Vuilleumier, Frances

Frances Vuilleumier (Class of 1924) describes in an interview how she met her husband, Ernest Albert Vuilleumier, in her chemistry class. The current dean placed her in the class, and according to Frances, "being new, I required a good deal of assistance, you know, so somehow or other..." Professor Vuilleumier, who chaperoned dances, sent a note to Frances inviting her to a fraternity dance. Frances explains that it was acceptable for female students to date professor as "it had happened before." Previously, President James Henry Morgan married a student.

Frances Vuilleumier (Class of 1924) explains in an interview that her sorority, Phi Mu, did not extend membership to black or Jewish students, adding that there "was probably some[one] else we didn't allow." Calling Phi Mu exclusive, she explains that these practices were normal during that period. She points to the 1960s as the decade in which "they didn't stand for that anymore," although the national chapter of some sororities, according to Vuilleumer, still prevented the pledging of minority women.