- Douglass Residential College (Rutgers University)
-
Douglass Residential College Established 1918-2007 (woman's college); 2007-present (woman's residential college of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) Students 2,500 Location New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA Affiliations Institute for Women's Leadership Website drc.rutgers.edu Douglass Residential College, located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is a part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and is the successor of acclaimed Douglass College (originally New Jersey College for Women). It offers a four-year, women-centered community that focuses on developing women's success. While Douglass no longer offers a separate degree,[1] it does provide a variety of opportunities for young women to reside in women-only residence halls, to participate in women-centered organizations and to develop leadership skills.
Contents
History
Douglass was founded as the New Jersey College for Women in 1918 by the New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs.[2] In 1955, the name was changed to Douglass College in honor of its founder, Mabel Smith Douglass. It was the largest public women's college in the United States.[3]
In 2005, Rutgers University President Richard Levis McCormick unveiled plans to merge Douglass College with the University's three other undergraduate liberal arts colleges — Rutgers College, Livingston College and University College — to create the School of Arts and Sciences. Those plans to merge Douglass with the other colleges proved controversial, resulting in numerous open forums and town hall meetings.[4]
In 2007 Douglass became the Douglass Residential College, a residential college within Rutgers University, as the result of a compromise between those who wanted a complete merger and those who wanted the college to remain as a separate, degree-granting institution.[1][5][6]
Douglass students must satisfy all of the academic requirements of Rutgers University as well as requirements specific to DRC. These include the completion of a first-year mission course, “Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women’s Leadership,” participation in an externship program and creation of an “e-porfolio.”
Douglass students may pursue a course of study through any of the undergraduate schools available at Rutgers New Brunswick/Piscataway. These include but are not limited to the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the Mason Gross School of the Arts and all of the other schools.
Students enrolled at Douglass join a learning community of residential and non-residential women. The college maintains single-sex residence halls and unique living-learning communities.
Notable Alumnae
Alice Aycock DC'68: Sculptor
Julia Baxter Bates[7] DC'38: Civil Rights Pioneer
Leonie Brinkema DC'65: Federal Judge
Elise M. Boulding NJCW'40: Peace Activist, Nobel Prize nominee
Patricia Smith Campbell[8] DC'63: Chemist, inventor of the transdermal patch
Carol T. Christ DC'66: President, Smith College
Sandra Clark Consentino DC'59: Documentary director. Winner of 3 Emmys. [3]
Ruth Dill Johnson Crockett NJCW'46: Advocate for women's education, her Johnson children donated the Ruth Dill Johnson Crockett building on Douglass campus
Janet Evanovich DC'65: New York Times best-selling author
Edith Morch Faste DC'38: Glass Artist
Sharon Fordham DC'75: CEO, WeightWatchers.com[9]
Jean Griswold NJCW'52: Founder, Griswold Special Care[10]
Elizabeth Cavanna Harrison NJCW'29: Noted author, pen names include: Betty Cavanna, Elizabeth Headley and Betsy Allen.[11]
Barbara J. Krumsiek DC'74: President and CEO, The Calvert Group, Ltd.[12]
John Smith Lockner DC' 03: Received a B.A. in Women's and Gender Studies. Having a sex change in 2000, John Smith Lockner was the first transsexual to graduate from Douglass College.
Susan Ness DC'70: FCC commissioner (1994–2001). President and CEO, Women's Radio Network, LLC.
Janet Norwood DC'45: US Commissioner of Labor Statistics (1979–1991). Past president, American Statistical Association.[13]
Carole Frandsen St. Mark DC'65: Director, Gerber Scientific[14]
Joanne Yatvin, NJCW'52: President of the National Council of Teachers of English (2006–2007). Author of books and articles for teachers.
Deans
Mabel Smith Douglass (1918–1932): A graduate of Barnard College, Mabel Smith Douglass was a leader of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Margaret Trumbull Corwin (1934–1955): A graduate of Bryn Mawr with a master’s degree from Yale. It was during Dean Corwin’s tenure that the New Jersey College for Women became Douglass College.
Mary Ingraham Bunting (1955–1960): A graduate of Vassar with advanced degrees in microbiology from the University of Wisconsin. She resigned to become president of Radcliffe.
Ruth Marie Adams (1960–1966): An Adelphi graduate with a doctorate in English from Radcliffe. She resigned to become president of Wellesley.
Margery Somers Foster (1967–1975): A graduate of Wellesley with a doctorate in economics from Radcliffe.
