Rusk Women's Eating House. Records, 1977-

Sub-Group

Identifier: RG12-34

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains a newspaper article about the founding of the group, an article form the 1978 Quips and Cranks, and numerous invitations to parties. There is also e-mail correspondence regarding the house events, and also includes a Davidsonian article concerning their Operation Smile project, as well as an application form for the Sig Ep 2003 Turkey Trot. The Presidents folder contains photocopied pictures of past presidents, and the Photos folder contains assorted photos.

Dates

Creation: 1977

Creator

Rusk Women's Eating House (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

Rusk eating house was founded in 1977 as a social resource for women at Davidson. It was the first women?s eating house. Rusk was named for Dean Rusk, Class of 1931 and Secretary of State during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. This began the continuing tradition of naming female eating house after Davidson alumni. By April 1977, forty-six female students had signed into Rusk Eating House, which would open in the fall of that year. Nineteen of the women were rising juniors and seniors and twenty-seven were sophomores. Rusk moved into house 11 on Patterson Court in 1977. The college helped furnish the house, and Kappa Alpha donated picnic tables. Board was $270 a semester. By the early 1980s, Rusk had grown so popular that it was filled to capacity and had a waiting list. Warner Hall opened in 1982, relieving Rusk's over-population.