 In 1937, Dr. Mae Anderson became the first woman to head a department at Concordia College in a non-traditional subject for women: mathematics. She was also one of the few women in the United States to achieve a doctorate in the subject before 1940. In addition to her scholarly achievements she was active in campus organizations and events.
|
 Martha Brennun was a Norse and math instructor at Concordia, who later worked as registrar. Brennun was the salutatorian of the first collegiate class at Concordia. She also helped establish the first literary society at the college.
|
 In 1944, Anna Jordahl was appointed head librarian at Concordia College. In this capacity she helped develop the plans for the Carl B. Ylvisaker library, built in 1956, which gave her the space to increase the collection size to over 100,000 volumes before her retirement in 1973.
|
 The construction of Park Region Hall in the mid-1950s as a women’s dormitory was part of Concordia’s response to increasing post-WWII student enrollment as well as the availability of government loans. From 1951 to 1955 the college’s enrollment increased by fifty-two percent, with 1354 students registered for the 1955-56 academic year. In addition to providing a new housing option for students, Park Region Hall experimented with a new form of residence governance that was eventually adopted across campus. In the twenty-first century the dormitory remains a place to test new ideas. During the 2016-2017 academic year Park Region was the first Concordia dormitory to offer a sexuality- and gender-inclusive floor.
|
 Emma Norbryhn was a linguistically gifted woman who instructed a variety of language courses at Concordia. During her lengthy teaching career she introduced new language courses and taught Norse, French, Latin, German, and Greek before retiring in 1948. At her retirement she held the title of longest term of service at the college. Today she is among a handful of Concordia faculty to reach the forty year mark.
|
Cla ra Duea taught music classes and directed musical groups at Concordia for nearly two decades. In 1927, she established Concordia’s Music Club, which performed and sponsored the first Christmas Concert, a tradition that continues at the college.
|
 In 1968, Concordia College opened Hallett Hall, an all-women’s dormitory, along with Erickson Hall, an all-men’s dormitory. The dormitories were built as different sections of one complex. It was the first time since the college’s very early years, when its single building was home to both sexes by necessity, that men and women lived in such close proximity. Hoyum Hall was a former women’s dormitory that became the first building on campus to house both male and female students in 2008.
|
 In 1921, a group of faculty women and wives at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota joined together to form a club devoted to both social activities and to raising money for students in financial need. In the almost seventy years that followed, the Concordia Women’s League formed successful student loan and scholarship funds, contributed to several worthwhile campus projects, and developed a long-lasting legacy.
|
 Concordia’s tradition of crowning a homecoming queen began in the 1920s. Student movements and the influence of the 1960-70s society affected the practice. Due to student concerns, the 1974 Homecoming Chairperson Ken Fitzer substituted the tradition of voting for a homecoming queen with the Don Awards, which was a recognition given to four exemplary senior students. The current practice of crowning both a king and queen began during the homecoming festivities in 1977.
|
 Double standards in the regulation of student conduct at Concordia College placed the liberties of women below those of men. Dress codes and smoking policies in particular explicitly treated female students differently than male students. A combination of student action as well as changing social views brought an end to these sexist differences in regulation over the course of the 1960s and 1970s.
|