Anne McLane Kuster '78 and her mother, Susan McLane, discussed their experiences as women associated with the College and New Hampshire politics yesterday afternoon.
Women in Politics, a newly formed student group aimed at promoting the role of women in the political system, sponsored the talk.
Kuster, a legal counselor to the state of New Hampshire and a state legislature lobbyist, was a member of the third co-ed class to matriculate at Dartmouth.
McLane, who is the daughter of a past Dean of the College and who made an unsuccessful bid for N.H. governor in 1980, is now a representative to the N.H. State Legislature.
Kuster spoke on several sexist experiences she had while at Dartmouth.
She recounted writing a paper on women in Russia for her Russian Studies class and receiving a "C" grade. "When I finally got the courage up to ask the professor why, he said, 'Well if you had written on something important....'"
Several other anecdotes Kuster highlighted included being bitten in a fraternity basement by a male student and having several male students stand outside her room chanting, "We want to get f--ed!"
However, Kuster said in Dartmouth's first co-ed classes women did "coalesce into a strong group of people." Organized protests by women were influential in the formation of a student center on campus.
"In the end, I am very grateful for the educational experience I received at Dartmouth," Kuster said. She said that compared to other women she had a number of diverse experiences, including off-campus terms in Washington D.C., Norway, and France.
Ironically, Kuster's grandfather, a former Dean of the College, was adamantly opposed to women attending Dartmouth. "He thought they would distract the men, who were the potential leaders of the world," Kuster said.
Both Kuster and her mother talked about their experiences in politics and the general changing role of women in that realm.
Referring to the lack of female politicians in government, McLane said, "I feel deeply that the world would be a better place if we had 50-50 representation."
"Our real challenge is to get a woman up there," Kuster added, pointing to a plaque of Dartmouth graduates who serve in national government in the back of the 1930 Room in the Rockefeller Center.
She explained that, just as unity among women at Dartmouth was advantageous, the camaraderie among female lobbyists has allowed them to be an substantial force.
