Policy Changes

On Dec. 4, 2018, Dickinson's faculty voted to remove the Physical Education graduation requirement.

President Edel announced the recognition of lacrosse as a semi-official sport on November 15, 1951. Along with the announcement, funds were allocated to support the team during the 1951-1952 academic year. This decision encompassed three years of planning by students interested in having the team recognized by the college.

Dean McCullough released the first summer session schedule since the end of World War II. The summer session was set to begin from June 18 to September 8th consisting of two terms.  The summer sessiona granted students an opportunity to accelerate college courses.

The Interfraternity Council wanted to become independent from Senate on the basis of wanting to create a new constitution and to strengthen their council. Dean of Men, Amos B. Horlacher, worked with and advised IFC to create a new constitution. IFC stated that independence from Senate would give them a better opportunity to address fraternity problems.

President approved the All-College Social Committee’s plan to have a snack bar in South College. The snack bar was appointed to be sponsored by the All-College Social Committee and managed by a sub-committee comprised of three students.

President Edel granted Phoebe G. Follmer leave of absence for the academic year in 1950. Ms. Follmer was the Dean of Women at Dickinson College during this time. Mary Margaret Kellogg was appointed to position after Follmer’s leave of absence.

The Social Committed presented a proposal for a snack bar in South College. At that time, South College was used for social affairs and a gathering space. The plan proposed that this space be converted into a student-operated union. Students who worked in the union would be paid. The social committee want to add pin ball machines, booth, and other decorations in South College. Expenses for the snack bar would have been supplied by the All-College Social Committee funds and then repaid within the first year of operation.

As a result of three resignations and granted leave of absence, President William W. Edel appointed eight new faculty for the new academic term. The political science department received two new faculty members. Professor Philip L. Bridgham, from the university of Hawaii, and Johnson L. Groom, who completed graduate work at the University of Southern California joined the political science faculty. In the Spanish Department, Margaret M. Ramos was appointed assistant professor and a teacher for Spanish classes. Mrs.

President William W. Edel promoted Professor J. Clair McCullough as the new acting-Dean for Dickinson College. Professor McCullough succeeded Professor Roy R. Kuebler, Jr. as acting-Dean of the College. Professor McCullough attended Dickinson and graduated with a PhD in philosophy. Professor Kuebler was granted leave of absence for a year to accept a position at Columbia University for a teaching fellowship. The predecessor of Kuebler was Dean Russell I. Thompson who was forced to leave due to illness. He was expected to return to his position some time during the year.

Starting on Friday, March 29 and running until April 20th, the Kline Center extended weekend hours until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. David Watkins, director of athletics, remarked that "It was the general feeling (of the College community) that the Kine Center should be extended so that it is more available to more students." After the trial period ended, administrators would review whether to continue the late night hours.

The Student Affairs and Services Committee adopted a noise policy for the College at its meeting on Thursday, March 28, which went into effect on a trial basis Monday, April 8th. The new policy used measurements of sound levels taken by campus police at the door of the residence with a sound meter. On weekdays, social events could not exceed a level of 95 decibels prior to 1 a.m. After 1 a.m., the max decreased to 85 decibels. On the weekends, the 85 decibel max went into affect after 2 a.m.

The Dickinson faculty gave fraternities and sororities until June 1, 1963 to do away with any racial or religious discrimination. They concluded that Dickinson is a liberal arts college and must seek to be consistent with the values of liberal arts college in the Christian tradition. If any campus organization was found to be discriminatory in regards to race or religion after June 1, 1963, their right to existence would have been revoked.

At a student senate meeting, Financial Vice President, Dr. George Shuman, presented his personal plans for expansion of the Dickinson campus by 1973.

During their meeting, the female student contingent of the Social Rules Evaluation Committee (SERC) discussed alcohol usage on campus. They agreed that alcohol consumption should only occur in fraternity houses and during their functions.  

In an effort to decrease and control the number of books missing, the Library implemented a routing system, where students were required to show that they had actually checked out the books they were carrying.

Student Senate held an open forum regarding new recommendations made by the Student Affairs and Services Committee (SASC) regarding the 1984-85 alcohol policy. Brian Abraham, Student Senate vice-president, and Sandy Kemp, chairperson of the SASC answered student questions about their recommendations. The SASC was an advisory committee and cannot pass policy, yet wanted to use the open forum as a chance to hear feedback.

The Board of Trustees approved an 8% increase to the total cost of attendance for in the 1984-85 school year, which brought the total comprehensive cost to $11,040.

On Monday, April 10, 1967, Dickinson College Faculty approved four proposed changes to distribution and graduation requirements.

These changes included reducing the number of required distribution courses from a total of 14 to 9, and the possibility for students to "be excused from the language requirement on the basis of a sufficiently high placement score".

Faculty also revised regulations for re-admission after a required withdrawal for students studying at other institutions, or performing military service and employment.

On September 21st, 1989, Student Senate hosted a student referendum where students could express their opinions about the vote that the Select Committee Report made on Greek Life. The meeting lasted about three hours and at the end of the meeting, students voted on whether or not they agreed with the findings of the panel which were going to be passed, along with their comments, to the Board of Trustees. 

In a letter addressed to the student senate, Professor William Virgin stated that the Academic Program Committee had approved a brief period of no classes leading up to Spring exams, and that the committee would recommend the measure to the faculty for approval.

On Friday, December 9, 1966, faculty members declared several policy changes regarding course changes and rush policies.

This included announcing new courses for the next school year, including Film 201, Fine Arts 321, Fine Arts 325, two new courses in geology, a course in marine biology, and a half-course in sedimentary petrography.

The College Bookstore and other vending machines on campus stopped providing cigarettes and other tobacco products for students. In a meeting on April 5th, Dr. Michael Britton (treasurer of the College) and John Davis (manager of the College Bookstore) decided with Michael Helm (director of Auxiliary Services) to no longer provide these products. Signs communicating this change went up in the Store on April 7th. 

Dickinson College faculty passed three resolutions regulating finals beginning with the fall 1986 final examination period.

The first resolution states that no final tests or examinations (with the exception of laboratory finals) will be given in the last five class days of the semester nor during the reading period.

The second resolutions states that all proctored examinations will be given in the examination period at the time scheduled for the course by the Registrar.

On March 6th, 1988, an open forum, hosted by a Student Senate committee, was held to discuss the newly proposed alcohol policy. Very few students actually attended, which was attributed to the location, the time, and the lack of advertisement. The senate committee, which created a new document that addressed the new policy and supposedly suggested changes to it, was criticized for only writing about what had already been discussed and questioned and for not coming up with potential answers to those questions.

On March 26, 1984, Dickinson College Food Service instituted two new policies regarding serving of food. A person must bring his original plate back for seconds and may obtain only one entree at a time. Michael Netto, Director of Food Service, instituted these policies to cut down excessive food waste and dishroom overload. A survey conducted in coordination with Phi Kappa Sigma revealed that over $111,380 worth of food was discarded each day.