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

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26 Moving in HOT WEATHER forces Ed McLeod to leave one part of his three piece suit at home when he comes to have his year- hook picture taken. ON THE FIRST DAY of orientation, stu- dents listen attentively to Dean Livingston ' s presentation on a liber- al arts education. AMONG THIS RA ' S MANY TASKS is making a list of the girls on her hall to post near the phone.

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PERSONAL TOUCHES transform a d( room from a sterile box to a comfortable home. INSERT: Housemothers keep tabs on residents in 1971 through the use of cards to sign in and out. Security was cited as the rea- son. Whether to keep DuPont a male dorm was another question posed by many. Females often pointed out how drastically its condition has deteriorated since the guys moved in two years ago. Residence halls were a good way to meet people. Activities such as ice cream parties, vol- leyball games, picnics and study breaks brought neighbors together. Hall painting was al- ways popular, as were the sea- sonal door decorating contests. Many dorms were active sponsors of events. Richmond Road com- plex ' s Heart Dance and Valentine cards raised money for the Heart Fund. Yates and DuPont got to- gether to create a 150 foot long banana split. Brown and JBT tried a new social event — a slumber party. The Office of Residence Hall Life was not to be outdone. Their Last Lecture Series, featuring Professors Coursen of biology, Thompson of history, Lavasch of education and Sanderson of economics, were highly successful. Students packed Millington Hall to listen to the addresses. Rules in dorms were minimal. The policy of self-determina- tion, enabling residents to se- lect visitation, lock-up and quiet hours, gave students greater freedom. This policy was only recently adopted. As late as 1972, house mothers watched over residents in all dormitories. Cards to sign in and out enabled them to keep tabs on students. Members of the opposite sex were not al- lowed in bedrooms except dur- ing special visitation hours. Curfew hours prevented students from staying out late. Today this all seemed dis- STUDENTS devour the 150 foot long banana split made by residents of DuPont and Yates. INSERT: Coeds battle each other during Due games, the climax of a week of hazing for freshmen. LAST LECTURE Series speaker Allen San- derson addresses the crowd that filled Millington Hall for the successful pro- gram sponsored by the Office of Resi- dence Hall Life. INSERT: A W M student speaks out at a Counter conference on peace and justice held at Lake Matoaka in 1971. tant. The card key system en- abled students to come and go as they pleased. Guys could roam girls ' halls anytime they wanted to and vice versa. No one said anything even if they ended up spending the night, not an uncommon occurrence. Dorm mothers were definitely a thing of the past as RA ' s handled any problem that might have arisen on a hall. Generally, the stu- dent was on his or her own. Dorm Life— Then Now 25

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OH yOUR MA The annual migration to Williamsburg starts off another year M esident Assistants returned 1% first to prepare for the others. This was only the be- ginning of the annual influx of cars, U-Hauls, and station wa- gons packed full of students ' belongings. Once the student arrived after long drives and packing sessions, there was the ordeal of getting a roomful of books, records and clothing up several flights of stairs to the room that was now theirs. Once the myriad of items was as- sembled, the re dent faced the task of organization. As if this proved insufficient to bog- gle a schedule, there existed other time consuming chores those first few weeks. Checking in, conferring with advisors, buying books, having your year- book picture taken, and catch- ing up on friends missed over the summer all demanded much time. Entering students also faced these same events. To compound f ItVJ AMa-Y AND FRIENDS are recruited by Togi ' VOTSilHs to ' helphini get ' irioveii Tn. . , - woMens RecePTiONS A s in years past, the •I freshmen women received a special welcome to college life — the traditional freshmen wo- men ' s receptions held during the first few weeks of the school year by each of the frat- ernities. Attendance by the freshmen was high, while opin- ions about these apparently in- nocent displays of hospitality varied greatly. Some girls thoroughly enjoyed the parties and felt that they offered a good opportunity to meet people. Others expressed dissatisfac- tion with what they felt was the meat market atmosphere. Ratios at these receptions re- mained a consistent eight to one in favor of the girls, or guys depending on how it was interpreted. The frat men were definitely outnumbered, but few complained. After the social- izing, some freshmen departed unimpressed, while others re- turned with lively tales of their latest W M discovery — the fraternity complex. difficulties, new students had to adapt to a new school, unfa- miliar faces, and a different environment. The freshman ' s predicament was a specialized one. Freshmen went through the orientation program, of- fering slight criticisms but largely accepting and submit- ting to what they viewed as an administrative formality that each class before them had al- so experienced. Previous clas- ses went through orientation, but programs of the late 1960s differed immensely in both con- tent and implementation. In earlier years, there was no permanent orientation com- mittee. Respectively desig- nated group leaders and sponsors, male and female orientation aides were sepa- rately selected and trained. Groups were single sex and separate activities were planned for each group. Despite many innovations made, several aspects of ori- entation such as interest night and mixers remained intact from earlier times. b- mm sa imi I ' ' Moving in 2 '