Gateway Program Records

Collection

Identifier: 2022.003

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the initiation, promotion, administration, and enrollment of the Chatham University (then Chatham College) Gateway Program through correspondence, reports, promotional material, photographs, and other business records. The collection also documents activities of Chatham students enrolled in the Gateway Program through records of the Gateway Student Association and event flyers. The collection includes material created between 1973 and 2001 with the bulk of correspondence and administrative material dated between 1973 and 1976. Promotional material, which includes brochures, mailers, flyers, and announcements, document the target demographic of the program, the features and services available through the program, and changes made to the program from its initiation in 1973 through to the 1990s. Significant gaps exist in the collection relating to the administration of the program after the 1970s and in the records of the Gateway Student Association. Topics represented include advertisements for the Gateway Program, demographic information on those enrolled, and efforts to welcome Gateway Program students through orientation.

Dates

Creation: 1973 - 2001

Conditions Governing Access

The collection of open for research use.

Biographical / Historical

Chatham University, located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, was founded in 1869 as a women’s college. Chatham University’s (then Chatham College) Gateway Program was initiated in 1973 and applicants accepted for the first time in the 1974-1975 academic year. The Gateway Program was established to provide higher education opportunities for women over the age of 23 who had bypassed or interrupted their education due to careers or family obligations, who wished to enrich themselves beyond degrees received, and who sought to gain knowledge for their careers. Gateway Program services include discounted tuition, campus spaces to accommodate Gateway Program student needs, and on-campus housing for students and their children. The Gateway Program remains in existence.