Archived Edition: March 01, 2006 | Back to Current	Jul 31, 2010

Williams: That ’70s school
Rebecca Gordon - SENIOR EDITOR

By Rebecca Gordon

Staff Writer



Envision a Williams without women and without the Internet. A Williams where Jesup was an auditorium, where strikes and rallies abounded and where swarms of long-haired, bearded men donned both tie and jacket just for dinner.

Williams in the ’70s was a very different place. The College has come a long way in 30 years, going from an overwhelmingly white, male college fed almost exclusively by New England prep schools to a much wider array of different personalities, styles, genders and races. Everything from new construction, to new dining halls to a completely different social dynamic over the years has made Williams what it is today, a place that Dean Dave Johnson ’71 calls “a remarkable institution; [with] a whole explosion of clubs and initiatives for students of varied backgrounds.”

Although many claim that the College is now experiencing more change than ever before, in comparison to the wild, fast-paced revolutions of the ’70s, Williams is just adapting to the times.

There is no denying that the ’70s were an era of major transition for the College, particularly with the introduction of women in 1972. Women were not only present in the classroom (in fact, they had been there since 1950 as exchange students), but started to live on campus.

With that momentous change came the end of the traditional “road trip,” in which Williams men traveled to Skidmore and Mount Holyoke to find dates. Soon, the advent of the opposite sex altered the fraternity-esque dorm-by-dorm house system, by adding a new dimension to student life.

Women, by infiltrating these scenes of “manly bonding,” toned down formerly intense intramural competitions and activities geared towards house pride.

Those at the College during this time recall that while women were timid at first, they were generally better prepared in class, bringing liveliness of the classroom arena. There was an increased dedication to academic diversity in the College’s philosophy, as shown through the introduction of “area studies” such as women’s studies and other courses.

New buildings were also constructed to accommodate the burgeoning population of students, according to John Hyde ’56, who served as a professor and Dean of the College. Chandler Gymnasium, Mission Park Dining Hall, the Hopkins Science Center and Greylock were all innovations of the time. In fact, dining halls in general were an advance of the ’70s.

Before going coed, all men ate at fixed dining hour in one house (usually a row house) side by side with teachers. Eating was just part of a larger social activity that centered around the evening meal.

“Group singing was a staple,” Hyde said. “If you went to a house for dinner, you would sing the college songs. Sometimes you would gather after dinner and sing up and down the road, as well.”

In recalling the physical appearances of the students, as fads and trends came and went, men looked fairly wild according to Hyde.

“Their hair was really something else, he said. “Some of their wives have destroyed their wedding pictures because they were embarrassed by what they saw.”

Johnson, who was a student at the time, agrees, commenting on the social habits of the men, which were just as crazy as their hairstyles. “There was lots of beer, marijuana; some of the adventurous kids would try acid, too,” he said.

The 1970’s as a transitional period, however, extended far beyond just changes in the physical appearances of men on campus. With apprehensive friends and family at home, even the purple bubble felt the effects of a war overseas.

Both Johnson and Hyde recall a particular incident in the spring of 1971, in which the administration was coerced into allowing classes and finals to end early because a large contingent of students wished to go Washington to actively protest the war before classes would have finished.

“I remember going to Chapin Hall to vote on whether we would go to class,” Johnson said. “It was finally decided that Williams would not have final exams that year and that you would take the grade you had or you could take a pass. The administration cooperated and the year ended early … at that point, there was a lottery draft as well … there was a lot of tension. The war was not popular.”

Today hosts its own set of conflicts: everything from worldwide controversies about Iraq to on-campus debates about College Council. At the same time, the College’s character is always in flux.

“Everyone thinks they come to college at a time of defining transition, but, in reality, the institution is always in a state of change,” Hyde said. “It’s a very slow process, so people don’t often recognize it, but it’s always there.”

Although we have construction for a mammoth student union, a new library and a new housing system on the way, Williams may not really be in another state of dramatic conversion. Most would say we are just changing with the times.