A one-page article advertising the upcoming Public Affairs Symposium in The Dickinsonian featured brief glimpses at the views of the symposium's speakers on "New Morality" and included a cartoon that was intended to capture some of the issues under discussion. In the cartoon, a man approaches a woman, saying, "Look baby, you are living during the modern Sex-u-al Revolution. This is the New Morality! So take of fyoru dress and smile, sweetheart, you're in the Pepsi generation!" The woman counters the man, explaining that women have needs as well.
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The 1966 Public Affairs Symposium, writes Barry Rascover in an article in The Dickinsonian, would investigate the "rapidly changing value system of today's generation" from February 6-9. Rascover emphasized Betty Friedan and Evelyn Duvall's dialogue on "Feminine Fulfillment in a Changing Morality" as the highlight of the symposium. While Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique in order to critique the myth of marital bliss, Dr. Duvall defended premarital chastity and consulted to social and religious agencies.
Many of the Letters to the Editor in an issue of The Dickinsonian addressed the censorship that the president of the college practiced by preventing publication of the newspaper in response to the cartoon on "The New Morality." Susan Jagielio complained of the outright censorship the president had practiced, and John Exdell called the action the "height of bureaucratic callousness."
A Letter to the Editor in the February 25, 1966 issue of the Dickinsonian critiqued the behavior of the Music Room sergeant. According to "Janettja," the sergeant was trespassing on the privacy of students who frequented the music room by addressing them with phrases like "Cut the passion" and "No love-making in the Union" in response to a "friendly kiss."
A cartoon in The Dickinsonian humorously depicts curfew rules for co-ed students. With "Modern-Day Cinderella" at the bottom, the cartoon shows a befuddled-looking prince who watches as a young woman steps into a pumpkin carriage with only one shoe. The clock tower in the background appears to strike eleven o' clock with the words "Bong, Bong" next to it.
An editorial in The Dickinsonian criticizes campus social rules, especially those that pertain to women. The author insists that students are capable of behaving well and gives the example of the faculty allowing women visitors upstairs in fraternities, which "did not result in an upsurge of pregnancies." The editorial calls upon the Women's Interdormitory Council to extend these curfews on weekends to bring Dickinson's policies in line with comparable schools. The author also believes that the college should allow drinking upstairs in the fraternity when women are not present.
In a letter to the editor for The Dickinsonian, David I. Thompson, M.D. discussed the availability of the Pill as the reason for greater "indulgence" in premarital intercourse but explained that most local physicians would not prescribe the Pill to unmarried women. Thompson claimed that "bastardy with its many ramifications of mother, father and grandparent agitation frequently gives the child a hard start in life and a hard start in emotional aspects...." He also reported a serious problem with venereal disease.
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.
In "The Unparalleled Men's Magazine: 'Vogue,'" David Bedick refers to an article in the previous issue of The Dickinsonian and uses it as a springboard for a satirical piece on Vogue as a men's magazine. Bedick jokes that Vogue "does away with mere pretentions to literary-philosophical offerings and concentrates, instead, on presenting page after page of the most beautiful women in the world."
“A Pocketful of Rulesâ€, one of the various pamphlets published by the
Women’s Interdormitory Council in conjunction with the Dean of Women,
dictated the rules, regulations, and “proper behavior†that all women
attending Dickinson College were required to adhere to. First published
in 1964, “A Pocketful of Rules,†specifically outlined procedures and
rules of behavior that women were expected to follow in their dormitory
life and translate into their social life. It was particularly created
to target first year women and guide their adolescent behavior into
Added to the 1966 version of the "A Pocketful of Rules" guidebook are the regulations on senior key privilege. The senior key privilege allows senior women to sign out a key after closing hour. Seniors may sign out keys on a first come-first serve basis and must return by 3am. Other women in the dormitory (roommate or hallmate) must check to see that the senior has returned by 3am. If discovered that the senior idoes not show up or fails to abide by the 3am curfew, the other women in the dormitory are obligated to report the infraction to the dormitory president.
To further prove that Phi Mu’s refusal to allow a bid to go to an African American student was unjust, the creators of the soon-to-be Alpha Delta Epsilon sorority included in their scrapbook the membership statement of Phi Mu.
In addition to the borrowed tunes from Phi Mu that contribute to the spirit of the new Alpha Delta Epsilon, an original song, entitled ‘Warmth,’ was composed and seems to “typify ADE to all sisters.â€
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The new chapter of Alpha Delta Epsilon sorority documents a new design for their pledge pins, ribbons and their flower for pledgeship in their scrapbook.
In the spring semester of 1967, the Beta Delta Chapter of the Phi Mu fraternity was preparing to offer bids for new members. In order to release bids and begin pledging, bid recommendations had to be signed by the District Recommendations Counselor, Mary Horst. After her request of the “racial statuses†of each of the recommended girls and being informed that one of the girls, Bobbie Swain, was of the “Negroid race,†Horst refused to sign the recommendation for said girl.
