February 1998: Vol. 11, Number 3

Deans of auld lang syne: a brief history of a strange era

 When IU President Swain undertook a headhunt for a new dean in 1898, he knew what he was looking for: "A woman of superior training and refinement who shall have special care over the college girls," preferably a physician, scholarly enough to teach at the level of an assistant professor.

The idea was that a woman should be brought in who could keep track of girls from the moment they arrived at the Bloomington train station guiding them through the mean and muddy uptown streets, settling them into boarding houses (preferably with right-thinking landladies and indoor plumbing), helping them through registration, finding them jobs, guarding their health, pressing their noses to the academic grindstone, quieting their parents' fears of urban degeneracy, and preventing them from doing any of the modern dances. She was also supposed to gain their affection, hold tea-parties for them, and get along well with the faculty wives. Her salary would be $1,300.

Not surprisingly, Swain did not find the position easy to fill. He was turned down five or six times before Mary Bidwell Breed accepted his offer. Breed had a PhD in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College, and when she became dean at IU she also became an assistant professor in the chemistry department. The deanship, however, was probably more demanding, not least because she had to pioneer a position that nobody on campus (except presumably herself, Swain, and his wife, Frances, who had previously borne, unpaid and unrecognized, much of the burden of looking after the women students) saw any need for.

But the coming of a dean of women to Indiana was inevitable. The first generations of women admitted to IU had generally been older, serious students with commitment enough to put up with the discouragement and harassment they encountered from male peers and professors. By the end of the 19th century, this bluestocking element had been overtaken by hordes of "co-eds"the sprightly Mabels and Ediths who figure in countless inscrutable yearbook jokes about fussing and spooning and switching partners at the big spring dance. Lots of girls started enrolling because it was something to do, a way to meet people and have fun as well as get educated. Unlike their predecessors, they did not necessarily plan to embark on professional careers after graduation.

As more students and not just girls attended IU, parents back home began fretting more about the dangers and temptations facing their daughters. With regard to the former, certainly, even from the most thoroughly modern point of view, they were justified. Some dangers were very real. After all, it was not until the middle of this century that IU stopped being subject to shut-downs when a dry spell outlasted the water supply. Students died of typhoid fever and other infectious diseases with some frequency. City streets were dark and rowdy, and nearly all the hundreds of women who did not live in sororities had to navigate them to get to and from their generally dark and rowdy boarding-houses, where they might have to share a bug-infested bed with someone else.

Without a doubt, the question of housing for IU's women students was the most important issue for the deans of women. Solving that problem would in one fell swoop alleviate a great many of the troubles that now seem unrelated, with physical safety being the big one. The deans, starting with Breed, mounted a continuous campaign of increasing pressure on the administration, culminating in Agnes Wells's success with Memorial Hall (not sacrificing even the Tudor archway to critics of her extravagant plan).

Much of their work—in spite of the "pages of silly little rules" Dean Mueller deplored in later years—was pathbreaking. They believed in organizing women to fight for their own interests. They recognized the importance of mentoring, devoting an almost inconceivable amount of time to getting to know students personally and arranging for them to be paired with older students or women faculty who could give even more individual guidance. Career women themselves, they fought to make opportunities for the young women in their care.

When Kate Mueller became dean of women in 1938, she recognized that, after a mere four decades, the position was on its way out. There were far too many students for a dean, even with the help of her now-expanded staff, to look after as she had before. And the undefined, half-motherly role past deans had been asked to play was no longer called for. In 1946, Mueller stepped down as the last dean of women. Some of her duties were assigned to a newly created assistant dean of students, Eunice Carmichael Roberts (followed by Virginia Hudelson Rogers).

In 1972, when Eva Kagans-Kans became the first dean for women's affairs, her job must have seemed light-years removed from the Emily-Post-in-sensible-shoes image of the old deans of women. But the truth is that they, like the dean for women's affairs today, were deeply committed to serving the welfare of IU's women, according to the lights of their time.

—Leora Baude

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Deans of women

Mary Bidwell Breed (1901-1906) was the first official dean of women, although several women before her, including IU's first woman graduate, Sarah Parke Morrison, had helped to fill the gap.

Dean Louise Ann Goodbody (1906-1911) was denied her request for a horse and carriage to go with her new position. Instead, she had to walk to all her many meetings with the landladies of Bloomington boarding houses. She inspected the premises and interviewed the owners with respect to their moral characters to decide whether or not to include them on the new dean's list of approved housing for girls. When she died suddenly of appendicitis, the Bloomington Women's League contributed $200 to the Louise Goodbody Memorial Loan Fund to help women of limited means meet their college expenses.

