Marking a trail: A history of the Texas Woman's University

When a student at TWU, I had a chance to read this book. I came away impressed with the Human Rights movement on campus in the late 1960's and 1970's. These students brought about several appreciable changes in university policy and core curriculum which I and my classmates benefited from (no more curfew, liberalized dressing, acess to contraceptive information and resources, and the addition of women's and multicultural studies). It is to the credit of the studentsin that era that my generation--and others--is treated with respect. The book does have problems as it moved into the 1980's though. The University did not do all it could to continue attracting out of state students and traditional students--who are more likely to pay the most money and use the most campus resources. Content to rest on it's past laurels as THE place for a woman to obtain an education, the school did not know how to market itself competitively against now-open programs at formerly all-male and/or previously limited institutions. Consequently, the campus life and activites are rather sparse in this time period, and the book's tone also suffers because of it. Enrollment has finally climbed again, but the school lacks a mass communications program to doccument current events as they are happening. But we need to preserve the past so people know why this place IS worth attending. While I realize that the original author Joyce Thompson died, I would think it would raise TWU's image if the book were being updated. This new update should reflect the university centential celebration, movement into the digital age, and reorganizing and restructuring. Perhaps taking this book on recruitment tours will help keep the university enrollment up after a period of decline. It is the closest thing we have to a yearbook.