Women's Safety History (On-Campus)

The first occurance of women coming together on campus for the welfare of women specifically was dated back to 1889 when all women of the faculty and student body met for the first time as a Woman’s Department. in 1897, Trustees designate the Office of the Dean of Women Department which was responsible for the general oversight of women students. Such department was the first of its kind in the United states. It was from this time until about 1970 when the Office of Women’s Resources and Services was established. In this time there were no advancements in women's safety other than communicational forms. In 1974, the Women's wheels program was started as the first program geared towards women's safety. This program offered rides for women at night, and would late be renamed to NiteRides and again to what we know today as SafeRides. From '72 on, there were small movements for women's safety such as formations of women clubs, organized sexual assault awareness events, and some other progressive movements for safety.