Barnard College - Mortarboard Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 19 text:

' Where do you go to school? Barnard. Where? It ' s the female part of Columbia. You answer wearily, one more time, and wish to God they ' d finally get it right. But you kind of understand. After all, you thought more of going to Columbia yourself, a year or two or three back. It ' s only when you ' ve been here a while that you begin to recognize the importance of a woman ' s school — of Barnard — and of being a woman, after all. Mortarboard 1977 15

Page 18 text:

BLACK AT BARNARD Besides the waters of the Hudson I feel my race. Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon and over swept, but through it all, I remain myself. When covered by the waters I am; and the ebb reveals me again. Zora Neale Hurston, one of Barnard ' s most distin- guished alumna and the first Black graduate, expressed her feelings about attending Barnard in the above quote. Bar- nard College is not without a history of Black women. Unfortunately the stories of Zora Neale Hurston and other Black women who succeeded her at Barnard have not been relayed to women attending the school many years after Hurston. The four years spent at Barnard represents an imple- menting process of those ideals and gains struggled for by many black women in Barnard ' s past. A knowledge of this past reveals the diversity of this college. Barnard is a com- posite of many individuals who bring to this unique at- mosphere all their personal reference points. For many a group of women being an individual means being a Black woman. But each of these Black women is an outgrowth of different perspectives within the Black culture. This indi- viduality and sense of self is what Hurston spoke of in her statement. And the Barnard Organization of Black Women has grown with the times and development of Black at Barnard in order to answer to a need for many Black Women at Barnard to express themselves in an environment of understanding beyond the educational. Barnard Organization of Black Women was born of the struggles of the sixties and early seventies. This period in the college ' s history marked the beginning of a more active recruiting program for minority students, increasing the number of Black women per class. This higher concentra- tion of Black women created a stronger feeling of a Black presence on campus. Therefore many Black women felt a need for a gathering place, a place for Black women to address themselves as Blacks but most importantly recon- ciling that with our position as women. Through the sixties and seventies B.O.B.W. helped many women work out their feelings about entering pre- dominately white schools. The eighties will be a time of resolving our feelings of being a part of a larger Black culture but recognizing all the variations on that theme as well as realizing ourselves as women within that culture and within Barnard. Marcia Lynn Sells B ' 81 From Left to Right (Committee heads of Celebration of Black Womanhood Weekend): Veronica Mallet, Diane Elebe, Sharon Roberson, Kuumba Edwards, Debra Johnson. 14

Page 20 text:

BEARS AND LIONS REVISITED During my four years at Barnard, I think the one complaint I most frequently heard was that there is no social life on the Columbia and Barnard campuses. Many students, especially Col- lege men, support the proposed merger of the two institutions, believing that this would better the social situation. This is one Barnard senior who thinks that is ridiculous. If students from either college have not met congenial members of the opposite sex, it just might be because they are too lazy to leave their rooms and cross Broadway; many of us live in co-ed dorms and need not do even that! We live in a great city, vibrant with energy and life, and New York is undoubtedly one of Columbia ' s greatest assets. A night downtown can not be compared to a night on campus, but I have found that the reverse can be true as well. Most of us can not afford to go downtown very frequently; so why is time to study so hard to find? There is always something to do on campus; there is always something going on. Life here has very much improved in just the last couple of years. Programming is now done on a larger scale and events are of a higher quality. The large programming organiza- tions, Barnard ' s McAc and Columbia ' s Board of Managers, are open to all students and hold events open to the whole campus communi- ty. At least two films are screened weekly, frequently three and sometimes even four. Dances of all sorts take place on weekends: rock roll, disco, sixties, fifties, live bands, other theme, no theme, etc. Events can be as varied as a roller disco or a candlelight cafe. There are more clubs to join and more possibilities of starting new ones than ever before. Clubs have their own socials and parties as well, so that their members can get to know each other in a friendly atmosphere, or just meet other students who share similar interests, though they may or may not have the time to join a club. Dorms are still sponsoring regular brunches, happy hours and floor parties, all aimed at a closer-knit student body, and a happier college community. Although dorm events tend to be oriented towards its residents, the rest of the campus is always invited and welcome to join in whatever event it may be running. New features, such as the BHR Coffeehouse and the Reid commuter lounge have been recent additions to the Barnard scene. So why don ' t students meet? For the student who is willing to get involved, for the student who is willing to go out and meet other students, our joint cam- puses offer ample occasions to do so. Our university is a very special place, with an atmosphere all its own. Those of us who tried, rather than just expected, to go out and meet people and have a good time during our stay here, will be sorry to leave what has become our second home — our campus. However, a social life has to be sought out, it does not just happen suddenly, does not come knocking on your Carman door. Accepting women into Columbia College will not make socializing any easier, or friends easier to find. Time spent complaining about a lack of campus life would be better spent hanging out on the steps! Frances Erlbacher B ' 81 16