The first woman to attend Indiana University did so deliberately as a pioneer for women’s education. In 1867, Sarah Parke Morrison’s father, former president of the Indiana University board of trustees, suggested to his daughter that the time had come for the university to open its doors to women. Sarah petitioned the trustees. When they found no rule preventing it, they decreed that women could attend IU on the same terms as men. 
Sarah already had a degree from Mount Holyoke Seminary and advanced study at Vassar and Williams Colleges; she had no strong desire to return to school. However, when no other woman stepped forward, the 34-year-old Sarah enrolled as a freshman rather than relinquish the victory.
Persevering in the face of often hostile attitudes, Sarah completed the four-year program in two years. In 1873 she was hired as a tutor, and the following year she became an adjunct professor of English literature—the university’s first female faculty member. Sarah later became the first alumna donor on record, when she contributed $5 to replace the university’s Record and Minute Book after it was destroyed in the Science Hall fire of 1883.
First alumna, first woman faculty member, first alumna donor, and lifelong advocate for the rights of women in academia: For all these reasons, it is fitting that Sarah Parke Morrison’s name be linked to IU’s giving society for women.
