Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-10-25

The controversy over early
last week, when DR.. Menden-
hall, newly inaugurated as
sixth president of Smith Col
lege, deplored the mania for
teen-age campus weddings.
Smith is the largest college for
women in the East.
"While any of us would well
come a happy marriage as a
y byproduct of college education"
DR.. Mendenhall said, ito make
it a first purpose is as waste
full of the precious resources OF
a college as it is dangerous to
the good health and the values
for which the college stands"
Lost Opportunities
Then came the unkindest cut
of all. The Smith president
added: IF undergraduate
women are too preocupied
with catching a mate, they
may instinctively finch and
draw back at a critical moment
in their education when they
have the first opportunity to
exercise their newly acquired
intellectual competence and
even strike out for themselves
into creative scholarship"
A spot check Of 20 typical
colleges, made by the North
American Newspaper Alliance,
reveals that the majority OF
presidents and deans disagree
with DR.. Mendenhall. Most
colleges have found that the
married student, man or wom-
an, does as well if not better
than unmarried classmates.
Somehow, the girl who marries
while still in college seems to
settle down. She no longer
worries about weekend dates.
nor does she spend hours
preening to "catch a mate"
Whether DR.. Mendenhall
likes it or not, the mania"
for early marriages has now
reached a peak. Colleges every
where report that more Of their
students, graduate and under
graduate, are married than
ever before.
For example, Northeastern
University in Boston reports
that 20 per cent of its under
graduate student body is mar
ried. Ten years ago only Q per
cent were married. For the
most part, declares Gilbert C.
Macdonald, dean Of students,
grades improve after the wed
ding bells ring.
I'VE encourage the marriage
If it is financially reasonable, I"
Dean Macdonald says.
Housing Problems
In the Midwest, the Univer-
sity of Minnesota also reports
that 20 per cent of its students
are married. This is a great in
crease over previous years.
Minnesota, in common with
other colleges, east or west,
finds it difficult to meet the
housing problem for its married
students. Everywhere colleges
are putting up dormitories for
married couples - something
unheard of prior to World War
II.
The rush to get married
began during the war years,
when the men left their cam
puses in uniform, and didn't
know when, if ever, they would
return.
But we didn't expect it to
last" said a harasSed Western
dean of students. More stus
dents are now getting married
than ever at the height Of war
time hysteria."
Project at Rutgers
Rutgers University built a
married student housing prof.
ect after the war. Another 800
unit garden apartment for
married students is under way.
Columbia University's first resi-
dence hall devoted entirely to
apartments for married grad
uate students was opened last
month.
Goucher College in Baltimore
estimates that Is per cent OF
its students are married, COM
pared with less than 3 per cent
10 years ago. But DR.. Otto F.
Kraushaar, the president, does
not object.
Marriage seems to have q
settling effect, and academic
standards improve" he OBJ
served. However, in some
cases the emphasis changes to
household duties, motherhood.
and employment to run the
home"
Some DrOp Out
The greatest fear Of edu-
Gators is that the girl will drop
out of college once she is
married. In some cases this is
true. A sophomore or junior
may drop out, particularly If a
baby comes along.
Early marriages interrupt
educational goals" Dean Nancy
D. Lewis of Pembroke IN. c.
State College points out. MANY
who are married during college
days lose their academic am
bition."
Not so, answer the girls who
have shared their mates at
college. Take the case Of Mrs.
Lois Steinberg, a senior at
Barnard College. Although only
20, she was married last March,
while a junior. Her husband,
Roy, %, is in his third year at
the New York Medical College.
They now live in a one-and-
one-half-room furnished apart
ment on the West Side here.