The Co-Ed Revolution

The Co-Ed Revolution is the seventh era of the unofficial interhall football chronology. It begins in 1972, when the University of Notre Dame became a co-ed institution. It ends in 1992, the last year before the introduction of the Power Poll.

For the first 130 years of its existence, the University of Notre Dame was a male-only institution. That all changed in 1972, when the university admitted its first group of women to campus. The addition of female undergraduates had major implications on the interhall football program. The Women's Interhall Football League (WIFL) had to be established for the incoming class. Badin and Walsh became the first of many historic men's halls to be converted into female dormitories. Although posthumous reports indicate that the first women on campus took up interhall football immediately, no WIFL games were recorded by the Observer until the 1974 championship game. Even then, coverage of the women's league was scant throughout the first decade of its existence. The fight for recognition of the WIFL would become a persistent topic of social and athletic debate in the years to come.

In 1974, there were five teams competing in the WIFL. By 1980, membership had grown to seven, and by the end of the era, thirteen teams represented the league in yearly play. In contrast, the men's league fell from twenty eligible teams in 1971 to fifteen by 1973. Many teams were forced to consolidate with other male halls, which were promptly obliterated by the football factories in Dillon, Morrissey, and Keenan Halls. 

Key Developments

• The Women's Interhall Football League (WIFL) is established!

• Many male halls convert to accommodate women instead, and a few women's halls convert to men when needed

• A certain stability defines the two leagues.