The Rules
By Aspen Waldron
Introduction
Gender expectations and norms have evolved in the United States due to a changing culture and societal approval. Traditionally, colleges and universities have reflected current societal attitudes towards gender as to not limit the students they attract by an apparent societal contradiction. Schools establish and perpetuate gender expectations through the rules and boundaries they create for their students. During the 1960s, Centre College women and men were each given a particular set of rules to follow found within the Student Handbook to ensure that the standards placed upon them by their community and society were met. Centre College is not just an institute of higher learning to prepare students for careers, it is a microcosm of society that mirrors and reinforces the gender expectations and stereotypes of the time. These rules allow us to get a glimpse into the lives of Centre students during the 1960s and give us an idea of the gender expectations Centre College reinforced during this time.
Background
The 1960s were a time of liberation and opposition for women in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement led to the strengthening of women’s rights through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[1] This act directly prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex. Author Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique (1963) which worked to dismantle the post-World War II idea that the women’s sphere was limited to domestic life.[2] In 1966, the National Organization for Women created a detailed agenda for the feminist movement as a whole.[3] Additionally, in 1960, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the birth control pill. As a result of this invention, women felt liberated from the implications of childbearing and were drawn closer to obtaining a higher education level and entering the workforce. However, opponents of the pill felt that it would result in sexual immorality and the dismantling of the traditional American family system. Not long after its introduction into American society, the sale of contraception was criminalized in 30 states.[4] Overall, we can see that during the 1960s, society was trying to figure out how to redefine the women’s sphere. Women knew that they wanted equality and liberation; however, it was the men who were making the decisions and deciding what agency women should have.
The generation that attended university during the 1960s are known as the Baby Boomers. This generation was raised by parents who most likely served during WWII. Many of these students were raised by someone who was dealing with some sort of post-traumatic stress caused by the war.[5] The film industry saw what could become of this post-war generation and decided to step in. Coronet Films created a series of public education documentaries and short films that covered topics such as proper hygiene, manners, responsibility, dating, citizenship, and essentially every other topic that parents should have conversations with their children about. All of these films promoted the importance of the nuclear family and were shown to school-age students across the nation.[6]
The administrators of Centre College and other schools during the 1960s most likely belonged to the same generation that felt the need to intervene with how the Boomers were being raised. Therefore, the rules that Centre College implemented during this time are in line with the ideals of “fitting-in” and holding onto the tradition of the nuclear family that the Baby Boomer generation were exposed to when they were growing up.
Centre in the Early-Mid 1960s - Integration
Until 1962, Centre College had separate colleges for men and women. Based on some oral history interviews from women who attended Centre during this merger, some of the traditions and regulations from the women’s college transferred over to the desegregated Centre. One tradition that remained from the women’s college was the signing of the honor code after exams. Only women were required to sign the honor code. The honor code stated, “I have neither given nor received any aid on the examination, nor have I seen any given or received.”[7] This tradition hints at the gendered perceptions of integrity and intelligence during this time. However, this rule created complex outcomes.
The signing of the honor code was a part of the broader Honor Code system. The Student Handbooks from 1964-1966 state that women were allowed to take exams outside of the classroom as it falls under the Honor Code that was placed upon them by attending Centre College. Centre Alumna Betty Holtzclaw remembered that women were allowed to take their exams in different locations other than the classroom, while the men were restricted to taking their exams within the classroom.[8]The men did not belong to this Honor Code and therefore were not allowed to take their exams outside of the classroom.[9] This tradition and the honor code are interesting examples of gender bias that beg us to question perceptions of educational inequity and inequality during the 1960s.