Dean Ruby Mason (1914-1918) favored Christ as the model for a college girl's lifestyle. Successful as she was at improving housing and helping girls find jobs, she didn't really come into her own until America entered the war. One hundred sixty-seven girls signed her preparedness pledge to sleep eight consecutive hours every night, to abstain from snacking between meals, to exercise an hour a day, to dress sensibly, and to "pay due regard to the laws of hygiene."

Agnes Wells (1918-1938) was sturdy and energetic, with a taste in clothing that ran to "conservative, tailored styles in serviceable materials." Memorial Hall, built as a dormitory for women students, was her baby. During her tenure, she inaugurated freshman orientation and the student employment office. She also supervised Dargan House, some distance off campus at 318 North Grant Street, where black women students were required to live.

Kate H. Mueller(1938-1946), a self-described "feminologist," remained at IU on the education faculty after the positions of dean of women and dean of men had been combined into the single position of dean of students (held by a man).

Dean Carrie Louise DeNise(1911-1914) was so appalled by the lack of decent housing for her charges that one year she refused to submit her regular report to the Board of Trustees, instead issuing this impassioned plea: "Who can estimate what it might mean to the state of Indiana if her daughters, while gaining intellectual training, might also gain a wise self-control and a sweet wisdom in the proper ordering of life!" She was hopeful that a women's dormitory would do the trick. She also advocated hiring an official university dancing master to teach students the proper position at arm's length for doing the three dances allowed at college parties: the waltz, the two-step, and the Boston (without the dips).

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From the dean

Women faculty face classroom bias

The problem of gender bias on campus assumes many forms, not always the obvious ones. I asked Joan Middendorf and Alan Kalish, from the Center for Teaching Resources, to address some concerns of women faculty.

Competence: Students may question the credentials of female faculty, especially in male-dominated disciplines. According to Bernice Resnick Sandler, of the Center for Women Policy Studies, women faculty have to be "enormously credible before students will listen to them. Male faculty might be viewed as eccentric, they might be ridiculed or imitated, but they would never be attacked as incompetent. For women, the connotation of incompetence is always tacked on. " Our culture supports an assumption of male competence, which requires women to prove themselves more often than their male colleagues.

Expectations: Sandler and her colleagues report that students' expectations of women faculty are different from those they hold for men. Students expect all faculty to offer strong organization, clear explanations, and dynamic presentation skills; they look to female faculty for strong interpersonal abilities as well.

One of the most common expectations students have of women faculty is that they will be nurturing. Kathryn Flannery, of the English department, says that her students often respond to her as if she had "Mommy" tattooed on her forehead. She describes a widespread expectation by students that female professors should be more nurturing than male faculty.

Harassment: Whenever faculty discuss teaching and gender, the subject of harassment of female professors inevitably comes up. It seems some male students respond inappropriately when their expectations of the "proper" structure of academic authority are violated.

Though rare, harassment by students is one of the most difficult problems facing women faculty. It is important to remember that no matter how personal the attack, this is not a personal issue. IU has procedures for helping deal with such incidents. If this happens to you, speak to your department chair, the Office of Student Ethics and Anti-Harassment Programs (855-5419), or the Office for Women's Affairs (855-3849).

Strategies for Survival: As with any teaching problem, it is better to prevent such incidents than to have to resolve them. We have collected a list of survival strategies for women teachers.

It is important for all teachers to find a teaching persona which provides a comfortable balance between being authoritative and being friendly. You can establish your authority by setting definite educational goals and clear classroom guidelines for your students. You also gain authority from a confident pose in the classroom, making direct eye contact, avoiding inappropriate smiles and laughs, and giving direct instructions without qualifiers. (Instead of "Please take out a piece of paper," say "Take out a piece of paper.") Show your concern and support for students by getting regular feedback from them. Watch their facial expressions and body language for signs of attention, ask them informally how things are going, and have them complete a mid-term evaluation.

Studies on classroom behaviors show that students respond better to positive motivators ("You can do better!" and "Do you understand?") than to threats and guilt. Students also respond well to what R. Boice calls "immediacy verbal and nonverbal signals of warmth, friendliness, and liking" such as leaning forward, smiling, making eye contact, and using purposeful gestures. We do not suggest that women professors should take on a macho persona, but neither should they try to be their students' buddy. It is crucial to find a balance between these two positions.

Discussing classroom experiences, both problems and successes, helps faculty to feel less isolated and to learn from each other how to become more effective and more confident teachers. Teaching Resources Center sponsors several workshops on these issues.

