International Women’s Day did not enter with meekness and patient restraint, perceptions traditionally imposed upon women throughout history. International Women’s Day 2019 campaigned on #BalanceforBetter. Its observance witnessed mass gatherings and protests across the world, some violently suppressed. A push for balance in gender representation in both the boardroom and a number of historically male-dominated sectors of the economy, along with balance in pay rates and treatment, continues to gain momentum. As we endeavor to support these movements, let us not forget that the inspiration for their endurance occurs not in a desiccated landscape of intellect but is both nourished and articulated through education.
Albertus Magnus College has its humble beginnings as an institution providing women with an academic foundation infused with a liberal arts tradition and inspired by Dominican values. Its purpose, however, was envisioned as being vaster. Reverend Arthur H. Chandler, professor of Philosophy and Religion at Albertus Magnus, wrote in 1926 that:
Albertus Magnus College is not merely another college. It is rather a movement — a movement toward the realization of distinct and substantial ideals regarding the future of American womanhood. Based upon the rock principles that education is the development of the entire being, and that higher faculties should receive higher development and should control all else, Albertus Magnus intends to build proportionately mind and will and being…[1]
Let us reflect on Reverend Chandler’s words. His vision enfleshes the college as a movement comprised of “distinct and substantial ideals regarding the future of American womanhood.” The condition of being a woman in American society is governed by the ubiquity of imbalance, as briefly touched upon. Yet, it cannot be denied that womanhood is also governed by another element historically conspired against — perseverance. It is here that Ms. Haggerty’s verses are perhaps most keenly felt, for
The girl
trusting and undespairing
Rebuilt her castle, while the sea roared
In fact, just three years prior to Ms. Haggerty’s words being published in the college’s Albertinum, Albertus experienced a widely-covered student protest against perceived trustee overreach of student governance. Deborah Hawkins, the then Student Body President, helped orchestrate the “girl-cott,” which culminated in the expulsion of twenty-three students. Writing on the decision to confront the college’s alliance of trustees and administration, Hawkins expressed, “I get the idea from the administration that there have been goals and ideals set for the type of person the College would like to cultivate. But…do you want to be cultivated, like a vegetable, then canned and pasted with a label?”[2]
A question arises here. Is Reverend Chandler’s vision of the college “to build proportionally mind and will and being” antithetical to the various student movements and the fear of strangulating “cultivation?” The answer is no. The transformation of mind and will to action and that of being to purpose are equally empowering and motivating forces that coalesce into social and political change. Indeed, such a positive force is felt among our current student body. Those who participated in the Library’s recent poll on what Women’s History Month means to them submitted responses that include: “empowerment!,” “a lot – I am a woman – hear me roar,” and “courageous women who don’t believe in the status quo.” These responses demonstrate how Albertus continues to foster a commitment to society’s betterment. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, these responses are evidence that in spite of those roaring seas, as Lynne Haggerty would put it, womanhood will persevere on its march towards progress and overcome the challenges it faces.
If you would like to learn more about the 1967 “girlcott” at Albertus Magnus College, then please visit our display table inside Rosary Hall during the month of March.
[1] Sr. Thomas Aquin Kelly, O.P., The History, Growth and Development of the Albertus Magnus College Library: New Haven, Connecticut, 1925-1970, (1972), 37.
[2] “Students v. Trustees,” “Albertus Magnus Alumna,” (Winter 1968).
About the Author
Mathew Sheehan ’15 is the Library Resource and Services Assistant for Albertus Magnus College. He graduated from Albertus Magnus as Class Marshal in 2015 and received an MSc in Intellectual History from the University of Edinburgh. Mathew is currently pursuing an MLIS degree with a concentration in Archives Management from Simmons University.