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• 1 media/image93.jpg 2021-08-26T11:50:15-07:00 1946 - Katherine Kennedy Carmichael (1912-1982) Becomes Dean of Women 3 Katherine Kennedy Carmichael received a Ph.D. in British literature from Vanderbilt University in 1941 and held a post-doctoral research fellowship at Yale. In 1946 she accepted a non-academic appointment as Dean of Women, then served as Associate Dean of Students until her retirement in 1977. While Dean, she customarily taught one introductory literature course for the English Department. plain 2021-09-02T07:39:12-07:00 01/01/1946 Katherine Kennedy Carmichael received a Ph.D. in British Literature from Vanderbilt University in 1941 and held a post-doctoral research fellowship at Yale. Faculty positions for women scholars were scarce in the 1930s and 1940s, and after a string of temporary teaching positions, in 1946 she accepted a non-academic appointment as Dean of Women at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. While Dean, she customarily taught one introductory literature course for the English Department. During this period admission criteria were different for women than men, as were standards of conduct on campus, including a separate honor court, dress code, curfew, and other rules that applied only to women students until the passage of Title IX in 1972 made them illegal. However, Carmichael believed in higher education and professional careers for women and used her office to help women develop as independent thinkers and leaders ready to take on challenges commensurate with their education. After the position of Dean of Women was abolished in 1972, Carmichael served as Associate Dean of Students for Supportive Services until her retirement in 1977. 
   
  Although many have characterized Carmichael primarily as the enforcer of rules of ladylike behavior, she was a woman of intellect, wit, and generosity and a strong advocate for women. Professor Margaret O’Connor (1944- ) recalls that in the early 1970s before women’s studies was accorded a place in the curriculum, she and Carmichael co-founded a newsletter for women about courses, activities, and other opportunities. From her cramped basement office as Associate Dean of Students, Carmichael produced, duplicated, and distributed this newsletter to women on campus. Carmichael Residence Hall, built in 1986, is named for her. 
  
  
  
  
  SOURCES
  
  “Carmichael Residence Hall.” Names in Brick and Stone: Histories from UNC’s Built Landscape. History/American Studies 671: Introduction to Public History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2017, https://unchistory.web.unc.edu/building-narratives/carmichael-residence-hall/#_ftn3.
  
  Eble, Connie. Message to the editor. May 11, 2021. Email.
  
  Graham, Nicholas, and Cecelia Moore. “Women’s Rules.” UNC A to Z: What Every Tar Heel Needs to Know about the First State University. Chapel Hill, N.C.: U of North Carolina P, 2020. 234-235.