—Joan Middendorf
and Alan Kalish

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Women in athletics: A Title IX update

 The table below presents a summary of the numbers of athletes participating in varsity sports at IU. The first number in each column represents the number of scholarships given (note that in the most recent year, 1996_97, partial scholarships are listed). As women's sports were not part of the athletic department until 1974, no scholarships were available to women in the first year listed. 1993_94 was the last year this information was reported in the Majority Report.

The percentages given in the final row represent the total number of participants of each gender.

1973-74 1993-94 1996-97
Sport Men Women Men Women Men Women
Baseball 13/35 0/0 13/42 0/0 11.7/34 0/0
Basketball 12/15 0/22 13/13 15/13 13/12 15/14
Football 75/121 0/0 88/112 0/0 85/102 0/0
Golf 5/10 0/9 5/11 6/6 4.5/10 6/11
Soccer 13/28 0/0 11/33 9/32 9.9/31 12/30
Softball 0/0 0/27 0/0 11/19 0/0 12/19
Swimming/diving 13/35 0/34 11/23 14/28 9.9/30 14/30
Tennis 5/15 0/11 5/13 8/11 4.5/10 8/12
Track/cross country 16/105 0/0 14/70 16/69 12.6/102 18/122
Volleyball 0/11 0/18 0/0 12/15 0/0 12/17
Wrestling 0/0 0/0 11/30 0/0 9.9/30 0/0
Water polo 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/23
Other 26/46 0/33 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Total 165/421 (73%) 0/154 (27%) 171/347 (64%) 91/193 (36%) 161/361 (56%) 97/278 (44%)

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Women history month 1998

For a copy of our 1998 Women's History Month poster, featuring a drawing by Bloomington artist Karen Kovich, please call the Office for Women's Affairs at (812) 855-3849, or e-mail: owa@indiana.edu.

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Women in science

 Hypatia was the first of many woman to impact the science and mathematics communities. We celebrate here a few of the many contributions made to our world by American women scientists in the past quarter-century.

In 1976, Julia Robinson became the first woman mathematician elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 1983, she became the first woman president of the American Mathematical Society.

In 1976, Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, a medical physicist, became the first woman awarded the Albert Lasker Prize for Basic Medical Research. In 1977, she shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her work on radioimmunoassay. She received the National Medal of Science in 1988.

A closer look at Mars became possible in 1997, thanks to Sojourner, a 25-pound robot dreamed up by a NASA team led by aerospace engineer Donna Shirley. She created and managed the project that made it possible to drive the first autonomous robot in space.

Flossie Wong-Staal, a medical biologist, co-discovered HIV in 1983 and in 1985 was responsible for the first cloning and genetic mapping of HIV.

Gertrude Belle Elion, a chemist, invented the leukemia-fighting drug 6-mercaptopurine and drugs that facilitate kidney transplants. In 1984, her lab developed AZT, the first drug used to treat AIDS. Elion became the first woman to be inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1987 and was a co-recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Pediatrician Antonia Novella was the first woman and first Hispanic to be appointed surgeon general, in 1989.

Joycelyn Elders, an endocrinologist, was sworn in as the first African-American surgeon general in 1993. Bernadine Healy, a cardiologist, was appointed the first woman director of the NIH in 1991. Mary-Claire King, a biologist, first proved in 1994 that some breast cancers are inherited.

1983 saw astrophysicist Sally Ride join the crew of the space shuttle Challenger, becoming the first American woman in space. Biochemist Shannon Lucid, as a member of the Russian space station Mir, set the record for the longest stay in space by a U.S. astronaut and longest space flight by any woman 188 days.

We should draw inspiration from these history-making achievements to challenge ourselves to pursue our own curiosities about science and mathematics. As Helen Keller wrote, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

—Lynn K. Wilson

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MAJORITY REPORT INDEX

Ratio of female high school students participating in sports in 1971 to those participating in 1995: 1:8

Number of girls playing on their high school football team last year: 753

Percent of Americans who eat peanut butter at least once a week: 60

Percent of all women aged 18 years or over in 1995 who were married: 59

Percent of academics nationwide who say they see "little trust between minority student groups and campus administrators": 37

Percent of Hollywood films released in 1990 that gave a woman top billing: 18

Percent of those released in 1920 that did: 57

Combined weight, in tons, of the sumo wrestlers participating in the opening ceremony of the Nagano games: 24¾

Price of an ultra-compact digital micro tape recorder described as "perfect for hidden applications": $1400

Price of an electronic bug detector disguised as a fountain pen (including batteries and carrying-case): $350

Number of federal wiretap warrants granted for criminal investigations in 1996: 581

