The records of the Vice President for Student Life provide a unique perspective to the extracurricular life and customs of students at the University of Michigan and an insight to the development of the office of the Vice President. The records span the years 1908-2005 with the bulk of the material covering 1941-1995. The material from the early years is especially rich in documenting student life from the 1920s to the 1950s. The strongest feature of this collection is in documenting the administration's response to the needs and to the demands of student, ranging from disciplining drinkers during Prohibition, dealings with fraternities up to 1960, reacting to student protests in the 1960s to the 1988 debate over the Student Code for Non-Academic Conduct, and the 2000 protest against Michigamua. The records also contain materials related to students' health, housing, organizations, and activism. The coverage of these areas varies across administrations as office reorganizations altered the focus and functions of Student Services.
This uneven documentation reflects the fact that, over time, different offices were created to handle more narrowly-defined areas of responsibility. Areas which had originally been handled by Dean Bursley under his broad conception of control over non-academic student life came to be administered by separate offices. Frequently the records of these administrative units were not included with the Vice President for Student Life records. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of student life, as refracted through the lens of University Administration, one should also refer to the records of the Housing Office and Student-Community Relations Office, and the papers of Peter Ostafin, director of housing.
The Vice President for Student Life collection consists of correspondence, reports, memos, minutes, and financial reports generated by both the University Administration and students. These materials are arranged in chronological series by the administrative head in charge of students' extracurricular affairs. Nine series represent records of Vice Presidents of the office: Joseph A. Bursley, 1913-1950; Erich A. Walter, 1925-1959; James A. Lewis, 1908-1964; Richard L. Cutler, 1950-1969; Barbara W. Newell, 1965-1970; Robert L. Knauss, 1962-1973; Henry Johnson, 1950-1985; Mary Ann Swain and Maureen Hartford, 1990-2005; and E. Royster Harper, 2000. In addition, the collections includes a Topical Files series, 1953-1995 (records of several Vice Presidents that have been received by the Bentley in various accessions); as well as a Printed Materials series. This organizing scheme required some manipulation of the files, but it best enables the researcher to trace the changing nature of the student body concerns and the development of the office itself.
The researcher should note that the strict chronological sequencing of the series was not possible. This was due in large part to a series of office reorganizations which resulted in some files created during Bursley or Walter's tenure ending up in later series. The most significant move here resulted in Lewis' series containing a good deal of Bursley and Walter materials on fraternities and student organizations. Lewis created the fraternities subseries in 1959 and compiled the student organization subseries during a May 1963, office reorganization. The researcher should also be conscious that early series contain a variety of materials which may not reflect the full scope of Bursley, Walter, or Lewis' responsibilities. Gaps are also discernible in the later series, but these are more readily fleshed out by referring to other University collections.
The position of Vice President for Student Life traces its history back through the Vice President of Student Services, Vice President for Student Affairs, to the Director of the Office of Student Affairs, finally to the Office of the Dean of Students. Through all of these changes in the name, the office's primary responsibility has been the administration of programs related to the life of the student outside of the classroom. This encompasses a broad spectrum of programs dealing with counseling, financial aid, student housing, student activities and organizations, health and mental services, student discipline, and fraternities. The office reflects the changing interests and composition of the student body and the increasing complexity of the University's administrative organization.
Joseph A. Bursley, the first Dean of Students, took office February 1, 1921, to fulfill the Regents' mandate to act "as friend, counselor and guide to the student body and to have the general oversight of its welfare and of its general activities." Given this open-ended directive, Bursley soon found need to add an Assistant Dean and support staff to meet his mission tending to the housing, financial, social, and moral needs of students. By the time Bursley retired in 1945, the pattern of assuming increasing responsibilities with a larger staff and more complex administration was well established.
The growing administrative structure, retirement of Bursley, and the University's increasing student enrollment led to the creation of the Office of Student Affairs in September 1945. This was the first of a series of periodic efforts to define more clearly the duties of the various offices concerned with different aspects of students' lives outside the classroom. Erich A. Walter served as director of the Office of Student Affairs from 1945 until June 1954. Upon Walter's retirement, James A. Lewis was appointed vice-president for student affairs. This new title reflected the hierarchical nature of both the office and the university as a whole. Lewis stepped down in December 1964, after another reorganization of the office.
During the latter half of the 1960s and early 1970s, the University of Michigan campus was affected by student protests focused on the war in Vietnam as well as campus and national issues. Sit-ins, teach-ins, and more intemperate forms of student protest took place on campus, forcing the administration to act more responsively to student input. It has been decided to reorganize the office of Vice-President of Student Affairs once again. Richard L. Cutler served from December 1964 until the completion of the office reorganization in July 1968. Barbara W. Newell became Acting Vice President on August 1, 1968 and served until September 1970. Robert Knauss succeeded her as the Vice President of the renamed Office for Student Services and held the post until February 1972.
In April 1972, Henry Johnson became the Vice President for Student Services. Under his leadership, structural changes were introduced to address the needs of marginalized groups of students, who protested the University's lack of response to their needs. The offices of Minority Student Services and Disabled Student Services provided an official framework within which to advance student interests and needs. In January 1990, Henry Johnson was reassigned to the position of Vice President for Community Affair. Mary Ann Swain acted as interim vice president for student services from 1990 to 1992.
In 1992, Maureen Hartford began her tenure as the Vice President for Student Affairs. Hartford was previously the Vice Provost for Student Affairs at Washington State University and quickly rose to the task by focusing on issues such as the Student Code of Conduct, alcohol abuse, living/learning programs and students rights and responsibilities. In April 1999, Hartford left her position to assume the presidency of Meredith College in North Carolina. E. Royster Harper, who had served as the Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students then assumed the role of the Interim Vice President for Student Affairs.
In February 2000, the Students of Color Coalition organized a 37-day protest against Michigamua inside the Michigan Union, that attracted national attention. Michigamua was a social University of Michigan student society, established in 1902. Its members employed pseudo-Native American practices and rituals, cartoonish imagery, and degrading language. The organization's Michigan Union headquarters (occupied rent-free, in contradiction with the U-M policies), displayed offensive images as well as appropriated Native American artifacts and pseudo-Native American objects. In the wake of the protests, Harper commissioned a panel to decide on the Michigamua's Union space. Following the panel decision, Michigamua relocated its headquarters. Native American artifacts were transferred to the U-M Museum of Natural History. In 2007, Michigamua adopted a new name, The Order of Angell. The organization disbanded in 2021. Bentley Historical Library houses a collection of [Michigamua] The Order of Angell records.
In November 2000, Harper was appointed the Vice President of Student Affairs. Harper focused her efforts on the enhancement of well-being and mental health services, multicultural dining options and prevention of food insecurity, and availability of safe inclusive spaces for study and other activities on campus. During her tenure, the U-M introduced gender-inclusive bathrooms and residential spaces; opened reflection rooms and multicultural lounges; expanded living-learning, dining, and fresh-food access options; and secured the Blavin Scholars program for students growing up in foster care. Harper led two phases of Residential Life Initiatives resulting in the construction of North Quad Residential and Academic Complex and the creation of the new William Monroe Trotter Multicultural Center on Central Campus. In 2013, following Harper's proposal, the Division of Student Affairs was renamed Student Life, "which better reflects the core work, and will create a clearer and more meaningful connection to students" (Board of Regents Proceedings).
Harper retired from the U-M in 2019. Simone Himbeault Taylor served as the interim Vice President until July 1, 2020, when Martino Harmon became the Vice President for Student Life.
