Unassigned duties of a dean of women

Abstract

first Dean of Women, appointed in 1833 and known as the Lady Principal of the Female Department of Oberlin College, must have been very grateful for the college catalogue of that year; for in the catalogue it was plainly stated that her duty was correct the habits and mould the female character. It is very probable that since that time many Deans of Women, known by many different titles-among them Matrons, Wardens, Advisers, and Counselors-have longed for a college catalogue like the one at Oberlin College dated 1833. But there were no such catalogues; in fact there was nowhere for the Deans to go to find out just what their duties were. story is told of one Dean of Women who, upon her appointment to the position soon after 1900, went to the president of the college to ask for instruction concerning her work. president quite frankly admitted that he did not know what her duties were. He sent her to the chairman of the board of trustees. When the Dean was admitted into the presence of the chairman, she said, I am the new Dean of Women. His answer, The devil you are, was sufficient for her to know that he had no more definite ideas about her work than she and the president had; so like many other Deans of Women before and after her she found her