Student Senate

In the late 80’s, Gays and Lesbians at Dickinson (GLAD), was an organization of gays, lesbians and their supporters, and sought to recognize “the presence of gay and lesbian students, faculty, staff and administrators within the Dickinson College community."  Some of the hopes of the organization, as stated in their constitution, are, among others, "to provide support for gays and lesbians, provide gays and lesbians with a college-recognized forum for voicing concerns to the administration, and to represent gay and lesbian perspectives in college political and social processes."  The consti

The report of the Student Senate Committee on Social Rules to the Faculty Committee on Social Rules was published in The Dickinsonian. The report addresses social rules that pertained to drinking downstairs in fraternities while female students were upstairs, privacy (or, as the reported defined it, the the separation of two persons of the opposite sexes from others), and what other college policies were regarding visiting hours for women. The report listed rules at other colleges, including Swarthmore, Stanford, Reed, Oberlin, Yale, and Haverford.

Dean of Women Mary Watson Carson sends a memo to Dr. Rubendall regarding the "Social Opinion Survey" of the Women's Group. She explains that she did not give permission for them to attach her name to the survey. According to the dean, the Women's Group distributed the questionnaire in residence halls and mail boxes. Dean Carson reports that the group formed early in the fall and invited some faculty women to meet with them. The same week that Carson wrote this letter, Student Senate officially recognized the group as an organization.

The Women's Group submitted a statement of purpose, criteria for memberships, rules, and list of officers to the Student Senate Committee in order to receive recognition as an official group on campus. Their purpose statement explained that they wanted to serve as a consciousness-raising group; to present films, speakers, and hold conferences that dealt with women in education or the Women's Movement; and to investigate potential discrimination at Dickinson. Any member of the Dickinson College Community could become a member, and the Women's Group would hold weekly meetings.

Interviewed by the staff of the Dickinsonian, Dean Josephine B. Meredith is quoted as saying that she liked "teaching students who provide me with such a unique response." According to the article, the dean could not analyze the reason for the students' responsiveness. She congratulated the newly-formed Chapel Committee on its chapel programs. She advised the men to organize their own student senate separate from the women's student senate. The dean's interviewer also asked whether or not she would do anything about the "eleven o' clock rule at Metzger," or the women's curfew.

In the 1923 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the issue of club expenses was discussed. In the end, the Trustees decided to divide cost based on gender.