Beyond the Virgins' Walk
Editor's Note: Some of the photos printed in this section were reprinted from past issues of the Campanile . We retained the original captions to preserve their historical context.
I recently had the opportunity to assist English Professor Linda Driskill in collecting oral histories from Rice alumnae during the Women's Conference held on campus March 9-11. Prior to that experience, I had not realized that history could be so interesting. Rice has a past -- sometimes sordid, sometimes inspiring -- and discovering that past changed the way I look at the present.
It has become more common to see students paging through the early Campaniles and Threshers , laughing at a favorite professor's leisure-suited days, gawking at what a different place "the Institute" used to be, marveling at how some things never change and wondering how future generations will be viewing us. Perhaps they are also searching for a sense of where in time we really are.
There has always been a token interest by the members of a particular college in hearing tales of their college's past exploits, victories and lost traditions.
The new trend seems to be toward a view of Rice as one community with a shared past that can be found in the pages of its old publications. Many Rice students of the past were searching for the sense of belonging that most of us tend to take for granted. Often, Rice students' solutions to the question, "Where do I fit in?" were quite controversial, if not misguided.
In many areas, Rice has come a long way. Freshmen are no longer severely beaten in initiation rites, a spelling test is not required for graduation (abolished in 1955), there is no Rice Ku Klux Klan chapter and the Houston Health Department has rescinded its order banning family-style dinners. However, there is still room for growth.
One topic that has recently entered the forefront of discussion is the role of women at Rice. This year, for the first time in Rice history, the entering freshman class was 50 percent female. A glance at the past makes us aware of the difficulties women have overcome and of future challenges to be faced.
It is difficult now to fathom that for the first 10 years of the Institute, women were receiving university degrees but did not even have the right to vote. Even more, there was no significant outcry from the strong, intelligent women at Rice. If there was ever a sensible source for a suffrage movement, it would have seemed to be the female intelligentsia, but this was not the case. It would appear that political apathy is fundamental to the character of Rice.
A fact which seemed to affect and inspire women more directly was that women had no access to university housing and had to be off campus by 5 p.m. These rules limited women's access to the library and labs, kept them from most social activities and more than doubled the cost of their Rice education. Beginning with a Thresher column in 1918, it took 40 years of proposals and pleading for the housing demands of women to be met.
Of course, there was no doubt that accommodating women was not on the administra-tion's agenda. Historian and alumna Christine Van Wart wrote that when the mother of one student called the Institute to find out what courses were offered, she received the reply, "We don't encourage girls to come."
It was not until 1951 that on-campus housing was offered to women, and not until 1958, seven years later, that women were given a chance to really join the Rice community with their own residential college. Prior to that point,women turned to extra-curricular activities and clubs for social connections and a sense of identity.
One of the main ways that women established social ties was through literary societies. Originally designed to give women the opportunity to discuss and debate intellectual issues, they soon degenerated into elitist social clubs for the rich and beautiful.
Literary societies were identical in nearly every aspect to sororities, with special colors, pins and initiation rites -- including a "rush week." They prided themselves on getting the most attractive freshman women as pledges, and undertook invitation-only parties as their main form of social service.
By the early 1950s the literary societies flourished to such an extent that there were six or seven on campus, and nearly every woman belonged to one, but their mere presence robbed the student body of the egalitarian unity William Marsh Rice envisioned.
The birth of the college system in 1957 restored unity by giving women the sense of belonging they desired without the negativity and elitism of the literary societies. A 1968 Campanile article laments the dwindling involvement in literary societies -- there were only two left by that time -- and attributes it to increased individualism. The last literary society disappeared from the campus in 1989, leaving Rice as one of the few universities in the nation opposed to the sorority/fraternity mentality but that still maintained a flourishing social scene.
However, literary societies were not the only way that students have displayed their capacity for the superficial. Van Wart described how "there seemed to be little opportunity for a woman to distinguish herself on campus besides by her looks." The Archi-Arts Costume Ball, the May Feté, Rondelet -- all of these events became vehicles for voting on and showcasing the most beautiful women.
The battle between rival literary societies for control of the May Feté court positions was notoriously vicious, leading male students to create a parody affair, the May Fite. Beauty and poise, as opposed to scholarship or creativity, were the undisputed hallmarks of a successful Rice woman.
In another spectacular coup for the objectification of women, an entire section of the Campanile , entitled "Vanity Fair," was devoted solely to page after page of the perky and dimpled. Experts on feminine beauty were called in to judge photographs and choose the "Beauties," including, in 1962, Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine. What a gift to posterity: the beautifully blank faces of women that tell us nothing about their minds, personalities, interests or who they really were.
For some, moving ahead involves revisiting the past. Currently, alumnae of the Owen Wister Literary Society are attempting to revive their organization, and they hope to generate interest by hosting events for Rice students. The revived society plans to emphasize social service and discussion.
Historically, there has been a great deal of progress toward a state of equality. That there is no longer any form of campus beauty contest is not a symptom of the scarcity of attractive women (a stereotype as old as it is unfounded), but an indication that Rice has changed its view of the role of women.
Women are as respected for their ideas and leadership as men, as is evidenced by the number of presidential offices filled by women. The growth is clear when we contrast this with the not-too-distant past, when women could be secretary or social chair but could never hold higher positions. An awareness of history allows us to see more clearly where we came from as well as where we are going.
Women's history is only one corner of a huge tapestry of Rice history that begs to be explored, and if we wish to continue our search for identity in Rice's past, the resources are available. The History of Student Life at Rice University , edited by Michael Raphael, is an excellent place to look for information about Rice history, and the Woodson Research Center contains hundreds of historical documents. In addition, old Campaniles and Threshers are available in college libraries and in Fondren Library.
Rice has many interesting stories associated with its past: the cruel hazing rituals, the origins of the music school and the fight to enroll minorities, just to name a few. The list goes on and on. Some will make you laugh, and some will make you think, but they will all give you the opportunity to gain a rare and valuable commodity: perspective.
This item appeared in the Features section of the April 19, 1996 issue.
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