Before the 1960s, the traditional women’s sphere was the realm that included all things related to domestic life. As mentioned previously, the Civil Rights Movement and creation of the pill caused women to question the boundaries and limitations of their sphere. Yet, Centre College’s handbook alludes and perpetuates some of the proponents of the traditional women’s sphere. The Student Handbooks from 1964-68 explained that laundry would be collected and returned within a few days; however, there were washers and driers available in some of the basements of the women’s dorms, “Representatives from different laundries collect laundry six days each week. Laundry is usually returned within two to four days. Coin-operated washing and drying machines are available in the basements of each of the women’s residences.”[10]. Why the college felt the need to give women access to washers and driers before men were given access is unknown. Perhaps it was because laundry was a domestic chore that was typically the responsibility of the woman. Or, it could have been old-fashioned chivalry and gender-biased trust whereby the college felt that access to washers and driers was a privilege that should be given to women first. Possible still is the feeling by the administration that women’s garments were more private than male garments. No matter the reason, the fact that women were the only ones who were able to do their own laundry, while men were only able to have their laundry done for them, reifies the traditional post-WWII women’s sphere.
Another rule within the Student Handbook that buttressed the gender expectation of women’s domesticity during the 1960s is that from 1962-1966, women were expected to make their beds before class while men were not.[11] While Centre was an academic institution for women and men to obtain higher education, it also served as a sort of finishing school for women to ensure that they would be able to handle domestic duties once they married. On the other hand, the men’s regulation section within the handbook stated, “Since the janitor and maids cannot be on duty twenty-four hours a day, each resident is responsible for keeping his own room clean and orderly.”[12] I wonder how this idea worked in tandem with domestic expectations of women in marriage during the 1960s. Because women were spouses 24/7 and the expectation was that the women’s sphere was limited to domestic life, did that give men permission to not keep the house clean and orderly, which is why Centre felt the need to include that sentence within the handbook? Why did Centre not expect men to make their beds, instead allowing the maids to do it for them? The natural answer is that it is because women were expected to do the domestic work despite their educational status, whereas men were not. Additionally, this situation falls under economic discrimination because women and men paid the same tuition to Centre; however, the men received more for their dollar as their beds were made for them and the women had to do it themselves.
Centre also regulated women’s bodies and the temporal spaces they could inhabit. Women were held to a strict standard of curfew at the college, while the men were not. Women were required to sign out in the resident book if they expected to be out of the residence halls later that 7:00 pm and were also required to give an exact destination of where they would be so they could be “located for an emergency”.[13] Of course, there was a curfew every night in which the time was determined by the day of the week. Alumna Mary Clyde said that this was left over from the Kentucky College for Women.[14] This restriction, combined with being required to sign a honesty pledge at the end of each exam, seems to create an underlying narrative that college women were viewed as not being fully mature or capable of making “appropriate” and “correct” decisions for themselves. Perhaps the same was felt about the men at Centre as well. The men did have dorm mothers; however, there were clearly different rules and expectations based on the biological sex of the student that reflected the societal norms of the day.
These many rules and regulations created standards by which people perceived of or judged each other and themselves. Publications from the 1960s referred to women students as “girls” while calling men simply “men.” This difference in naming appeared broadly, in the student handbooks, the Cento, and the yearbooks. Gendered language also affected faculty as well. George Ella Lyon mentioned that students always called women professors “Mrs. or Miss,” regardless if they had a doctorate or not, while male professors always received the title “Doctor” even if they did not have a doctorate.[15] This gender stereotype reinforced a culture that held women’s intelligence as inferior to men’s.
Centre in the Mid-Late 1960s - Liberation
All women at Centre during the 1960s were a part of the Women’s Student Government/Council. Along with the Women’s Student Government was an overarching Student Council where the men and women of the campus were equally represented and elected. The 1964-65 Women’s Handbook published by the Women’s Student Government Association states, “Along with the willing and intelligent observance of the rules set up by the Women’s Student Council, the college expects a high standard of social and moral conduct and reserves the right to ask any student to withdraw if her presence on campus is undesirable.” From this we see that while women self-governed, they still were required to meet a certain expectation set up from the college. Therefore, all women’s rules were to be approved by Centre College, which was a male-run organization at the time. While women’s voices may not have been silenced by the college, the weight that they had was affected by what role Centre wanted its women students to fill.
By the late 1960s, gender, and the cultures that upheld these rigid binaries, underwent a revolution. Student handbooks reveal how Centre College adapted as students demanded a liberation from patriarchal rules. By the 1968-69 school year, women were no longer required to make their beds. Senior women were not bound by a curfew, and all men and women could wear jeans or bermudas around campus. However, the Honor Code still applied only to women.
