Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1998)
ilion Page 3 • Thursday, September 17, 1998 Aggielife rAMU Roadruiv*- 1-4 mile runhet ^ front of G, R 0 - ^11 skill levels art . ^Iike at 847-53J;. flEDALs: ME; 4-18. Lookfe: les at the MSt- 'ays to get jr, 361 or email i,: ieculture.tamo: slan AmericanO: VACF): Wew p.m, in 40? cirxJa at 69643? /omen at ofessional st ributton (P. rt>ecue will ‘creation Cerit?: ugbt at the 5-6047 for ito Sab >ha Phi Alpha: >84 ori C Cepheid Anime show'; i Evangelms.. Story by Meredith Might Graphic by Brad Qraeber and Brandon Bollom At Right: Today’s female leaders, ready to take A&M into the next century (from left to right) are Amy McGee, Speaker of the Student Senate, Kelly Garrity, Deputy Corps Commander, and Laurie Nickel, Student Body President. Below: Sonja Faye Oliphant was the first female veteri nary student at Texas A&M in 1963. A tradition for years Call 84S1:1. men's Interns ! :le (WISC): \ nen in the An- regional art?; >9:30p.m.in2 5ion and refre? at 822-525(4 W love and men know to appreci- honor our ) NOVA: Ope i noon to 2 a hotd ^ Chris at 6902 ien, but we also know ■side a I Sell as fro t a fix Eve got us in in garden of Eden. Let’s not hat happen at A&M.” Gordon Wisenbaker, Class of . in a letter dated May 8, 1963 n exas Governor John Connolly, seminar wilh ising the admission of women f Admissions- ' his alma mater Texas AMC. JD — — —— Wisenbaker was not shy about voicing his un happiness with the decision of the Board of Di rectors in April 1963 to admit women to the Agri cultural and Mechanical College of Texas. In 1963, TAMC was changed to TAMU and the A&M did not stand for Agriculuture and Me chanical anymore. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the de cision, which allowed “qualified A&M students on a day-student basis to all graduate programs and to the school of Veterinary Medicine.” A&M would also admit to undergraduate pro grams “qualified women who were either A&M staff members or the wives or daughters of stu dents and college employees.” After 92 years as an all-male military institu tion, the leaders of A&M had decided to open its doors to women. The decision ran und.er such headlines as “Tra dition Shattered” in the Dallas Times Herald, and was greeted with dissension by many former stu dents, one of whom turned in his Aggie ring in protest. In a Houston Post article from Apr. 28, 1963, several students shared their reactions. Howard Conner, Class of ’65, said he thought of A&M on the same level as West Point, and could not imag ine West Point going co-ed. West Point was the first military academy to accept women. The student body president, Sheldon Best, said in the article he “was really disappointed, and hoped against hope that they wouldn’t do it.” However not all reaction was negative. Colonel Eugine C. Oates, Class of ’41, did not find fault with the ruling. “Maybe I’ve been away too long, but I frankly don’t see anything wrong with it,” he said. Dr. Sara Alpern, associate professor of history, said the decision came down as part of a national civil rights and women’s movement and also as a reaction to legal and economic pressure. “We had legal pressure to admit women. We were experiencing economic loss by not accepting women,” she said. “For example, our growth was 29 percent compared to 70 percent at the Univer sity of Texas. That affected our Permanent Uni versity Fund.” The Corps of Cadets did not organize a protest or demonstration in reaction to the decision from the board. That could be because Gen. Earl Rud der, president of the University at the time, or chestrated the students’ activities to minimizie their free time. A letter from Bill Bammel Jr. and Gene Edel- man, both Class of ’65 and representatives of Com pany F-l, describes a series of events that pre vented students from having a say in the matter. The two men wrote the letter in response to Texas newspapers that described the atmosphere at A&M as “calm.” In the letter, they said they felt the papers insinuated the students were happy with the decision. Bammel and Edelman argued that the Board of Directors made its decision on a Saturday. On Friday, the Corps of Cadets had been given a dis missal from Saturday Drill for the first time that year. Most students went home, unaware that the directors meeting was taking place. see Women on Page 7. Aggieland File Photo ns Process A« irsday, Scpi cri pm Delation of Wj don Wflli'a^H P-TESI to ,e!<l P AP-TES1 plan.com M UNlVEft 51 5 ier, Manage nston, Opm'C y, Aggielife k i, Sports Editf [alley. Rad^ >er. NigM Ne "’ •own, Web 6(1 art Pattor, w® lallaway. w: Jake ScW- phanie Corley. J, Cory Willis^;; d Graeber.SW 1 " & Chad Malb^ iabriel Reeoes*'; Veronica Seir^f , Manisha M ei "" la Smith, Francis & ^ e , Eli Chav# msberger. Ali Belin, U sa Kff' Join us at First Baptist Bryan this Sunday! On Campus Bus Pick Up 9:15 a.m. Quad • Commons Fish Pond Welcome Back Brunch Free Food! Division or f . phone: 845-3 31 - .For camp® fcDonald.e 1 local, ^ j single MW ester Texas Avenue at 28th Street Just 4 Miles North of University Drive www.fbcb.com APPEARING LIVE WEDNESDAY SEPT. 23, 1998 JERRY JEFF WALKER VANILLA ICE Also ROGER CREAGER Limited Amount of Tickets Available at: MSC, Rothers, Dudley’s, Disco Round or 1-800-333-7188