When Mary Crouter ’79 first stepped onto campus, she wasn’t imagining herself as a student. She was 10 years old, tagging along during her brother’s visit in the summer of 1972. Her family had just moved from Philadelphia to a ranch in Wyoming, and Fountain Valley was part of her brother’s next chapter… not hers.

“It was beautiful. The mountains. The horses. Coming from a ranch, those things felt like home.”

But over time, as she returned for Family Weekends and her brother’s graduation, something shifted. Fountain Valley had just made the decision to go coed. Suddenly, the school wasn’t just her brother’s place. It could be hers, too.

By the time Mary arrived as a sophomore, in just the school’s second year of coeducation, she felt ready for something bigger than her small-town high school in Dubois, Wyoming.

“I realized I wanted more,” she says. 

More than anything, she remembers the atmosphere.

“I think I felt instantly at home there. I remember it… it had this feeling, it was very cozy.”

Still, arriving as a 15-year-old boarding student was a leap. She skipped the first year of coeducation — her mother wasn’t quite ready to send her off during that transitional year — but by the time she enrolled, there was already a critical mass of girls on campus.

She was homesick at first. That part was hard. But she found her footing.

Teachers Who Altered Her Path

Mary says many teachers influenced her, especially those in the history department.  She remembers Mr. Waples and Mr. Thorp as excellent and encouraging teachers who made a lasting impact on her.

An Interim Expedition to Washington, D.C., complete with a visit to the Supreme Court and a meeting with the late Justice Byron White, was a pivotal moment in Mary’s life.

“I think that's when I started thinking maybe I would go to law school, or get a PhD in history. I wasn't quite sure, but that was sort of the exposure for me, the first exposure to law.”

Mr. Thorp’s art history class also stuck with Mary.

“Now, as an adult, I love going to museums, and I credit him… with teaching me how to appreciate art. Now, it's such a big part of my life.”

Even challenging experiences mattered. She went spelunking in the Ozarks on an Interim Expedition.

“It was so scary… I have terrible claustrophobia. But those experiences were just kind of stretching.”

Her advice to students today about Interim?

“I would encourage them to challenge themselves rather than to see it as a vacation.”

Leadership and Community

At Fountain Valley, Mary tried nearly everything.

She played soccer and field hockey, opportunities not available to her in Wyoming.

“I was not an athlete… I was more of the Most Improved Player type,” she laughed “And that's what counts. I learned something new.”

She participated in theater and choir, and she became deeply involved in student government, even helping to draft a community constitution for FVS.

When asked what made Fountain Valley different, she points to the vast resources and high expectations from faculty. Living together also shaped her experience.

“When you go away to boarding school, you learn that your friends are your family. So, you learn to really make a community.”

She built friendships across grade levels and valued both being mentored and mentoring others.

“One thing I really appreciated about Fountain Valley is I had the opportunity to be mentored by older students, but also then to turn around and be a mentor and a support to younger people… I think that happens when you all live together.”

Coeducation in Practice

When asked about the challenges of being among the early female students, Mary reflects carefully.

“When I look back on it, it's remarkable how few challenges there were. The School seemed prepared for us… and the boys had settled down,” she laughed.

But the experience was empowering.

“I got to be a leader, and I had all these great faculty members, including a number of men who were in my corner.” 

In a school that had only recently become coeducational, that steady support — and the freedom to participate fully in everything — mattered more than any formal program or policy.

“When I got to Fountain Valley, it was like, ‘Ooh, I have potential.’”

Beyond Fountain Valley

After graduating in 1979, Mary attended Stanford University, where she majored in history. She later earned her law degree from Yale Law School.

She served as an Assistant Attorney General for Texas from 1991 to 2005 and later taught at the University of Texas School of Law. She is now in her second full year of retirement.

Looking back, she believes Fountain Valley set her up well for college and beyond.

“When I got to college, I was really prepared and could hit the ground running and do well… I had to write a lot at FVS, and my writing had been critiqued, so I was a strong writer.”

In law school, she encountered a different dynamic.

“Gender was not at all an issue at Fountain Valley or in college, but when I got to law school, suddenly the men were talking all the time in class, and women were silent.”

She and her classmates organized to address it.

“We coalesced as a group to kind of critique this, to identify the problem, to brainstorm solutions. We presented to the faculty. We actually presented at the American Association of Law Schools annual meeting.”

Her confidence to speak up, she believes, was shaped earlier.

“During my experience at Fountain Valley, I never felt gender was at all an issue. I just really felt supported and championed.”

Her Message to Today’s Students

Mary sees Fountain Valley as a unique opportunity.

“I think it's such a privilege to go to a small school with a lot of resources.”

Her advice is practical and direct:

“As much as you can, figure out who you are, what your strengths are, what you enjoy doing… You're a big fish in a little pond at Fountain Valley, but the pond gets bigger.”

That kind of self-knowledge, she suggests, starts with being honest about who you are, and actually living as yourself.

“I think that was one thing that was awesome about Fountain Valley — we all could just be ourselves.”

As Fountain Valley marks 50 years of coeducation, Mary’s story reflects what those early years made possible: opportunity, leadership, and the space to discover one’s potential.

As we celebrate 50 years of co-education, we're seeking stories of the women who have played a positive role in your FVS experience. Please share below a woman of FVS that had a positive impact on your life HERE.