, can be accepted in parity with equally qualified men. The same argument can be applied to Harvard but is seldom discussed.

Is sex-blind admissions psychologically possible? Will the admissions officers consider women according to their merit or in juxtaposition with men? In a flexible 60-40 sex ratio, will women always end up on the low side Currently, more men than women apply to Harvard and Yale. A sex-blind admissions policy would undoubtedly raise not only the number of women who apply but also the number of men Both schools would many believe appear more attractive. They would capture the eye of many socially oriented intelligent students who shun the unnatural sex ratio offered by Harvard and Yale.

Changes in the admissions office would most likely be needed to offset any officer's psychological bias over an applicant's sex in determining his or her admittance. Should Harvard and Radcliffe combine their admissions offices? Should the admissions officer know an applicant's sex? It would be hard for him not to, due to an application's indicators in the form of activities. If so, an officer's preference for one sex could lead to imbalances in not only the male-female ratio but in the quality of the student body itself. In a sex-blind admissions system, those qualified men and women with the most impartial attitudes toward accepting a male or female certainly would be more desirable for the admissions office. Also, it might be necessary to rewrite the standard application forms in order to eliminate as many sex indicators as possible. It would be necessary to step up the active recruitment of women to par with the present recruitment of men. Whatever the changes, revisions in the admissions process are a must if sex-blind admissions becomes a reality.

What are the implications of a policy that falls short of sex-blind admissions? One complaint constantly heard at Yale deals with the alienation of Yale women. Due to their small numbers and the fact that they are split up throughout the university. Yale women tend to become isolated from other women and frustration often takes hold. Noting the Wellesley recently voted to stay all-female, many Yale women say there always will be groups of women who prefer to be isolated with their own sex. But the source of alienation at Yale, they say, stems not from the desire of women to band together, but from the institution not being able to handle them equally, due to a discriminatory admissions policy which holds down their numbers.

Many women accuse Yale of being a harsh mirror of the world outside. They say that Yale has not obligated itself to educating men and women together on an equal footing and with equal numbers. If the real world is to realize the potential of its women, then where else can it begin but in its highest institutions of learning? As one girl put it. "Never have I heard of a girl at Yale who wishes she was somewhere else. But never have I heard one ever say she was really contest with Yale." Yale men share the same complaint.

And Harvard? The shrinks at UHS preside over a daily procession of H. R discontents. Countless grievances have been aired that Radcliffe women feel alienated and frustrated. Large numbers of men (and some women) voice dissatisfaction with their sex lives, caught in the certainly that tomorrow will find Harvard as unnatural as yesterday.

An empirical survey of Yale was recently published in New Haven. It provided preliminary results of four surveys designed to collect information and opinion about Yale College from alumni, faculty, upperclassmen and freshmen. It found that men, especially white men report dissatisfaction with their relationships with members of the opposite sex at Yale," whereas the women are reasonably satisfied. The situation reverses when students are asked about relations with "members of your own sex at Yale."

Constantly, these figures were blamed upon lack of parity in the student body. Only when numbers of men and women are equal, say the students, will both sexes experience relative content with each other and with their education. The same sentiments are expressed at Harvard, but in such a restrained manner that few hear, much less react, Bok's 2.5:1 ratio plan has diffused student discontent to a point where vocal students only experience futility when they speak out.

OVERCROWDING IS another main cause of the recent push for equal admissions at Yale. Kingman Brewster, president of Yale University, allowed the admittance of over 300 women in this year's class while keeping that of men constant at just over 1000. The size of the present freshman class, 1350 projects an eventual undergraduate population of 5400 which most feel will result in an intolerable over crowding in the classrooms and the housing.