MELVENE DRAHEIM HARDEE: MUSIC MAKER AND DREAMER OF DREAMS

Sally Evelyn Click

A Dissertation

Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

May 2009

Committee:

Michael D. Coomes, Advisor

Michael J. Zickar Graduate Faculty Representative

Maureen E. Wilson

Dafina L. Stewart

© 2009

Sally Click

All Rights Reserved i

ABSTRACT

Michael D. Coomes, Advisor

Dr. Melvene Draheim Hardee, a higher education administrator, scholar, and leader

spent her weekends tending to a 900‐acre Georgia pine tree farm. Born in Clarion, Iowa in

1913, she earned degrees at Iowa State Teachers College, Teachers College Columbia

University, and the University of Chicago. The majority of her professional career played out at Florida State University where she first served as coordinator of counseling and later joined Dr. Hugh Stickler and Dr. Raymond Schultz as one of the original faculty members of the FSU higher education graduate preparation program. Between 1958 and 1989, she advised 120 doctoral students to the successful completion of their degrees and she advised and mentored many more master’s degree students. Hardee assumed leadership positions in several higher education professional organizations. This study sought to determine her contributions to the student affairs profession’s philosophical and practical development especially in light of her time in history, a time when women were underrepresented in leadership roles.

Archival evidence was gleaned from two collections, the Melvene Draheim Hardee

Papers housed in the National Student Affairs Archives located at Bowling Green State

University in Ohio, and The Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher

Education Collection housed by Florida State University Libraries. This information was analyzed along with data derived from interviews with 16 former students and professional colleagues and one family member. The resulting chapters include an overview of Dr. Hardee’s life, an analysis of her writings for publication, speeches, and ii

presentations, and a compendium of recollections from people who knew her from a

variety of perspectives.

Hardee contributed to the early development of faculty advising constructs, the

development of an association for Southern student personnel professionals, and the Joint

Statement on Student Rights and Freedoms. During her presidential term, she introduced the commission system to the American College Personnel Association. Her legacy at FSU

includes the establishment of the Center for the Studies on Women in Educational

Management Systems that was later named in her honor.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This dissertation came about because of the support and sacrifice of others. It is important that I name them so that their contributions are recognized.

Happily situated in La Grande, Oregon, this student affairs practitioner, daughter, sister, spouse, and mother of two was somehow able to convince those I loved the most that Bowling Green, Ohio would be a great place to relocate. My husband, Art Furman, was willing to invest in my dream of earning a doctorate and he committed fully to this adventure. This meant his interests acquiesced to our needs and he became responsible for the daily functioning of our family. One of our biggest challenges was to cleave our children,

Kelsey and Davis, from all that they knew, especially when they were at the doorway of their teenage years. They were presented a life challenge and both of them have handled it admirably. It has been difficult for me to sacrifice time with them as they are engaging, bright, and fun.

In 2005, I entered the community of scholars in the Higher Education and Student

Affairs program at Bowling Green State University. Among those who welcomed me to this program was Dr. Michael Dannells, my initial advisor, and now my friend and colleague. (In a strange twist, he has since moved to La Grande, Oregon and was unable to participate in the final phase of my program.) Members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Maureen

Wilson, Dr. Dafina Stewart, and Dr. Michael Zickar were incredibly flexible and accommodating as I sought to meet deadlines. There was a lot to read and digest in a short period. I appreciated their feedback for it made this process and product much better. My adviser, Dr. Michael Coomes, agreed to share this journey with me (which was only fair because he got me started on this historical research path). Our profession is indebted to

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him and to those who steadfastly remind us that the lessons of our history inform our

present day thinking and practice. Somewhere along this path, I became a believer too. It

has been a pleasure and a privilege to be under his tutelage.

My experience in the BGSU doctoral program was phenomenal for so many reasons.

It was actually fun to return to the classroom after a 22‐year hiatus. I have appreciated the

opportunity to catch up on pertinent literature, but most of all, I was reminded about how much I like to write. I have often sent telepathic thoughts of gratitude to Dr. Harry

Stuurmans, my high school English teacher, who really taught me the fundamentals of

academic writing. This time around, it was much easier producing papers using a laptop

computer, this in lieu of a typewriter and a supply of correction fluid. I entered the program

in a cohort and spent many hours working through coursework and other challenges with

Brady, Casey, Gina, and Nicole. These four, and other doctoral students in the program,

were incredibly gracious to include me in their lives. I had a good twenty years on each of

them but I always felt part of the group. Additionally, the student affairs staff at BGSU, led

by Dr. Ed Whipple, stimulated other learning. The professional staff was accessible to us

and thereby enhanced our doctoral program experiences.

After three and a half years and another recent interstate move, I am unbelievably

grateful to be done with this academic journey. Dr. Levester Johnson and the staff at Butler

University have been especially accommodating in the final months of this dissertation’s

construction. It is not easy to learn all that comes with a new position, let alone learning

while one is charging toward the finish line on a dissertation. LJ, Dr. Irene Stevens, and my

new colleagues have been incredibly patient and supportive.

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During the course of data collection, I met some very special people. Simply stated,

Ann Bowers, the archivist at the National Student Affairs Archives, is a treasure among

treasures. From day one, she has been exceptionally helpful and enthusiastic. Burt Altman

in the Special Collections Department assisted me with the Hardee Center Collection at FSU.

My hosts for my weeklong stay in Tallahassee included Dr. Jon Dalton and Aurelio Valente who made sure I got oriented to my environment and that I had everything I needed.

The fun part of the dissertation process was conducting interviews with Hardee’s students and colleagues. Out of all of my requests for participation, no one person declined an invitation to participate. Every student spoke with passion about his or her FSU experience and every person spoke with great respect for Dr. Hardee. Participants were reflective, candid, and at times, emotional. I appreciated the laughter (there was plenty) and the heartfelt gratitude they expressed for her. It was a privilege for me to hear their stories. Among the study’s participants, I want to give a special thank you to my former vice president for student affairs, Dr. Harris Shelton. Through captivating stories, he introduced me to Melvene Hardee long before I knew that I had a dissertation in me. Additionally, I want to acknowledge the wonderful cooperation and interest I received from Judge Newt

Draheim, Melvene’s surviving sibling. She came alive to me through my conversations with him. I am appreciative of his investment in this project and the trust he placed in me.

Of the many people who have provided inspiration for this endeavor, I am truly grateful for the love and support of my mother, Peggy Keller Click Taylor who has been tenacious in her fight against ovarian cancer so that she could witness my accomplishment.

Its successful completion is not a signal for her to be any less tenacious. Instead, it is a

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testament to the investment she made in her four children. I was able to complete this because of qualities and values she instilled in me.

When Jim Rhatigan learned that Melvene Hardee would be my topic he told me that

I might be one of the only people that truly enjoyed writing a dissertation. I cannot say if this is the case, only that he was right ‐ I did enjoy this journey.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

CHAPTER II. METHODOLOGY ...... 10

CHAPTER III. THE LIFE OF MELVENE DRAHEIM HARDEE: AN OVERVIEW ...... 21

Settling in Iowa ...... 21

“Breaking Home Ties” ...... 27

Florida State University ...... 38

Professional Service ...... 79

Hardee’s Definition of Scholarship ...... 108

Home Life ...... 115

High Noon Farms ...... 122

Lives of Purpose ...... 129

The Final Chapter ...... 136

CHAPTER IV. AN ANALYSIS OF MELVENE HARDEE’S WRITING ...... 147

Writing for Publication ...... 147

Writing for Presentations ...... 154

Of This, She Wrote and Spoke ...... 168

Summary ...... 180 viii

CHAPTER V. RECOLLECTIONS AND RENDERINGS OF DR. HARDEE ...... 182

Personal Presence and Style ...... 182

Her Time as a Woman in History ...... 225

Guiding Principles ...... 234

Hardee’s Contribution to the Profession ...... 243

Remembering Hardee ...... 248

Impressions ...... 252

Photographs ...... 255

CHAPTER VI. HARDEE’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO STUDENT AFFAIRS ...... 258

A Review ...... 258

Philosophical Themes ...... 260

Her Contributions ...... 273

Major Influences ...... 275

Fundamental Statements ...... 276

Domesticity v. Professionalism ...... 278

Conflicting Interpretations and Contradictions ...... 280

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ...... 284

Implications ...... 287

Dramatic Measure ...... 288

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REFERENCES ...... 289

APPENDIX A. AUTHORIAL INTENT ...... 315

APPENDIX B. PRESENTATIONS BY MELVENE HARDEE ...... 318

APPENDIX C. PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED WRITING ...... 326

APPENDIX D. MEDIA INVOLVING MELVENE HARDEE ...... 333

APPENDIX E. QUESTIONS FOR FORMER STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES ...... 335

APPENDIX F. QUESTIONS FOR CLARION FRIENDS ...... 336

APPENDIX G. INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES ...... 338

APPENDIX I. HARDEE DISSERTATION ADVISEES BY YEAR OF COMPLETION ...... 352

APPENDIX J. HARDEE AS DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBER ...... 355

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CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION

We are the music‐makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea‐breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;

World‐losers and world‐forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world for ever, it seems.

