Records of the Muhlenberg College Women's Task Force, 1974-1983

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: M.C.-MSS-X-WTF

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Series I comprises seven folders of materials representing the Women’s Task Force (1974-1983). Folders contain correspondence, meeting minutes, news clippings, handwritten notes, program planning documents, program flyers, financial matters, and commentary.

Series II comprises a scrapbook, arranged topically about the Women’s Task Force’s program, containing folders with correspondence, meeting minutes, news clippings, handwritten notes, program planning documents, program flyers, government documents, financial matters, and commentary.

Dates

1974 - 1983

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research; access by appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is held by Muhlenberg College, which makes these materials freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

Biographical / Historical

Following the issue of and in response to the federal civil rights law known as Title IX, planning for the Women’s Task Force began in 1974 when Muhlenberg’s President Morey tapped Dr. Carol Richards to be the chair. The focus of the Women’s Task Force was to undertake the task of raising awareness of and education about the changing roles of women in society, identifying potential sexual discrimination, serving as an advisory body to the Muhlenberg community, and exploring Title IX compliance across the campus. In her position, Richards built a team of support from faculty, staff, and students. Her early and extensive outreach to feminist scholars, librarians, and government departments for conference proceedings and scholarly papers, annual reports, books, and Title IX, 1972 Education Amendments Regulations amassed an ambitious collection of materials to guide the WTF’s planning, development, and execution of its charter. The first of many meetings was convened on September 25, 1974. Subsequent meetings held through January 1975 focused on the proposed symposium, "Choices and Challenge for the College Graduate: Changing Roles of Women and Men." The program explored alternatives open to the Muhlenberg College graduate in careers, in marriage and in the community and was deemed a success. By September 1975, the Women’s Task Force announced they had organized themselves into sub-committees, set up procedural guidelines, and met a total of 14 times during the academic year. The period between 1974 and 1983 was an especially exhilarating and productive time for the Women’s Task Force, facilitating changes in policies and practices, enhancing awareness of the rights of women on campus, and strengthening the educational opportunities for students, faculty, and staff.