“A Pocketful of Rulesâ€, one of the various pamphlets published by the
Women’s Interdormitory Council in conjunction with the Dean of Women,
dictated the rules, regulations, and “proper behavior†that all women
attending Dickinson College were required to adhere to. First published
in 1964, “A Pocketful of Rules,†specifically outlined procedures and
rules of behavior that women were expected to follow in their dormitory
life and translate into their social life. It was particularly created
to target first year women and guide their adolescent behavior into
Added to the 1967 version of the "A Pocketful of Rules" guidebook are
the regulations on junior key privilege. The junior key privilege
allows junior women to sign out a key after dormitory closing hour on Friday or Saturday nights. Juniors may sign out keys on a first come-first serve basis and must
return by 3am. Other women in the dormitory (roommate or hallmate) must
check to see that the junior has returned by 3am. Violations of the 3am curfew made by the junior result in demerits and are reported to the dormitory president.
An entire page in the Alpha Delta Epsilon scrapbook is dedicated for the creed of the new organization.
Within a week after declaring their disassociation with the National Phi Mu organization and their founding of the locally autonomous, Alpha Delta Epsilon, the sisters went to work on writing ceremonies, by-laws, and songs for the new group. Included in the ADE scrapbook is sheet music for the group’s songs, which they humorously say they sometimes “borrowed†from Phi Mu.
Pictured here is the original crest of the new sorority, Alpha Delta Epsilon, which is illustrated in ADE's scrapbook.
On October 4, 1967, the President of the Beta Delta Chapter of Phi Mu writes a formal letter to the National President of the fraternity, Rebecca Peterson. The Beta Delta Chapter writes to inform Peterson that there has been a unanimous vote “to dissolve its ties with the national fraternity,†and become “locally autonomous in light of the difference of opinions concerning membership policies.â€
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An article in a local newspaper documents the end of Dickinson College’s association with the national fraternity, Phi Mu. The article says that the Beta Delta Chapter of Phi Mu voted unanimously on September 25 to disassociate with the national organization, and the former chapter “will continue as a new local women’s fraternity, Alpha Delta Epsilon.†The article includes comments from Diane Obersheimer, Alpha Delta Epsilon’s president, Dean Gillespie, the Dean of Students, and Dickinson’s President, President Howard Rubendall.
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The new members of the Alpha Delta Epsilon Sorority received much support and praise for their courage in creating a new organization. President Howard L. Rubendall wrote to Diane Obersheimer, ADE’s President, congratulating her and her sisters on the courageous and honorable steps they took “to maintain the high integrity of the group.†The Dean of the College wished to the new sisters “a successful future†as a locally autonomous sorority.
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Barbara E. Hancock spent about six weeks during the summer of 1967 in Upper Volta, West Africa (present day Burkina Faso) where she lived with African students and helped to build a school.
Upon her return to Carlisle, Hancock became Co-Chairman of Project Africa and wrote a letter to the "clergymen of Carlisle Area Churches" in an effort to "refresh [their] memories about Project Africa" and to offer them a presentation where she would show her slides and give a brief talk about her experiences.
Paul E. Kaylor, Dickinson College's Chaplain at the time, wrote this letter to the Operation Crossroads Africa headquarters in New York City in December of 1967 to endorse Dickinson's two applicants for the year, Dorothy Lynne Cole and Barry Eugene Taylor. Kaylor recommends both students enthusiastically, writing "they are, as the reference forms indicate, young people of the highest order and will [...] prove to be excellent Crossroaders."
According to an article in The Dickinsonian entitled "WIC Revises Dorm Rules for Freshmen," the Women's Interdormitory Council voted to extended freshmen women's curfew to 11:30pm Sunday through Thursday. Freshmen women, reports the article, had complained that it was difficult--nay, nearly impossible--to return from Mermaid Players rehearsal, see a late movie, or go to the snack bar if they needed to return to their dorms by 11pm.
In a letter to Dickinson College Historian Charles Coleman Sellers, Persis Longsdorff Sipple described the beginnings of coeducation. According to Persis, her father went to President McCauley and told him that he had "four daughters, who soon be ready to enter college somewhere. He finally prevailed upon him to make the decision to allow girls to be included in the student body." Thus, Persis and her sister Zatae entered the College in 1884.
This photo depicts a group of students protesting the Vietnam War. The students marched from Dickinson College past the Army War College in 1969.
This photo depicts Deborah Siegel, class of 1972, reading the names of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War. This demonstration protested America's involvement in the war.
