Whereas American women’s colleges, founded more than 250 years ago to create access and opportunity for women in higher education, and the 30 remaining institutions in our Nation continue to operate toward that noble mission to this day; Whereas the number of American women’s colleges have decreased from 230 institutions in the 1960s to only 30 operating today; Whereas America’s women’s colleges have historically played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in the life of the Nation; Whereas women’s colleges have played a hard-fought role in the history of the United States of America by forging the first means for higher educational parity for women of our Nation; Whereas women’s colleges have been particularly important in the establishment of early charitable, philanthropic, and cultural institutions in our Nation; Whereas our Nation’s women’s colleges enroll high numbers of diverse student populations and first-generation students, thereby addressing our Nation’s need for socioeconomic mobility as well as a more diverse workforce; Whereas 60 percent of women’s colleges have a higher than national average of Pell recipients, thus continuing their mission of serving the underserved of the Nation; Whereas the percent of bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields conferred to American women of color is significantly higher at women’s colleges than co-ed liberal arts colleges; Whereas women’s colleges are singularly focused on the advancement of women by providing exceptional leadership opportunities and experiences which empower women and prepare them for success in a global society; Whereas women’s colleges present a unique and individualized learning experience for their students, delivering well-qualified women to our Nation’s labor force; and Whereas, despite this, the role of women’s colleges in history has been consistently overlooked and undervalued, in the engagement, elevation of, and representation in our Nation’s higher education system: Now, therefore, be it