Dickinsonian

In "The View from Here," Tom Fornwalt responds to a New York Times article of April 25, 1966 that addresses the university's role in student life. According to this article, some universities surveyed were reluctant to legislate student conduct "in loco parentis," although they have been slow to adjust to the sexual revolution. University officials expressed more concern with drug use than with students' sexual behavior.

As explained in her interview, Kathleen Briner Meals class of '44 became the second editor-in-chief of the Dickinsonian. At the time this position which carried the title "Co-ed", partly because of the  lack of men around, was a title that was appointed by the school's administration.

In October of 1972 the American Association of University Professors unanimously adopted the "Recommendations and Report on the Status of Women in the Academic Profession" at Dickinson College. The primary questions concerned the number of women in decision-making roles to serve as models for the women students and the salaries of women in comparison to those of men with equal qualifications and responsibilities.

Pi Beta Phi won the President's Cup as the outstanding fraternal organization in the first year sororities were able to enter. Their victory was announced during the Homecoming Football Game in October of 1972. At the same time, the women from Drayer basement pulled off the traditional Homecoming prank and kidnapping of the duplicate mermaid which was located on the cupola of Old West. Second floor of Malcolm Hall retaliated by taking the original from the May Morris room of the library.

In 1958, The Dickinsonian was led by a female editor-in-chief, Doris Weigel. According to the Microcosm, the editor-in-chief and her staff deserves "credit for this faithful picture of Dickinson's daily life." While the managing editor was a male student, the feature editor, news editor, copy editor, and business manager were all female.

The 1945 Microcosm lists the editor-in-chief of the Dickinsonian as Nancy Person. Similar to 1944, the staff was dominated by female students in 1945 as the World War II continued to place strains on human resources at the college. Marjorie M. Arnold was the Business Manager for 1945.

In the 1944 Microcosm, the Dickinsonian is staffed mostly by female students with Kathleen Briner as the editor-in-chief. The 1943 Microcosm reveals that the Dickinsonian had mostly male students on its staff as well as a male editor-in-chief. In 1944, the description for the Dickinsonian cites the difficulties the staff faced due to wartime shortages and their efforts to send copies of the newspaper to Dickinson's servicemen.

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.

An issue of the Free Dickinsonian called for the college administration to tear down East College, or "Old East;" to require resident students, including women, to eat in the cafeteria; and to create a smoker's lounge. According to the Free Dickinsonian, there was a "new fad" during the 1940s: female smokers. Other colleges, like Williams College and Penn Hall School, had recognized this "new fad." The Free Dickinsonian argued that, in the next decade, the college should install a smoking lounge in Metzger Hall for the co-ed students.

The Dickinsonian reports that Nancy Person was elected as its next editor-in-chief and Marjorie Monroe as its next business manager at the Editorial Board Meeting of April 18, 1944. The article lists the students' previous experience with journalism: both students worked on newspaper staffs during high school and served on the Dickinsonian prior to their election.