Regulating Women

Well into the twentieth century, women at Vanderbilt navigated rules that differed vastly from those of their male classmates. Both the university and parents formally regulated women’s behavior on and off campus and judged them on categories that extended far beyond academic integrity. Nearly a century after pioneers such as Kate Lupton enrolled at Vanderbilt, the university continued to hold female students to stricter standards than male students. The objects in this case span several decades of Vanderbilt’s history and demonstrate the university’s reluctance to recognize their female students as autonomous adults.