Percent of Americans polled by the Washington Post who believe the Clinton presidency will be remembered more for scandal than for achievement: 60

Percent of those polled who believe the country is headed in the right direction: 60

Gallons of peppermint-flavored liquid Prozac prescribed last year: 27,012

Number of goats that have lived in the White House as pets: 4

Rank of dogs among the most popular presidential pets: 1

Chances that a person suffering violence at the hands of an intimate acquaintance is a woman: 4 in 5

Percent of prisoners serving time for rape who were on probation or parole at the time of the offense: 24

Median age of the victims of imprisoned sexual assaulters: 13

Percent of federal inmates who are women: 8

Year the first woman was hired as a cable car operator in San Francisco: 1998

Percent of men who apply for that job who cannot meet the strength requirements: 80

An IU professor's salary in 1825: $250

Average salary of a full professor at IU in 1996-97: $75,900

Approximate number of e-mail messages processed each month at IUB: 7,000,000

Percent of condoms taken out of German shops without being paid for: 32

Ratio of fatalities among car passengers to those among passengers of sports-utility vehicles, when both are involved in a crash: 4 to 1

Number of dollars Susan B. Anthony was fined for voting in the presidential election of 1872: 100

Minimum number of chaperons required to be present at all IU dances in 1914: 6


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Index sources:

1,2 On Watch www.arcade.uiwa.edu/proj/ge/; 3,15,16 USA Today Snapshots www.usatoday.com/snapshot/life/1snap019.htm;4 U.S. Census Bureau; 5 Chronicle of Higher Education 9/13/96; 6,7 Wallechensky Book of Lists; 8 Reuters 2/6/98; 9,10 www.w2com/ docs2/z/spyshop.html; 11 Harper's 11/97; 12,13 Washington Post Poll 2/1/98; 14 Harper's 12/97; 1720 U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics; 21,22 San Francisco Chronicle 1/14/98; 235 IU Update 2/98; 26 IDS 1/27/98; 27 H-T 2/13/98; 28 www.legacy98.org; 29 K. Rothenberger Historical Study of the Position of Dean of Women.

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Please join us...

for a reception celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Office for Women's Affairs and the
150th anniversary of the women's rights movement in the U.S.
When: Wednesday, March 4, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Where: First floor lounge, Memorial Hall East

...and for Women in the Workplace: A conference and training seminar of skill building, information sharing, networking opportunities, and inspiration for women. Judy O'Bannon will be the keynote speaker. A $25.00 registration fee includes breakfast and lunch.
When: Friday, March 27, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Chapman's Restaurant

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New Women Faculty, Part Three

Susana T.L. Chung graduated with distinction in optometry from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1987. She worked at the Low Vision Clinic of the Hong Kong Society for the Blind for 19 months before going to the University of Melbourne, Australia, where she earned a master of science degree. She earned a PhD in 1995 from the University of Houston. Her research interests encompass low vision rehabilitation, eye movements, and spatial vision. Specifically, her aim is to apply her knowledge in basic vision science to understanding visual functioning in people suffering from various ocular disorders including amblyopia and congenital nystagmus. For the next few years, she plans to focus on the study of low-vision reading.

Before her appointment as associate professor of business at IU, Catherine Daily held faculty appointments at Purdue University, Ohio State University, and Miami University. She will be teaching strategic management to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Her research interests are in corporate governance structures and firm performance, ownership structure and firm performance, board of directors/top management team composition and character, corporate social responsibility and ethics, and research methods.

Polish composer Marta Ptaszynska is a professor of composition on the music faculty. She studied at the Academies of Music in Warsaw and in Poznan, earning degrees in composition, music theory, and percussion. She also studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and at the Centre Bourdan. She has been composer-in-residence at Northwestern University and guest professor of composition at the University of Chicago and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Ptaszynska, who works in a wide range of genres, from opera to children's music, won the Alfred Jurzykowski Award in 1997 for overall creative achievement, and in 1995 former Polish president Lech Walesa presented her with the Cross of Merit.

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Majority Report


Dean for Women's Affairs...................Julia Lamber

Editor.......................................................Leora Baude

Assistant.................................................Karen Frane

Special thanks to the IU Archives, which provided photographs of the deans of women, and to Mary Ann Rohleder, who prepared the data on athletic participation.

1978 was the first year in which women were the majority of those enrolled in college nationally.

March 25, 1998
URL:http://www.indiana.edu/~owa/98_FEBMR.html
OWA Homepage
Comments: E-Mail owa@indiana.edu
Copyright 1997, The Trustees of Indiana University