Femininity Invades Echelons at M.I.T.

"This is the year of the woman at M.I.T.," M.I.T. junior Barbara Padgett said yesterday. Miss Padgett is the first coed to be concert manager of the M.I.T. Concert Band and one of four "firsts" in a wave of feminine leadership that is sweeping M.I.T.

According to Karen Wattel, the first female managing editor of The Tech, "The old stereotype for M.I.T. coeds (5 by 5 and the fastest slide rule north of the Charles) is definitely changing."

The biggest coup, however, is attributed to Maria L. Kivisild '69, the first woman elected Undergraduate Association President (UAP) and the first to sit as an officer on M.I.T.'s governing body, the Executive Council.

Miss Kivisild, whose election was described by The Tech as an "upset," campaigned on a platform demanding the ouster of the "closed group of the chosen few" who had formerly dominated student government. She said she objected to a government "designed to give those with a political bent practice for their future career."

She also criticized past governments for a preoccupation with organization and structure. "The super-competent administrator and all his trappings have had their day. It is time for the students to have theirs," she said.

Femininity was not the only handicap overcome by Miss Kivisild. She is the first foreign student (born in Canada) and the first Architectural student elected to the post. She sees her election as a "protest vote", and attributed it to the fact that "no one could connect me with anything political."

Her election brought to seven the number of coeds presently heading an M.I.T. activity. Miss Kivisild attributed the increase, three over last year, to the increased number of coeds (200 out of 3700) that now attend M.I.T. Until 1964 when the quota was raised to 50, there were less than 30 admitted per class. Next year approximately 100 women will be admitted to the freshman class.

All M.I.T.'s leading fems seemed to agree that their femininity was a great help in getting "semi-important" positions just because of the difference but when it came to the top positions, they argued, their sex began to work against them.

Miss Kivisild felt that the larger number resulted in girls with more varied interests. "You no longer need to be a super-scientist," she said.