Did somebody say, “Student Activism and Social Change”?

“As the sexual freedom of the 1960s and 1970s gave way to campuswide concern about women’s physical safety, sexual harassment and rape became major student issues. The old in loco parentis rules had become unenforceable, which provided both an opportunity for greater exploitation of women and genuine opportunity to acknowledge the exploitation. In 1986 an anti-rape sit-in took place in Vice President Henry Johnson’s office, and a list of demands – including better lighting on campus walkways, emergency telephones throughout the campus, “Nite Owl” bus services, and a rape and sexual assault counseling facility -was presented to university officials. All the demands were eventually met, and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) was created.”

> From p. 95 of Ruth Bordin’s “Women at Michigan: The “Dangerous Experiment,” 1870s to the Present.” Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999.
> Also, for a good online history of women at the University, go to the Michigan Women’s Handbook and click on “University History”