The Freshman Experience

Today's post was written by Rachel Sanders, a senior history major who works in the Special Collections and University Archives.  Rachel is also chair of the Student Libraries' Advisory Council and works with the Libraries' Digital Projects on the grant "Preserving Local History: A Field-Based Digitization Pilot Project."
 
Being a freshman in college is not an easy thing – and it never has been! Here in the UNCG University Archives, we have information about how freshmen were welcomed and oriented to campus dating back as early as 1896. Back then, things were quite different from today in a lot of ways – including how freshmen were treated.

Student life in the 1890s

In 1896, the welcome program was spread out over three consecutive days at the beginning of October. The “Organization Exercises,” as they were then called, were used to test students’ abilities in English, Arithmetic, Languages, and Drawing. Other subjects tested included Botany, Geography, and Physiology. The same was true for the 1897 program. It’s clear from reading documents from this era that the girls who attended the college were not given much independence or choice at all with regard to their education and orientation. The events all appear to be quite structured and uniform - everyone was together at all times during these sessions.

1918 College Night Reception program

Around 1918, things started to change. During that year’s orientation, there was a college night reception in which the student body president and the campus Y.W.C.A. president spoke and the girls sang the college song. There were also presentations by each class (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior) and presentations by each literary society on campus (Dikean, Cornelian, and Adelphian). Groups like the Athletic Association, the Dramatic Club, and the Farmerettes came to the reception to promote their groups and to demonstrate the skills that girls could hope to improve if they joined those groups. On this night there was also a presentation by the College Magazine and the local Red Cross chapter.

By 1929, things were more personal and the girls were trusted with more responsibilities – supervision and structure were relaxed a little, and the 1929 freshman program had stretched out to a weeklong event. As the campus grew, girls in orientation sessions were split into many different groups and given tours of the library, the infirmary, and other campus buildings. They also had group pictures taken – many of which can be seen in the photograph collections here at University Archives. Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, this format for welcoming students was retained, and eventually these orientations began to include auditions for ensembles and groups around campus.

Student reception, ca. 1950s

Since the mid-twentieth century, things have gone through even more radical changes. In 1989, the Office of Academic Advising and Support Services published a “Freshman Survival Guide” to help new students find all of the new resources that were available on campus – this guide also gave students information about what those offices could do for the students (now men and women were on campus). Today things are similar, but with a modern twist. As the student population at UNCG has increased, so have initiatives to welcome and acquaint students with the massive amounts of programs and resources available to them. Now we have an entire program in the summer called SOAR (Spartan Orientation, Advising, and Registration), and a program known as “Your First Year,” which welcomes new students to campus with tours, parties, exhibitions, and other special events. You can find more information about this program here: http://yourfirstyear.uncg.edu/.

Campus Literary Societies

Today's post was written by Kristen Thomas, a senior history major. Kristen interned in Special Collections and University Archives during the Spring semester, and constructed both a physical and online exhibit (http://library.uncg.edu/collection/exhibits/Campus_Literary_Societies.aspx) on the history of campus literary societies. Here, she writes about the founding and activities of these organizations.

Today, there are dozens of student groups to choose from on campus. But, back when The State Normal and Industrial School (now known as UNCG) was first founded, there was no such thing as campus organizations. That changed when President Charles McIver discovered a group of students had created their own sorority in secret.

Adelphian Society performance, 1913

Sororities had already been banned on campus, with McIver believing that they would lead to students feeling left out. McIver’s goal was to make sure all students could be included, emphasising his democratic approach to education. However, there were many who wanted a sorority-like group on campus. So McIver decided to create the Literary Societies.

He charged two students, Mary Arrington and Alice Green, with organizing these groups with the help of certain faculty members. They decided that the student body would be divided in half, each belonging to one of the societies. They were sorted at random, with names being drawn from a hat.  Once the students had been grouped, they settled to finding a name. The group created by Arrington was named the Adelphian Society and the one by Green the Cornelian Society.

Each society created their own secret initiation rites and rituals, which were only known to the members of the group. For a while, even many of the officers were kept a secret. Despite the secret nature of the societies, they did come together in order to produce plays, debates, and simple luncheons, sometimes in honor of the other society. For the first 25 years they were on campus, they facilitated much of the activities outside of the classroom.

Aletheian Society initiation, 1940

In 1918, the campus had grown to such a size that the two societies were becoming too large to function as they did before. A third society was chartered, with members being pulled from the already existing societies. They became the Dikean Society and adapted smoothly into campus life. A fourth, the Aletheians, was added in 1923. Both societies created their own rituals and secret initiations, and functioned much like the Cornelian and Adelphian societies.

By the 1930s, the influence of the societies has waned as other groups had taken shape on campus, such as the Student Government Association and the YWCA. They still held an important role as social groups and the election of marshals, a function they held until their disbandment.

As time went, the students began to group themselves more by class than by societies. Many felt that the societies had grown too large to continue to serve the campus effectively and participation had waned in favor of other groups. In 1953, after a vote was taken across campus in favor of disbandment, the presidents of all four groups formally agreed in a letter submitted to the university to bring the end of the societies.

Fraternities and sororities at UNCG

Prior to the founding of the State Normal and Industrial School (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) in 1891, Charles Duncan McIver was very supportive of the notion of societies for the female students.  In 1893, the Adelphian and Cornelian became the first two literary societies on campus and almost all of the students joined either one of the two groups.  In the years following, a joint committee of students would divide the list of new freshman girls and place them within either society.  Society invitations and initiations became an exciting time for each student as some expressed great joy in their placement while others were visibly upset. In 1896, fourteen girls attempted to create their own secret society tied to a Greek letter sorority.  Upon discovering this, McIver quickly reproached the girls and demanded they disband the group or face expulsion, believing such exclusive secret organizations were inappropriate to the mission of public education.  Two other literary societies would later be established on the campus as student body population continued to grow.  In 1918, the Dikean Society was founded and the Aletheian Society was later established in 1923.  The societies would continue to operate as part of student life on the campus until 1953 when they were abolished by a student vote. 

The next several decades saw a general distain by the administration regarding the establishment of a Greek system.  In 1975, believing social sororities (and later fraternities) to be elitist, divisive, and irrelevant to academics, a faculty committee voted against the issue of whether to establish a Greek system at UNCG. However, recurring student interested prompted a second study in 1977-1979 and found that thirty-one percent of the student population would consider joining a fraternity or sorority.  With such support, the Board of Trustees approved a five year trial period for a Greek system and in 1980 the first rush took place. By the fall of 1981, there were seven fraternities and seven sororities officially recognized on the campus.  With continuing interest and growth, the five year probationary period expired and a Greek system was official established at UNCG in 1984.  As of 2012, there were ten social fraternities and social eleven sororities on the UNCG campus.

One key iconic symbol that is shared by UNCG fraternities and sororities is the Rock.  The Rock is a 12.7 ton boulder that was imported to the campus from a rock quarry in nearby Jamestown by the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity in 1973.  It was placed between the dining halls and dormitories and would serve as a message board for the various fraternal organization as it was continuously painted over again and again.  There exists an unwritten rule that a groups message has to stay up for twenty four hours before being written over.  Prior to the Rock, students would paint and decorate the statue of Charles Duncan McIver as way to promote their messages.  However, after years of continued abuse, the statute was beginning to deteriorate thus prompting a new method of communication.