After midnight on a rainy night recently, a large group of sorority women squeezed into the corner booth of a gritty basement bar. Bathed in a neon glow, they splashed beer from pitchers, traded jokes and belted out lyrics to a heartache anthem thundering overhead. As a night out, it had everything - except guys.
'This is so typical, like all nights, 10 out of 10,' said Kate Andrew, a senior from Albemarle. The experience has grown tiresome: They slip on tight-fitting tops, hair sculpted, makeup just so, all for the benefit of one another, Andrew said, 'because there are no guys.'"
UNC-Chapel Hill, with a student body that is nearly 60 percent female, is just one of many large universities that at times feel eerily like women's colleges. Women have represented about 57 percent of enrollments at American colleges since at least 2000, according to a recent report by the American Council on Education. Researchers cite several reasons: Women tend to have higher grades; men tend to drop out in disproportionate numbers; and female enrollment skews higher among older students, low-income students, and black and Hispanic students.
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