Board of Trustees

In this letter dated October 18, 1926, Trustee L. T. Appold wrote to President Morgan to further discuss the admitance of female graduates to the Alumni Council. Appold explained that "I am always opposed to this feminism which puts a woman on because she is a woman." He argues that if there were an outstanding woman she would be on the board. Until there is one, Appold conteded that the matter should be left alone.

In a letter dated August of 1923, President Morgan wrote to Bishop William F. McDowell an informed him that coeducation at Dickinson College was in danger. Morgan wrote that "A few of the trustees have not been friendly to coeducation for a good many years, and raised the question at commencement, having it to take the form of a purpose to limit very decidedly the attendance of women." According to Morgan, Boyd Lee Spahr, Mr. Appold, and Mr.

In response to Gertrud Martin's letter dated October 27, 1921, President Morgan sent Martin a brief letter explaining what was enclosed as well as a questionnaire addenda. The addenda contains information regarding female faculty members at Dickinson College in the 1920s. According to Morgan, at this point there were three female faculty members: Louise d. Vilaine (Associate Professor of Romance Languages), Josephine Brunyate Meredith (Dean of Women and Associate Professor of English), and Hazel J. Bullock (Associate Professor of Romance Languages).

An article in The Dickinsonian reported that the college planned to build another new dormitory for women over the next two years, beginning in February.  The financial vice-president, Dr. Shuman, explained that the building was made possible by a $675,000 government loan.

President Howard L. Rubendall responds to Vincent Schafmeister's second letter of March 23 on behalf of Mary Frances Carson. Rubendall does not specifically cite the Social Opinion Survey or the Women's Group in his response, instead writing that Schafmeister's choice to inform the President of the Board of Trustees about his concerns was "most appropriate."

In his response to Dean of Women Mary Watson Carson, Alumni Trustee Vincent Schafmeister says of the Social Opinion Survey of the Women's Group, "sort of shakes up an old, stuffy conservative such as I." He declines the dean's offer to put him into contact with members of the group in order to determine their objectives, saying he is more interested in the role of the Office of Student Services in encouraging this organization. He references the "frightful negatives" and the suffering of the college as consequences of this kind of encouragement.

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.

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 William W. Edel suggested possible names for the new Women's Dormitory to the Board of Trustees. He presented one of the suggestions that the buildng be named Longsdorff Hall "in honor of the Longsdorf Family [sic] which suppied four women students to enter Dickinson College, among whom was Dr. Zatae Longsdorf Straw [sic]." He recommended, however, that the board select a name out of the college's historical past and that the hall be named Mary Dickinson Hall for the wife of John Dickinson.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees decided to defer naming the new Women's Dormitory until the Mid-Winter meeting fo the Board in December 1951.

President William W. Edel reported to the Board of Trustees that the Building Committee had secured bids for the new Women's Dormitory and had signed a contract with the Potteiger Company for $642,955. The college held ground-breaking activities at Homecoming Day on November 4, 1950.

President William W. Edel mentioned in his report to the Board of Trustees that Phoebe Follmer married John F. Bacon on November 11, 1950 and was granted a leave of absence without pay for the rest of the academic year. The college appointed Mary-Margaret Kellogg as Acting Dean of Women with the Rank of Instructor for part-time service at a salary of $125.00 per month. He requested the board's approval for this action.

In a report to the Board of Trustees, President William W. Edel recommended the removal of the restrictions in existence at the college on the percentage of women students allowed to enroll. His report on faculty reductions suggests that college enrollment had declined significantly and that the college's finances were in danger. The Board of Trustees, however, approved the recommendation with the stipulation that the "present restrictions on the percentage of women students be removed for the present emergency" [emphasis added].

"It seems to me that the time has now arrived for us to face the question of the actual construction of the Women's Dormitory," writes President William W. Edel in his report to the Board of Trustees. He recommends that the board not delay any longer in the creation of detailed construction plans. He outlines areas in the budget from which the college can draw funds to pay for the construction. He suggests that the college begin building by June and that a Building Committee acquire plans, specifications and bids before the construction of the first unit of the women's dorm.

President William W. Edel's annual report to the college recommended the retirement of Josephine Brunyate Meredith and her election as Professor Emerita of English. In response to her retirement and others, the college filled the vacancies with part-time instructors.

President William W. Edel reported the inadequate housing situation to the Board of Trustees. The president explained that the lack of housing in Carlisle made it difficult to attract prospective professors. Due to the fact that male students would not occupy the Gibbs House during the next academic year, the college planned to use it to house 20 female students. This change would mean that women students would reside in Metzger Hall, East College, and the Gibbs House.

