When we arrived on campus
As the Class of 1977 descended onto Campus in 1973, we were a group of women
caught between traditional views and new ways of thinking. We cheered exuberantly
when Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs and laughed and laughed as women (and
MEN) streaked across Skinner Green, au naturel! We challenged many things at Mount
Holyoke, including the grading system and the need to complete a “comprehensive” to
graduate, and resisted any kind of control of where we could go and what we could do.
But we still enjoyed some College traditions, including supportive house mothers (or
house parents), waitressed dinners in our dorms, and departmental Friday afternoon
teas (but in the Chemistry Department, we at least replaced traditional sherry with
frozen daiquiris!).
During our time on campus, we experienced these historical International and domestic
events:
It’s 45 years since we graduated, but national issues in the news today seem eerily
similar to some of the issues we faced back then. While at Mount Holyoke, Roe v.
Wade was being heard in the Supreme Court, President Nixon resigned and was
pardoned, and gas was the highest price ever – 40 and 50 cents per gallon, and was
being rationed based on whether you had an even or odd license plate. And again, we
were caught between the traditional and cutting edge, taking exams in our blue books
and typing papers on our Smith Coronas, while Bill Gates was patenting the name
Microsoft, and Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak formed the Apple Computer Company.
This is how we spent our free time while we were on campus:
One thing about our class was that we knew how to study hard, but also how to have
fun! Since the drinking age was 18, we had many parties in our dorms, as well as often
visiting Amherst and other schools for socializing! We were a very athletic class,
splitting our time between swimming, field hockey, softball, basketball, and horseback
riding, and we helped form the first MHC Crew Team. And many of us would watch
StarTrek reruns in the dorms or write Nancy Drew vignettes in our Bell Books. We went
to the College Inn for a dinner of steak and fries for less than $4 and had our own mugs
hanging up in the bar. And we loved going to Chanticleer for giant cookies or doing an
evening run to Wilbur for 50 cent sundaes or Friendly’s for Fribbles.
Known for our enthusiasm and questioning spirit, the Class of 1977 is thrilled to be
celebrating our 45 th reunion.
