Duke University. Woman's Student Government Association.

The Woman's Student Government Association (WSGA) was formed in 1918, and the organization continued when the Woman's College opened in 1930. The WSGA was responsible for the "regulat[ion] of all matters pertaining to the life of the women of the Woman's College of Duke University, not under the jurisdiction of the Faculty." This autonomy along with the segregated campus life style of the coordinate college allowed female students to develop leadership skills and confidence that an integrated student government may not have allowed them to gain.

From the description of Woman's Student Government Association Records, 1919-1974. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 184904065

The Woman's College was established in 1930, as coordinate college to Trinity College for men, with the appointment of Alice M. Baldwin as Dean of the Woman's College. Prior to that women had a long history of attending Trinity College (the antecedent of Duke University). Three Giles sisters were awarded degrees in 1878 on the basis of private instruction by faculty members before Trinity College moved to Durham in 1892. In 1892 the Board of Trinity College officially admitted women to the college, and the first women to attend regular classes graduated in 1896. These women had been permitted to attend classes but they were not given residence on the campus.

In 1896, Washington Duke made a gift of $100,000 to Trinity College urging that women be admitted "on equal footing with men." A small dormitory, the Mary Duke Building was subsequently built in 1898; however it was torn down in 1912. It was replaced by Southgate dormitory for women in 1921. The increase in women students during World War I gave rise to the instatement of a Dean of Women, Martha Buchanan, as well as the formation of the Woman's Student Government in 1918. In 1924, Alice M. Baldwin was named Dean of Women. Upon reflection of her early years at Trinity College Alice Baldwin notes:

With the creation of the coordinate Woman's College this gradually began to change and women (administrators and students) were given more control over East Campus.

The Woman's Student Government Association was formed in 1918 and its purpose listed in the 1922 amended constitution was "to preserve student honor, to develop self-control, and to govern the young women matriculated of the College." In order to fulfill these functions the Association mandated that several committees should be formed including a social committee, social service committee, social standards committee, and room committee plus a journal, publicity, and social room committees.

With the incorporation of the Woman's College in 1930 the purpose of the Woman's Student Government Association (WSGA) of Duke University broadened to encompass "regulat[ion] of all matters pertaining to the life of the women of the Woman's College of Duke University, not under the jurisdiction of the Faculty." Furthermore the organization was "to increase a sense of individual responsibility; to further a spirit of unity among the women of the College; and to cooperate with the Faculty in creating and maintaining high ideals for the Women of the University."

Therefore the WSGA in cooperation with the Administrative staff of the College was responsible for the formation and enforcement of the regulations for the Woman's College. These regulations include those related to specific classes (i.e. freshmen, upperclassmen, etc.), general social regulations (drinking, smoking, automobiles, dates), house regulations (closing/quiet hours, men callers, late leaves, serenades), off-campus regulations (Durham area restaurants, hotels), and social standards regulations (attire on campus, off campus, and behavior becoming to Woman's College students).

The segregated campus life style of the coordinate college allowed female students to develop leadership skills and confidence that an integrated student government may not have allowed them to gain. For "in addition to the judicial board, the Woman's Student Government Association consisted of a strong network of dorm representatives and legislators." Upon reflection most alumnae said that they appreciated the leadership experiences inherit in the creation of policy and self-discipline. Indeed the Woman's College produced many political and cultural luminaries including: Elizabeth Dole; Ann K. Covington; Nancy Hanks; Eleanor Smeal; Margaret Taylor Smith; and Anne Tyler.

During the 1960s a perpetual request from the student body was the liberalizing of social regulations, especially those that were traditionally imposed upon women and not on men. This issue became a driving-force in the creation of a university unified student government, and in 1967 the student body voted to merge the Men's Student Government and the Woman's Student Government Association creating the Associated Students of Duke University (ASDU). Valerie Ann Mosley (1980) was the first female president of ASDU. In 1972, the consolidation of the two separate colleges became complete when the Board of Trustees approved the merger of the Woman's College and Trinity College.

Works cited

From the guide to the Woman’s Student Government Association Records, 1919-1974, (University Archives, Duke University)