Chairman S. Walter Stauffer of the Committee on Grounds and Buildings presented his report on women's housing. He confirmed that East College would be renovated for female residents for the Fall Session as soon as the male students departed in June. The building would house approximately 100 women.

President Boyd Lee Spahr addressed the issue of housing for women in his report to the Board of Trustees. He proposed the use of East College as a women's dormitory in addition to Metzger Hall, explaining that these two buildings would house 171 women. He also proposed changing the Gibbs House from a women's dormitory to a residence for male students. The Board of Trustees approved this recommendation.

Dean Ernest A. Vuilleumier reported to the Board of Trustees that the college had rented two fraternity houses (Phi Delta Theta and Beta Theta Pi) in order to provide additional housing for female students. According to Vuilleumier, the return of fraternity members to campus would require that the college develop an alternative form of housing for female students. Therefore, the dean recommended that the college convert East College into a women's dormitory.

The report of the President of the Board of Trustees detailed the special committee's presentation of June 3, 1945 recommending that the new women's dormitory be constrcuted on Mooreland campus and be "adequate to house at least 125 girls." The report explains that female students resided in Metzger Hall, the Gibbs House for seniors, the Parker House, and in two leased fraternity houses. According to the report, the college did not own Metzger Hall, and the college would need to spend a great deal of money to renovate the sixty-year old building.

Professor Russell I. Thompson strongly urges Board of Trustees President Boyd Lee Spahr to lobby aggressively for the construction of a new women's dormitory, arguing that "Metzger Hall has long since served its purpose." He suggests the building should be sufficient to house 125 to 150 students.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees recommended to the Board the appointment of a "special committee of five" to look into the construction of a women's dormitory. They suggested the building be erected on Mooreland Campus and be adequate to house 150 women.

Dean Ernest A. Vuilleumier reports to the Board of Trustees that the college was operating four separate buildings--Metzger Hall, the Gibbs House, the Parker House, and the Phi Delta Theta House--as women's dormitories. The dean viewed this situation as unsatisfactory and argued for "the very great need for a new dormitory for women." He urged the Board to make plans for the construction of a women's dormitory as soon as possible.

In response to President Prettyman's call for coeducation "in the true sense of the term," the Board of Trustees did not take any action. They considered the recommendation to change the ratio of male and female students but chose to do nothing because "action had already been taken sufficient to cover the case." The minutes do not explain to which action this statement refers.

President Cornelius William Prettyman argues in a letter to the Board of Trustees that Dickinson College should become "a coeducational college in the true sense of the term." He points out that 163 of the 253 students at the college were women and that, in the future, this number would only continue to grow. He adds that women "are entering college in ever greater numbers." Thus, he recommends that Dickinson College educate both male and female students in equal numbers and wishes to enforce a 50-50 ratio of female to male students.

In President Boyd Lee Spahr's report to the Board of Trustees, he discusses the possible acquisition of the Shearer Property on the "northwest corner of College and Louther Streets" for the construction of a women's dormitory. A local real estate agent had tipped the college off to the sale of the property for an estimated $18,000. When the college offered the sum to the seller, however, it was declined, and the president explains that the property might not even be desirable as a location for a new women's dormitory.

On December 9, 1944, an Executive Committee meeting for the Board of Trustees voted to pass on President Boyd Lee Spahr's recommendations on the admission of women to Dickinson College to the entire Board of Trustees. They do not specify exactly which recommendation they adopted.

President Fred Pierce Corson reported to the Board of Trustees that the college would have a full enrollment of female students. However, he cautioned that increasing the number of women students would also increase costs for the college due to the need for new facilities and other additions. The college would lose money in the process unless it changed the quota policy for women. There is no indication in the minutes that this suggestion was accepted by the Board.

President Corson recommended to the Board of Trustees that the college give Josephine Brunyate Meredith "the honor of being the first woman elected to a full professorship at Dickinson College" in the English Department. Meredith had served as Dean of Women and an Associate Professor of English since 1922. The president added that offering the dean this position would not entail raising her salary or giving her a permament appointment as the head of this department.

In the "Minutes of the Faculty Meeting of November 11, 1940," the Board of Deans reviewed a case of discipline in which the Phi Delta Theta house hosted a party "without proper chaperonage" followed by a jaunt in an automobile. The two female students who left Carlisle in the automobile received probation for the rest of academic year 1940-41 and were placed under "special regulations" in Metzger Hall. Another student, who did not leave in the automobile, only received probation "until Christmas."