Lady Principals

From VCencylopedia

Section II, Article 1 of the “Laws and Regulations of Vassar Female College, 1866” describes the Lady Principal:

The Lady-Principal shall be the chief executive aid of the President in the direction of the Teachers, and in the government of the students. Under the direction of the President, and immediately responsible to him, she shall execute all the laws and regulations of the College, relating to the conduct of the students when out of the class and lecture rooms. She shall exercise over them a maternal supervision in their private apartments, in the dining-hall, in the corridors, in the public rooms and grounds of the College, and in their intercourse with the neighboring community; and she shall also use her best effort to improve their personal habits, their social training, and their moral and religious culture.

The Lady Principal’s responsibilities included enforcing the rules and regulations of the college; exercising the President’s authority in his absence; receiving new students and assigning them to their rooms and room-mates; making certain that students kept their rooms clean, completed their assignments and arrived to class on time; overseeing students’ dress, correspondence and social interaction; supervising students’ reception of guests; granting students permission to accept invitations; providing escorts for students who left campus temporarily; presiding at meals in the dining-hall; superintending all social and public events on campus; cooperating with the president to enforce morality and piety among her charges; selecting teachers to superintend the corridors and ensure the good order of the college; holding meetings of the corridor whenever the President requested she do so and at each Faculty meeting reporting on the condition of her department; overseeing the housekeeping department and making certain that servants were efficient, quiet, orderly, and respectful; and finally, acting as ex-officio a member of every committee appointed to arrange public and social events on campus. (1)

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