Susquehanna University - 1895 to 1939

The students' social life included dances sponsored by academic classes and fraternities. At the dances, women students would wear a dance card with a decorative cord attached to their wrists. The outside cover would indicate the sponsor of the dance, the time and the place. It also named the band that would play at the dance. Inside the dance card, women could record the names of their dance partners or list the titles of the songs played at the dance. This collage shows various dance cards from the late 1930s.

The Men's Student Council started the first Student Handbook in 1925. This page from the 1930 Handbook lists the general rules for all male students. For example, rule number three states that men were not allowed to smoke anywhere on campus except in the men's dormitories.

Frederick Stevens started the a capella Motet Choir with eight singers in 1933. By 1936, the Choir had 40 singers with a few adults supplementing the student membership. The Choir brought excellent publicity to the University for the high quality of its singing. The Motet Choir had an ambitious tour schedule, but the tour's cost exceeded its revenues. Partially due to high cost, the Motet Choir was discontinued in 1940. Pictured is a photo of the Motet Choir leaving for a tour. Also, pictured from left to right are Fred Stevens, Motet Choir Conductor, his wife Sara, and the Motet Choir Manger Paul Overbo.

Women's athletic activity was progressive in the 1930s as shown by the formation of the Women's Athletic Association in 1930 to coordinate competitive sports for women, by increased intramural contests, and by an institutional encouragement of women's athletics. The featured photo shows women students in their gym uniforms during archery target practice. The building in the background is the new Alumni Gymnasium.