Princeton University - Bric A Brac Yearbook (Princeton, NJ)

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inspirino (itblctic victories ( is Saturday, Yale weekend. 1973. In the afternoon a ( (i i (. ' st h(!fween (wo teams of hulkinfi, football players uill comme ' morate one hundred years of Tiger-Buildo liviihy. Ihit it is morning now. and the activity is taking i dic (111 le fields behind New-New Quad. People drift down to watch muscular ruggers and agile soccer play- ers defend the honor of Old Nassau. On the center field, others are carrying on the same tradition: the women ' s field hockey team. They win, 5-3; and will go on to cap- ture the HYP Championship for the second time in their three-year history. Someone fokes, Now we can make a pair of earrings with the medals. The success of the field hockey team reflects the over- whelming success of Princeton ' s women ' s teams in gen- eral. In three years they have won a half-dozen HYP Championships and fourteen regional championships (mainly in tennis); placed in national championships five

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(ili iiii; Kilter Vfiiiis. the ' 67- ' 68 Triangle show, oui si ' vcnty- mnlh-lwi) yi-ars before; coeducation made its eiilritinc ,il Princeton, one year before Triangle went coed (I ' ll gel to that in a second). Maybe we should switch to prophecy instead of musical comedy. In a nutshell, coeducation made Triangle go legitim.ilr. A healthy proportion of Triangles comedy was pre- viously based on its existence as a drag show. When men play all roles, certain possibilities for comedy are opened while others become impossible. Subsequently, during Princeton ' s transition to coeducation we drew our humor from the situations of this transition. Now that that transition is essentially complete, our (.(Uiicdv must Kick of ea- ' eg. She was a critter, a critical languages student. Sue was also a very talented actress (as my sources inform me and as the tapes of the show bear out). Kick ' s opening number promised a real live girl. And naked loo! and Tiger by the Tail is Sue ' s story of being asked to do the show. Kirk also contained a running gag with Sue searching for a girls ' bathroom throughout the show. And Kick presented the Heaven Eleven, Prince- ton ' s first all-girl football team (in drag as per tradition). Call Spinlv a Shovel, although one of Triangle ' s more painful memories in general, celebrated the first year of official coeducation at Princeton with six very talented coeds, including Carey Davis ' 73 who later became Tri- angles first female officer. To borrow a phrase from the Band, we took a long, hard look at coeducation with such situations as a new coeds lament that My Room- mate ' s a Girl and ■ ' We ' re Here -expressing the first coeds ' jov at being at Princeton and their desire to keep coeducation at its present marvelous level (i.e.. the pres- ence of themselves alone among all those guys). We also presented the Supines. a close harmony group. There fami- seems to have sub.set)U(;ntly fadi ' d into history. Croi Krd lie made only one concession to coeduiialinii that 1 can recall, but it was a major oni;. This was the Pj N B skit which was a double rev(!rse drag (guys as girls, girls as guys) spoofing a typical football werikend with its imports. Othcrwi.se. Triangle was moving away from its Creek format and was beginning to realize that women might have something very positive to offer to Triangle. Blue Cenes was the first show that I actually worked on. The show made its debut in the spring of 1972 when coeducation had become a reality for Princeton and for Triangle. Thi re witc approximately thrire hundred women in the class of ' 7.5. and Triangh; drew some of the more talimteid ones. The show saw [oan (;allos ' 73 defeat her twin brother Steve [ames ' 74 for freshman class president of Inter Collegiate University. The show also offered a token drag scene in the dream sequence of Act II. Perhaps most significantly, Claire Town.send ' 74 served as production stage manager. Our eighty-fourth production Future Schlock saw Tri- angle with two female officers. Carey as vice president and Claire as secrcMary. The show did use drag, or more appropriately sex role reversal in several of its major scenes. But, importantly, this percentage of drag func- tioned in support of the show ' s underlying theme: that of tw(!nly-first century reconstructing events of the twen- tieth from the fragmentary records following the Holo- caust. Thus, these reversals were the natural theatrical result of our motivating premises. Now that coeducation is fully realized. Triangle must likewise realize that its material can no longer lean on the crutch of drag. Now our comedy must stand alone upon the same foundations on which all theatrical comedy rests. In a narrow sense, then, the tradition of the Long Kickline has ended. But in a more meaningful, less eph- emeral sense encompassing expression of the contempo- rary as well as preservation of the ancient. Triangle ' s tra- ditions are still with us and wi 11 continu( ith us.

