"Value of Types"

In her essay, "History of Women at Dickinson," Dean of Women Josephine Meredith included a section entitled: "Value of Types." In it Meredith defines three types of students that attended Dickinson College. The description of each type briefly accounts for the value each group brought to the campus.

 
Types of Students:

• Boarding Students: Financially better off, the first group could afford school housing; they boarded at Metzger Hall. Meredith professed a clear preference for boarding students. Not only did Metzger (their place of residence) earn a good profit from their boarding annually, but the women tended to become loyal alumnae post-grad.
• Town Students: Students from town eventually became "pretty" loyal alumnae and benefited greatly from the extracurricular life enjoyed by boarders, because they lived nearby. In contrast to commuters, Meredith claimed that town students were "better satisfied" and "easier to control."
• Commuting Students: For commuter students it was more difficult to undergo the college experience made readily available to boarders, and to some extent to town students. Meredith asserted that commuters were "harder to control," and made for "critical, dissatisfied alumnae."