As CTW class has gone on this quarter, I have been immersing myself in the research process. I have spent the past two class periods in the archives doing actual archival research. After examining many sources and finding some solid evidence, I have finally figured out what I want my research question to be.

How did the addition of females change the culture at Santa Clara University?

When our class first went to the archives on the third floor of the library, I had no idea what to expect. I did not really know what topic I wanted to write about, I did not know what type of materials we would be looking at, and I had no clue what an archive was going to be like. The first day of class in the archives was interesting. The professor who looked over the research explained in detail what the materials were that were sprawled all over the desks in this library room. The bookcases lining the walls were stuffed with books and there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of research in just one place. Apparently, that is only part of the research the archive has collected. I did in-depth examination of each tables’ materials. The materials I found most interesting were the older articles, in particular the ones pertaining to the culture of Santa Clara University. One of the tables had multiple books all flipped to articles and documents about the addition of women into Santa Clara University and how that affected the University. These resources caught my attention. I was interested to see how changing from an all male school to a coed institution affect the students, teachers, and the school itself. For example, the Graham dormitory was at one time a residence hall for only girls. This topic interests me because I have a personal connection to this topic. I went to an all guys high school. In my mind, it would be crazy to imagine girls being added to my old high school. The changes my high school would undergo would be immense. It is interesting for me to see the changes Santa Clara underwent after the addition of females to the University.

The research I found pertaining to Santa Clara University and its addition of female students was varied in opinion. On one hand, many articles wrote about the joy and excitement there was over the addition of girls to the university. On the other hand, some articles argued adding females was breaking tradition and changing the true meaning of Santa Clara. Through my researching I hope to gain a better insight on the general opinion of students about the transition to a coed university. I am excited about the research I gathered from the archives. I have a different variation of types of sources and I have sources from different arguments of the topic. My research is all relative to my topic and highlights insightful points about the time period, the culture, and the changes that were all happening at Santa Clara University.