Dormitory
Opened in 1907, McMillan Hall was the first women's dormitory on campus.
It included a dining room, gymnasium, common rooms, and living space for the matron attendants. During World War II, McMillan was used for military housing, and female students stayed in rented buildings off-campus. Parents were assured that the same proper behavior and curfews would be enforced in these alternative quarters. The McMillan Hall Association hosted parties, held contests for the best decorated dorm rooms, and served as a representative body for the women.
With the construction of new residence halls on the South 40 in the late 1950s, McMillan Hall was remodeled to meet space needs for classes and departments.
Separate rules for male and female students continued for the first few years on the South 40. The 1965 Resident Handbook describes the disciplinary policy for men in two paragraphs. Rules for women, which it notes "[give] much more freedom than on other campuses," takes four pages. Women's rules include 12:30 a.m. curfews (1:30 a.m. on weekends), signing in and out to go off campus, written permission from a parent to spend overnights away from the dorm, and loss of privileges ("campusing") for multiple rules violations.
RULES FOR "Co-Eds"
Until the late 20th Century, female college students across the nation were known as "co-eds." Stricter dress codes, dorm rules, and student conduct policies were required for female students. This was true on the campus of Washington University until the 1970s, although some female students fought to change them over the years.
DANCES
In 1913 and 1914, the tango and other "new dances" were prohibited at school dances. Female students initially supported a 1920 ban on "cheek-to-cheek" dancing, but when it extended to the "toddle," "shuffle," and "camel's walk" dances the women complained. Two months later the ban was lifted.
DRESS CODE
Women petitioned in 1934 to allow them to wear socks. Policy required wearing hosiery. Dean of Women Adele Starbird opposed changing the dress code, speaking to all the women she saw wearing socks.
SMOKING
Dean Starbird supported the Women's Self-Government Association's (WSGA) change to women's smoking regulations. Student Life reported in May 1937, "New smoking rules adopted by WSGA permit coeds [women] to smoke anywhere on the campus with the exception of in and in front of Brookings Halls (sic), and any place on the Quadrangle, and in front of the Women's Building." This allowed women essentially the same options to smoke as male students.
