1970s

Building on the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the 1970s is considered by many to be the start of the second wave of the feminist movement. Nationally, many landmark pieces of legislation were passed and US Supreme Court decisions were made, including Title IX and Roe v. Wade. The field of Women’s Studies emerged in response to the demands of faculty, staff and students. The first course officially taught under the moniker of “women’s studies” was at Cornell University in XX. The University of Delaware was an earlier pioneer and under the “guiding hand” of Mae Carter, offered its first course shortly after, in 1972. But, this did not mean that gender equality had been achieved. The following four decades were each dedicated to continuing to address gender inequality both nationally and at the University of Delaware.

Reproductive Justice

In the 1970s, both a birth control clinic and a Planned Parenthood opened near the campus while UD held several lectures relating to reproductive rights.

LGBTQ+ Rights and Representation

The University of Delaware faced a lawsuit in 1976 for refusing to renew Professor Richard Aumiller’s contract for the next term because he had made statements about homosexuality that appeared in several newspapers, which Aumiller ended up winning.

Racial Justice

UD offered several courses and lectures focusing on black women and the intersection of race and gender in the 70s while students were also pushing for black women’s voices to be heard and experiences to be included within the Women’s Studies Program and at UD in general.