Evan McGlinn for The New York Times
Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., began admitting girls in 1973. More Photos »
ANDOVER, Mass. — When the elite Phillips Academy here went coed in 1973, some worried that women would quickly take over this venerable institution, the alma mater of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Samuel Morse and Humphrey Bogart, not to mention both Presidents George Bush.
In short order, the number of girls in the student ranks did roughly equal the number of boys. The faculty today is more than half female. And until her retirement last summer, the head of school was a woman, for nearly two decades.
And yet some of the young women at the 235-year-old prep school feel that Andover, as it is commonly called, has yet to achieve true gender equality. They expressed this concern several weeks ago in a letter to the student newspaper, The Phillipian, and like a match to dry tinder, it set off a raging debate that engulfed the campus.
The proximate cause of concern was the election, held Wednesday, for the top student position, called school president. Since 1973, only four girls have been elected, most recently in 2004. (The other top student position, that of editor in chief of the newspaper, has had nine girls and 33 boys.)
The letter writers said this was an embarrassment, especially at a school considered so progressive. The paucity of girls in high-profile positions, they said, leaves younger students with few role models and discourages them from even trying for the top.
But the broader concern involved age-old questions of whether men and women could ever achieve equality, the nature of sexism and the nature of a meritocracy, which Andover very much purports to be.
"Right off the bat, it's not a meritocracy for girls," said Maia Hirschler, 19, a senior from New York City. "They're starting behind because we don't associate leadership qualities with them."
John G. Palfrey Jr., the headmaster, said in an interview that Andover was only a reflection of other schools and society at large as it grappled with these issues. "We do not live in a post-gender, post-race, post-class society," he said. "Girls have not had equal access to top leadership positions."
In an attempt to improve the chances of electing a girl president this year, the school dropped the single presidency in favor of two co-presidents.
Many more girls did enter the race, all with boy partners. One team was made up of two boys. Over the last several weeks, the finalists were winnowed down to a girl/boy team against the all-boy team.
Both teams said the race became ugly in ways they had not expected. Clark Perkins, 17, from Fairfield, Conn., and Junius Onome Williams, 16, from Newark, said they felt attacked for simply being boys.
"We had to grapple with this on a political level but also a moral and personal level," said Mr. Williams, who said he aspires to become secretary general of the United Nations. "We had to ask ourselves, 'Am I doing an injustice to the female members of this school?' "
They decided they were not and said they would "not apologize for not filling a gender-balance quota." Mr. Williams, who is black, noted that gender was only one demographic category. "Since 1973 there have been only four females, but African-Americans have been admitted since 1865, and we've had only three black presidents," he said.
Mr. Williams and Mr. Perkins faced Farris Peale, 17, of Seattle, and Ben Yi, 18, of South Korea.
Ms. Peale said that she had been Mr. Williams' campaign manager — until he chose to run with Mr. Perkins. "He picked a boy and I got mad, so I decided to run myself," she said. "Junius picked Clark because he thought he would appeal most to girls who think he's cute, and to jocks."
After the votes were counted Wednesday night, the boys won (the tally was not made public). Ms. Peale said she was disappointed but did not see the outcome as setting back the cause, only making it more urgent.
"This can be used as momentum to get a girl in office next year," she said. "Fewer girls try to get ahead because of a mentality in our culture that says boys have better leadership skills. But you have to put yourself out there."
On the afternoon of the vote, a warm spring day, many students were outside, some tossing a Frisbee, others sitting around on the manicured lawns.
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