UP students break rules from 50 years ago

By Amanda Blas Staff Writer blas13@up.edu

You've probably done it before: complained about how unfair UP's rules and policies are. But if you heard the rules UP students used to live by, you'd think today's rules are the fairest of them all.

According to University archivist Fr. Robert Antonelli, C.S.C., many of the original rules found in the UP Student Handbook are now different due to changes at the University and in society.

"As everything around us changed, so did the rules," Antonelli said. "It just doesn't make sense to keep some of them around."

Some of these changes included giving students more freedom and independence.

"Colleges became more accepting of students as adults than as children," Antonelli said. "They presumed students were more grown up, so they were given more freedom."

Here are just a few of UP's rules that didn't last and have given you more freedom.

Regarding Female Campus

Conduct

"Women students are not to walk across the campus or otherwise outside of their dormitories alone after dark." – Guide for Women's Residence Halls 1966

Today, it's not unusual to see a woman walking across campus by herself after a late class or a study session in the library.

"I usually walk alone," junior Torri Ishihara said. "If I couldn't, I wouldn't be able to go anywhere."

But if you were a female student in the 1960s, you'd think twice about taking a midnight stroll around campus by yourself.

"In those days, everyone thought that if the young lady went out by herself, she may have been the equivalent of a street hooker, and the University did not want her to come across that way," Antonelli said. "It took into account how people thought during that time."

According to 1965 alumna Madeleine Faller, this rule fit in with typical female student behavior of the time.

"If a gal went out after dark, she usually went with other women," Faller said.

Today, the all-male dorm Villa Maria Hall has a similar rule in its Villa Code: Walk women home.

"We are delighted to walk our female visitors home," junior Villa Maria residential assistant Evan Howell said. "But safety plays a big role, too. Campus is usually a pretty safe place, but the rule helps create awareness of your surroundings for the future."

Regarding Campus Attire

"Modern and appropriate attire is to be worn at all times on the campus. Women: no slacks, shorts, pedal pushers, etc., are ever to be worn to class; nor are they to be seen anywhere on campus except for active participation in sports, decorating for dances or play rehearsals. Men: shorts, Bermudas, and Levis (jeans) are similarly prohibited. A shirt must be worn at all times." – SPU (Spirit of Portland University) Survival Guide 1963-1964

Wearing sweatpants and a hoodie to class may be typical for both men and women today, but if you dared to walk around campus in that attire in the 1960s, you wouldn't have gotten away with it.

"Jeans were considered farm clothing, or hippie grubbies, back then," Faller said. "We wouldn't want to look like anything other than middle-class students."

According to Antonelli, this had to do with parental expectations during the time.

"Here on campus, the rules came along with the expectation from the parents that everything would be handled and taught in the same way as if the students remained at home. This included the proper way to dress," Antonelli said. "But once that changed, there was greater informality and students had a little more freedom to dress as they chose."

Today, students dress to reflect their own tastes and styles.

"Not having rules like this anymore gives people more freedom to express themselves through what they wear," Howell said. "The rule seems too confining."

But back in the day, the rule didn't seem to be that big of a problem.

"I don't remember feeling the dress code being that strict, but I imagine it was because we all just went with the flow," Faller said. "We wore what everyone else wore."

Though students of UP's earlier days may not have found a problem with the dress code, they did find enjoyment when they were able to go against it.

"Wearing pants to Saturday night steak-house dinners at The Commons was always a real treat," Faller said.

Today, dorms like Schoenfeldt Hall and Villa Maria Hall honor the rule with their traditions of Classy Thursdays and Fridays, when the dorms' residents are given the option to dress up in their nicest attire for the day.

"Dressing up is a good thing to do, and it's a good way to bring a gentleman back," Howell said.

Regarding Dinners Sunday through Thursday

"Dinners Sunday through Thursday will be served somewhat formally. After grace is said the doors will be closed. An excuse from Mr. Wedge must be obtained before a student will be admitted late for a meal." – University of Portland Dining Room Procedures 1959

According to Antonelli, in UP's early days, dinner was a formal experience.

"Everything was to start at a certain time. It was a sit-down meal and you were served a family-style meal," Antonelli said.

Among the list of dining room procedures from the late 1950s and early 1960s was a specified seating arrangement.

"We were assigned seats for a week at a time, forcing us to make new friends, overcome bashfulness, meet upperclassmen and polish our social skills," Faller said. "Family-style dinners were actually pretty darn nice and a great way to meet new people."

However, as UP's student body grew, it also grew out of this style of dining.

"We've become more impersonal since there are a larger number of students going to college now," Antonelli said. "As a larger number of people were involved, it began to take too much time."

Other reasons could have affected changes in The Commons' dining as well.

"They probably changed all of these dining hall rules just about the time students all over the U.S. were staging sit-ins, protesting Vietnam and getting very independent about too much paternalism on college campuses," Faller said. "Vietnam and women's liberalism changed the world."

Today, UP's growing size isn't the only thing that doesn't make family-style dining possible.

"A lot of students can't have dinner at a specific time," Ishihara said. "People have late classes, meetings and extracurricular activities and practices. It just wouldn't work anymore."

However, many dorms still have floor or hall dinners, reflecting The Commons' original family-style dining.

"I try to have floor dinners as often as possible," Howell said. "It's a great bonding experience."

Regarding Dances

"Dances can't be scheduled on Saturday evenings or on the evenings before Holy days of obligation." – UP Student Handbook 1957-1958

These days, setting Dance of the Decades for a Saturday night is the least of CPB's worries.

"As far as I know, Dance of the Decades has always been on a Saturday night," junior CPB member Manny Aquino said.

But in the late 1950s, the days dances were held reflected the University's Catholic roots.

"I suppose the Dean of Students wanted the students to be up bright and early for mass on Sunday mornings," Faller said.

Antonelli agreed.

"The rule was set for religious reasons," Antonelli said. "You couldn't have dances on Saturday nights or the nights before Holy days of obligation so students had the chance to prepare spiritually for the next day."

Now, having the dances on Saturdays is crucial to CPB's planning.

"Today, we need the dance to be on Saturdays because we need to ensure we have enough preparation time," Aquino said. "We need time for DJ setup, decorations a nd safety meetings with officers."

Despite not being allowed to have dances on Saturday nights, UP students of the 1960s were still able to have their fun.

"We still had tons of other Saturday night activities: parties, plays, athletic events followed by private parties and not to mention couples' dates," Faller said. "And we still made it to Mass on Sundays. Purely voluntarily, too."

Regarding Inappropriate

Language

"The use of vulgar and indecent language is forbidden." – UP Student Handbook 1957-1958.

Words like "#*$#(*" may be common around campus today, but in the 1950s, it just wasn't acceptable.

"The rule centered on preserving what was thought to be proper language for young men and young women at the time," Antonelli said. "But as language changed in society, so did the rules regarding proper language."

Such changes in what's seen as appropriate language can be heard just by listening to students' conversations on campus.

"Using curse words and language like that doesn't faze most people anymore. I feel like most conversations include at least one cuss word," freshman Lance Lujan said. "I try not to do it often, but when a word like that slips out, it's not the end of the world."

With the way the rule was worded you would think you'd have to face the worst of consequences.

"The rule makes it sound like if you said a word that was even a little scandalous you'd be expelled or something," Lujan said.

But rest assured, students of the late 1950s didn't have to worry about such drastic consequences.

"It was not really a big deal, but you'd have to apologize," Faller said. "It was just about good manners."