Elga Wasserman was a godsend to those of us among the first women at Yale. I went to see Elga at her office in the Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall in the fall of 1971, after more than one professor had made derogatory comments about coeducation at Yale and suggested some outrageous reasons for why women, such as myself, were there at all. I was confused by their hostility and demeaning attitudes in the university setting I revered for its dedication to critical thinking. I sought out Elga as the highest ranking woman at Yale, designated to advise us early women students. Like her, I also was raised in an immigrant family that left Europe before the wars with Germany. Elga was warm and welcoming, and encouraged me to honor my appetite for intellectual rigor and do not forget the "sense of self" that enabled women to persevere in a predominantly male setting. I never will forget her and wish her to know she helped change my life and attitudes at Yale.
Elga Wasserman was a godsend to those of us among the first women at Yale. I went to see Elga at her office in the Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall in the fall of 1971, after more than one professor had made derogatory comments about coeducation at Yale and suggested some outrageous reasons for why women, such as myself, were there at all. I was confused by their hostility and demeaning attitudes in the university setting I revered for its dedication to critical thinking. I sought out Elga as the highest ranking woman at Yale, designated to advise us early women students. Like her, I also was raised in an immigrant family that left Europe before the wars with Germany. Elga was warm and welcoming, and encouraged me to honor my appetite for intellectual rigor and do not forget the "sense of self" that enabled women to persevere in a predominantly male setting. I never will forget her and wish her to know she helped change my life and attitudes at Yale.