1979 – Forty Years: The History of Women at Bowdoin

Letter from the Indoor Track Team and Letter from Dick Mersereau

The following series of documents represents requests made by women’s sports teams during the late 1970s. Evidence from the letters shows that concerns that emerged in LaPointe’s 1977 review of women’s athletics remained unresolved but that women athletes, and coaches of women continued to ask for support.

The women’s indoor track team wrote the first letter to the Athletic Director and the Deans of the College on February 9, 1979 (Document JH, 59.1). The team suggests that the men’s coach, Frank Sabasteanski, possessed too much responsibility in coaching both teams. In addition, they argue that a women’s coach would be more appealing for female students, and would also be able to work in other areas of the athletic department. The letter demonstrates the team’s desire for equality between men and women’s teams. Members of the team signed the letter and carbon copied Athletic Director Ed Coombs, three deans, and Sally LaPointe, the first female coach at the College.

A response, written on March 5, 1979, to Athletic Director Coombs from Dean Paul Nyhus (document available in Special Collections at Bowdoin) insisted that Coombs reply to the team and fulfill their request by the upcoming (1980) school year. However, today, forty years later, there is still one coach for men and women’s track, Peter Slovenski.

Richard (Dick) A. Mersereau (see interview, Part 2, 00:05:50), volunteer women’s basketball coach, wrote the second letter on May 4, 1979, to Vincent (Vinnie) B. Welch, a member of the Bowdoin class of 1938 (Document JH, 59.2). Mersereau requests that his team travel to London to play against European teams. Not only would this experience give his players a different type of competition to improve their skills, but it would also “provide a rich cultural experience.” Mersereau calculates the cost of $500 per player, and directs his request to Welch, a supporter of women’s athletics at the College, and, according to Mersereau, a successful fundraiser. Before closing the letter, Mersereau commented, “Thanks…for any help you might offer this dreamer,” suggesting he has little confidence that any women’s sports team at that time would be approved to do something as far-fetched as traveling to Europe.

Ten days later, on May 14, 1979, Welch forwarded the letter to C. Warren Ring, Vice President of Development at the College, who then sent a letter to President Enteman on May 18, 1979 (documents available in Special Collections at Bowdoin). Paralleling Mersereau’s dreamer quotation, Ring writes, “Mr. Welch, quite understandably, does not know how to answer Mr. Mersereau’s request.” Ring offers many questions that, in his opinion, need to be answered before taking further steps in planning a trip to London. The letter does not offer any conclusions; however, an interview with Mersereau revealed that a lack of funding did not permit the team’s trip.

JH59.1 - Letter from the Indoor Track Team

Bowdoin Film Society Flyer, Awards and Kaster’s Film History Class

The implementation of coeducation at Bowdoin College undoubtedly changed the social scene at the time, challenging long held fraternity traditions and practices. Coeducation also changed Bowdoin academically. The presence of women faculty at Bowdoin created new possibilities for academic pursuits. Professor Barbara Kaster came to Bowdoin with a position in the English Department. She accepted the position on the condition that she be allowed to teach Film as well. Kaster taught Film History and made filmmaking a mandatory part of the course. The Bowdoin Film Society (BFS), founded in 1974, grew out of Kaster’s Film History class.

Student films were screened in the spring during the Annual Student Film Awards Night. The BFS co-sponsored the event and awarded an Oscar-replica statue to the Best Film. The event was by no means small. Some students dressed to the nines, some even renting a limo for the event. In a phone interview, Kaster recalls that tickets would be made available at a given hour and would sell out within fifteen minutes. The campus support for student filmmakers was substantial.

The flyer [DocumentAG, 42.1] announces the Fourth Annual Student Film Awards Night held in 1977. Current filmmaker, Liza McElaney ’77, made her first film, Pattern Grace, in Kaster’s Film History course and won Best Film at the student film festival her senior year [DocumentAG, 42.2]. In 1978 and 1979 the Best Film award again went to groups with women on them [DocumentAG, 42.3 and DocumentAG, 42.4]

AG42.2 - Bowdoin Film Society Awards 1977

AG42.3 - Bowdoin Film Society Awards 1978

AG42.4 - Bowdoin Film Society Awards 1979

The BFS allowed women to claim a space on campus where male membership did not predate their own. Kaster encouraged students, male and female, to take what they learned in the classroom and engage with the material in an interactive manner. Also, as one of the few female faculty members at Bowdoin in the early 1970’s, Kaster served as a mentor and role model for female students. She and the BFS celebrated student achievements in a positive way, encouraging some women to pursue film as a career. [DocumentAG, 42.5]

Interview with Beth (Cantara) Richardson ’79, by Jillyan Henrikson ’12

A Female Athlete in a Men’s Athletic World: A Discussion with Beth Richardson, ‘79

In this interview, Beth Richardson, a member of the basketball and outdoor track teams at Bowdoin from 1975-1979, discusses her time on campus as a female student-athlete during the first years of coeducation at the College. To hear Beth’s take on how the administration viewed women’s athletics, her relationship with her teammates and Coach Dick Mersereau, and the women’s basketball team’s second-class citizenship, listen below.

Audio: click tracks(s) below to begin listening

Intriguing pieces:

Time: Part 1, 00:01:35

Quotation: [In reference to bonds shared with teammates] “…so, an incredible sense of camaraderie throughout all 4 years, a sense of support, you always knew there was someone you could talk to…it was like having a bunch of sisters.”

Time: Part 1; 00:04:20

Quotation: [In reference to a comparison of the women and men’s basketball teams] “We put up with a lot. We were definitely second class citizens [in comparison to the men].”

Time: Part 4, 00:26:35

Quotation: [In reference to final comments on experiences as a female student-athlete at Bowdoin] “You know, it was kind of an interesting balance between having a group of women who you really loved and loved you, and having virtually no recognition by the College. It was really odd. You know, to be that tight and to work that hard, but not have the College see you as a serious athlete. But, we had a good time.”

Citation: I, Jill Henrikson, interviewed Beth Richardson on November 4, 2011 at her home in Portland, Maine. We discussed both Beth’s experiences as a member of the women’s basketball and outdoor track team, as well as her identification as a student-athlete on the Bowdoin campus from 1975-1979.