Alumni speak on insulation and risk: Former student body VP and editor-in-chief share experiences

As part of a Documentary Research and Oral History cluster course, professors Kathryn Ranieri and Susan Clemens worked to bring various alumni to class sections to discuss the historical events that they were a part of on campus. On Oct. 31, Martha Knouss and Donna Van Fleet, both of the Class of 1968, returned to Muhlenberg to discuss civil rights, now-arbitrary school rules and the ever present Muhlenberg bubble.

The women opened up the conversation by talking about how remarkably the same Muhlenberg is, but Van Fleet noted that there was not as much diversity as she would have liked—or expected. The rules and regulations have changed, but the half of campus with academic row still looks the same. The two reminisced about fraternity parties, comradery in curfews, and Thursday dress up dinner. Van Fleet laughed about the old newspaper office, a smoke-filled room with three typewriters, positioned where the bookstore is now located. Knouss took initiative in organizing a speaker series as an alternative to the required chapel.

Both women were not only extremely active on campus during their time here, but also pushed the boundaries of what women could and couldn’t do on campus. Knouss served as vice president of the student body. Van Fleet was the editor-in-chief of The Muhlenberg Weekly. While neither was the first woman in her respective position, the two friends used their titles to make an impact. It was one speaker that Knouss brought to campus, and Van Fleet covered in the paper, that the class honed in on.

Knouss had organized LeRoi Jones, an African American poet and activist, to be the opening speaker in the series. The possibility of bringing Jones and a different point of view to Muhlenberg caused upheaval around campus. Needless to say, 1,800 people piled into Memorial Hall to hear him speak. Such an impassioned speaker, those in attendance were stunned by Jones’ speech. Knouss argued that people weren’t upset or shocked by the content of his talk, but rather his overwhelming rage in such a “polite community.” Van Fleet turned one of his exclamations—a curse-word- laced insult seemingly aimed at the majority-white audience—into a front-page headline. It was not long after the newspaper was published that Van Fleet was called to the President’s office, where he suggested that she shouldn’t send the paper out to alumni because there would be consequences for the college. She decided against sending them out, instead going to a friend’s house and burning all the mailers.

Even with the introduction of such a passionate speaker, both women agreed that Muhlenberg was pretty well insulated and comfortable, and most certainly not engaged. That is until one of their professors was fired. It was then, the women said, the students began find their voices. They held student-led movements, and banners in support of the teacher and against her firing were hung out of windows. Protest marches featured men dressed in the clothes they would wear to dress up dinner. The professor’s termination was not overturned, but Knouss and Van Fleet clearly appreciated experiencing that one brief moment when they and their classmates got impassioned and took risks.

While Knouss and Van Fleet are only two installments in a series of alumni appearances this semester, the students didn’t take lightly the fact that they were speaking to a former student body vice president and editor-in-chief. To them, Muhlenberg may not have changed much. But there is some beauty in learning from the people that were part of shaping it to be what it is today.