… so it might be ironic that I went from Commie High to Michigan State University. But MSU was big enough to accommodate all of my weirdness, and all my varied interests. Having attended an open campus school where I regularly spoke with my teachers and engaged in respectful debate, I was very well prepared for college.
I adored my time at MSU. I was active in a wide variety of student groups including Women’s Council and Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU – student government). I helped to plan and carry out marches and fund-raising for various events and causes. It was great training for project management.
At first I lived and worked in the dorms known as West Circle, a charming set of 19th century buildings with graceful architecture. Later I moved into student co-ops and helped to found the Audre Lorde House Cooperative. Finally, I lived in my own apartment. I worked 2-3 jobs throughout my college career including cafeteria work, house cleaning, and as a research aid to a sociologist.
In my Freshman year I started out in Honor’s English where, as luck would have it, I was the only female student in my section. It was a Good Ole Boys networking experience where the male TA, while admitting that the other students were perfectly dreadful to me, wasn’t willing to do a lot about it.
Faced with blatant prejudice in the academic realm, I sought an academic solution and signed up for an Intro to Women’s Studies class. That class bloomed into a series of classes and when I graduated I was one course shy of a double major in English and Women’s Studies. Instead I walked away with the equivalent of a minor.
My Women’s Studies classes changed my life. The women I met, and the professors, particularly a radically feminist lesbian separatist philosopher named Marilyn Frye, gave me the intellectual tools to manage my personhood.
MSU taught me how to read Chaucer and Donne and many others, which comes in handy at book club, and they taught me how to navigate, interpret and define my place in this world as a woman. They gave me a construct through which to understand my interpersonal relationships, my role in my family, and my place in my country. It’s a gift beyond price and while it took me 20 years to pay off my student loans, I consider it money well spent.
I chose my path in college carefully. The statistics on campus rape were terrifying to me and I figured that by not drinking in the company of men I would save myself a whole passel of heartache.
At the same time I had very rich and rewarding relationships with female friends. I had fun and excitement to spare and never felt that I missed out on anything despite the dearth of male companionship. In fact, I felt very fortunate to build community with wicked, smart, boisterous women that I was proud to associate with. I was folded into a group of people who thought about things carefully and taught me to do the same.
One of the most exciting times in my four years at MSU was the summer between Junior and Senior year that I spent studying Welsh poet Katherine Phillips in London. She became famous for writing about female friendship. The trip was partially funded by a scholarship and to this day I contribute each year to that fund to assist others in studying abroad where…
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