Winners from the Class of 2019
Katherine DeBroeck, “A Love-Hate Thing: The Paradoxical Relationship between College Administrators and On-Campus Feminism in the 1970s”
Situating her argument within the historical and cultural context of 1970s second-wave feminism, DeBroeck explores the challenges feminists faced on college campuses. She digs into the Dickinson College archives to tell the story of the Women’s Group, a campus feminist organization in the 1970s. DeBroeck argues that “feminist-friendly acts” of the administration belied anti-feminist attitudes ultimately co-opted the woman’s movement on campus.
Anh Duc Do, “The Consumer-Based View in Higher Education: Inquiry about Its Existence and How it May Devalue Goals”
Do examines the connection between grade inflation and student consumerism – or students’ view of themselves “as payers whose desired products are good grades and degrees.” Do’s quantitative analysis focuses on data from “CollegeX,” which leads him to conclude the existence of a consumerist view at CollegeX. While Do considers the possible benefits of a consumerist mindset, he also suggests several policies that could ameliorate the negative effects of student consumerism.