A movement to appoint a Dean of Women began at Queen's University in the 1890s, when female students debated, off and on, whether such an official would benefit them, or whether it would interfere too much with their independence. The movement gathered steam after 1900, when the number of women students at Queen's had reached a few hundred, and concerns grew about the morals and deportment of female students living in crowded boarding houses near campus, often alongside men. Still, many women students remained ambivalent, or opposed to such an initiative. So, in 1911, the University hired only an "advisor to women". In 1918, the post was retitled and the former "advisor," Caroline McNeill, became the University's first Dean of Women. McNeill, who only later became a faculty member herself, was the wife of a professor. All subsequent Deans (with the exception of Evelyn Reid in the 1970's) have held academic appointments jointly with the Deanship, in subjects ranging from English to Astrophysics.
When Ban Righ Hall opened in 1925 and, at the same time, Hilda Laird took over the post of Dean, the job took on a new dimension: the Dean of Women lived in residence with women students and supervised them directly, making and enforcing rules about such things as curfews, late-leaves and visitors. The Dean also made rules for women who lived off-campus, supervising how they dressed (no "slacks," except at breakfast (until the 1960's), and their choice of housing (no unsupervised apartments, no boarding houses with men, no boarding houses that had not been personally approved by the Dean). The Dean played a role in the day-to-day operation of the women's residences, reporting to the Ban Righ Board. That management role became more substantial in the 1970's, when the Ban Righ Board became an advisory body only and the Dean of Women took over the entire job of running the women's residences (and, between 1988 and 1990, all residences), before relinquishing all involvement in residence management in 1990. After Victoria Hall opened in 1965, the Dean of Women moved her quarters there; successive Deans continued to live there until 1990, when the "in-residence" tradition ended and the Dean moved to an office in Mackintosh-Corry Hall.
By the early 1990's, Queen's was one of only a handful of universities in Canada that still had a Dean of Women. Over the decades her role had evolved from that of surrogate parent to a resource for students, faculty, and staff, and in particular for women on campus. The Dean of Women was available for consultation and discussion on the wide variety of issues that affect women at the University. She also provided information on services available for women in the Queen's community, sponsored special events, and offered informal counselling on personal, academic, and financial matters.
In the mid-1990's, Principal William Leggett identified the need to re-examine the position and its activities in the context of a larger review of equity and human-rights structures at the University. The review, completed in 1996, recommended a more broadly integrated equity structure at Queen's. The position of Dean of Women was discontinued, and in 1996, a new position, the University Advisor on Equity, was created. In 1997, determined to preserve the legacy of the position, the Alumni Association's Committee on Women's Affairs established a Steering Committee to direct the writing of a history of the Office of the Dean of Women. The result, "Their Leaven of Influence: Deans of Women at Queen's University, 1916-1996", by Queen's alumnae, Maureen McCallum Garvie and Jennifer L. Johnson, was published in 1999.
Deans of Women:
Caroline McNeill (1918-1925)
Hilda Laird (1925-1934)
Winnifred Kydd, O.B.E. (1934-1939)
Allie Vibert Douglas (1939-1959)
Beatrice Bryce (1959-1971)
Evelyn Reid (1971-1980)
Elspeth Baugh (1980-1993)
Pamela Dickey Young (1993-1996)
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