As StuCo election season at Haverford comes to an end and the emails urging us to vote get more and more frantic, I can’t help but wonder—has it always been this way? What did Students’ Council look like in the past? Have our attitudes around self governance changed over time? As StuCo librarian and someone who finds the dark and windowless Quaker & Special Collections oddly comforting, I knew it was up to me to find the answers to the questions keeping me up at night. This article details my findings from my foray into the Special Collections Students’ Council Box—the good, the bad, and mostly the hilarious.
During Customs week, every Haverford student learns about the Honor Code and what it means to be a Ford, socially and academically. We discuss the restorative practices that take place when a violation of the code occurs and how we can help each other succeed. However, Students’ Council minutes from 1915-1917 present a different perspective:
November 22, 1915.
”President Allen called a meeting of the council to set on the cases of five Freshman who have been reported by the Sophomore committee. The Freshman were: Goodhue, Hastings, Hathaway, Strawbridge, and Taylor. The men were called upon in order to answer for their misdemeanors. Goodhue was charged with riding bicycle across grass twice, freshness to seniors in Merion Annex three times, hands in pockets and not wearing cap on one occasion. Pleads guilty to first and third. Was penalized to wear his cap inside out for two weeks from the date of meeting, and to observe all rules for that time. Hastings, charged with walking on the grass, meddling with sign of bulletin board and freshness in the Chem. Lab. was sentenced to the same penalty as Goodhue. Hathaway, charged with a general attitude of ennui and disinterestedness, was given a vote of reprimand and urged to do better. Strawbridge, charged with: absence from football meetings and Delaware game, failure to put up soccer nets when told to do so, general freshness and un-Haverfordian attitude, wearing of too “loud” clothes, affliction by “society bug”, etc., was ordered to wear his cap and obey all rules until the Xmas holidays. President Allen talked with him in private, and an effort is to be made to have the Dean communicate with his parents. Taylor, charged with eating during singing in the dining hall, hands in pockets, and lateness and freshness at cheering practice, was reprimanded and advised to mend his ways.”
If “general attitude of ennui and disinterestedness” was still a punishable offense then no students would make it out of finals week with their cap right side out.
February 14, 1916
“A meeting of the Council was called to order by President Allen in the Union, with Knock acting as Secretary pro tem. Throwing of missles [sic] in the dining room was discussed. President Allen said it had been reported that mice had been thrown, one particular mouse thrown by a Sophomore having landed in a Junior’s soup. One particular Sophomore table has been recalcitrant all year. “
I thought Land and Sea night was bad at the DC, but now I’m grateful we no longer practice Soup and Mouse dinners. Other dining center shenanigans include:
May 22, 1917
President Mokinstry called the council to order at 12.35 in his room. From several reliable sources it developed that there had been a bread riot in the dining room at breakfast, in the course of which Hynson was forced to take refuge under a table. G. Buzby, Deacon, Cooper, and Hynson, as the principal offenders were sentenced to absent themselves from the dining room for one week.”
It’s always annoying when the fire alarm goes off from someone smoking inside. However, it’s possible some students are still following the 1942 rules, when the college president wrote to Students’ Council that “I see no reason why smoking indoors, provided normal precautions against fire hazards are preserved, should not be left to the entire discretion of the Students Association and its executive officers.” Other fire-related highlights from the archive include multiple apology letters from Students’ Council that were sent to various fire departments apologizing for wasting their time due a small fire.
Some documents shed light on policies that I didn’t even realize students worked to create. For example, the fact that we have a four course credit minimum and not five. A Student Curriculum Committee Report from the Haverford College Students’ Council Newsletter states:
December 3, 1962
“Another possible solution to student complaints of too many courses is reducing the course load under the present system from five to four. There now seems to be some faculty interest in this as a possibility for the near future. The “5-5-4-4″ plan (five courses for freshmen and sophomores, four for juniors and seniors) has also been proposed.”
A State of the Ford message from 1999 mentions discussions surrounding canceling classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day:
December, 13 1999
“More recently, there have been some intense discussions about the possibility of canceling classes in recognition of Martin Luther King Day. While this dialogue came about at the very end of the semester, the faculty will be taking up the issue this Thursday, December 16, 1999 at the final faculty meeting of the year. We strongly encourage you to voice your opinions to individual faculty members prior to that meeting.”
Another State of the Ford address describes discourse over choosing a Haverford mascot:
March 27, 1990
“This week we’d like to tell you about some of the more interesting, lighter things that SC deals with – everything is not a crisis. In case you haven’t heard, we’re looking for a new mascot. The idea originally started when six seniors submitted a Plenary resolution this Spring to change our mascot from the Red Wave to The Oats (as in the Quaker Oats, or go oats, gooats, goats…). Anyway, because so many resolutions were submitted, this one got canned. Now we’re acting on it. Submit your nomination and a paragraph explaining it to the envelope outside the SC room by Thursday, April 5, at 5:00. April 11 will be a central study break to discuss it, and campus wide voting will be held on the following Thursday and Friday. We are really looking forward to this study break, as we anticipate a heated debate over the merits of each mascot candidate.”
A later State of the Ford reveals that stocking vending machines was once a coveted student position:
April 25, 1990
“We would now like to shed some light upon the mysterious concessions cult. In the past there has been a fairly secretive lottery to award each concession (read lucrative) to one or two students. These are the people who fill the Coke, Pepsi, and candy machines, reaping most of the profits, with S.C. getting a small ‘kickback.’ The administration has been picking up the tab for electricity, which they recently realized was very high. The result of S.C.’8 desire to make the lottery process more legitimate and the administration’s desire to pay less for electricity is a new contract between S.C. and concessionaires.”
A Students’ Council communication from the 1982-1983 school year describes the important (and trying) burden that StuCo members take on:
1982
“Once again, a group of selfless souls have given of their precious time and energy to devote their every waking moment to the service of the community of Haverford College, fully aware of the long hours and pitiful rewards of the position. So, here’s this semester’s collection of masochists and public servants. Memorize the names, and try to save a kind word and a smile for them as they stagger through the next few months with the weight of the college on their shoulders. Also, feel free to talk to any of them on any subject about which you feel strongly or even weakly. They’re there to listen and to do their best to help. Really.”
Finally, a 1969 letter describes the lasting (and sometimes exasperating) connection between Students’ Council and the student press:
March 10, 1969
“It is the intention of this new Executive Committee to begin now to cooperate completely with the Bryn Mawr-Haverford NEWS in providing any and all information. Council Committee Chairmen are expected to be open, frank, and honest with any NEWS reporter because news dissemination benefits the NEWS, the Council, and the Haverford Community. We must END now Council-NEWS bickerings that have plagued past Councils by providing accurate information to the College community. Please help us in filling the communication gap.”
Here’s to more years of “open, frank, and honest” StuCo and newspaper dialogue without the “bickerings that have plagued past Councils.”