Jewel Plummer Cobb (1976–1981): A graduate of Talladega College in Alabama with advanced degrees in cell biology from New York University. She resigned to become president of California State University at Fullerton.
Mary S. Hartman (1982–1994): A graduate of Swarthmore with an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in history, Mary S. Hartman became a member of the Douglass History Department in 1968 (Institute for Women’s Leadership, 2004, p. 1). She served as director of the Women’s Studies Institute from 1975 to 1977, was named acting dean in 1981, and dean in 1982. She resigned to become director of the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Rutgers University.
Barbara A. Shailor (1996–2001): A graduate of Wilson College with a master’s degree and doctorate in classics from the University of Cincinnati. She resigned to become Director of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. She was appointed the Deputy Provost for the Arts at Yale University in 2003.
Carmen Twillie Ambar (2002–2008): A graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Carmen Twillie Ambar received a law degree from Columbia School of Law and a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. In 2008, Ambar resigned to become president of Cedar Crest College in Allentown, PA.
References
- ^ a b Alaya, Ann M. "DOUGLASS ENTERS A NEW ERA", The Star-Ledger, July 11, 2007. "Starting this fall, Douglass will no longer award academic degrees but will continue to offer single-sex dormitories and women-only classes -- as part of a four-year, women-centered experience."
- ^ New Jersey State Federation of Women's Clubs http://www.njsfwc.org/one-column/history1.html
- ^ Harwarth, Irene. "Women's Colleges in the United States: History, Issues, and Challenges". ed.gov. http://www.ed.gov/offices/OERI/PLLI/webreprt.html. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
- ^ "Students Rally to Save Douglass" The Home News & Tribune September 2, 2005. [1]
- ^ Douglass Residential College. Accessed July 15, 2007.
- ^ Board Approves Reorganization at Rutgers
- ^ "Her Work Opened The Doors." The Star-Ledger. 22 February 2008.
- ^ Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni
- ^ "WeightWatchers.com Appoints Sharon A. Fordham CEO." <http://www.weightwatchers.com/about/prs/wwcom_template.aspx?GCMSID=1000861>.
- ^ "Corporate Team." http://www.griswoldspecialcare.com
- ^ "Betty Cavanna Papers - de Grummond Collection." University of Southern Mississippi. [2]
- ^ "Calvert Management." The Calvert Group, Ltd
- ^ "Janet Norwood: A Pioneer and an Inspiration." American Statistical Association. http://www.amstat.org/about/statisticians/bios/norwoodjanet.pdf
- ^ "Carole St. Mark Profile." Forbes.Com
External links
American women's colleges that became coeducational Became coeducational Adelphi University • Albertus Magnus College • Andrew College • Anna Maria College • Barber-Scotia College • Beaver College • Bennington College • Carlow University • Cazenovia College • Chestnut Hill College • Chowan College • Columbia College • Connecticut College • Drexel University College of Medicine • Elms College • Elmira College • Emmanuel College • Georgia College & State University • Goucher College • Greensboro College • Hood College • Hunter College • Huston-Tillotson University • Immaculata University • James Madison University • Keuka College • LaGrange College • Lake Erie College • Lasell College • Lesley College • Longwood University • MacMurray College • Mississippi University for Women • Marymount Manhattan College • University of Montevallo • Moravian College • Notre Dame College • Ohio Dominican University • Queens University of Charlotte • Radford University • Randolph College • Regis College • Rivier College • Sarah Lawrence College • Salve Regina University • Seton Hill University • Shorter University • Silver Lake College • Skidmore College • Stevenson University • Texas Woman's University • Trocaire College • University of Mary Hardin-Baylor • University of Mary Washington • University of North Carolina at Greensboro • Vassar College • Virginia Union University • Viterbo University • Washington College of Law • Webster University • Wells College • Wheaton College • Winthrop UniversityCoordinate colleges Douglass (merged with Rutgers University) • Evelyn College for Women (with Princeton University; closed) • Georgia State College for Women (with Georgia School of Technology to form Georgia College & State University) • H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College (merged with Tulane University) • Margaret Morrison Carnegie College (merged with Carnegie Mellon University) • Pembroke (merged with Brown University) • Radcliffe College (merged with Harvard University) • University of Mary Washington (with University of Virginia)Categories:- Rutgers University
- Educational institutions established in 1918
- Former women's universities and colleges in the United States
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
