My, oh, my how the rules change

By Alexis Austin
austina@thejohnsonian.com

In 1971, a self-regulated or co-ed residence hall at Winthrop didn’t exist. There wasn’t even a male student in sight.

Gale Teaster remembers this all too well. As an associate professor and head of serials, acquisitions and cataloging in Dacus Library, Teaster looks back on her days at Winthrop as a student.

“I came as an undergraduate student on a scholarship from a small town,” she said. “There were a little  more than 2,000 students in 1971. There were more students at the school than people were in my hometown.”

The atmosphere at the college has changed significantly, though.

“The rules have changed,” she said. “There was plenty of time spent trying to get around the rules.”

Instead of resident assistants, students had house mothers. These were typically older women who lived in the residence halls and kept up with students.

“Some of the women who were house mothers would have died on the spot if Winthrop had co-ed dorms during that time,” Teaster said.

During her time at Winthrop, students had to sign in and out of residence halls.

“Even if we were going to the library, we had to sign in and out,” she said. “Most of the time we would say we were going somewhere on campus, go somewhere else and pray we didn’t get caught.”

Students had curfews and were penalized for being late.

In 1971, the legal drinking age was 18, but by the time Teaster graduated, it changed to 21.

“There was a rule that we could not drink within a certain number of miles of campus,” she said. “There was a bar called The Barn we often went to because it was far enough from campus.”

During this time, parking on campus was not an issue either.

“Students could not drive their freshman year, and there were not a lot of commuting students either,” Teaster said. “If we were trying to get home, we caught rides with people who were from our hometown or nearby.”

In 1974, Winthrop became a co-educational institution. All men living on campus were housed in Bancroft annex.
 
“I wasn’t really sure at first whether it was a good  idea or not,” Teaster said.

She said one of the reasons she chose Winthrop is because it was an all-girls’ school. Eventually, Teaster decided it was a good move for the college.

“It was a state school, and I didn’t think a state school should be single-sex. It should cater to everyone,” she said.

Teaster went on to complete undergraduate and graduate school at Winthrop and has worked for the university for more than 30 years.

While the rules have changed, she said she hopes that due to the rapid changes in technology, the university doesn’t lose the strong relationship it has built between teachers and students.

“There will be more computerization in how we offer courses, but I hope we don’t lose that personal touch between teachers and students,” Teaster said. “I don’t want Winthrop to become a Phoenix University.”