Women's activism has been a force at UMD for nearly as long as women have been admitted to the University, largely beginning with the cases of Vivian Simpson and Virginia Flanagan. Along the way, women's rights activism largely followed national and international trends. The emergence of the second wave feminist movement in the 1970's, in particular, ushered in a new age of women's rights activism. Throughout the 1970's and 1980's students were rallying to oppose of domestic and sexual violence and sex discrimination, and to support abortion access and the effective implementation of Title IX at the University. These issues have persisted into the present, particularly Title IX.
In the earliest years of their admissions, female students had to abide by strict rules of conduct that their male counterparts were spared from. Roommates Virginia Flanagan and Vivian Simpson chose to skirt the rules, which caused them to be removed from the dorms and expelled from the university. The behaviors that the university took issue with were very typical college student behavior by today's standards: skipping class, flirting with boys, dressing 'unsuitably,' and keeping a messy dorm room. Other charges were highly specific to the time: some offenses consisted of smoking, failing to sign in and out of the dorms, failing to follow the 'lights out' policy, and using electric irons. Simpson, in particular, was seen as highly problematic. She was accused of acting with hostility towards Dean of Women Adele Stamp, who was responsible for overseeing the female coeds and enforcing the aforementioned rules, and for speaking negatively about the faculty's treatment of women students in a Washington Post article.
Rebellious Vivian Simpson resisted her expulsion, putting the matter in the hands of the law. After a highly publicized hearing, the Baltimore City Court ordered that UMD readmit her for her third year. However, after the case was escalated to the Court of Appeals, the expulsion stood, and Simpson's credits were transferred to George Washington University. Simpson continued to fight sex discrimination through the legal system, eventually pursuing law at GWU, which led her to become the first woman lawyer in Montgomery County, the first woman elected to the Montgomery County Bar, and Maryland's first woman Secretary of State.
2004 - Ad for the March for Women's Lives in D.C., published in Mizpeh. The ad encourages students and UMD affiliates to join feminist campus advocates at this protest.
1979 - A group of University of Maryland female athletes and coaches protest in D.C. in support of equal funding for men's and women's athletics.
1993 - 50+ students march to "reclaim the night" protesting violence against women on campus.
1979 - In response to the rape of a woman on campus, more than 300 people marched through campus demanding better protection for women.
1982 - Students hold a candlelight march to protest violence against women and demand better protections and safety infrastructure on campus.
1981 - Students and faculty joined a march in Washington, D.C. in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.