‐ ‐ Arthur O'Shaughnessy (1874)

Many scholars have considered how the collegiate student affairs profession began, grew, and developed. One perspective has been to examine the profession’s development from a macro view. What was happening in America and, specifically, in higher education to influence the development of the field? A second perspective has been to inspect the lives of individuals who were involved with its creation, a micro view, as people’s values, beliefs, interests, and actions shape institutions. According to Hill (1993), “Institutionalized patterns are inextricably rooted in the everyday biographies of individual participants in social activities. As institutions are fundamental to understanding an individual life, the study of individual biographies opens institutional patterns for scrutiny – and change” (p.

4). Through biographies, the written works that account for a person’s life, and through oral histories, and similar historical research products, we can examine the lives of student affairs pioneers and trailblazers to decipher how the profession came to be. 2

In one such effort to capture the perspectives and experiences of significant

contributors, the moderator of the American College Personnel Association’s Generativity

Project video, Dennis Roberts (1989), introduced Esther Lloyd‐Jones as a “touchstone” of the student affairs profession. Touchstones are hard black rocks used to test the purity of gold or silver. Precious metals are struck against the rock and the color streak that remains is evaluated to determine the quality of the substance. Roberts used this metaphor to intimate that Lloyd‐Jones was a student affairs professional we should use as a standard upon which to measure our own professional accomplishments and performance. He posited that Lloyd‐Jones was someone we might aspire to be like. In this same project

Robert H. Shaffer, former Dean of Students at Indiana University, and C. Gilbert Wrenn, former counseling psychology faculty and member of the American Council on Education

committee that produced the 1937 Student Personnel Point of View (SPPV), are also

suggested as standard‐bearers for our profession. Efforts such as the Generativity Project

introduce or remind us of those who have come before us and the challenges they

encountered. If we identify touchstones and study their lives, their career paths, and their

values and beliefs, we may discover clues about how to conduct our own lives, both

professional and personal.

When seeking touchstones, it is natural for us to consider a profession’s leaders.

Clearly, senior student affairs officers occupy in‐the‐know positions, direct the energies of

organizations and institutions, and make decisions that affect such entities. Since women

have been historically underrepresented in high‐level student affairs administrative and

faculty positions (Jones & Komives, 2001), it can be argued that their stories and

contributions have been eclipsed in the telling of the profession’s early years. Jones and

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Komives asserted, however, “that women have consistently contributed to the

development of the student affairs profession and continue to provide leadership in both theory generation and practice” (p. 231). In the 1970s and 1980s, there was significant scholarly interest in examining the role of the pioneering women who served as early campus administrators and faculty (Anderson, 1989; Antler, 1987, 1992; Bretschneider,

1998; Fley, 1978, 1979, 1980; Fley & Jaramillo, 1980; Gilroy, 1987; Gerda, 2004; Herdlein,

2004; Kramer, 1996; Nidiffer, 1994; Smith, 1976; Solomon, 1980; Tuttle, 1996). As a result of this work, popular stereotypes of early deans of women were deflated; richer understandings emerged of the complexity and challenges that faced these early women administrators and their contributions were assessed in a new light. Nidiffer and Bashaw

(2001) made the case that it is important to “value their contributions and recognize that their accomplishments were, and are, many and varied” (p. 2).

This documentation of women’s contributions to the profession has trailed off since the late 1990s yet there are those who make the case that it is as important as ever. Nidiffer and Bashaw (2001) suggested that women presently working in the field, “do not operate in a historical vacuum. Historical precedent, both consciously and unconsciously, informs their professional environment and their professional decisions” (p. 4). Jones and Komives

(2001) insisted that, “Contemporary issues of women as senior student affairs officers emerge out of a rich, albeit underreported, history and a tradition of leadership” (p. 232).

They went on to suggest, “Contemporary issues of women as senior student affairs officers cannot be fully understood without revisiting the historical roots of the profession” (p.

232). Gerda’s (2004) study of the early conferences of deans of women asserted that

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women’s stories “can provide inspiration and illumination for those who continue the work

with students in higher education” (p. iv).

Much of the focus of recent research and writing has highlighted women who served

the profession in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Studies that consider women’s

contributions in the second half of the 20th century are sparse with the exception of

writings about Kate Hevner Mueller, dean of women at Indiana University (IU) from 1937‐

1945 (Coomes, Whitt, & Kuh, 1987), and Elizabeth Greenleaf who held various administrative roles at IU from 1952‐1978 (Hunter & Kuh, 1989). Thus, a gap of knowledge exists not only about this period of women’s influence on the student affairs profession but also about preparation program faculty in general. To aid in the understanding of the development of the student affairs profession and the contributions of women in various roles, this dissertation addressed this knowledge gap by adding one more story to the collection. This historical study investigated the distinct contributions of another student affairs touchstone, Melvene Draheim Hardee, a disciple of Lloyd‐Jones and a contemporary of Hevner Mueller and Greenleaf.

The life of Melvene Draheim Hardee began in Clarion, Iowa in 1913. Upon the completion of her bachelor’s degree at Iowa State Teachers College, she earned advanced degrees at two preeminent institutions, Teachers College at Columbia University and

University of Chicago. At Teacher College, she studied speech education and was exposed to faculty who were developing the first student personnel program. (“Student personnel” and “student affairs” are synonymous terms with the former preceding the latter in historical reference.) Her doctoral work in higher education was completed at the

University of Chicago in 1948. Dr. Hardee joined Florida State University (FSU) that same

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year as the first coordinator of university counseling and advisement. Ten years later, she was one of the three founders of FSU’s Department of Higher Education. In subsequent years, she advised 120 doctoral candidates and an equal number of master’s students. In addition to her teaching and advising, Dr. Hardee was a prolific writer, speaker, and leader in several professional organizations. She served as the president of the American College

Personnel Association (ACPA) from 1962‐1963, and was a co‐founder of the Southern

College Personnel Association (SCPA), which is now named the Southern Association of

College Student Affairs (SACSA). Dr. Hardee’s FSU career spanned almost forty years; she retired from full‐time teaching in 1985, taught courses on a limited basis until 1989, and died in December of 1994.

Dr. Hardee’s legacy continues today at FSU where in 1977 the Department of

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies established The Hardee Center for Women in

Higher Education; it is currently known as the Hardee Center for Leadership and Ethics in

Higher Education. This center serves as a communication hub for current and former FSU higher education students. Additionally, two student affairs professional organizations honor Dr. Hardee’s legacy through the conferral of annual awards: The National

Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Dissertation of the Year Award and SACSA’s Melvene Draheim Hardee Award (SACSA, n.d.). The purpose of the Melvene D.

Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award is to encourage high quality research relevant to the field of college student services administration and the general field of student affairs, and to recognize outstanding dissertation research conducted by doctoral degree recipients presently in or intending to enter the student affairs profession (NASPA, 2007).

SACSA’s award recognizes unique contributions to student personnel work by a member

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of the Association (SACSA, n.d.). In 1988, Hardee received the Robert H. Schaffer Award from NASPA for her personal inspiration to graduate students, service on doctoral committees, and distinguished record of scholarly achievement. It is clear that at the conclusion of her professional career colleagues held Dr. Hardee in high esteem.

Hardee’s place in higher education and student affairs history, coupled with her professional longevity, provide a rich backdrop for her career. Her years as an undergraduate overlapped with the Great Depression. She became acquainted with the

Teachers College faculty who developed and taught in the nation’s first student affairs preparation program. She was affiliated with the program two years after the women’s only program had opened to men. As a college administrator, she experienced the dramatic campus changes that were instigated by a sharp influx of military personnel returning from combat after World War II. This demand for higher education in Florida caused her new place of employment, Florida State College for Women, to admit men in

1948. In this era, older new students joined other students on campus. Later in 1971, a constitutional amendment was ratified that changed the age of majority and provided 18‐ year olds with the right to vote. This change contributed to a change in academic institutions’ relationship with students from in loco parentis, the notion that the institution acted in lieu of a controlling parent, to more of a contractual relationship. Another influx of students on campus followed the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of

Education that effectively began the desegregation of public schools. As the heterogeneity of college students increased, tensions mounted on college campuses. Evidence suggests that Dr. Hardee, the teacher, made a conscious effort to dissect the issues enmeshed in the campus unrest of the 1960s and 1970s.

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Over her years of professional preparation and work, Dr. Hardee witnessed the

maturation of the student affairs profession. In Pieces of Eight (Appleton, Briggs, &

Rhatigan, 1978), Rhatigan wrote that student affairs “developed from the campus up, not

from theory down” (p. 14). In general, he suggested the roots of the field could be traced

back to the late 19th century with lone deans of men and women who were appointed to

vague positions generally aimed at assisting students to achieve their utmost potential in

the academic setting. The early deans crafted their roles guided by their instincts. In the

early 20th century psychological concepts from industry, and later applied by the U.S. Army during World War I, were adapted to the academic setting. Walter Dill Scott, a psychologist

by training, sought to develop a personnel program when he assumed the presidency of

Northwestern in 1911 (Northwestern University Archives, n.d.). Student personnel

workers used structured assessment tools to create a systematic approach to guide

individual students’ vocational choices. In time, deans and personnel workers who shared

like duties and concerns came together in an attempt to understand better the ambiguity

and overlap of their campus roles. In 1937 selected practitioners met to establish a

professional treatise that stated, among other things, that all university personnel should

work to foster the development of the whole person to his or her full potential and

secondly that the educational environment should facilitate the desire in all students to

work to better society. The emergence of a document in 1937 entitled, The Student

Personnel Point of View provided a framework for the profession’s development.

Hardee served the student affairs profession at a time that Nuss (1996) referred to

as the modern expansion period that began in 1945 and continued into the 1990s. Over Dr.

