PAGE TWEiviT Grecian Goddesses MILDRED RIDE DUNLAP is being crowned queen of the first May Day program in 1914 by the first president of Women's Student Government Association, Eunice S. Williams. MembOrs of the court made their qwn Greek togas. WSGA sponsors the pro gram each. year. llst Queen Crowned On May Day, 1914 Forty-one years ago the University's first queen was crowned thus establishing a custom that has continued through the years. Mildred Ride was crowned May Queen in 1914 in a ceremony that was given by College women for the benefit of the hospital fund. May Day and all its ceremony at the University resulted 'from the efforts of Dean Lovejoy, who was former Dean of Women and also a graduate of Mt. Holyoke whera May Day had been a tra dition. She was assisted by a stu dent, Ethel Sparks, .who planned the dances. The , first costumes were of a Greciantype, simply made by the women themselves. They were creations of pastel cheesecloth. All were Eligible The festival was held at sunset in the little ampitheatre on the front campus. Woman's Building was the formation spot for the procession which continued on to the ampitheatre. Unlike today, there were no candidates or final ists. All women were eligible and they congregated in the front parlors of Woman's Building for the selection• of the May Queen. World War I was the major •ause for the discontinuation of '4ay Day ceremonies until 1921. Included in the original pro gram were several dances. The Dance of the Flowers, Dance of the Fruits, and Dance of the Sow ers and Reapers highlighted the ceremony. The traditional May Pole Dance was also performed. Mukc was by courtesy of the College Regimental Band. Honored as Leaders Coed Colonels made their ap pearance on the campus in 1930. These "queens" were selected on an honorary basis in recognition of their positions as campus lead ers. Three senior women were se lected, one colonel and two lieu tenant colonels. A committee of two women and two men students representing the Women's Stu dent Government Association and the regimental officers respec tively, nominated the girls. Stu dent officers in Reserve Officers' Training Corps selected the win ners by ballot. The names were kept secret until the night of the Military Ball at which time Helen Buckwalter, colonel, and Mildred Wentz and Ann Mellinger, lieu tenant colonels were announced. The women led the Grand March around the dance floor. Homecoming Queen is a cur- Compliments of ALICE & DON Hairdressers New Location: 129 S. Frazier St. AD 7-2201 By GINGER HANCE rent favorite. Thespians sponsor the contest and the football team selects the queen. The queen graces the ceremonies at the foot ball game to welcome back the alumni. The selection of Miss , Penn State always attracts a celebrity to the crowning ceremony. In the past finalists have been chos en by such figures as John Wayne, movie star, and Evelyn Aye, Miis America of 1953. The queens were crowned by Mrs. Dwight D. Ei senhower, First Lady of the White House, and Mary Pickford,' film star, on two occasions. In addition to the various class queens, -the University has had a Dairy queen, Harvest Ball queen, Belle Hop Ball queen, (re placed in 1953 by "Mr. Penn State"), and fraternity queens. Not to be outdone it. the colorful pageant of the University's his tory, the Daily Collegian ran a Sweater Girl Contest in 1950. Pointers for 1902 Frosh Some of the "Pithy Pointers" given to freshman in the 1902 Handbook were: Be manly, Keep your eyes open, Remember those at home, Don't be fresh, Don't take your cuts until you are obliged to do so, When you are in doubt; ask questions, but be care ful how you ask. ..:', i :. .. ..,..... ~, ot THE ~. ....,. Rti PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY ......1,1 ..,-. ~.:-.. , ', 1855 -1955 .. ~• ..,:., 100 Years of ,- - r, „... Progressin Ed uca t ion Edt 1 , ~..., Z ' ' ks , Yi it t e lt •Z 4 lOf , ~ , 1 ' HATTtR HABWRIDAMICR TAIL,* ON THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA Man Taught Coed Clais In Phys Ed By GAIL GILMAN Imagine yourself a coed doing calisthentics with varsity basket ball practice on one side of you, boxing.on the other, and profes sors creeping in oh hands and knees looking for stray balls from their game of handball! Such was the situation in .1924. 'Women's physical education classes were being shifted , con tinuously from building to build ing and were , even 'held in the Arfnory andllie Methodist Chprch gym. When women's physical educa tion first started at Penn State, there were no *omen phys ed teachers; thus the director of the' gym had to take the jqb, atxrein ploy a military man•to teach the wom.:n marching. Need for a women's gym was recognized as early as 1916. In 1924, when Miss Marie, Haidt joined the staff, she began work ing, toward such a goal. For 14 years Miss Haidt was the only women's.physical education teach er at the •University. In 1938 Mary Beaver White Hall was finally coMpletedo The build ing Was . named for Miss. White because of her interest in and as sistance to women on campus by loan funds and scholarships. This building marked the result of nearly a half century of' work towards getting adlite facili ties for. the women's phy sical educe cation program. It was uilt most ly of the indefatigable effort of Miss Haidt, and contains rifle range, swimming • pool, bowling alleys, fencing room, squash court, gym, calisthenics room, and club rooms. Along with the planning of White Hall, it was decidki ,to change the name of the organiza tion of sportswomen troth the Women's Athletic Association to the Women's Recreational. Associ ation, the former sounding too masculine. WRA supplements the regular program having a four-fold pro gram: competitive sports, club ac tivities, special activities, and a' voluntary participation in the