Race relations

A group of Dickinson students attempted to form a Korean Students Association in 1985. The members (their actual names are unknown at this point) stated the purpose of the group as follows:
1. Provide Korean culture and encourage Asian awareness on campus
2. Express Asian concern regarding minority affairs
3. Add a different dimension to minority awareness and involvement on campus
4. Provide a social and cultural outlet for Koreans on campus

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."

Sponsored by the Congress of African Students (CAS), the 3rd Annual Black Student Union Conference was held at Dickinson on September 27, 1980.The Conference's keynote speaker was Dr. Marion Oliver, who spoke on the topic of "1980's: Challenge to Succeed" in the Social Hall. After Dr. Oliver's address, attendees of the Conference broke off into small discussion groups, ate a buffet dinner, and then had a "Disco" as a closing social event.

Su Kenderdine, a Dickinson senior, spent 11 weeks in Barbour County, Alabama volunteering with SCOPE (Summer Community Organization for Political Education). Kenderdine joined other Northern college students in the South with the goal of helping "Negroes better their lives by arousing an interest in education and government." As part of their work, Kenderdine and other SCOPE volunteers set up schools in counties across the South and tried to "better job opportunities for Southern Negroes."

The only foreign student at Dickinson during the 1962-3 year was Hsiao Mei Tsou from Singapore. She remarks in this article on the differences between America and Singapore, most notably that girls never talked to boys back home. Very studious, she works often in the library but wishes that it were open later, but finds the Dickinson students very helpful. In Singapore, about half of children go to school and even less complete post secondary education. Hsaio loves the United States and thinks she wants to stay after graduation.

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.

"Personal Adventures in Race Relations" by Esther Popel Shaw (class of1919), Dickinson's first African American female graduate, was published in 1946. It addresses the sources of prejudice and racism, and she urges in her introduction that cooperation is necessary to overcome these detrimental assumptions regarding African Americans. "At a time when all our energies are needed to meet and solve together the crucial problems of the postwar period, we find a large element of the population torn by resentment, suspicion and hatred.

This letter, dated September 5, 1945, was written by Esther Popel Shaw, the first African American female graduate of Dickinson College 1919, to Mr. Boyd Lee Spahr of the Board of Trustees. Writing from her post at the National Association of College Women, Esther Popel Shaw defends herself and her race against Spahr's "apparent lack of awareness of what constitutes acceptable designations when racial references are involved" as well as racial injustice when it comes to college housing for African American students.

In one of the responses from the "Women as Leaders Survey" from 1979, Jeri Greenberg from the class of 1969 writes on her experiences with Greek Life at Dickinson. She mentions that social life at Dickinson could be restrictive in forming relationships with people because "people were stereotyped...in those years (frat vs.

In an article entitled "Analysis Suggests Sororities at Dickinson Serve No Purposes and Produce Barriers," a writer for The Dickinsonian explores whether or not sororities are justifiable at a liberal arts college. The author argues that it is not difficult to make friends on a small campus and that there is a psychological danger to the rejection some face at the hands of sororities. Moreover, the author called for sororities to justify their existence, especially in light of the discrimination they practiced toward black women.

In her memoir recounting her time at Dickinson, Elizabeth Low remembers her early days as a female student in the Preparatory School. She explained that there was little hostitlity toward female students in the Prep School. She explains that "There was not co-ed problem in the Prep. The boys made no distinction. Had we been refused admission to the society, we would have taken English in class." According to Low, however, black students were not affroded the same acceptance as white female students.

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.

According to Jane Myer Sellers (Class of 1955), there were no women of color and only one or two men of color at Dickinson during the 1950s. She reports that there were "a few Asian girls" who were considered to be minority students. The only sorority that accepted minority students, says Sellers, was Pi Phi.

Wilma B. Prescott (Class of 1945) describes in an interview the discrimination that the sorority Chi Omega practiced during the World War II. According to Prescott, the Chi Omegas discriminated in their membership policies, which explains why the sorority is no longer on campus. Chi Omegas could not take "oriental or Jewish" members into the sorority. As Prescott explains, "You were a WASP...." Prescott points to the war as an explanation for discrimination against the Japanese in their membership policies.

On Friday, April 4, 1980, a student talent show held in ATS featured talent from women students Frances Fernandez (presenting a welcome speech and acting as the mistress of ceremonies), Patience Bonner (performing a piano solo), Pamela Foster (performing a reading), Michelle Arter (presenting a dance solo) and Linda Fisher (performing a solo).

On Sunday April 18, 1982, renowned poet Nikki Giovanni performed in Memorial Hall for the Congress of African Students's 12th Annual Black Arts Festival. The theme that year was "Expressions in Black."
"Writer, poet, recording artist and journalist is often referred to as the Princess of Black Poetry. Her works are collected experiences of being Black, being a woman, a mother, a person."

On Monday March 31, 1980 at 8:00pm, celebrated Soprano artist Gwendolyn Bradley performed in ATS for the Congress of African Student's 11th Annual Black Arts Festival. Bradley had previously sung with the Central City Opera, Opera/South, the Cleveland Opera, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia. She had been a soloist for the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Charleston Symphony, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony and Halle Orchestra (Germany).
In addition to her performance in ATS, Bradley led a workshop for the campus community at 3:00pm in Memorial Hall.

On Sunday April 8, 1979, in ATS, the Symbrinct Associates performed Ntozake Shange's choreopoem, "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf."
 
The performance consisted of Seven Black women performing and dancing a book of poems to the sounds of Jazz. "The women speak, and tell stories of pain, of joy, of struggle, of coming of age as a black woman in America. Although the play addresses the emotionality of the black woman, it posseses a universal quality and delivers a message that can be understood and appreciated by all."
 

On August 8, 1979 the Black Alumni Association of Dickinson College sent out its first correspondance to Black alums. The letter begins triumphantly stating, "At last the Black Alumni Association of Dickinson College is a reality!"
 
Interesting to note is that the majority of the elected officers are women, including; Chairperson, Luci Duckson ('78), Secretary, Patricia Love ('74), Co-Treasurer, Dorothy P. Martin ('73), [Vincent Liser ('74) was the other Co-Treasurer], and Student Liason Officer, Patience Bonner ('82).