Women's Hours

Until the early 1970s, Concordia College imposed restrictive rules and strict regulations pertaining to women’s curfews and lights out. The questioning of authority surrounding the Vietnam War and the feminist movement helped to empower female Cobbers to advocate for their personal freedom. Through a variety of strategies such as demonstrations, lobbying, and expressing opinions in the campus newspaper, women studying at Concordia gained personal freedom and independence when Women’s Hours were eliminated in 1973.  

What became known as Women’s Hours, were formal policies communicated with female students pertaining to the times they were required to be back in their rooms in the evening. The Concordia student handbook claimed that Women’s Hours were “devised for their [the women’s] best interests (physical, social, and academic). [1] In the school year of 1967-1968 all women were expected to be in their rooms on Sunday no later than 11:00 p.m.  Seniority allowed women slightly more privileges.  While Monday through Thursday sophomore, junior, and senior women had to be in their rooms at 11:00 p.m., first semester freshmen could only be out as late as 11:00 p.m. once a week. Friday allowed 12:00 a.m. for first semester freshmen and 12:30 a.m. for women in their second semester and beyond. Finally, Saturday’s rules were 12:30 a.m. for first semester freshmen and 1:00 a.m. for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. [2]

By 1968 students began to question the right of the institution to impose limitations on their social freedom. Cobbers pointed out the sexual discrimination within these policies, as Concordia men no longer had residence curfews.  Attitudes of students’ parents, as well as alumni of Concordia (especially donors) were highly valued and influenced these policies. A 1968 poll asked alumni if they felt the college should control women’s residence hours: 83.3% replied affirmatively, 11.7% negatively, and 5% were undecided. Although rules and regulations for women were in effect since the creation of the college, Women’s Hours were not met with strong opposition until the mid-1960s. This was consistent with the challenging of women’s curfews at other colleges across the country during at that time. [3] Increasing resistance to authority in the 1960s has been attributed to unrest about issues such as the Vietnam War and the growth of feminism. Cobber women were among the many females across the nation protesting inequality not only regarding campus rules, but concerning employment, educational opportunities, and blatant sexism, as well. [4]

In 1968 Concordia’s female students organized themselves to advocate for change. Specifically, they established the Women’s Rights Action Committee (WRAC) to revise the restrictive hours policy. Parallelling national political tactics, female Cobbers held meetings, organized petitions, and participated in rallies in order to garner support for the hours reform. In order to better understand the students’ perspectives on this issue, Dean Olsen promised the student body an opinion poll.  Eighty percent of women at Concordia completed the poll and the results indicated that women desired a change in the social policy. [5] Participation in the poll was one of the largest in Concordia’s history. [6] Women were also vocal about their disagreement with the current hours policies that only applied to female students. Some wrote to the college newspaper about their distaste for the current procedures. The students’ voices were heard.  

By 1972 Women’s Hours were extended significantly for upperclass women: 2:00 a.m. on weeknights and no hours on the weekends.  Freshmen women, however, were still required to be in their dorms by midnight every night of the week. [7] One freshman woman wrote anonymously to the Concordian: “Conversations and night- time strolls cannot be scheduled like doctor’s appointments, nor do young ladies enjoy living a Cinderella existence, always watching for, and running home at, the stroke of 12... I am sure that 99 per cent of the freshmen girls find the notion that freshmen boys are free to take walks, go out for a pizza, or truck out . . . for a cup of coffee after 12, while they themselves aren’t able to so, an enraging one." [8] The student’s anonymity suggests fear of negative repercussions. Influenced by continued student concerns, in 1973 Women's Hours were eliminated on a trial basis, and the college never re-adopted the policy. [9]

Although Concordia was and remains a religiously-affiliated college, other institutions that did not have religious affiliations enforced similar policies at the time. Specially, they adhered to Christian and middle-class standards of conduct.  During the 1920s through the 1960s Canadian colleges and universities were concerned about female chastity and domesticity, and female students had strict hour rules to follow. In sharp contrast, men had no limitations on their evenings.  In fact, administrators expected and accepted rowdiness from male students. [10] Similarly, within American non-religious higher education institutions, rules for men generally included no curfews or closing hours.  

Ultimately, events beyond college campuses influenced the policies at the collegiate level. Specifically, the demand for freedoms taking place in American society was mirrored on campuses. Older conventions were dismissed as social expectations changed dramatically.  The 1960s and 1970s saw many pushes for change for women on Concordia’s campus as they questioned a variety of non-academic regulations.  In addition to Women’s Hours, Cobber women also rallied to address their rights to smoke on campus, which were granted in 1970, and for the removal of an enforced dress code, which occurred in 1972. [11]

Authors: Tricia Tauer and Layne Cole

Footnotes
[1] Concordia College, Cobber Handbook (Moorhead, MN: Concordia College, 1959), 13.  
[2] “Lights Out,” Concordian, March 11,1949, 4; Colleen Myers, “Students Question College’s Ability To Restrict Without Self-Decision,” Concordian, November 15, 1968, 8; “Intervis: Then and Now,” Concordian, March 16, 2001, 13; “Hours For 1967-1968 - On and Off-campus Women,” Student Handbook 1967-1968, Women’s Hours Out, Topical Files Collection, Concordia College Archives.
[3] Engelhardt, On Firm Foundation Grounded, 146.
[4] Myers, “Students Question.”
[5] “Poll Shows Women’s Desires,” Concordian, January 10, 1969, 1.
[6] “Hours Poll Stirs Big Response,” Concordian, December 13, 1968, 1.
[7] Student Personnel Office et al , Student Handbook 1972-1973 (Moorhead, MN: Concordia College, 1972), 47.
[8] “Freshmen Women’s Hours Unfair,” Concordian, November 10, 1972, 3.
[9] “Rules: Many Old Policies Were Revised Because of Women’s Rights, Such as Curfew for Women Only,” Concordian, March 19, 2010, 3.
[10] Catherine Gidney, “Dating and Gating: The Moral Regulation of Men and Women at Victoria and University Colleges, University of Toronto, 1920-1960,” Journal of Canadian Studies 41, no. 2 (2007): 138, 141, 142.
[11] 1970-1971 Student Handbook (Moorhead: Concordia College, 1970), 148, 1972-1973 Student Handbook (Moorhead: Concordia College, 1972).