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limfs (squash twice: swimming, sailing, anti crew): iiiid achieved a collective record of 95-23-1. Yet. such accom- plishments really don ' t surprise Merrily Dean, under whose direction the wt)men s athletic program began. ' Tve always believed th.il thi-re is a close correlation be- tween athletic excellence and excellence in otht-r areas . The girls were successful in the beginning and have tried to continue that success. The desire to win is purely self-imposed. They don ' t have the outside pressures caused by recruiting and alumni expectations. Ms. Dean was hired in Ult !l lo develop an athlirlii; pro- gram for the entering women as the University prepared for coeducation. The first step was physical education, followed closely by intramurals. The effort was made lo provide an opportunity for the handful of interesteii girls to continue their involvement in sports. Some tennis players got together, entered and won the Eastern Inler- coliegiate Championships to become the first official var- sity team. The next year everything blossomed as teams were added in field hockey, squash, swimming, basketball, and crew. Princeton now has eight varsity, three junior varsity, and five club sports for women, in- cluding lacrosse, sailing, fencing, gymnastics, volleyball. ice hockey, and badminton. It would be appropriate to ask, Is Princeton reolly coed in the area of athletics? Some would argue that such is not the case. Their view is based on the fact that the women ' s teams still do not have all that they need in the way of facilities, equipment, and operating expenses. A frequently cited need is for a women ' s dressing area in the boafhouse. It ' s unhealthy not to be able to change from our practice clothes until we get back lo our rooms, especially in bad weather, said a member of the women ' s crew team, and it ' s embarassing not to have any place for visiting teams to change. Plans for the locker room have apparently been made, but the Athletic Department is awaiting an opportunity to fit the project into the budget. Although the deficiencies that exist are annoying, most of the women feel that the University, with help from pri- vate donors, has managed quite satisfactorily. There is a tremendous expense involved in starting an athletic pro- gram where none existed, and a realistic limit as to how much money is available each year. In the past four years the Dillon locker room has been renovated, a dance stu- dio and another locker room in |adwin built, expensive equipment for crew and gymnastics purchased, and uni- forms obtained for each team. The basketball team re- ceived shoes this year and a set of warm-ups which is shared with the field hockey team. Dillon library is presently being renovated for use in social gatherings af- ter contests, a tradition which has developed with some of the teams. In addition, there are plans to obtain a sec- ond Universal Gym and sauna baths at Dillon through the women ' s program, which would be available to both male and female athletes. Financial criteria are not the only standards that can be used in judging the degree of coeducation in this area. Less easily measured emotional factors are also impor- tant. Although some hard-core opponents of coeducation facetiously blame women for the slump experienced by certain of the men ' s teams in recent years, no true corre- lation has been found to support their opinion. In fact, most of the sports that have both male and female partici- pants-squash, tennis, and swimming especially-have done very well. , - 1 v« 1 i HI . In general, the attitudes toward female athletes have been changing in a positive direction. Growing atten- dance at women ' s athletic events is concrete evidence of that fact. On some days the hill behind the tennis courts fills up: there is standing room only at the Princeton-Yale basketball game. Off the courts and playing fields, the girls are completely accepted socially. Their visibility to the Princeton community may give them an advantage over other coeds-although some of the men say it also leads to swelled heads As women ' s athletics develop and the general outlook becomes more favorable, the views of spectators are also growing milder. Female ath- letes are considered less a rarity than they were a year ago. The surprised comment, Yuu ' nt a girl jock?! is heard less frequently. It may elicit any response from a proud retort to the slight correction. Well, actually a Iddy jock. With tradition so pervasive in all areas of Princeton life, it has not failed to encompass the women ' s athletic teams. They take pride in the fad that no varsity team has ever lost to Yale. With additions and modifications, the women are guided by the same traditions that have permeated men ' s athletics. As .Sports l uslroled noted in an article about the Women ' s Rowing Championships last |une, When the Princeton women stand in a circle and sing Dhl Nossau, the resemblance to other Tigers is eerie. calhv brown