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As my history professors have taught me, in order to understand
local, particular history, it is necessary to link the story
to a larger theme. So in order to do tell you the history
of Prytanean, I would like to first talk about its context
and the history of women on the UC Davis campus. I will start
after the founding of Prytanean so as we go back in time you
will be able to fully understand how progressive and determined
the founding members of Prytanean were.
Twenty years after Prytanean was established, women finally
accounted for nearly half of the undergraduate population.
It was in the 1970’s that the role of women was being
debated and issues such as wither separate programs like home
economics should exist. In 1972, a 349 page report was published
documenting the numerous instances of discrimination against
women at UC Davis and made recommendations on how to improve
them. These proposals included establishing part-time positions,
maternity leave for up to three months, and unpaid leaves
of absence for child care. They also eliminated questions
on application forms about marital status, occupation of spouse,
and number of children. The seventies also saw the founding
of the Women’s Resources and Research Center on campus
and Title IX was passed making sex discrimination illegal
for all federally funded institutions.
It was ten years after Prytanean was established that the
first national sorority was established on the UC Davis campus,
Delta Delta Delta. Although the Greek system was flourishing,
it was also in the sixties that women were excluded from the
Davis Marching Band; it would be a decade later when they
were readmitted with the passing of Title IX.
Before all of these historic changes for women, there was
Prytanean. Founded on the UC Davis campus in 1951 as an offshoot
of the UC Berkeley chapter, UC Davis Prytanean was spear headed
by the advisor to women Susan Regan. Prytanean was an organization
for women to gather, perform community service, and strive
for academic excellence. Prytanean became a collection of
the most talented women on campus, and they have done extraordinary
things. An example would be honorary member Marya Welch, who
formalized women’s athletics in 1949, and was the first
woman hired in the Department of Physical Education as a full-time
coach. Founder Susan Regan became the first Dean of Women
on campus, advocating for women’s equality twenty years
before the seventies wave of legislation. Member Marylee Hardie
was received the “Award of Distinction” from the
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The award
is presented to those whose contributions and achievements
enrich the UC Davis campus and enhance its ability to provide
public service. The achievements of Prytanean women are too
many to list; their distinctions are impressive in all fields
of service and academia.
Dinner for Ten is an event founded in the tradition of Prytanean.
It gives women opportunity to meet with faculty and members
of the community to expand their already impressive prospects.
We hope to continue this legacy by providing something sorely
lacking in the current university system, a friendly convenient
atmosphere for faculty and students to communicate. This will
help our members achieve the goals of Prytanean and go on
to things like grad school, professional school, or amazing
internships… which all require letters of recommendation.
I hope that this history has provided some context for the
history of women on campus, and shown how Prytanean has been
apart of it. Now I would like to introduce our treasurer,
Carrie Johnson, who will tell you about some of the projects
Prytanean is currently involved in.
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