Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

A Class Project of GWS 280 - Fall 2011

Addressing Women’s Security Needs

In the “Security” section of a 1973 Student Life Committee Report (Document AK, 28), the issue of campus security “as it affected women students in particular” came to the fore. Due to a number of reported “incidents,” and the fact that, with the increase in the size of the student body size, student housing was expanding further and further from the center of campus, an “escort service” – akin to today’s shuttle service – was implemented. Overall, the report recommended an increase in the total security presence on campus.

Interestingly, the need for this increase in security presence was described as a direct result of the addition of women to Bowdoin. The implication is either (or both) that women require more protection than men, and/or that men are more likely to commit crimes against women than against each other. Another interesting component is the mention of “incidents.” Though it is unclear whether these were particularly violent or sexual in nature, the type of “incidents” that might prompt a woman to seek an escort service at night were likely assault-oriented.

At the time, Bowdoin was not alone in beginning to recognize the need for sexual assault protection and support for women students. In the 1970s, feminists brought issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault to the forefront, on college campuses as well as in the larger society. In 2011, sexual assault awareness and prevention are central issues at Bowdoin, and the community has made a remarkable effort to keep this campus safe. Every year, “Consent Is Sexy Week” teaches Bowdoin students how to recognize and avoid sexual assault through various programs and events. Bowdoin’s Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP) is an umbrella title for the collaboration of various groups all devoted in whole or in part to these issues, including Bowdoin Men Against Sexual Violence (BMASV), VSpace, Vday, Peer Health, Safe Space, and the Bowdoin Queer Straight Alliance (BQSA).

 

AK28 - Addressing Women's Security Needs
AK28 - Addressing Women's Security Needs

Interview with Rosalyne Spindel Bernstein, Bowdoin Overeer, by Anna Wright ’12

In the fall of 1973, Roz Bernstein was elected to Bowdoin’s Board of Overseers—the first woman to serve in that capacity in the history of the College. Her election was motivated, in part, by the College’s 1971 move to coeducation. She served on the Board for over twenty years, where she was instrumental in the decision to eliminate fraternities. Today, she remains a Board member emerita. Click the audio link below to  hear Bernstein’s reflections on her time on the Board—particularly its approach to coeducation, and the questions that she expects it to confront in the future.

Audio: click below to begin listening

Time: 4:18

AW49-1 - Orient: Golden Age for Bowdoin Greeks
AW49-1 - Orient: Golden Age for Bowdoin Greeks

On the Board’s reaction to her appointment: “When I went to my first meeting, you know, everyone was most cordial, but one guy said to me, ‘I’m very glad to meet you, but you know, I still think women don’t belong at Bowdoin,’ and I said, ‘Well, you know, that may be your opinion, but obviously, you’re in the minority.’ ”

 

Time: 31:09

On alumni backlash against some of the Board’s decisions: “People have this passion about their college, which is wonderful and has to be maintained, but you know, I don’t pay much attention to the grumbling. There will always be grumblers. But that fades away over time.”

 

Time: 31:33

On coeducation: “It’s the best thing that ever happened to Bowdoin College…It transformed attitudes on campus; it transformed campus life; it transformed the classroom.”

 

Citation: I, Anna Wright, interviewed Roz Bernstein on Sunday, October 30, 2011, at her home in Portland, Maine. We discussed her experience as the first woman on the Bowdoin College Board of Overseers, particularly as it related to the College’s change from an all-male institution to a coeducational one.