Seeking a healthy return: The nation's oldest continually operated women's college opts for a bold new direction.

• Date: 01 May 2022
• Author: Mopman, Ebony L.

The concept that girls and women should undertake a vigorous education wasn't a prevailing theme in colonial America when Salem Academy and College opened in 1772. UNC Chapel Hill, the first public university in the U.S., admitted students in 1795 but didn't enroll women in a regular academic year until 1897.

However, the fundamental tenet of empowering women still drives the Winston-Salem institution as it celebrates its 250th anniversary.

President Summer Johnson McGee, who joined Salem last July, is aiming to revitalize the women's college and boarding school for high school girls by changing its focus to an exclusive emphasis on health-related fields and academic and co-curricular experiences concentrating on science, technology, engineering and math.

Like many small private colleges, Salem faces a battle for survival as U.S. high school graduations plateau. Declining enrollment over the past decade pressured its $20 million annual budget, which put...