Hardee’s lifetime, student affairs practitioners moved from being generalists to highly‐

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specialized service personnel informed by the nascent social science fields of psychology,

sociology, and anthropology. The inception of the concepts of student development,

student’s rights and freedoms, campus ecology, and professional standards, among other

things, were introduced during her years of service.

Additionally, Dr. Hardee served at a time when few women held professional

positions. Nidiffer and Bashaw (2001) noted that higher education institutions were in

transition from 1930 through the 1960s, “as the image of the domesticity prevailed in the

popular mind, belying the undercurrent of feminist activity, especially by women working

in higher education” (p.5). Meyerowitz (1994) suggested that historians have portrayed

women of the 1950s as “a lost generation” (p. 3) and virtually ignored the complexity of

the times and the notable social change that did occur. Further research on the lives of

women in this time period can help to reframe this narrow domestic portrayal of their

lives. In an interesting twist, Hardee’s career played out at a campus that was making a

transition from a single‐sex liberal arts college, Florida State College for Women, to a co‐

educational research institution that is now Florida State University. This institutional transformation was a direct result of returning World War II veterans flooding campuses

to take advantage of GI Bill benefits. Hardee’s arrival at Florida State University coincided

with its first year of existence and literally, a rush of testosterone.

Basic biographical sketches are available for Dr. Hardee but an in‐depth study of

her writing, speeches, publications, and professional contributions has not been pursued.

There is no previous study on record of Hardee although evidence suggests another

dissertation was started but discontinued by a Florida State University doctoral student in

1999. Hardee’s advisees have made their way into higher education careers; the first

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graduates in the early 1960s would have approached retirement in the early 1990s. The

researcher sought to capture recollections and memories before they are no longer available to perpetuate her memory and analyze her contributions.

Just as practitioners and scholars have had an interest in the early years of the student affairs profession, those who follow will likely have an interest in the profession’s subsequent years. Dr. Hardee’s years of service between the late 1940s through the 1980s represent a time of significant change in professional understandings and practice.

Through the investigation of archival resources and retrospective interviews with mentees and colleagues, the researcher sought to provide a rich understanding of the contributions of another student affairs touchstone.

The following question is examined in this dissertation:

How did Melvene Draheim Hardee’s work as a teacher, scholar, and leader in the

student personnel field help to shape and develop the philosophy and practices of

student personnel work?

Ancillary questions include:

1. What student affairs ideas and concepts influenced Dr. Hardee’s professional

practice?

2. What philosophies and strategies did she employ in her work and what ideas did

she promote to those she mentored and to her professional colleagues?

3. As a professional woman, how did Hardee negotiate the two seemingly

oppositional stances of domesticity and professionalism?

These questions were intentionally broad as the process of discovery influenced the emerging design of the study.

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CHAPTER II. METHODOLOGY

“Research requires living in a clutter… Making order out of the paper chase.”

M. D. Hardee (Louisville, 1987, p. 3)

McDowell (2002) defined historical research as “a systematic inquiry into the past and an attempt to separate true from fictionalized accounts of historical events, based upon the examination of a wide range of relevant source material” (p. 5). The aim of this inquiry, he continued, “is to help the reader understand the significance of past events and not merely regard these events as an unconnected series of facts” (p 10). Upon identifying a problem or topic to study and collecting relevant sources of evidence, Gall, Gall, and Borg

(2003) delineated the importance of evaluating sources for authenticity and validity, synthesizing and analyzing the data using an interpretive framework, and then presenting one’s finding in a logical and clear account. Evidence is analyzed for common themes and agreement as well as for inconsistencies. Interpretation and conclusions of historical research are usually presented in chronological or thematic form.

Historical researchers rely on such artifacts as documents, numerical records, photographs, audio/visual recordings, oral histories, and relics to piece together an interpretation of what occurred in the past. Research questions guide the inquiry but the quantity, quality, and availability of primary sources dictate what can be known. Primary sources are generated by people who were a participant or actually witnessed an event; they are preferable over secondary sources. Secondary sources are descriptions of past events that may have been obtained from a witness but the description was written by another person who was not present (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003). Secondary accounts attach a

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layer of subjectivity to the interpretation of an event and therefore can be less accurate and less reliable. In this particular biographical study, primary sources were abundant and it was more of a challenge to synthesize all that was available and to scrutinize what was pertinent in relation to the focus of the inquiry. Dr. Hardee was a prolific writer in all aspects of her professional and personal activities, she accumulated and organized resources for later use, and she had the foresight to entrust her collected works to others for later consideration.

Over the course of 1993, Dr. Hardee corresponded with Ann Bowers, archivist at the

National Student Affairs Archives (NSAA) housed at Bowling Green State University in

Bowling Green, Ohio. Initially she sought a place for journals, books, and other materials she had used in her teaching career but the letter exchange transformed into a discussion of the development of a collection of her personal papers. In the fall of 1993, the collection was established and over several months, Dr. Hardee forwarded materials for inclusion in the collection. The collection measures four linear feet and dates from 1931 to 1994. It consists of correspondence, publications, unpublished writing, subject and research files written or compiled by Dr. Hardee, news articles about her and honors she received, photographs, and recordings. This collection was readily available to the researcher.

Another rich archival collection exists at Florida State University in Tallahassee where the Florida State University Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher

Education Collection resides. The Hardee Center staff donated this collection in May of

2004. It contains over 11 linear feet of material including organizational materials for the

Hardee Center and records for the Institute of Higher Education. Additionally, the collection contains Dr. Hardee’s professional files that include course materials, historical information

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about the growth of the Hardee Center since its 1977 founding, letters, photographs, recordings, and writings. The researcher made a visit to Florida State University in October

2007 to examine this collection.

Relevant archival materials were available from the University of Northern Iowa

(where Dr. Hardee earned her bachelors degree), the Iowa State Historical Museum

(located in Des Moines), Teachers College at Columbia University (where she earned her master of arts), the University of Chicago (where she completed her doctorate), and

Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri (where Dr. Hardee worked prior to Florida State).

Visits to these facilities did not occur but limited correspondence between the researcher and local contacts did occur. Some documents were available online or through request services. Additionally, through her extensive professional involvement in ACPA, NASPA, and SACSA, and to some degree the National Association for Women in Education (NAWE) and its earlier forms, Hardee was represented in these archival collections; all but SACSA’s historical documents are located in the NSAA. It was expected that an examination of the abundant primary and secondary sources of her available written works, corresponence written by others, accounts of her life both written and oral, and descriptions of her professional activities would provide ample data to address the research questions.

One aspect of archival research should be acknowledged at this juncture. Hill (1993) described a broad archival sedimentation process that occurs when a person’s life ends and those who remain decide what to do with their personal effects. The owner of the materials applies one layer of subjectivity when she decides what to retain along the course of her lifetime. Family and friends may cull or embellish her effects given their assessments of what is important. When an archivist finally receives documents a third layer of

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subjectivity is applied as the archivist decides not only what to keep but how to organize the collection. Boxes found in the archives are the final products of this sedimentation process. All three of these layers are shaped by the question, “What is worth keeping?”

When the researcher enters the picture she asks an entirely different question of the available information, “What is worth knowing?” As previously discussed, Dr. Hardee was an active participant in the construction of her NSAA collection at Bowling Green State

University. She has had a strong hand in what remains for our consideration. This study will utilize what she has left us to answer the question, “What is worth knowing about her professional contributions?”

The researcher examined archival documents and sources with an eye toward two aspects of reliabilty and credibility: external criticism and internal criticism. According to

Fraenkel and Wallen (2004) external criticism involves the genuineness of the piece. This disovery process involves asking a series of questions: Can the author be known? Why, when, where, and under what conditions was the piece written? Do different versions of it exist? After genuineness is determined internal critcism is applied to examine the statements contained in the document. This involves screening the source for accuracy, questioning whether it is feasible that the events being described occurred in such fashion, and determining whether the author was competent to comment. Rael (2004) suggested a text is reliable when there is a “pattern of verifiable truth‐telling” (p. 18). He would consider the tone of the article in determining whether the creator had a vested interest in the outcome or an agenda to advance.

Rael (2004) refered to the ability to convey “truth” free of underlying values, cultural presuppositions, and biases as objectivity. Historians have long wrestled with the

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idea of historical objectivity. While earlier attempts of historical scholarship sought to

convey events and people in a neutral and unbiased manner, current thinking suggests that

this detachment is not possible. Iggers (1997) acknowledged the influence of a paradigm

shift, “Postmodernism has contributed to reorientation of historical thought” (p. 150).

Appleby, Hunt, and Jacob (1994) admitted that the subjectivity of the author can no longer

be ignored, “Scholars must construct standards of objectivity that recognize at the outset

that all histories start with the curiosity of a particular individual and take shape under the

guidance of her or his personal and cultural attributes” (p. 254). This position is reinforced

by Long (1999) who revealed the multiple layers of subjectivities between subject,

narrator, reader, and text when telling women’s life stories. “Different narrators and

different readers can create different subjects from the same life” (p. 4). Similarly, Denzin

(1989) wrote, “Stories then, like the lives they tell about, are always open‐ended,

inconclusive, and ambiguous, subject to multiple interpretations” (p. 81).