From a modern perspective we may view the rules as limiting to women’s agency. While this may be true, it is important to keep in mind that women did have a voice in the creation implementation of the rules.
Discussion
While the days of curfews and bed-making are long gone at Centre College, it is important for the college and its students to reflect on what student-life was like years ago, and how it may have impacted or limited certain lives. Today, Centre College has made strides and continues to work on issues related to gender inclusivity and inequality. In 1983, Centre College took action against gender-inequality by prohibiting gender-bias and sexist language in any of its publications, lectures, policy-statements, and in-house documents. Because of Centre’s decision to be flexible by altering campus policies at the request of its students, the college has been able to grow and reflect the societal identity of each generation.
Written by Aspen Waldron Class of 2022
Footnotes
[1] “Legal Highlight: The Civil Rights Act of 1964,” U.S. Department of Labor Seal, accessed May 17, 2021, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964.
[2] Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013).
[3] “Statement of Purpose,” National Organization for Women, accessed May 17, 2021, https://now.org/about/history/statement-of-purpose/.
[4] Elizabeth S. Watkins, On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950- 1970 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001).
[5] James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: the United States, 1945-1974 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
[6] “Coronet Instructional Films,” Coronet Instructional Films : Free Movies : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive, accessed May 17, 2021, https://archive.org/details/coronet_instructional_videos?&sort=-week&page=2.
[7] Lory Emory, ed., The Official Women's Handybook: How to Play Ball at Centre College: Girls' Rules (Danville, KY: Women's Student Government Association, 1964).
[8] Betty Holtzclaw, interview by Elizabeth Joiner, March 1, 2021, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky.
[9] Centre College Student Handbooks 1964-1966, Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/collections/show/14
[10] Centre College Student Handbooks 1964-1968, Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/collections/show/14
[11] Centre College Student Handbook 1962-1966, Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/collections/show/14
[12] Pattie McCollom, editor, “Centre College Student Handbook 1964-1965,” Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1370.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Mary Clyde, interview by Ava Allen, March 8, 2021, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
[15] George Ella, interview by Brylin Isaacs, March 15, 2021, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
Bibliography
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013).
Betty Holtzclaw, interview by Elizabeth Joiner, March 1, 2021, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky.
Centre College Student Handbook 1962-1966, Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1370.
Centre College Student Handbooks 1964-1968, Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1370.
“Coronet Instructional Films,” Coronet Instructional Films : Free Movies : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming : Internet Archive, accessed May 17, 2021, https://archive.org/details/coronet_instructional_videos?&sort=-week&page=2.
Elizabeth S. Watkins, On the Pill: A Social History of Oral Contraceptives, 1950- 1970 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001).
George Ella, interview by Brylin Isaacs, March 15, 2021, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations: the United States, 1945-1974 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
“Legal Highlight: The Civil Rights Act of 1964,” U.S. Department of Labor Seal, accessed May 17, 2021, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/civil-rights-center/statutes/civil-rights-act-of-1964.
Lory Emory, ed., The Official Women's Handybook: How to Play Ball at Centre College: Girls' Rules (Danville, KY: Women's Student Government Association, 1964).
Lory Emory, ed., The Official Women's Handybook: How to Play Ball at Centre College: Girls' Rules (Danville, KY: Women's Student Government Association, 1964).
Mary Clyde, interview by Ava Allen, March 8, 2021, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky
"'Miss Student Body' Candidates Announced," Centre College Cento, Feb. 19th, 1965, Centre College Institutional Repository Collection, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, https://ccirc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/historic/id/0/rec/361
Pattie McCollom, editor, “Centre College Student Handbook 1964-1965,” Centre College Digital Archives, accessed May 17, 2021, https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1370.
"Preparation for Marriage 204," Olde Centre, 1962, Centre College Digital Archives, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1190
“Statement of Purpose,” National Organization for Women, accessed May 17, 2021, https://now.org/about/history/statement-of-purpose/.
"Two Bits Buys Frosh Services," Centre College Cento, Feb. 26th, 1965, Centre College Institutional Repository Collection, Grace Doherty Library, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, https://ccirc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/historic/id/21/rec/362