Social Activities

"Fraternities and sororities are ruled out and are not permitted at Fairleigh Dickinson. [Note: This has since changed.--PSB] Social functions are not planned only for the extroverts and the glamour boys and girls. They'll have a good time under any circumstances. We are interested primarily in the introverts, in the shy young men and women."

"The first thing a college must do is to encourage young people who can only come [to social events] alone to do so and feel welcome. That is a most difficult thing to do. That is why we encourage the students to arrange all sorts of socializing functions. For instance, a dramatic production may precede a dance. Arranged thus, it's easier for a girl to come alone and then stay on for a dance."

"Square dances or folk dances, especially the very simple ones, are splendid opportunities to get people to know each other. The Danish folk dance 'The Crested Hen,' for instance, which uses three people to a group, is wonderful when the number of boys and girls is not equally divided. The American folk dance 'Shoo-fly' is another good party mixer. At Fairleigh Dickinson, practically the whole faculty joins the freshman parties and at certain key functions throughout the year. At the freshman dance, we all join in, demonstrate the folk dance, and gradually pull in the students into the act until everybody is whirling away. It sounds undignified, doesn't it? And yet, it gets the youngsters to know each other, and it breaks down that funereal awe of the faculty."
[Editor's note: This custom seems to have died out, as has "that funereal awe of the faculty." The quotation is from Community College in Action, 1950, p. 67.-- PSB]