College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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u--. ; • . Dormitories — a one room home away from home, with everyone except men over 21 required to hve in them. As httle as $55 per semes- ter rent in the fifties. After twenty years of steady deteriora- tion, over $200. In some cases, occupancy was nearly twice normal capacity. Building new dorms, emphasizing smaller units and a more intimate atmosphere alleviated the problem. Resident Assistant no longer just a title, but a responsibility. Change comes slowly: window screens slashed and rooms entered during the sixties. Heavy duty screens installed in late 1973. Once upon a time, William and Marv coeds re- ceived demerits for breaking dorm regulations. Right up until 1971. In 1966, lates were approved for Upperclassmen. A senior was allowed nine one o ' clock curfews a semester, juniors, seven, and sophomores, five. A running record of late minutes could mean a strict campus penalty that restricted a girl to her room for one or both nights of a weekend. A demonstration for individual responsibility in ' 67 and then 28 PERSPECTIVE

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:owards decentralization as students alee advantage of what little night life is available in the Burg. The dating scene, previously as formal as the dances. Now informal relationships where often a quiet evening with wine and cheese and a ood guitarist at a coffee house 3r a rap session in a dorm replaces :he drunken highs of big :ollege dances. PACil. 2(i: Lcll: 1473 Immcaiiiiing dance. Riyhl: 1449 Humccoming Quccn lUuii. PAGI: 27: LcH: lasliiiien wdiikmi durins; due week. Top riiihl: 1474 Wednesday night al (ho Hoi I ' olloi. Boiioni right: Ounean Charlton nlavins; al L ntlc Morris ColVcc House. •• ••• ••• I • J- A ,m if I ' llRSI ' ICTIVL 27

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, ' the great upheaval in ' 69 when curfews lifted, dorms opened to visitors of the opposite sex, and oiT-campus housing became avai able to senior women, as William and Mary began to realize that with a groan, college women, even Southern belles, could take care of themselves. The long, hard road to equality. And now they ' re talking coed dorms. A new dean in charge of housing and a change in the view of what a dorm is. Slowing down the rate of deteri- oratitMi by instilling a semblance of responsibility for one ' s living conditions with a room contract and a damage deposit. Attempts to make the dorm more than just a shell to crawl into at the end of the day, with creative hall painting to break the monotony of cinder block walls, and weekly programs, some social, others academic. Nevertheless, with a few exceptions, basically a one room home. Page 28. Top Lett: Laundry (1957). Top Right: Fraternity house. Center: Studying ( 1955). Bottom: Dinner at Barrett. Page 29. Left: Visitation. Right; Hall at SAE. Bottom: Sleeping in French House. PERSPECTIVE 29