The process of collecting and organizing historical facts is only part of the historical

research process. McDowell (2002) said the essence of this process is the historian

investigating “the interrelationship between factual evidence and the interpretation of this

evidence” (p. 4). Gall, Gall, and Borg (2003) maintained that historical researchers are

indeed interpreters and inherent in this role is an ethical concern for being forthright with

one’s implicit or explicit agenda. Values, beliefs, and interests act as filters that cause us to

attend to certain bits of data and to ignore others. One’s interpretive framework will skew one’s perspective. Goodchild and Huk (1990) implored historical reseachers to clarify and reveal their authorial intent so that one’s point of view is transparent to the reader. An overview of this researcher’s background and intent can be found in Appendix A.

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A particular concern for historical researchers is the avoidance of presentism which is the unconscious ascription of present‐day values to people who lived at another time.

Wineburg (2001) suggested that presentism “is our psychological condition at rest, a way of thinking that requires little effort and comes quite naturally” (p. 19). Historical thinking requires a disciplined approach in order to avoid making conclusions that are biased by current cultural mores and beliefs. Tholfsen (1977) reminded us of the importance of context, “Every age is different and needs to be understood in its own terms “(p. 248). If we do not appreciate the circumstances and the environment in which historical events occurred, we can make erroneous conclusions. Similarly, researchers are cautioned to avoid historical hindsight which is the expectation that people living in other times could have known how events would eventually unfold. Wineburg (2001) summarized these subjectivity cautions by reminding us that, “The goal of historical understanding should be to ‘see through the eyes’ of the people who were there” (p. 11).

Among the wide range of archival materials located, a heavy emphasis of this research involved the published and unpublished writings of Dr. Hardee. These artifacts are further delineated as presentations she prepared and delivered and writings she published or intended for publication. Of the 59 presentations identified, 44 were available for reading or listening. A total of 57 writings were identified with 29 available to read.

Unavailable items were published in journals that the researcher could not locate. A compendium of her presentations and publications can be found in Appendices B and C. A list of available media can be found in Appendix D. Accessible pieces in all three categories were reviewed and summarized for main points and a thesis was derived. Further, the style

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of writing or presentation was examined, and references and citations have been noted and compared. Chapter Four contains a description and analysis of these artifacts.

In addition to the review of archival documents and publications, this research

utilized semi‐structured, and recorded in‐depth interviews, also known as oral histories

(Yow, 1994), with sixteen people who knew Melvene Hardee either as a friend, teacher,

mentor, or as a professional colleague. Her only surviving sibling, retired judge, Newt

Draheim, was also interviewed bringing the total number of interviews to seventeen.

Ritchie (1995) defined an oral history as a collection of “spoken memories and personal

commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews” (p.1). Patton (1990)

suggested that interviewing helps us to discover things we cannot directly observe. In this

research endeavor, recorded in‐depth interviews contributed data and at the same time, it

assisted in verifying or refuting the information gained through the archival data collection

process. A variety of people representing different periods and different roles were sought

and secured. The limitations of time and finances affected with whom and how interviews

took place. About half of the interviews were conducted face‐to‐face and lasted between

one and two hours. The remainder were conducted for a similar length of time over the

phone. Students and colleagues of Dr. Hardee were asked a standard set of open‐ended

questions to elicit recollections of their interactions with her. A separate set of open‐ended

questions was asked of those providing background about her early years. Both sets of

questions are included in Appendices E and F.

Fetterman (1989) described people who are well informed about a topic as “key

actors.” Key actors for this study included readily identifiable former students and

colleagues of Dr. Hardee. Initial names emerged during a review of archival documents.

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Additionally many of these people were mentioned when the researcher inquired about people who knew Dr. Hardee well. Once early participants were identified, the researcher employed snowball sampling that relied on the referrals from the initial participants to generate additional participants. Additionally, a partial list of Dr. Hardee’s doctoral advisees was available in the archives and this provided a comprehensive starting point. As previously stated, a breadth of representation of roles and relationships was sought from the pool of possible participants. Dr. Hardee advised over 240 masters and doctoral students, and she taught many others. Former students were the most readily available for participation in the study. Once redundancy was apparent from these contributors then only those who could inform other aspects of Dr. Hardee’s professional contributions were sought. Participants’ gender and race were also a consideration as Dr. Hardee served

Florida State University during a historical period that was marked by tension and unrest involving issues of equality and fairness. Interview participants included seven who still reside in the Tallahassee area:

ƒ Robert “Bob” Dawson, former doctoral student, retired development officer, FSU;

ƒ Barbara Mann, former doctoral student and teaching colleague, emeritus professor

higher education, FSU;

ƒ Rita Moser, former doctoral student, current director of university housing, FSU;

ƒ Sherrill W. Ragans, former colleague and friend, retired associate vice president for

student affairs, FSU;

ƒ Nancy Turner, former doctoral student, retired director of the FSU student union;

ƒ John Opper, former doctoral student, current executive director, Florida Distance

Learning Consortium;

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ƒ Mark Zeigler, former master’s student, instructor, FSU.

Additional participating key actors living in other locations included:

ƒ Newt Draheim, Clarion, IA – brother, retired federal judge;

ƒ Ralph Johnson, Columbia, MD ‐ former master’s student, associate dean of students,

Johns Hopkins University;

ƒ David Leslie, Williamsburg, VA ‐ former FSU department chair and colleague, retired

Chancellor Professor, School of Education, College of William and Mary;

ƒ David Meabon, Toledo, OH ‐ former doctoral advisee, associate professor of

educational foundations and leadership;

ƒ Terry O’Banion, Newport, CA ‐ former doctoral advisee, president emeritus and

senior fellow, League for Innovation in the Community College;

ƒ Anne S. Pruitt‐Logan, McLean, VA – Southern College Personnel Association

colleague, professor emeritus of educational policy and leadership at The Ohio State

University, former fellow American Council of Education and the Council of

Graduate Schools;

ƒ James Rhatigan, Wichita, KS ‐ professional colleague, retired vice president for

student affairs, Wichita State University;

ƒ Robert “Bob” Shaffer, New Smyrna Beach, FL ‐ professional colleague, retired dean

of students and professor, Indiana University;

ƒ Harris Shelton, La Grande, OR ‐ former doctoral student, retired vice president for

student affairs, University of Alaska, Fairbanks and later Eastern Oregon University;

ƒ George W. Young, Fort Lauderdale, FL ‐ former doctoral advisee, retired vice

president for student affairs, Broward Community College.

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A brief biographical sketch of each participant is located in Appendix G.

Each partcipant was given the research protocol and parameters as approved by the

Bowling Green State University Human Subjects Review Board (Appendix H). The option existed to request a “qualified participation” which meant an individual’s name would not be associated with any of the comments made during the interview but the information gathered would provide background and texture to others’ contributions. All phone and in‐ person interview participants chose full participation and quotes from their interviews are used in the body of the dissertation. In addition to the interviews, an exchange of letters occurred between the researcher and three Clarion, Iowa friends from early in Dr. Hardee’s life. All of these participants chose a qualified participation in this study.

Interviews were digitally recorded and then transcribed. Regardless of the interview method, a thematized transcript was developed and returned to each participant in an attempt to clarify participant perspectives. When all of the individual cases were returned, the researcher analyzed the collection for common themes and constructed a summary document that noted agreement and disagreement.

Only interviewing key actors’ for their perceptions and recollections of Dr. Hardee might be considered a limitation of this study. Yet the combination of interviews with an assessment of artifacts and archival materials revealed different aspects of Hardee’s life.

The research process meshed others’ voices with the subject’s voice. The ability to locate only 29 pieces of her published writings may be perceived as an additional limitation.

Despite not having the remaining articles, an examination of their titles provided clues to the nature of Hardee’s early writing. Using multiple methods of data collection, a concept known as triangulation (Patton, 1990), allowed for the cross‐referencing of data. In this

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study the combination of the archival data with the co‐constructions of key actors

increased the reliability and credibility of the inferences that were made. Interviewed

participants benefited from participation in this study as well. The opportunity to relive

experiences and revisit memories provided the participants an opportunity to create new meaning of their own life’s work and professional contributions.

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CHAPTER III. THE LIFE OF MELVENE DRAHEIM HARDEE: AN OVERVIEW

Despite spending most of her life in the South, Melvene Draheim Hardee was deeply rooted in the Midwest. It was in the highly agricultural state of Iowa where her non‐farmer grandparents settled, where her parents were born, and where she and her three siblings were nurtured and raised. Understanding the Draheim family beginnings and the chapters of Melvene’s life will introduce the reader to her proclivities, interests, and values, all of which provide a foundation for understanding her contributions to the student affairs profession.

Settling in Iowa

A six‐week ocean voyage that began in September of 1884 brought Christian

Friedrich Draheim, his second wife, Johanna Louise Buedler, and their five children to Ellis

Island in New York City. Their emigration from East Prussia concluded in Mason City, Iowa where additional children were born, including a son, Arthur. Chris eventually moved his family to nearby Clarion so that he could open a tailor shop on Main Street (Draheim,

2008).

Arthur eventually also became a tailor. He apprenticed with his father and at the age of 15, with little more than an 8th grade education, he was sent to St. Paul, Minnesota to

continue learning the trade. Upon the death of his father in February of 1907, Art returned

to Clarion and at the age of 20 assumed the family business (Draheim, 2008).

Meanwhile, Hazle Howe was born in June of 1888. She was the eldest daughter of

Herbert and Mollie Hock Howe of Eagle Grove, Iowa. Hazle’s family lineage was in part

English and German. Her paternal grandfather was born in New Hampshire. He served in

the Union Army and later settled in Iowa (Draheim, 2008). Herbert was employed as an

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engineer with the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. When Hazle was 12 years old, he died in a tragic switching accident leaving behind a wife and three daughters. Hazle, the eldest of the three, helped her mother by taking on jobs; she also assumed the job of assisting the attorne y on settling her father’s estate and railroad claim (Draheim, 2008).

Instilled with the value of an education, Mollie Howe did not let her daughters miss school days (Draheim, 2008). Hazle graduated from Eagle Grove High School in 1906 and was the first female in Wright County chosen to present the Memorial Day address

(Draheim, 2008). After high school, she went on to business school in Des Moines returning to become a legal secretary first in Eagle Grove until 1908, then in Clarion (Draheim, 2008).

Entertainment in these small, rural, Iowa towns required some effort. Girls from

Eagle Grove would make a trip by train to Clarion to attend dances held at the Opera House.

At one of the dances, Hazle Howe met Arthur Draheim, the beginning of what would become a 55‐year marriage. After they married, the couple lived close to downtown Clarion on a property with two adjacent homes; one where the Draheim family lived and the other occupied by Hazle’s mother and a sister.

When Sears, Roebuck & Co. began to offer ready‐made suits that came with two pairs of pants, the “Art Draheim’s Tailor” business declined. Over time, he expanded his business to include a relatively new concept for that period: dry cleaning. He also sold corn husking gloves, overalls, and other menswear (N. Draheim, personal communication, April

2, 2008). After her marriage, Hazle worked for the newspaper publisher of the Wright

County Monitor, volunteered for the American Red Cross, and was active in the

Congregational Church, the Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic affiliate, and other civic organizations. One of her notable talents was her “flowing, ornamental Spencerian

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handwriting” (Draheim, 2008, p. 20). It so impressed people that she was asked to adorn bibles given out at church and design award certificates; even the notes she wrote to others became keepsakes. Hazle also established a typewriter agency in the family home. She rented out typewriters for 25 cents per week (N. Draheim, personal communication, April

2, 2008). Beyond providing this service, the Draheim home tended to be, “the center of activity for this small town” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). People came by for many reasons – support, connection, advice, and encouragement.

Four children blessed the Draheim home. The first‐born, the subject of this study,

Melvene Margaret arrived on November 30, 1913. She was followed by Dorothy Dee on

May 1, 1917, Kirk Patrick on December 5, 1919, and seven years later Arthur “Newt” on

January 21, 1926.

Growing up in Clarion

Melvene and her siblings experienced an iconic small town life. She described it thusly, “If you reflect upon Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street, you will understand the first 16 years of my growing up” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview). They lived adjacent to family members and within walking distance of their father’s downtown business, the public library, the Congregational Church, and their schools (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé).

Clarion had a population of less than 2,500 residents in her growing up years. In

1910, shortly before her birth, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that Wright County, Iowa had a population of 17,951. Ten years later the county had added another 2,400 residents.

(U. S. Census Bureau, 2008). Melvene referred to the multi‐cultural nature of the town of

Clarion, highlighting her exposure to different ethnic groups while growing up. Her

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German‐speaking ancestors came from East Prussia but the town reflected characteristics of many different places of origin. She competed for high grades in school with Russian children who lived down the block; other classmates were descendents of Nordic émigrés; two Greek men owned a downtown restaurant; the police chief hailed from County Cork in

Ireland; the barber, a former slave, had fought for the Northern army during the Civil War; her father taught himself Spanish so he could speak with the Hispanics who came to work the beet fields; and her mother practiced speaking French with an elderly woman who was a World War I bride. (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview; Hardee, n.d., Encounter with

Diversity). As with many immigrant surnames “Draheim” took on a new pronunciation. In

Clarion, Draheim is pronounced ‘dray‐um.’ Melvene’s brother, Newt, suggested, “My grandfather wanted to de‐Europeanize it from the East Prussian ‘draw‐hime.’ Since

Melvene went away she pronounced it ‘dray‐hime’” (N. Draheim, personal communication,

April 2 , 2008).

Growing up in this pre‐Depression agricultural community, no one had much money. The Draheims, like their neighbors, were frugal and they learned to share what they did have. Trips to the library were common and prized. Sunday school attendance was a high priority and the Draheim children participated fully in the Congregational Church programs. Their mother, Hazle, was active in organizing and orchestrating church programs. Annual rituals like the May Day celebration brought people together in the community. In her eighth grade year, Melvene was selected as May Queen. Held in the schoolyard, this event involved children dancing around the May Pole weaving colorful streamers, the activity culminated in the crowning of the queen (Draheim, 2008; N.

Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

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The women in her life nurtured Melvene’s strong sense of self, her mother in

particular. Later in life, Melvene described her mother as, “a 19th century version of a

distinctly liberated woman…without knowing it” (Hardee, 1981, Introducing My Mother).

Hazle was a woman with ambition living in a time that valued her contributions to home,

family, and community. Talented in penmanship and willingly entrepreneurial, Hazle

operated her typewriter business for 60 years. She was an admirer of Carrie Chapman Catt,

a suffragist and abolitionist who operated out of nearby Mason City. Newt Draheim thought

Melvene was strongly influenced by her mother, “So all that ‘women’s league,’ ‘women’s lib’

business started with my mother. Melvene continued it on, either by genetics or

association, one or the other or both” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

Melvene grew up with a strong sense that she had options. “As a child, I played with typewriters as I played with dolls. The doll—the symbol for home and family, and the typewriter a symbol for women’s work outside the home, seemed not to be an irresolvable conflict” (Hardee, 1963, The Global Woman, p. 3). Melvene declared herself an early‐day rebel in high school; she refused to enroll for the required home economics course stating:

At thirteen, the economies of home presented in the garish homemaking magazines

left me cold. My interest, snobbishly, lay in the economics of language to convey

thought—contrivances in words for writing and speaking. No one could convince

me that the home economics course in high school did more than contrive a basic

menu for feeding two persons as cheaply as one ‐‐‐or transform a flour sack into an

embroidered dishtowel… At the age of thirteen, I had announced that I would never

marry. (Hardee, 1967, Role and Control, pp. 2‐3)

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Because she grew up in a home that doubled as a typewriter agency, Melvene excelled at

typing. According to her brother, typing “has a lot to do with rhythm” (N. Draheim, personal

communication, April 2, 2008). It is therefore no surprise that Melvene was also a gifted musician.

Melvene’s love of music, drama, and performance was nurtured during her upbringing. Her father had taught himself to play the trombone and participated in several local bands. She played violin and piano and was an accomplished vocalist. While in high

school, she participated in the “Neighborhood Players.” This group performed plays written

and directed by Maurice Birdsall who later developed the theatre program at Central

College in Pella, Iowa. The players performed in the garage of a local dentist who had

installed a turntable floor in his garage so that he never had to back his car out. In the

summers, this platform served as a makeshift stage for easy scene changes. People paid 10

cents to watch Melvene and her troupe perform. Additional performance training came

from Almeda Kyseth, a local woman who instructed Melvene’s Shakespearean lessons (N.

Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). “I had the best teaching in CHS [Clarion

High School] in speaking skills, simply superb. Speech coach Mrs. Almeda Kyseth…gave me

lessons… (and) key ideas I’ve held over time” (“Draheim Family Impacts Local Education,” p. 1).

Melvene excelled in school and graduated high school as salutatorian in 1931

(Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé). Her participation in the National Forensic League, an

honorary high school and debate organization, helped her to formulate her speaking and

debating skills. Her brother Newt, 12 years her junior, remembered, “She probably had the

highest IQ of all of us, but Kirk (the elder brother) was right next to her. There was always

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competition between them. They just debated all the time” (N. Draheim, personal

communication, April 2, 2008). Additionally, she was active in the Euterpean Glee Club that provided a social network; some public writing or performing may also have been involved

(Rapp, 2005).

“Breaking Home Ties”

Later in life, when Melvene Draheim Hardee gave presentations about the changing nature of college and university student populations, she often referred to Norman

Rockwell’s September 1954 Saturday Evening Post cover depicting a farm boy waiting for the bus to transport him to state college; the painting is entitled Breaking Home Ties. She noted that college students of this era often arrived on campus as the result of a community effort; the family, neighbors, and community businesses often helped to finance and support one of their own (Hardee, 1990, The Campus in Endless Re‐invention; Hardee;

1975). When it was her time to travel to college, it was because of the high value that her

family had placed on education. Money was in the bank, scholarships awarded and ready,

and there was an expectation that she would attend college despite the fact that no one in

her family had yet had exposure to a postsecondary education; she was the product of a

self‐educated family.

I speak with familiarity of these men [her father and grandfather] who never earned

a single college credit in literature or the arts, for I am of their Posterity. My

grandfather was the railroad engineer who recited Shakespeare. My father was the

tailor attuned to Caruso. And the “advance of Learning” and the “perpetuation of it

to Posterity” is the thread of early American spinning that can be traced through the

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life and times of my aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sister, nieces, and nephew—in

an ever‐lengthening lineage. (Hardee, 1974, The American Studies Symposium)

Unlike the farm boy waiting for the bus in the Rockwell painting, in 1931 her transportation to and from Iowa State Teachers College was riding adjacent her father in the family’s 1924 Model T Tudor (Hardee, 1985, Students and Their Environment;

Draheim, 2008). The breaking of her home ties proceeded slowly for Melvene. According to

Newt, “She was homesick quite a bit. My dad drove down to get her; it was about 170 miles round trip to Cedar Falls” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). The weekend sojourns continued through the fall of 1931; they curtailed when Melvene took a job on campus (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

She began her college career as a music major early in the Depression of the 1930s.

The plan was to prepare to become a teacher. “My undergraduate degree included a specialty in music education. This required three private lessons and for me that was piano, voice, and violin” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). When the local bank failed and the money that had been saved for Melvene’s music lessons evaporated, she was forced to change her academic focus. Newt recalled, “That was the first time I saw my Dad cry. He could not afford it anymore so she switched to English” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). Hardee said of her new major, “I put together English, particularly creative writing, speech, drama, together with journalism, and finally business; a double major and double minor” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). In a general sense, it is fair to say she considered herself a Humanities major (Hardee, 1970, From Here to Maturity). She managed to complete this ambitious agenda in three years graduating in

August of 1934. Given that times were hard, Melvene felt a sense of urgency to complete

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her bachelor’s degree, “I managed in 3 years by going summers and taking overloads (it was the Depression, and the need was to get finished!)" (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé, p. 1).

Her father employed his vocational skills and made many of her clothes. (Draheim, 2008).

Supplemental money came from her earnings of 25 cents an hour as a college switchboard operator (Hardee, 1987, The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View; Hardee, 1981, Wiz of

Oz; Hardee, 1969, Out of Eden). Her brother recalled, “During the Great Depression, things were tough. She worked hard and studied hard” (N. Draheim, personal communication,

April 2 , 2008).

The sure‐minded, active, high school student maintained her disposition and interests while in college. In addition to working her sophomore through senior years as a switchboard operator, the institutional archive at what is now the University of Northern

Iowa (UNI), contains news clippings and press releases that detail some of Melvene’s other commitments. She served as the vice president of the Women’s League (“Sigma Delta Tau,"

1934) and vice president of the Y.W.C.A. (“Draheim Gets Scholarship,” 1936). Records showed that she presided over the Y.W.C.A. appreciation group for a special February 1933 program entitled, “Negro Music, Poetry and Story” (“Appreciation Group,” 1933, p. 3).

Other women‐centered memberships included Kappa Phi, a club for Christian university women (“Draheim Gets Scholarship,” 1936). Melvene served as the president for Pi Phi

Omega Sorority in 1933. This group began as Pi Omega Phi, a sorority for girls affiliated with the Order of the Eastern Star. It later dropped its Masonic ties and was absorbed into

Delta Zeta, a National Panhellenic Conference group (Delta Zeta History, n.d.).

She expressed her creative talents in avenues that included the Writer’s Club, and the Irving Literary Society. In 1932, she served as the society editor for The College Eye, the

30

college’s student newspaper. Her poetry often appeared in the newspaper and the college’s literary magazine, Literat = Eye. Additionally, Melvene held the seat of first violinist in the

College Symphony Orchestra (“Draheim Gets Scholarship,” 1936). The UNI archives included a notation of her role as “Clara” in the 1933 production of The Show­Off (Melvene

Draheim to Play ‘Clara’ 1933). More informal perhaps was her involvement with vaudeville shows produced by the Tutor Ticklers.

Academically, Melvene was recognized at graduation as one of the 10 senior women having the highest scholastic ranking in the class (“Senior Women,” 1934). All and all, she left her mark in many ways upon the teachers college in Iowa. With this profile, one might think it was an all‐around splendid time. In later reflections on her undergraduate experience, she voiced her discontent with many aspects of her undergraduate experience and admitted to adversities.

A year ago I visited, on invitation, my own undergraduate college and walked on a

Sunday evening over the old, familiar places of my time. I was trying to recapture

the long, long thoughts of me … a once‐rebel. I had rebelled against residence hall

living, calling it penal servitude

‐ against rigid departmental curricula that for a Humanities major gave little or

no opportunity for grazing and ranging; only a nod to be made to the physical

sciences and social sciences

‐ against a puppet student government which gave privilege to a few and

particularly a few living in metropolitan areas

‐ against sororities, and to underscore the feeling left the pledge group, after

what I thought were some silly week‐end inanities

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‐ against rules and regulations that made the Office of Dean of Women

omnipotent and ominous.

But I graduated because some of the non‐conformist drained out of me in the

process of keeping alive during the Despondent Depression Days. (Hardee,

1971, College Students, p. 7)

Melvene Draheim would be among the student affairs professionals who attributed their interest in working in the field to an encounter with a particular person or college experience. In her case, it was the exposure to two graduates of Teachers College, Columbia

University, Sadie B. Campbell and Edith McCollum. Later she recalled her mentors’ unique exposure to the distinguished faculty of the guidance program and highlighted their

“Student Personnel Point of View learnings gained from the Big Four –Esther Lloyd‐Jones,

Ruth Strang, Sarah Sturtevant, and Harriet Hayes” (Hardee, 1970, From Here to Maturity, p.

2). Dean of Women, Campbell, “made all kinds of leadership activities available to women in our college through scholarships, through Mortar Board, through student government”

(Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). As a sophomore Melvene petitioned to take Dean

Campbell’s course entitled Student Personnel Work that was only open to upper‐class women (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). Edith McCollum’s title was Director of

Teacher College Commons. (The Commons was similar to a student union building.)

Melvene and Edith ended up being lifelong colleagues; both of them arrived at Florida

College for Women as it made the transition to Florida State University and both retired from FSU. While working the switchboard, Melvene had access to the formative writing of the nascent student personnel profession; she borrowed books from McCollum’s bookshelves and scanned them when work at the switchboard was slow (Hardee, 1970,

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Student Personnel Work). “As a NYA depression‐time student assistant at the Commons

switchboard, adjacent to the office of Miss McCollum, and a student counselor in Dean

Campbell’s program of advising, I could be none other than influenced by both of these ‘role

mentors’” (Hardee, 1969, Out of Eden, p. 9). Upon her graduation in 1934, Melvene

Draheim secured a teaching position in Vinton, Iowa where she taught grade school and

junior high English, music, and physical education (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé; Hardee,

1990, Generativity Interview). For the academic year 1935‐36, she changed locations to

Hampton, Iowa to teach high school English and drama.

New York, New York

The allure of Columbia University’s Teachers College must have been compelling.

Exposed to the program through her mentors, Campbell and McCollum, there is no evidence that Melvene considered any other option for her master’s degree. She applied for and received the Lydia Roberts Fellowship that had a cash value of $850 that covered her tuition, living expenses, and her travel costs to and from New York City (“Draheim Gets

Scholarship,” 1936). One caveat, the fellowship required her to return to Iowa to teach for another two years after completing her degree. Initially Melvene intended to enroll in the high profile student personnel program that her mentors had completed but at some point she changed to what she thought was a more pragmatic course of study. “I believed it reasonable to know more about human communication, and thereupon entered a new program in speech education which dealt with reading, writing, speaking, and listening”

(Hardee, 1970, From Here to Maturity, p. 3; Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé; Hardee, 1990,

Generativity Interview). In addition to her formal curriculum, Melvene pursued her family’s penchant for self‐education. While situated in New York she decided to construct her own

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theatre minor. This not‐for‐credit adventure involved attending as many theatre

productions as possible. She sat in the balcony in order to observe the activities on both

sides of the curtain so that she could learn all aspects of professional theatre (Hardee,

1990, Generativity Interview).

Graduate school did not go without a hitch in the more somber environment of

Columbia University. The Depression was still taking its toll on the nation and Melvene could hardly ignore her setting. The streets of New York City were filled with people who were homeless, “and it felt like things might never recover” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview). A minor mention in one document suggested that Melvene was unsure of her

direction. “I rebelled again, leaving my graduate program unattended for over a month,

unconvinced of its merit for me and what I wanted to become. [I was] persuaded by my

parents to return to my studies; I did reluctantly” (Hardee, 1971, College Students, pp. 7‐8).

Nonetheless, she completed her program and defended her master’s degree on a

memorable day, May 6, 1937. Tragically, it was the day that the Hindenburg crashed and

killed all 36 passengers. More significantly for Melvene, it was the same day the

newspapers heralded the release of a document from the American Council on Education

entitled, The Student Personnel Point of View (Hardee, 1987, The 1937 Student Personnel

Point of View). This philosophical treatise would serve as a significant guiding framework

for Melvene Draheim Hardee’s professional practice from beginning to end.

Return to College

After earning her masters degree, she returned to Hampton, Iowa in 1937 to fulfill

her teaching commitment for the Roberts Fellowship. Upon her return, she convinced the

superintendent that the girls needed a counselor and she became the first dean of women

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at the high school. To bring a serious nature to her new dean role, her brother remembered, “She purchased a pair of Oxford glasses to make herself look more dean‐like”

(N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). In 1940, Melvene moved to West

High in Waterloo for another three years of teaching English and drama. The earlier dean of women role must have resonated for her. In 1943, she left Iowa to join the faculty at

Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Melvene taught communicative arts (Hardee, 1990,

Generativity Interview) and was the director of the communications laboratory and chairman of faculty advising. Newt remembered, “The job at Stephens College became available, and it being a woman’s college and her desire to do more for women, I think that is why she went there. It was a very select school at that time” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). Records show Melvene was on leave from Stephens College from 1945 – 46 (A. Havig, personal correspondence, December 11, 2007), she returned in

1946, and moved on at the conclusion of the 1948 academic year. Her year away from

Missouri was spent in Chicago where she was engaged in doctoral coursework at the

University of Chicago.

University of Chicago

The final step in Melvene Draheim’s formal education was the University of Chicago where she initially pursued coursework in developmental reading with William S. Gray and

Helen M. Robinson (Hardee, 1970, From Here to Maturity; Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview).

Future Hardee doctoral advisees may have appreciated knowing that Dr. Hardee struggled to complete her doctoral program. She later wrote of leaving the program a first time stating, “[I was]convinced (1) that the institution was for theorists only and not for

35

those of practical turn of mind, and (2) that my thesis could never be finished for it rested tasteless on my tongue” (Hardee, 1971, College Students, p. 9). At some point, she moved to higher education in student personnel administration “meted out with strong doses of

college teaching, curriculum, evaluation, finance, administration and counseling (with Carl

Rogers)” (Hardee, 1970, From Here to Maturity, p. 3). This stutter step is also indicated in a

notation that while attending the University of Chicago she lived “in the Quadrangles on the

Midway as a graduate student and thereafter as Resident Head” (Hardee, 1969, Out of

Eden, p. 7). This may suggest she had two different living arrangements while in

attendance. She cited issues for residence hall staff in the 1940s including: open visitation,

mixed (racial) dating, women’s emancipation, and student political activism. On Sunday

nights, Melvene hosted “soirees” for the women in her residence hall where she admitted to

using new group communication methods. “I suppose we nudged into the group sensitivity

training procedures of this present age” (Hardee, 1970, From Here to Maturity, p. 3).

Acknowledgements in her dissertation included a nod to noted innovator of client‐centered

psychotherapy, Carl Rogers, who served on the faculty at the University of Chicago from

1945‐1957. Naming Rogers she wrote, “The writer is grateful for specific suggestions

concerning the use of non‐directive methods for counseling in occupational guidance”

(Draheim, 1948, A Method of Evaluation, p. 3).

Draheim’s bent for the practical application of research is expressed in her own

dissertation, the focus of which was the evaluation of the Stephens College Department of

Occupational Guidance. The product was completed in August of 1948, two years after her

yearlong leave, and was entitled, “A Method of Evaluation for Programs of Occupational

Guidance.” Advisors for her dissertation were renowned curriculum evaluation scholars

36

Ralph W. Tyler, W. W. Charters, and John Bergstresser. Her primary concern was with

inadequate evaluation results using various evaluation techniques and she hoped she

could, “… produce evidence which may be used as the basis for changes in policies of the

program and for a more effective concentration of effort” (Draheim, 1948, A Method of

Evaluation, p. 5).

In retrospect many years later, Hardee commented favorably on her unique combination of higher education experiences, “I had the best of both worlds: public and private higher education, vocational and liberal studies, instrumentalist and new‐humanist philosophies” (1970, From Here to Maturity, p. 4).

Mississippi Burning (with Love)

A brief summer teaching stint at the University of Mississippi might have seemed an innocent stop on the road for Melvene Draheim. This experience, however, provided her a backdrop for later classroom discussions about early campus unrest; it introduced her to a unique southern culture to which she would slowly acclimate; living in Oxford provided her glimpses into the life and times of William Faulkner one of her favorite writers; and the

experience introduced her to the love of her life, Tom Hardee.

In the summer of 1948, Melvene was just shy of being 35 years old. It was a surprise

to family members to learn that Melvene had gotten married. Her brother recalled, “We had

two maiden aunts on my Dad’s side. It did not surprise me at all that Melvene was not

married at that point” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). The message

up until then, particularly from her mother, had been encouragement to get established in a

career before getting married, to become somebody (N. Draheim, personal communication,

April 2, 2008). “My mother, my grandmother (my mother’s mother), encouraged education,

37

education, education. I think she kept [the relationship] from our mother. If Melvene had written that she was going with a guy, I think mother would have said wait until you get into your career” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). The marriage caution message was consistent to all of the Draheim children, “They always told me to wait until you get out of college before you start thinking about getting married. They never encouraged me to go steady with any girl” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2,

2008).

My mother wanted to be a doctor to begin with. Having four kids, being tied down,

that was not her bag. I think that reflected on Melvene on her attitude when she

read homemaking books. Domestic things, she was never a great cook. (N. Draheim,

personal communication, April 2, 2008)

Newt did not sense that Melvene felt a calling to become a housewife or a mother. He was

12 years her junior and that put eldest sister, Melvene, in a caretaker role. “When I came along she was forced to take care of me. Changing diapers did not make her a happy camper. She never baby sat whereas my other sister [Dorothy] did” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

The wedding announcement published in the newspaper conveyed more information about Melvene’s husband than any other data source. Thomas Lewis Hardee was the son of Mrs. John Gordon Hardee of Valdosta, Georgia. He belonged to an upstanding

Florida family (“Announce Marriage,” 1948). His cousin had served as governor of Florida from 1921 to 1925. According to Newt Draheim, “Tom Hardee was a football athlete and a native of Valdosta, Georgia, and he was back working on his degree. They started meeting, he was a very nice looking man, athletic and all that” (N. Draheim, personal communication,

38

April 2, 2008). He had attended Georgia Military College, a junior college. He served as a

physical training instructor in the United States Army Air Corps, the predecessor to the

United States Army Air Forces (“Announce Marriage,” 1948). When Tom met Melvene, he

had just returned from World War II and resumed his education. He utilized the G.I. Bill to

complete his bachelor’s and master’s from the University of Mississippi (Hardee, 1993,

Quick Résumé). Melvene visited Oxford, Mississippi in subsequent summers as Tom

pursued graduate work (Hardee, ~1970, The Student Personnel Professional).

The wedding took place August 6, 1948 in a Baptist church in Columbus,

Mississippi (“Announce Marriage,” 1948). The announcement made no mention of family or friends present at the ceremony. The newlyweds had a few days to spend at Daytona

Beach and Jacksonville, Florida before each one needed to report to work. Tom continued his studies and coaching commitments in Mississippi while the newly married, newly doctored Melvene Draheim Hardee, was to assume a newly created position at the new

Florida State University on August 9, 1948. The plan was to meet once a month at locations halfway between their respective homes (Hardee, 1948).

Florida State University

Between her start at Florida State University in 1948 and her full retirement in

1989, Hardee noted four significant shifts that occurred at her institution. These shifts included the growth in higher education in the state, the impact of coeducation, followed by desegregation, and the emergence of research as a defining identity for Florida State

University. “In all of this I have occupied a front seat viewing the scenario of the Southland, as I call it, with its cultural, economic, educational, and political strides” (Hardee, 1990,

Generativity Interview). David Leslie, Chairman of the Department of Educational

39

Leadership at the end of Hardee’s career, observed, “Mel’s career straddled the faces of a changing institution from one that was predominantly a teaching institution to one that became a predominantly a research institution” (D. Leslie, personal communication,

February 15, 2008).

The year before she arrived in the state, there were only three institutions of higher education in existence: the University of Florida in Gainesville designated for men, Florida

State College for Women (FSCW), and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College designated for Blacks. At her retirement, there were nine state universities open to all students and a well‐developed network of community colleges located throughout the state.

The Florida State College for Women opened its doors in 1905 as Florida Female

College (Sellers, 1995). The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more commonly referred to as the GI Bill, sent veterans of WWII flooding into higher education. In 1947, to accommodate this influx, Florida legislators decreed that both White institutions would become coeducational. Femina Perfecta: The Genesis of Florida State University (Sellers,

1995) delineated the 42‐year history of FSCW to recognize the distinct culture and traditions of this female‐only institution. The established liberal arts curriculum provided a solid foundation for the new coeducational university.

According to the Record

A personnel card found in the Hardee Center Collection at Florida State University outlined Dr. Hardee’s scope of employment. (FSU Personnel Information Card, n.d.). Her start was in 1948 as “Coordinator of Guidance” with an annual salary of $6,000. In 1954, her title changed to “Professor and Head of Counceling and Guid.” (sic) to reflect the fact

40

that she had picked up some teaching duties; this is referenced without detail. In 1959

there is a typed notation “resignation from position,” and beside it in handwriting, “(but not

from F.S.U.).” Between the summers of 1959 and 1962, there are two notations for each

year. One was for her faculty appointment, “Professor, Higher Education, School of

Education,” and the other was a stipend for summer teaching. In 1963, the summer

stipends cease. (This is the summer Hardee assumed responsibility for the management of

a farm in Valdosta, Georgia and began a trend of spending summers away from

Tallahassee.) The Department of Higher Education transformed into the Department of

Educational Management Systems in 1973. Five years later another departmental name

change was evident by a new title, “Professor, Educational Leadership.” At this time,

Hardee’s annual salary was $28,285 for a nine‐month contract. At age 71, she moved to

partial retirement as noted in handwriting on April 30, 1985. She carried the title

“Professor Emeritus” into full retirement on December 20, 1989 (FSU Personnel

Information Card, n.d.). The majority of Dr. Hardee’s professional career, 41 years, was

served at Florida State University; it can be divided into two distinct parts. The first was as

coordinator of an administrative unit and the second part, as professor. Woven within the

threads of her institutional service are concentrated commitments to several education‐

related professional organizations. Each of these three aspects of her career are generally

described in this chapter but will be revisited thematically in following chapters.

Coordinator of Counseling

Administrators at Florida State University hired Dr. Melvene Draheim Hardee to assume the newly created position of Coordinator of Guidance when the institution was in the midst of a major coeducational identity shift (FSU Personnel Information Card, n.d.).

41

She credited the development of a centralized structure to coordinate all counseling and

advisement activities as the invention of American Council on Education consultant, E. G.

