Why ‘the Coed’ Vanished From Campus Language

Where are the coeds of yesteryear?

Colleges used to be filled with them. Throughout the past two centuries, in fact, college after college that had never had coeds before suddenly was populated with them.

But ask a current college student — at least, the ones I recently asked — if they know the word coed, and they say yes: coed basketball, coed dorms, and the like.

Right. But have they ever met a person called a coed? Their answer is a puzzled — What? No, they haven’t. They are astonished when ...