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The Dartmouth
March 28, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Streep honored by DFS at Spaulding ceremony

Two-time Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, this year's Dartmouth Film Award honoree, likened her experience as one of a handful of females at a Dartmouth with several thousand males in 1970 to being "a canary in a mine."

Streep, who received her Dartmouth Film Society award on Saturday night as part of the 25th anniversary of coeducation weekend, not surprisingly said that attending the College two years before the dawn of coeducation was not easy.

An exchange student from Vassar for one term, Streep said she remembers feeling "unhappy and lonely" while at Dartmouth and recalled "taking long walks across the quad and weeping."

But there was no isolation on Saturday night.

When the 10-time Oscar nominee appeared on Spaulding Auditorium's stage Saturday to accept the Dartmouth Film Award, she was greeted by a standing ovation.

Streep gestured for the audience to sit down, but the ovation continued for over a minute.

She said that, before arriving at the auditorium, she wondered what would happen "if they gave a tribute and nobody came."

"Thank you so much for coming," she told the capacity crowd. "I'm overwhelmed."

Streep accepted her DFS award and then shared her thoughts on her experience at Dartmouth, women in Hollywood and her family life during on-stage interview with New Hampshire Public Radio's Laura Knoy.

While Streep's most tangible memory of Dartmouth may be the loneliness -- she notes there were "60 of us and there were 6,000 men" -- she added there was more to her term at the College than just isolation.

She said she particularly enjoyed one class she attended on the history of costume.

Streep called the class "amazing" and said she spent her time "looking at history through what people wore."

As far as gender roles in society, Streep said she does not think the types of roles available to women are restricted, but noted that most actresses are still paid less than their male counterparts -- "unless you strip."

And just to clear up any misunderstandings, she added, "Streep does not strip."

Streep said that it can be hard to find scripts that appeal to her, a task made more difficult by the age of the characters she wants to play.

"I like to pour myself in. I have to look hard for things that are good or that I like," she said.

Streep said another challenge of her work is balancing trips to shooting locations with caring for her four children, ages, 17, 14, 11 and six.

The actress said she had planned to bring her family to Ireland during the filming of her most recent project, "Dancing at Lughnasa," but, when the filming was delayed until September, she had to leave them behind.

"I want [my children] to get their C averages going," she said.

Despite her own success, Streep said she will not advise her children to sacrifice their educations for fame and fortune.

"There's nothing in the world like a liberal arts education," she said. "They can do whatever they want after college."

Streep concluded the interview with an anecdote about her time at the College.

"I remember when I came here I thought 'Oh God, it's going to be so weird to see all these men,'" she said.

But Streep said when she walked into Thayer Dining Hall, she saw a group of male hippies with long hair.

"It looked like Vassar," she said.

Before walking off stage, Streep asked her parents to "stand up and take a bow."

"My dad paid tuition when it was $1,500," she told the crowd. "What a bargain."

Streep received a best supporting actress nomination in just her second feature film, "The Deer Hunter" (1978). She went on to win the best supporting actress Oscar in 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer," and won a best actress nod for her starring role in 1982's "Sophie's Choice."