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May
24, 2004
By
Dr. Barbara M. Brodie, Madge M. Jones Professor of Nursing Emeritus
I came to the University in the summer of 1970. As a new faculty
member, I was surprised to learn from President Edgar Shannon
at a faculty orientation that this was a very special time
in the
history of the University of Virginia. What made it so special,
he noted, was that women had just been admitted into the College
of Arts and Sciences as first-year students. Several new nursing
faculty members left this meeting wondering what we might encounter
as female faculty
working in an institution that was predominantly male for so
long.
Founded
in 1904, the Raven
Society is the oldest and most prestigious honorary
soceity at the University of Virginia, taking its name
in honor of hte most famous poem of the University’s
most famous poet, Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven Society
has a distinguished history.
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Our
concern proved unwarranted. The 1970’s were a wonderful
time to be at the University. There was excitement in the
air and changes were sweeping throughout the faculty, schools,
and the
University. In short order it became obvious to all that
the women admitted into the College were extremely bright, creative,
and
quick to assume leadership positions across the Grounds.
There were many instances of women at the University before
1970, dating back to the early 1900s. Daughters of U.Va.
faculty members
transferred to the University
as upper classmen, or were admitted as graduate students. There is ample
documentation of female teachers attending graduate programs,
and a woman was admitted to
the medical school in the mid-1920s. But the most notable
example of a large group
of women being educated at the University were the student nurses enrolled
in the University of Virginia Hospital School of Nursing.
In 1901, the Board of Visitors, responding to a request
from the School of Medicine, built a hospital to serve
the educational
needs of the medical students.
Following
the lead of other American hospitals of the era, medical faculty quickly
moved to create a hospital-based School of Nursing. The
school was initiated primarily
to acquire the services of student nurses to provide patient care,
and, secondarily, to train young women to become nurses.
It
is interesting to note that the
education of student nurses was not considered an academic
endeavor but rather, training
women to care for the ill was considered a vocational task because
everyone knew that caring was inherent in the character
of a woman. It would take
many years
of struggle before the nursing faculty, in 1950, convinced President
Darden, the University faculty, and the Board of Visitors
that professional nursing
requires college education for its practitioners. Finally, in 1956
the School of Nursing
was created as one of the University’s ten independent academic schools.
Raven Society Briefs
• There are currently 10 student Ravens and seven faculty Ravens, and more
than 140 nursing alumni who belong to this distinguished society.
• After graduation, only one alumna or alumnus may be elected to membership
each year from the School of Nursing.
• Each year, eight nursing students become members.
• Only four faculty members from the University are elected each year;
therefore, elections of nursing faculty do not occur each year. |
As
a new faculty member in 1970 I quickly learned about the rich
traditions of the University’s organizations and societies,
including the Raven Society. Many of the brightest and most committed
to the University of my male colleagues
were Ravens, and from them I learned of the public activities of
the Raven Society. Founded in 1904, the Raven Society brings
together students, faculty, administrators,
and alumni who have proven themselves academically outstanding
and who demonstrate a strong commitment to the University.
Recently I decided to explore when women were admitted to the
Raven Society. After examining the official Raven Society
papers in the
University’s archives
at Alderman Library, I found there were no women admitted into the organization,
either as students or faculty, between 1904 and 1970. However, it is clear that
the Raven Society made a deliberate move to open its membership to qualified
women in 1970. To do so, the society had to waive its traditional requirement
that undergraduate candidates be at the University at least two years prior to
being considered for membership. I find this early admission of women by the
Raven Society to be refreshingly open and generous, and a wonderful testimony
to the Raven members of the time.
In 1970 four women were admitted into the Raven Society. Patricia
Cloonan (Prentiss), then a third-year nursing student, was the
first undergraduate
admitted. Sue
Glacking Dillport, a second-year student from the Law School,
Barbara Lynn Smith from the Education School, and Judith
Malene Wellman
from the Graduate
School
of Arts & Sciences were the first women graduate students to become Ravens
in 1970.
From this time on, female students were admitted in greater
numbers and quickly became officers in the Raven Society
and in other
University organizations. Interestingly, some of the organizations
they joined
and
positions they
held
were often ones
they created themselves.
To complete the early story of nurses being admitted into the
Raven Society, Betty Norman Norris, a faculty member at the
School of
Nursing, was inducted
in 1977.
This year, on the occasion of their 100th birthday, I join
with my fellow Ravens in congratulating the University of
Virginia’s oldest and most prestigious
honorary society. The long list of Raven members includes such prominent leaders
as President Woodrow Wilson, numerous state governors and national legislators,
leaders in science, industry, education, engineering, medicine, nursing, the
humanities, and the military. It is an organization that, for 100 years, has
helped create the distinguished academic and personal standards of U.Va. students,
alumni, and faculty.
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