The following recommendation was made by the president and administrative staff of Grove College, a private institution, to the college's governing committee.
"We recommend that Grove College preserve its century-old tradition of all-female education rather than admit men into its programs. It is true that a majority of faculty members voted in favor of coeducation, arguing that it would encourage more students to apply to Grove. But 80 percent of the students responding to a survey conducted by the student government wanted the school to remain all female, and over half of the alumnae who answered a separate survey also opposed coeducation. Keeping the college all female will improve morale among students and convince alumnae to keep supporting the college financially."
Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

In this argument, the author states that sustaining an all-female tradition in Grove College will enhance morale among students and keep alumnae financially aiding the institution. While seemly persuasive, the argument is unconvincing for several reasons.
To begin with, the argument rests on a survey mentioning eighty percent of the respondents are prone to have school to be all female. However, the recommendation does not provide further evidence that the students under survey are representatives of the whole, thus leaving possibility that a considerably small part of all students participated in the survey. Even if all students were involved, the argument might have to cite evidence that the results are what the students truly feel. Lacking evidence above, the result of the survey is open to doubt.
Secondly, simply citing another survey conducted on alumnae, more than fifty percent of whom protested men to be admitted into programs, the author unfairly established a cause-and-effect relationship between the survey result and alumnae’s refusal to patron their mother college. Lacking solid evidence, the author cannot assume that this survey is carried out on all alumnae, if true, then the author would have to provide further data that the former will no doubt cause the latter.
In addition, the passage recommends that all-female education will boost morale without defining the term “morale” in the context. Therefore, it is highly likely that morale refers to the satisfaction of present students or the students who took the survey instead of prospective ones who wish to apply to Grove College. And the morale among future students determines whether or not alumnae donate to the college. If the prospective students’ morale declines, alumnae would be no longer willing to aid the college. Even if this possibility has been denied, the author would have to list additional evidence proving that alumnae will surely make the donations.
In sum, although the recommendation seems plausible at first glance, the conclusion is flawed for above outlined reasons.