Historical Note
The Dean of Men was established at Oregon Agricultural College in 1924.
With the Dean of the Women, the Dean of Men had general responsibility for
student welfare. In addition to keeping in contact with student
organizations and housing groups, the Dean advised freshmen and provided
orientation to new students. The Dean of Men advised activities and
programs for male students, including honorary societies and fraternities,
and was the University's liaison with the Dad's Club and the sponsors of
Beaver Boys State and the Eagle Scouts recognition events.
Only two men held this position from 1924 until the early 1970s when
the Deans of Women and Men became Associate Deans of Students. Ulysses
Grant Dubach served as the first Dean of Men from 1924 until his
retirement in 1947. Dan Poling served as Assistant Dean of Students under
Dubach beginning in 1937 and became the Dean of Students in 1947.
Content Description
The Dean of Men Records consist of materials created or assembled by
the Dean of Men and primarily reflect programs and activities for male
students at Oregon State University. The records include a scrapbook;
materials assembled for a history of housing at Oregon State; and
microfilmed materials pertaining to various activities of the Dean of
Men.
The scrapbook consists of materials produced and assembled by the Dean
of Men from the mid-1920s until the mid-1930s and includes welcome letters
to new students and their parents; tips to freshmen; Interfraternity
Council booklets; instructions and policies for fraternities; and permits
for student cars on campus.
The materials pertaining to the history of housing were assembled by
former Dean of Men, Dan Poling, while preparing a manuscript (unpublished)
on student housing at Oregon State University from 1889 to 1981. It
includes information on dormitories, cooperative housing, fraternities and
sororities, and married student housing. The materials include handwritten
research notes, drafts, brochures, and newspaper clippings. Many of the
handwritten notes are from research done in the OSU Archives. Two reports
by Poling to President Strand in 1960-1961 on the membership restrictions
of OSU living groups (primarily fraternities and sororities) and the OSU
policy on non-discrimination are of particular interest. Documents
pertaining to Adair Village (married student housing), Co-Resident Women,
Inc., the construction dates of residence halls, the housemother policy,
and housing regulations are included.
The bulk of the microfilmed materials are records of the Dad's Club
from the early 1950s to mid-1960s. These include minutes of board
meetings, correspondence, financial reports, constitutions, and materials
pertaining to Dad's Day and Dad's Weekend.
The remainder of the microfilmed materials pertain to the annual Eagle
Scout recognition day at Oregon State; honorarary societies, including
Blue Key; Beaver Boys State; the Oregon State University Federation, a
coalition of the Dad's Club, Mother's Club, Alumni Association, and ASOSU
formed to advance and promote OSU; student recruitment activities such as
Beaver Open House and Beaver Preview; fraternities at OSU, especially the
Interfraternity Council; and the Administrative Council. The
Administrative Council materials include various reports and statistics as
well as documents pertaining to the name change from Oregon State College
to Oregon State University.