At the same time our colleges and universities are teaching our young people how to stand on their own and come out from the shelter of their parents, we’re also teaching them to be engaged in community life, how to use their predilection for team-oriented projects to help others.

They were established in the 19th century, when women had fewer opportunities than men to earn a strong liberal arts education.

Now student leaders at the colleges still known as the "Seven Sisters," even though their number has dwindled to five, are joining forces to discuss the future of women's schools. Last weekend, they gathered in Northampton and agreed that they had an obligation to maintain the traditions upon which their institutions were founded.