Alpha Omicron Pi Sock Rebellion

During the fall of 1939, the women of Alpha Omicron Pi took a stand against the campus-wide ban on ankle-high sport socks, a policy enacted by then-Dean of Women, Ada Bell Stapleton. She viewed socks as antithetical to the well-groomed appearance expected of all female students and required that stockings be worn instead. In an act of rebellion, the women chose to wear cotton stockings that would wrinkle around their calves, rather than the traditional silk or rayon stockings that would stay in place, to challenge the requirements for standard female athletic wear.