fa cilities offered. Its purpose is "to give opportunity for socialized recreation and development of skill in various sports and ac tivities." The University's time-honored ratio of three males to one fe male won't be seriously changed in future undergraduate enroll ment. Present studies, projected into 1960 and beyond, show that the ratio will still hold in 1960 when an estimated 9900 men and 3350 women will enroll at the Univer sity. In 1965, the • totals will be 11,- 593 men and 4250 women. Five years later they'll be 13,340 and 5160, respectively. Automatic voting machines were used for the first All-University elections in 1939. That Ot Ratio Is Here to Stay University To Coeds "It is the responsibility of the College at k recipients of the bounty of the government to• help citizens who have daughters as well as those Who haVe sons." So said President James Calder in 1871, when the faculty and the Board of Trustees voted •to admit both sexes without distinction as to qualifications or. privileges. The doors of the institution were thro*ii open with the,airn of•pre paring "the female stunt" for of•pre pa matron Instead of a , parlor ornament." Same. Courses ' for Coeds liowever, the privilege tip an equ'al education.with men Was nOt always an unqualified success. Started as the Fanners'" igh School, the College curridultini •in the early years was Arnold en tirely cbhfined to ,courses in agri= culture * science, and engineering. Since no conce§sions..Werq, made to women, they had to folloW the same courses of , study• as the .men. But from the first the women students did well. President Cal der said in a report, to the trustees: First Six 'Laths? "Thus far six ladies .have en tered, and have proven as diu. gent, .orderly, and successful as the young men in the same classes." During the 1880's, there was a growing demand for courses' de signed especially for women. The enrollment of coeds was dropping. The number rose fro th six in 1871 to 49, in 1879—the peak for abotzt 30 years. In 1906,• the figure drop ped to six again. 'Ladies Course' A weak attempt to interest the women in higher educdtion was made in 1884 with fhb , introdtio tion of a curriculiun titled "Lathes' Course in Literature and Sciehce." It covered two years of work. A student edit•Or, in 1889, ques tioned whether "womenshould be educated in the' classes and take the same courses of instruction aS men in the colleges. A Woman needs that which will make her a queen of the household and of so ciety," he wrote, "while min' needs that which will fit him for the harder, sterner duties of life, to which the ladies should never be driven except in cases of exigency. Alumnae Club,. Too An effort to reverse the dotvn= ward trend in the enrollment of women was made in 1906 when the Alumnae Club issued a cir cular pointing out the advantages of the University. "That more young women in Pennsylvania do not take ad vantage of the excellent oppor tunities offered them here at so moderate a cost," the circular said, "is astonishing when similar institutions in other states are overcrowded with their women." Six Coeds; 794 Men Pointing out that of the Col lege's 800 students, only six were women, the circular added that "this is the result mainly of the lack of knowledge throughout the state of the opportunities' offered Congratulations to the Penn State University on its 100th Anniversary •• . • We are proud to have served the Pennsylvania State University for 40 of its 100 very successful years and would like to extend our hope for its continued success in 'the future • • • Campus Restaurant (Opposite Old Main) TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 22, Vit.3.l Open in 1871. to women, the impressibn pre vailing` that this is an institution open , only "to men." - The . . year 1907 was a turning pdint in the history of coeduca tion at the University for it Marked , the establishment of a de- Pertinent' . of home economics. With a special curriculum pro vided 'for Women, the Cpalege at tracted ,coeds in increas ing , num bers, thereafter. Home Ec Program Pus hed ptrong itfipettts to the move ment fora full..program in home economies was given by the State Fedetation of Women's Clubs Meeting in State College in 1006. It adopted a• resolution demand ing that the legislature appropri ate funds for such a department. A campaign carried on by wotnen over the state? ttsulted in the ap propriation of .t he necessary money. ~ Today, 84 years after the doors were town :open to them, few womett•Would ,assert that the in stitution is not living up to its obligations '4 , get forth by Presi dent Caldet in 1871. The 'Univer sity Is helping. those citizens who have daughters as well as those who ,have. WSG'itirlittirY BOitiiin 1906, The Women's Student Govern ment Aisociaticin.was . first origin ized ,in 1906, -but was revised and came into actual operation in 1915. Eunide -S. Williams was the first president Officially ftinctioning in 1915, WSGA; was reorganized along the plan of the national govern ment, with two houses—a •Senate composed of representatives from leach class, and a House of Repre sentatives compoSed of women from the various living units. Again reorganized in 1921, it in cluded the women living in town and in the cottages. Revolutionary ru 1 e changes made by the. new WSGA in 1923 allowed women' to dine at frater nity housts on weekends with the permission of the house president, and during the week with the per mission of the Dean of Women. The purpose of WSGA is, ac cording to the Constitution, "to control matters .6f student life in achieving high stan dards . of schol arship and clwabter." The basic organization has remained un changed since 1923: although rules have been brought up to date as the occasion warranted.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers