In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the admittance of women to all programs at Saint Anselm College, a new collaborative mural was created to hang in the Student Center. Up until 1974, Anselmian women were unable to access the same education opportunities and facilities offered to men. It is unfortunate that some students may take for granted this incredible milestone, as before 1974, women were not even permitted to live on campus.
To celebrate the inclusion and involvement of women on campus, the College invited alumna artist Jyl Dittbenner ’97 to work alongside students in creating a mural commemorating the women who have had an impact on the Saint Anselm campus. Dittbenner and the mural committee considered how the current student body should feel a connection to this piece of art. One committee member, Fr. Benet C. Philips, stated, “I’m hoping that it’s a community project. The artist, Jyl Dittbenner, who is our artistic Director, she’s a pretty renowned muralist in this area, so she is the creative vision behind it. But I think inviting community participation allowed for ownership and for other people to get involved and to celebrate, and hopefully make this our own, you know part of our own celebration. So it’s a community building and a community-focused initiative that allows us to get together to celebrate this wonderful milestone.”
The mural paints the scene of a graduating class of women, each graduation cap painted by a current St. A’s student. When prompted on her emotional response to the event, one student painter stated, “I really thought it was cool painting the mural because it’s going to be hung up for a while. It’s really cool that I’m going to be able to say, ‘Hey I painted that– that graduation cap was me.’ It was a nice little memory. I feel like it might be something that people take for granted, like what we’re celebrating, but I feel like allowing students to get involved makes people more excited about it and kind of realize the importance because … this is kinda cool!”
Fr. Benet elaborated further on the concept of the mural. He stated, “Each graduation cap is going to be like a feature of a woman, maybe in class, or nursing, or athletics, or just hanging out. Those caps are […] representative. We didn’t want to focus on any one particular person; we wanted more of an overall concept. Within the caps, there’s going to be more detail and when you look back from it, you’re going to be able to see women actually wearing the caps… I think it’s nice to bring some life and color to the student center.”
It is difficult to imagine a time when women were prohibited from being fully involved on campus– what would the College be like without the amazing women who are teachers, staff, peers, and other dear members of our community? This mural will stand to honor the women, past and present, who have contributed to the wonderful environment on campus.
