Post Author: minksc
The shift in dating regulations was just one of many changes made by President Carrier. During the 1970-1971 school year female students were required to sign out of their dorms and return at a specific time. They had to account for their whereabouts if they went out after dark or if they left campus. A major change occurred for the 1972-1973 school year, there was no Parental Approval Card sent home. In the ’72-’73 Student Handbook, there was no mention of the Parental Approval Cards. With President Carrier now running the show, it seemed as if the voices of the students were now being heard, they had freedom. Students saw college as preparation for the real world, and were opposed to the strict regulation enforced upon their personal lives.
The handbook for the ’72-’73 school year had no mention of dating regulations at all and by the ’73-’74 school year there was no longer a separation between rules for the male and female students. The only restriction that remained in the mid-1970s regarding to the intermingling of male and female students pertained to dormitory life. Dorms had set hours during which people of the opposite sex could visit each other’s rooms. Each dorm had the opportunity to set it’s own hours for visitation, and students needed their roommates permission before a member of the opposite sex was allowed inside. It was up to the Resident Advisers to regulate this, and make sure that boys were out of girls’ rooms at the specified time, and vice-versa.
Madison College Student Handbooks 1970-75, “Regulations,” Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
Myers, Susanne, “Class Lecture,” History 337 History Workshop, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, April 2, 2012.
Featured Image- Taken from The Bluestone 1970, 470, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.