The good ole dayz at GA Tech

[hoosier]

The new GA Tech alumni mag has a long story about the days when Tech first admitted women (1952), with the pressure to change the state law banning women from Tech led by Tech prez Van Lee and his wife Ella - an Alpha Xi Delta alum.

In 1954, when Tech had five women, Ella Van Leer started a chapter of AZD, and all five women pledged. AZD made an exception, and chartered this five-member group, which was surely helped by having all of their meeting and socials at the Tech presidents mansion.

In 1955, Van Leer loaned the girls her new Chevy (and paid for the gas), for the chapter to attend an AZD convention in Mass.

Incidently, one of these early Techsters said her freshman class load included "calculus, chem, physics, and welding".

The second GLO arrived in 1970, and Tech now has 10 sororities.

Today, Tech is 29 percent female, and 42 percent of the President's Scholars are women.

Interesting stuff. I wonder if this is known in the AZD history archives?

[SoProud2BeAnAlphaXi]

What a great story, Hoosier! I didn't know it personally, but am pleased to hear it and know our sisters paved the way for all the truly outstanding women that hail from Georgia Tech, Alpha Xi Delta and otherwise!!!

[FuzzieAlum]

Here's some more info, from the official AXD page:

9/18/2002 - Sisters Are Part of Georgia Tech Anniversary
When Diane Michel and Elizabeth Herndon strode onto the Georgia Tech campus in straight skirts and high heel pumps, they forever changed
the makeup of the Institute in the fall of 1952. Shirley Clements Mewborn, one of the first two women to graduate from Tech in 1956, shares her
experience of being one of the first six female students among 5,000 male students in the story White and Gold Anniversary.
http://gtalumni.org/StayInformed/tec.../article1.html

Diane, Elizabeth, Shirley were charter members of Gamma Eta Chapter at Georgia Tech. Ella Van Leer, wife of Tech’s president and member of
Omicron Chapter, helped establish the chapter in 1954.

[AlphaXiGirl]

From an email I received today:

"It is with great sadness that I write of the passing last night of Shirley Mewborn. For those of you that were unaware, Shirley had been battling cancer for the past couple of years, but had been as active and involved as possible during the past several months.

A memorial service in celebration of Shirley's life will be held on Tuesday, July 15th at Holy Innocence Episcopal Church, 805 Mt. Vernon Highway, Atlanta, at 11:00 AM. The family will receive guests at a reception at the church immediately following the service. The church is located inside the perimeter between Riverside Drive and Northside Drive. An obituary with more details should appear in tomorrow's Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For any Alpha Xi's that wish to attend, please try to arrive a little early. We are hoping to have a section where we can all sit together.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Georgia Tech
Foundation in Shirley's name for scholarship purposes.

She was a special, one of a kind lady that touched everyone she knew and will truly be missed."

I posted this message here so that everyone could read the post above and see what an amazing woman Shirley was.