Van Doren among five original faculty

This year’s Women’s History Month theme is “Women: Builders of Communities and Dreams.”

In the spirit of honoring women’s achievements in society, it seems fitting to look at the life of a woman who influenced the early history of WSU, when the school — then called Washington Agricultural College — was just a one-story brick building on a lonely Palouse hill.

Nancy Van Doren was one of five original WAC faculty members — and the first woman — when the college opened its doors in 1892. George Lilley, the first president of WAC, recruited Van Doren and two other staff members to the Palouse from South Dakota Agricultural College. Due to the limited number of staff members at the time, Van Doren played many roles. She was the college librarian, an English professor and preceptress of WSU’s first dormitory, Ferry Hall, and later of Stevens Hall.

Van Doren’s influence in the early WSU community was rewarded in 1908, when Van Doren Hall was named after her. The state Legislature of 1907 appropriated $25,000 to build the hall, but it was completed a year later for a mere $15,000. The hall was the first college building west of Chicago to be devoted entirely to home economics, then called “domestic economy,” and also became the first building on campus to be named after a woman.

Hi-tech then and now
At the time, the domestic economy department used new technologies and was forward thinking. Today, Van Doren Hall is no longer a house for home economics, but a place where new technologies are still utilized daily. The Center for Distance and Professional Education, formerly Extended University Services, provides learning solutions that allow distant students to obtain undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificates at a distance through online courses and programs. CDPE also offers a wide range of professional development programs, workshops, conferences and online certificate programs customized to meet the learning needs of corporations, nonprofits and government agencies.

While looking to the future in terms of new technologies, the center has not forgotten its past. In the spring and summer of 2005, renovations began on the hall to update the look without straying from its historical roots. Energy-efficient windows were fitted while still preserving the arches of the windows of old.

In the next few years, approaching Van Doren Hall’s 100th birthday in 2008, more steps will be taken to brighten up the building, said Mike Long, assistant to the dean of CDPE.

“Nancy was an innovator,” Long said. “She really pushed for home economics, and we are still innovating, giving students and workplace professionals what they need now. In doing so, we are keeping the spirit of Nancy alive.”

Gracious yet forceful
Enoch Albert Bryan, president of the college from 1893 to 1915, also kept the spirit of Van Doren alive in his book, “Historical Sketch of the State College of Washington: 1890-1925.”

“Of Mrs. Van Doren, sweet, intelligent, conscientious lady, whose life was a benediction to all the young women with whom she came in contact, I have already told you…” Bryan wrote. “She was…refined in appearance and of gracious and gentle demeanor. She was not a great scholar, but she was a useful teacher and an inspiration to the young women.”

Despite being gentle, Van Doren was strict when it came to her role as preceptress. Her preceptress position was at the center of a battle between faculty, who believed students’ lives should be regulated by staff members, and students, who wanted independence while attending school.

According to an account by a woman who lived in Stevens Hall in 1902, noted in William L. Stimson’s book “Going to Washington State: A Century of Student Life,” Van Doren enforced strict laws and 10 p.m. curfews for the women living in the dormitory.

Van Doren continued to influence the beginnings of the WSU community until 1905, when she resigned. At that time, she accepted an honorary master of arts degree. Her work at the college began the process of women having a voice in the development of what WSU is today.

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