Picture it: SMU in the 1980s. White, male students dressed in their “Southern Money University” sweatshirts go to class to get the kind of education that would lead them straight into the family business. White female students dressed in the latest conservative fashions go to class to get the kind of education that would lead them straight into a marriage contract.
SMU 2005: The majority of SMU students are on some form of financial aid. The student body shows more diversity with every passing year. Programs on campus thrive on bringing a wide variety of events to campus. Men and women have more post-graduation options. In honor of a progressive female professor who helped shape this new face of SMU, the women’s studies program announces the Betty Maynard Award, a $3,500 prize for a women’s studies minor.
Betty Maynard, Ph.D., had a passion for enlightening the SMU community. She taught in SMU’s former urban studies program and in sociology. As assistant professor, she became chair of the sociology department. Her passions also led her to help found the Japan exchange program and helped establish the Women’s Studies program. As associate dean of Dedman College, she became one of the first women at SMU to hold a high position in the administration. She also became President of Faculty Senate during the 1985 – 1986 academic year.
According to sociology professor Richard Hawkins, through these administrative roles, Maynard raised university women’s consciousness and furthered the women’s agenda. “She had a legacy of having a solid notion of fairness in dealing with both men and women,” Hawkins said. Maynard became an in-house activist, helping to lay the foundation for the kind of diversity students see on campus today.
“The best memories I have of [Maynard] are seeing her as a staunch activist for the idea of gender and human equality,” history professor Rick Halperin said about Maynard. She brought speakers to campus that exposed students to ideas different from the traditional white, male speakers that frequented the campus. For the first time in SMU history, people spoke openly about radical ideology: equality between genders.
“[Maynard] was especially sensitized to peace, gender and social justice issues all linked to civil and human rights,” Halperin said. “She had a global, human vision of dignity.” During her free time, Maynard traveled around the world learning and teaching about the plight of women. After a trip to Japan, she fell in love with Japanese culture. She began teaching women’s issues to Japanese students in lecture classes with 500 people, mostly men. Though many students came to hear her advanced English skills, they also wanted to learn more about her opinions and ideology.
“She was a globalist,” University Chaplin Will Finnin said. “She was tireless in her efforts of having students understand complex, political culture, and tensions around the world. She taught students that there was always a larger, cultural horizon.”
“The theme through out her life and work was to look at the role of women in society,” Hawkins said. In the classroom, Maynard stressed to faculty members the importance of incorporating women, equal rights, and human dignity. “She was on the cutting edge of developing these courses on changing sex roles,” Hawkins said. These same themes still reside in interdisciplinary Women’s Studies courses.
As a student advisor, “[Maynard] was the voice for young women searching for and making their way,” Finnin said. Maynard frequently inspired women to attend graduate or law school. She encouraged female students to define themselves as individuals, as something other than the wife of a man, another radical idea on SMU campus. Through her many roles at the university, Maynard became a mentor and role model to many female students.
