SEVEN SISTERS

formally Seven Colleges Conference consortium of seven highly prestigious private institutions of higher education in the northeastern United States. Its members include Barnard (affiliated with Columbia University), Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe (part of Harvard University), Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley colleges. The consortium traces its origins to a conference held at Vassar College in 1915. The participantswhich included Vassar, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Wellesleydiscussed ways of improving their fund-raising efforts. A second conference at Bryn Mawr in 1925 was followed by conferences at Barnard and Radcliffe in 1926; by then the name Seven Sisters had become associated with the group. In addition to seeking financial contributions, the schools now discuss admissions criteria, academic standards, and common goals. At the time of the consortium's inception, all of its members were women's colleges; two schoolsRadcliffe and Vassarhave since become coeducational.