Mizzou first accepted women in 1868, but they were only able to attend classes in the "Normal Department."  This would later become the College of Education.  Basically the women were allowed to take classes to become teachers.  A total of 22 women entered the Normal Department in September of 1868 when classes started.  In June 1870, Mary Louise Gillette, pictured to the right, was the first woman to graduate Mizzou.  Gillette Hall was named in her honor in September 1967.  One year after Gillette's graduation, 1871, women were accepted into all the academic programs offered at Mizzou.  

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While women were allowed to go to to classes with the men, they were not treated as equals.  Women couldn’t walk with men on campus.  While walking to class the women had to walk together in groups and sit together off to the side, separated from the men.  They were not even allowed to go to church with them for the first few years.  Women were allowed to go out with men for lectures, sermons, or concerts.  If a man wished to go out with a woman, he had to do it a special way: “The young man’s request for a date was written as was the acceptance or refusal.” 

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Even in 1929 there were expectations set for the young women on campus.  Women were given a pamphlet called "Around the Columns."  It outlines how they were meant to behave and the enrichment opportunities on campus  “May neither fashion nor folly ever tempt you to vicious social customs and unseemly conduct.”  It was expected for them to join an organization or sorority that would benefit both them and the University.  

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