How Does Mabel Lee's Impact On The University

Since the University of Nebraska-Lincoln resides within the borders of the conservative state of Nebraska, many people assume the campus and the students’ opinions are conservative in nature. In reality, the University has a history of progress that few people, including current students, recognized. During the 1920s, the Physical Education Department appointed an outsider named Mabel Lee, the first in several years for the University, who drastically impacted the department and the University as a whole. Mabel Lee’s impact on the University is still physically seen on campus by the dedication of the Mabel Lee building in the 1970’s to the woman who made these monumental changes. Due to her passion for enhancing physical education for women,

In the early nineteenth century, Victorian assumptions about women and their abilities were still alive and raging within the mainstream American society. One Victorian assumption would be through emotions, or a woman’s manner of expression, which was more apparent than a man’s own show of emotion. These minor differences on “manner of expression” between the two genders allowed even more damaging assumptions and stereotypes to flourish and stay relevant within the society. For many citizens, there was a question if females could gain characteristics such as loyalty, cooperation, and emotional control when playing sports. Women’s sports were just beginning in many universities and colleges, however, the female teams could only compete against other female teams from the same college or join an intramural team. Even if a woman was good enough to play sports like a man, the female athlete “was the exception and not the rule” as track and field athlete Sophie Elliot-Lynn stated in 1925. Nationally, women’s athletics were not held in high regard by many Americans, thus making Mabel Lee’s decisions seem radical during her time with the physical education department at the

For many years, none of the faculty paid attention or cared about the education of the female students in the department. With no supervision from faculty, female students could take a junior and senior level course without having to take the prerequisite. So, female students in their last year of college took freshman or sophomore level courses. In addition to this neglect, female intramural sports did not have a huge presence on the campus. In 1924, only approximately three percent of women on campus participated in intramural sports. These oversights by the Department further showed the neglect and corruption within the Physical Education Department, especially towards