Kathy (Evans) Hurley ’80 P’07 has the fabulous distinction of being the first woman admitted to the newly co-educational Claremont Men’s College. I believe I have the slightly less fabulous distinction of being the last man admitted in the last year of the male-only CMC. The administration may confirm or deny my claim, but I believe I am on pretty certain ground.

I took some time off after high school. Two reasons. First, I knew I was not ready to go to college and would likely fail if I did. Second, and related, I was an avid ski racer and wanted to pursue my dream of competing at the top levels in the sport. Well, after a year or so of banging nails as a carpenter under the hot sun in the summer and falling short of my fantasies on the slopes in the winter, I figured college was a good thing and that I would certainly succeed if I took that path.

So, I applied to Dartmouth and Middlebury, both highly respected ski schools on the East Coast. Because applicants got three free uses of their SAT scores, I also applied to Claremont Men’s College based on Barron’s Guide to Colleges which said there was a ski team and showed the famous picture of the college with a snow-covered Mt. Baldy in the background.

Being on my own, working as a carpenter during the day, and not really focused on all the fine points, my applications were made about a week after the application deadline.

Dartmouth and Middlebury sent me nice letters pointing out that I had missed the deadline and encouraging me to apply next year. CMC sent me a nice letter pointing out that I had missed the deadline for the fall semester, but asked if I would be willing to start as a freshman in the Spring Semester of 1976.

So, I started as a first semester freshman in January 1976. I believe that makes me dead last in the race to be the last man admitted to a male-only CMC. It also means I totally won the big race – I got to attend a great school, made only greater by the admission of Kathy and all the terrific women who followed her. Including my favorites, my wife Eileen (O’Donnell) Goodwin ’81 P’16 and our daughter Michelle Goodwin ’16.