IGNITING THE FIRE FOR CHANGE
Strict, confining, limited—these words all describe what life was like for female Susquehanna University students before the 1960s.
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Why? Because the Women’s Student Council was in charge. Before the men’s and women’s student councils were integrated in 1959, the Women’s Student Council (which included its disciplinary branch, the Women’s Judiciary Committee) was dedicated to maintaining order.
This page from the by-laws of the Women’s Student Council’s constitution in 1953 shows only a few of the many restrictions imposed on female students:
- After 7:30 PM, women had to sign out whenever they left campus and sign in as soon as they returned.
- Women had curfews, which could be extended based upon seniority and special events.
- Visiting hours were restricted, especially when it came to women hosting “men callers” in their dormitories.
These strict rules were in place because of Susquehanna University’s policy of in loco parentis for female students, which meant that the university took over parents’ roles of discipline and protection while women completed their studies.
Because of these restrictions, female students had to actively fight for special permissions, as demonstrated by this petition to the Women’s Student Council in 1958. In the petition, the women ask for permission to have their curfew extended for Homecoming Weekend, arguing that the weekend’s events are particularly special because it’s Susquehanna’s centennial year. The signatures continue on the back. It would only be a matter of time before Susquehanna women came together and resorted to other means to win their freedoms…