Women's Track and Field Club

After the Women's Track and Field Club's first petition in 1981, David L. Watkins, the chairman of the Department of Physical Education, wrote to Comptroller Robert W. Belyea in 1982 urging the club's elevation to intercollegiate team status. He writes that women students have participated in the Track and Field Club for five years and have conducted "a quality program." He argues that creating this women's team would allow the college to offer nine intercollegiate sports for women in comparison to the ten for men.

At the conclusion of its letter petitioning for intercollegiate team status, the Women's Track and Field Club proposed three budget options. The first outlined a minimal budget without food, awards, or travel expenses; the second a moderate program after the model of the men's team; and the third a "high quality program separate from but equal to the men's program." The club cited the existing economic environment as the impetus behind its recommendation of the second program.

According to a petition by the Women's Track and Field Club for elevation to intercollegiate team status, the club was formed during the 1980 season. The petition juxtaposes the lack of the club's intercollegiate team status to the speed with which the Women's Cross Country Club went intercollegiate: formed in 1979, it competed in the intercollegiate capacity during the 1980 and 1981 season. As a club, Women's Track and Field had access to equipment and coaching "only through the good graces of the men's team," which was already in existence.

The constitution of the Dickinson College Women's Track and Field Club establishes the club as an organization open to women in the college community interested in participation in competitive track and field events. According to the constitution, the club formed "in response to the growing number of women taking an interest in track and field." The constitution outlines the duties of the officers and electoral and organizational procedures.