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History of Women at Virginia Tech

This history of women at Virginia Tech (1921-1996) was taken from the book "Generations of Women Leaders at Virginia Tech," written in 1996 by Clara B. Cox, MA ‘84.

Highlights

  • 1921: Women first enroll as full-time students.
  • 1923: Mary Brumfield receives first VPI degree awarded to a woman.
  • 1925: First class of coeds graduates. Coeds produce first Tin Horn.
  • 1929: First bachelor's degrees are awarded in home economics.
  • 1940: Hillcrest opens as first residence hall for women.
  • 1944: Radford College becomes Women's Division of VPI.
  • 1953: Betty Delores Stough becomes first woman to receive a Ph.D. from VPI .
  • 1959: Patricia Ann Miller is first woman to receive an ROTC Commission.
  • 1960: Laura Jane Harper is appointed dean of two-campus School of Home Economics.
  • 1964: Radford College and VPI officially separate.
  • 1965: Audrey Rentz is appointed first dean of women.
  • 1966: First black women enroll at VPI.
  • 1968: Women are allowed to wear slacks on campus.
  • 1970: First female intercollegiate athletic team is organized.
  • 1972: Slusher Hall opens to house women.
  • 1973: Corps of cadets admits first female cadets.
  • 1974: Jean Harshbarger is first female to be elected class president. Louise Bates and Johnnie Miles become first black female faculty members.
  • 1978: Women's Network initiates campus-wide activities.
  • 1980: Marva Felder is first black woman to be crowned Homecoming Queen.
  • 1982: First Women's Week celebration is held. Office of Women in Development is established. Sandra Sullivan is first woman appointed vice president.
  • 1987: Denise Shuster becomes first woman to serve as regimental commander.
  • 1988: Women's Studies Program is established.
  • 1989: Women's Research Institute is established.
  • 1993: Lucy Hawk Banks is first woman inducted into Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.
  • 1994: Women's Center opens.
  • 1995: Peggy Meszaros is appointed senior vice president and provost.

 


History of Women at Virginia Tech

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