This document consists of an outline for the talk Mary Frances Watson, Dean of Women, planned to give to female, first-year students and their parents during the 1969 orientation program. Her planned comments include:
A group of five unidentified women are captured in this photograph, circa 1969, standing alongside one of Dickinson's athletic fields and appear to be cheering.Â
The Dickinson College Chaplain Paul Kaylor wrote a letter in October of 1969 to offer the presentational services of the most-recently returned Project Africa participants.Â
Dorothy "Dottie" Cole worked with twenty other students in Sierra Leone "building a hospital in the village of Mabai which will, when completed, serve persons from a 50 mile area in that country."Â
This photo depicts two female students participating in the anti-war march. The march was organized by Dickinson students to protest Amercia's involvement in the Vietnam War.
In both the 1970-'71 and '71-'72 academic school years lists of names of Black students at Dickinson were compiled. By whom and for what purpose is unknown.
The list for 1970-'71 contains 59 names: 9 seniors, 4 juniors, 26 sophomores, and 20 freshmen.
The '71-'72 list shows an enrollment of Black students of 55, without a class-year breakdown.
Carole Litrides, Class of 1971, Little Colonel of the Pershing Rifles.
Lawrence A. Bradshaw, the advisor to the Afro-American Students of Shippensburg State College wrote a letter to Dickinson's Dean of Students, Harold R. Gillespie concerning the limited social life Black students of Shippensburg experienced. In his letter he inquires about the possibility of joint programming for Black students between the two colleges, saying that his students "express a desire to be more fully acquainted with the black students at nearby campuses."
Dickinson cheerleader, Donna Di Vincenzo, '72, does a peppy kick for the camera in this photograph circa 1970.Â
Two unidentified women very happily pose for the camera in this photograph, circa 1970, and appear to be having quite a good time being silly and kidding around with each other.
 A poem by poet Sonia Sanchez was published in the newsletter, NIA. The piece's straightforward language and tone stirs the audience and calls attention to the black perspective.
A member of the Women's Group published two lists of questions as well as an introductory statement for these questions. The questions emerged from the author's involvement with the Women's Group and human groups. The author explains that the questions "constitute a facilitating tool which draws on the fields of group dynamics...and clinical psychology." She encourages members of the group to take their time answering the questions and to work in pairs.
Examples of questions include:
What skills do I bring to the group?
On a sheet with "So we can find each other" across the top, the Women's Group lists what we can assume to be its membership roster and the locations and mail box numbers of each member.
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.
The newly-formed Women's Group issued the "Social Opinion Survey" in the hopes of learning "the opinions of students concerning the social atmosphere, the academic situation, and housing" as well as "the relationships between the sexes." The Group claimed to be issuing the survey in conjunction with Dean Mary Francis Carson. Some examples of questions in the survey include:
All other things being equal, would you prefer your present dorm to be coed in some form?
Do you feel there is a set standard or pattern for relationships with the opposite sex at Dickinson?
The Office of Student Services published a list of members of the Women's Group for the 1971-72 Academic Year. These women included: Melissa Maholick, Debby Marcus, Barbara Levering, Kathy Jaquith, Beverly Burns, Cindy Hawley, Joan Eltonhead, Millie Harden, Donna J. Young, Kerry Kushinka, Rita Donegan, Abby Adams, Jane Holloway, Linda Keppel, Sharon Jenkins, and Ann Reinberger. It also listed the contact information for these women.
The Congress of African Students (CAS) circulated it's first issue of their group's publication, "NIA-PURPOSE."
The members of the Women's Group composed a letter to professors calling for more female faculty at Dickinson College. The Women's Group writes that the foundation of coeducation presupposes that it is valuable to have both men and women students participate in the educational experience. They explain that this concept should be applied to faculty as well and cite the ratio of male to female faculty of 10:1. The male to female student ratio, by contrast, was 4:3.
Responding to Vincent Schafmeister's request for a clearer copy of the Social Opinion Survey distributed by the Women's Group, Dean of Women Mary Watson Carson procures a copy from the Women's Group and encloses it in her letter to Schafmeister.
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.
Alumni Trustee Vincent J. Schafmeister, Jr. wrote to Dean of Women Mary Francis Carson requesting a clearer copy of the Social Opinion Survey distributed by the Women's Group. Schafmeister expresses his concern over some of the questions in the survey, claiming that he would be "compelled to speak to this business at the Commencement Weekend meeting of the Board of Trustees."
President Howard L. Rubendall responded to Chauncey M. Depuy's inquiry about the Social Opinion Survey of the Women's Group. According to Rubendall, this survey represents the "first evidence" of the Women's Liberation movement at Dickinson College, but he assures Depuy that "this will have little impact on our campus, which in the main is a campus of serious students getting their parents' money's worth...." Rubendall writes that the campus has been able to adapt to the lives of students while not giving into pressures or demands.