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Show f ty 8A The Salt Lake Tribune Sunday, July 13, 1904 After Lengthy Fight, Special School for Boys Prepares to Welcome Girls EDITOR'S NOTE Girard College woi set up soon otter the United States declared Its independence p a speclol school for poor white mole orphan children' It has pone through years of court tests on Posed racial discrimination and now girls are Petng odmftted, too. ' By Lee Linder Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA Shawn Mathis is no philosopher at age 8, but he is a realist. So while classmates giggle and protest, he says he cant wait until September when girls will be admitted to Girard College for the first time in 133 years. "tlike them, Shawn says during a break in his third-gradclass. I think Girard will be better with girls, even though sometimes they are - e pests. Some of his classmates at the private school didnt seem as sure. I might like them, but they are going to bother me, says Hebru Brown, 8. Adds Kendrick Hernandez, 9: "It will probably be OK, probably more fun with boys and girls than just boys. Founder Said No Admitting girls to a school built strictly for boys is definitely not the choice of the founder, whose grave is tree-lineon the well-kepstone campus surrounded by a t, 10-fo- ot wall. It is the fruit of a sex discrimination suit. Stephen Girard, a French-bor- n merchant and banker, left the bulk of his fortune 154 years ago for a private school for "poor male white orphan children. But advocates of change say the spirit of Girard's bequest remains, even if his will has not been followed to the letter over the years. "Enrollment of indigent girls is consistent with Girards charitable intent to educate and maintain eco- nomically disadvantaged young people, says Susan Cary Nicholas, a Women's Law Project lawyer who at- tacked, and upset, the boys-onl- poli- y cy. Billion-Dolla- r Endowment The free boarding school was built with a $6 million bequest in 1848 and is now worth more than $1 billion. Today, it educates, houses and feeds 500 poor children from age 6 to 18 at an annual cost per student of $16,000. At its peak, the school enrolled 1,732 in the 1930s. The low was 256 students in 1977. Throughout the 20th century, the courts have adapted Girards manhanddate, contained in a written will dated 1830, to meet changing times. "People are upset that a will can be changed by a court, but this is a charitable bequest, and when it cannot be carried out exactly, then changes can be made, says Thomas Gaffney, solicitor for the school. e, Orphans, as Girard set it down to mean "no parents at all, first was expanded to "fatherless boys, then to motherless boys. In 1977 a judge held that applicants could be "functional orphans if their natural parent or par- - Associated Press Photo ents didn't furnish proper maintenance, care or supervision. These students include children from homes broken by divorce, headed by an unwed mother or burdened by at least one handicapped or ill parent. The biggest battle of the will, however, was over integration, since Girard left his fortune when slavery was still practiced. Hard-FougBattle The movement to admit blacks in the courts and on was hard-fougpicket lines for more than a decade. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of those who marched in protest in the 1960s, once calling the stone wall around the school, located today in the heart of a black neighborhood, "a kind of Berlin wall to keep the colored children out. In 1968, the U S. Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal to bar admission because of race; blacks have been admitted ever since. Girls challenged the will last year and won when courts held that Girard must lose its single sex status under Pennsylvania's equal rights law. The decision was expected. Several years earlier the Hershey School, founded by chocolate millionaire Mil-to- n Hershey in a will similar to Girard's, began admitting girls. Dr. John Lander, president of the school since 1976 and an alumnus, says the change to coed will be wonderful. ' i Influence Leveling Girls will bring some kind of leveling influence and having them grow up here will provide a positive thing, says Lander, who once taught French and Spanish at Girard before becoming principal of suburban Collingdale High School and former dean of West Chester Universitys School of Education. Admission of girls will start in grades 1 to 4, between ages 6 and 10. So far, 57 applications have been received. Sharone Gray, the South Philadelphia girl who filed the sex challenge suit, wont be among those admitted because shes now 14. We admit one out of four boys who apply and we expect about the same for the girls, Lander says. The criteria include: a normal IQ; good physical condition; financial need; meet the court definition of an orphan, and have no serious behavior problems. Students come mainly from the Philadelphia area, but Girard accepts applications from every state. Lander says an expensive renovation project will limit the first group of girls to 60, and that it likely will allow enrollment to grow to around Brian Fridiam, 8, is sure girls will be annoying when Girard disputes. College turns coed. He foresees television-watchin- g shop w i. t: k D a vs i o - 9 ht 750. We have two swimming pools and we had to create a girls locker room, S A t. .,, v , 4,frjr, '- - v,' 7 - , ? ' - YvYCHyY ; ..-- Associated Press Photo Some of young students frolic in front of Hall at Girard College in Phila- - 0 - When speakers are asked to talk are invited they on moral, spiritual and ethical topics in an manner, says Edith Feld, assistant to the president. No minister is allowed on campus, even those who happen to be Girard College alumni. GRAPHIC EO.UM.IZER. AMPLIFIER WATT in educating poor children was to make sure they were taught facts and things, rather than words or signs. He stipulated that no minister or officer or any religious sect participate in any activities on the school property. Girard says the restriction wasnt I religious symbols and is addressed solely by laymen. Though Girard has a magnificent in the ceiling chapel, with gold-lea- f and stained-glas- s windows, it has no Girards main desire A Y school for delphia. The phan boys will admit girls in September. ld meant to cast any reflection on any sect or person but to keep the tender minds of the orphans, who are to derive advantage from this bequest, free from the excitement which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce. shower room and lavatories, Lander says. Our aim is to try to create as nearly a normal family situtation as we can. We intend to keep boys and girls together except for bathing and sleeping. As the girls get older we will have to build a separate dormitory. Girard College operates on a $7 million budget, the annual income from the original endowment that has grown to more than $120 million. Girard, whose only child died at an early age, made his fortune in his adopted city as ship captain, merchant and banker. TURD i -- 7 8 AN D Ojoo WITH iillfilflllB FN3ER W. LED . SUOOESTEO. RCTA L VSCP .Wcraa I SxPlHES C 6. 1. StD SUN O D A V. Reg. 24.99 Levi's presents the new ' 501 denim jeans! Wear them the same day you buy them and enjoy! You'll know exactly how your Levi's' 501 jeans will fit before you ever leave the store. They're still the famous styling that youve relied on for jeans with the button years, now theyre better than ever because they fit from the first. 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