Williamson from the University of Minnesota (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). He

surveyed FSU’s counseling and guidance structures in the spring of 1948. After less than a

year of operation, the initial approach to these functions must have needed attention. This

unique position tapped into Hardee’s counseling background, her dissertation research, her

penchant for practical applications, and her strong personality and high level of confidence.

According to Hardee, “The idea was to operationalize coordination which is a theory of

management” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). Over the next 11 years, that is what

Dr. Hardee set out to do.

Florida State University’s complete administrative reorganization commenced the

year prior on July 1, 1947. Three designated administrative areas included business,

instructional, and student welfare. Hardee’s position was situated in the latter division. She

later commented on this designation of “student welfare.” Her disparagement was

handwritten on a copy of a 1950‐51 brochure entitled, “Whew!! Who named it so! I was not consulted, believe me! I think Dr. Culpepper’s Dean [misread] the tea leaves!” (Florida State

University, p. 1) Leading this division, a dean of student welfare was to coordinate all student services. The unit also had a dean of men, dean of women, and the directors for the student unions, vocational guidance and placement, the registrar, personnel records, and health services, a chief dietitian, and head physician (Eyman, 1947).

The Coordinator of Guidance had two primary responsibilities. Working under the purview of the Council of Deans, she was to supervise faculty counseling; today we refer to this as academic advising. There were upwards of 100 FSU faculty identified as educational

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counselors who were to implement the FSU philosophy, “to help students help themselves” in matters of understanding general education requirements, planning course schedules, exploring majors, and serving “as a faculty‐friend” (Florida State University, Counseling and

Guidance, 1950‐51, p. 18). Hardee trained faculty counselors and monitored their work with students. The second portion of her job fell under the direction of the Dean of Student

Welfare. The Coordinator was to synchronize a variety of other counseling services available to students dealing with personal‐social, vocational, and health issues. In the case where a student reported general college adjustment problems, the Coordinator might consult with other appropriate offices to establish a plan to assist the student in achieving success (Florida State University, Counseling and Guidance, 1950‐51). In today’s vernacular, this set up might be called “one‐stop shopping,” a practice of locating certain administrative functions physically together for the ease and convenience of the student customer. Dr. Hardee became a leading voice in how to approach academic advising. In the foreword of the 1953 revision of the Educational Counselors Manual, Hardee explained additional materials had been included in this version that reflected recent contributions she had made to the professional literature about the why and the how of educational advisement (Hardee, 1953, Manual for Educational Counselors, p. iii). In July of 1957, the function of vocational guidance moved under Hardee’s purview, a mandate that came from

Dean of Students, Roscoe Ogelsby; she noted the directive came without any additional staff (Hardee, 1958, A Decade of Doing). At some point, it also became her responsibility to plan and direct orientation week activities (Hardee, 1958, A Decade of Doing).

Hardee, as Coordinator, continued a practice that she probably picked up during her dissertation observation of the Stephens College vocational guidance department. Like the

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director there, she too sent a letter home to parents of each entering student to discuss the

available counseling and advising services and invite parents to share information about

their student’s interests, vocational goals, or possible challenges the student might

encounter. The letter closed with a statement recognizing a partnership with the parent, “I

hope that you will keep in contact with us regarding your son’s progress and that you feel

free to correspond with us at any time” (Hardee, 1958, A Decade of Doing, p. 24). As an

entering FSU undergraduate, Nancy Turner remembered receiving this Dr. Hardee missive,

“When I went back to my freshman scrapbook, here is a letter of greeting from Dr. Melvene

Hardee who was the counselor, or maybe it was to my parents saying we are happy that

your daughter has chosen Florida State” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25,

2007).

A 1956 evaluative report of FSU’s student personnel services written by A. J.

Brumbaugh and Myron Blee spoke well of Hardee’s functional areas, “There is evidence of excellent coordination presently exercised in the academic counseling available at Florida

State University” (A Decade of Doing, p. 29 ). The report supported the notion of moving testing and clinical functions into her area, and it recommended additional staff and additional space be allocated as well. Overall, the report seemed to endorse the successful

operations in the Office of the Coordinator of Counseling and Guidance.

Moving to the Faculty

At some point in her FSU administrative career, Hardee assumed some teaching

responsibilities although the details of when this began and what she taught are sketchy.

Barbara Mann thought this invitation to teach occurred very early in her tenure at FSU.

Hardee was recruited to teach in an emerging higher education program by Dr. Hugh

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Stickler who worked in FSU’s department of institutional research (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007, 367‐371). In July 1959, she moved from Coordinator of

Counseling to that of Professor, Department of Higher Education. She became a full‐time professor upon the invitation of Stickler and Dr. Raymond Schultz; together the three of them are recognized as the founders of the Department of Higher Education, which was situated in the College of Education (Hardee, 1984, 1984‐2008: Predictions of Higher

Education). Hardee was granted tenure in 1961 (Champion, 1967). As much as the invitation to start a program may have been attractive in its own right, there is evidence to suggest Hardee was asked to resign her position as Coordinator of Counseling by then Dean of Students, Ogelsby.

George Young was an undergraduate at Florida State when this shift occurred. In later years, Young worked with Jack Arnold, associate dean of students, Dean Ogelsby, and later with dean of men, Donald Loucks. As he was considering the higher education doctoral program, he heard about Hardee from both Arnold and Loucks.

He [Loucks] was trying to give me some of her history and he told me what a

dynamo she was. One of the two suggested she might have threatened some men

because she was pretty assertive and aggressive and some men could not handle

that. It did not seem to bother either of them but it sure bothered Ross Ogelsby. He

was the kind of guy who had to be in charge of everything. He was right out of the

old school of administration where everything was top down. (G. Young, personal

communication, March 26, 2008)

Hardee had referenced the incident to Young, “She did talk to me about it once or twice, but it was only in passing. It was like, ‘Well, you know Ross Ogelsby fired me” (G. Young,

45

personal communication, March 26, 2008). Young remembered the precursor to this administrative change was that Hardee had wanted to attend a meeting or conference,

Ogelsby preferred that she not attend, and she attended despite his objections. “As I recall, he sent her a telegram that said something to the effect, ‘Your services as director of counseling are no longer required. Please see me when you return’” (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008). Was Dr. Hardee too assertive for the Dean? Perhaps, but

Young added, “I never got it in the context that he fired her because she was a woman” (G.

Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008).

Student Personnel Administration at Florida State University

In a report about the status of student personnel training programs, Emmet (1962) wrote that Florida State University’s Department of Higher Education was “the only major

Department of Higher Education in the whole southeast” (p. 40). There were four areas of study for those interested in administration, teaching, and research in the field including,

“(1) higher education, (2) junior college education, (3) teacher education, and (4) student personnel work” (Emmet, 1962, p. 41). The faculty included Milton W. Carothers (specialist in organization of colleges and universities), Ernest W. Cason (specialist in teacher education), Maurice L. Litton (specialist in junior college education), Raymond E. Schultz

(specialist in junior college education), W. Hugh Stickler (specialist in higher education, college and university curriculum, and organization and administration of higher education), and Melvene Draheim Hardee, (specialist in student personnel work) (Emmet,

1962). In a 1964 memo, Hardee described the status of the student personnel area under her direction.

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This arrangement [student personnel area led by a full‐time professor] was

initiated in Summer of 1959. Since that time, fifty master’s students and two

doctoral have been graduated. Currently there are fourteen doctoral students and

eight at the M.A.‐M.S. level working under my supervision. (Hardee, 1964, Memo to

COSPA, p. 1)

Professor Hardee

Academic faculty members generally perform three distinct functions: research,

teaching, and service. Institutional type will often dictate the amount of time and energy

they devote to these discrete roles. Hardee may have channeled her energy first into

teaching, then service, and finally research although in her thinking, many of these

activities were entwined. When requested to delimit her “creative and scholarly

accomplishments” of the last five years she responded,

As summarizer of my life in academe, I find it difficult to differentiate between and

among “creative and scholarly accomplishments” for discretionary listing which

does not spill over into the areas of national and state service. Example: when I took

on the Director‐role of the new Institute for Studies in Higher Education, I was

performing creatively—as defined by administrative‐management guidelines—and

with intent of scholarship. In addition, I was performing a service at local, state, and

national levels, as defined by the job performance. (Hardee, 1985, Board of Regents

Review 1984‐1985, p. 1)

Initially this priority scheme was a non‐issue in the fledgling Department of Higher

Education. She brought administrative experience to her new role, she was an ardent recruiter for the program, and she had an established research trail entering into her

47

faculty role. Her values dictated a high priority on being an adult role model for students.

Teachers College graduates and later Teachers College faculty shaped her perspectives.

Leslie summed it up this way:

I think the guiding principles for Mel were her experiences at these national caliber

universities [Columbia and Chicago]. I think she looked probably to her faculty

mentors as role models. They were not the same kind of people who emerged as

faculty at research universities in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The world changed. I think

she was looking to role models socialized in the 20s and 30s and became a role

model and mentor herself in the 40s and 50s. I think she saw herself and her role in

very much the light of the faculty mentors she had experienced in Columbia and

Chicago in the 30s and 40s and those guiding principles stayed with her. (D. Leslie,

personal communication, February 15, 2008)

With a counseling background and The Student Personnel Point of View (1937) as her creed, this new professor set about promoting the development of each unique student. By all accounts, she was an exceptional teacher and an exacting Advisor. Her professional service was broad and compelling. As FSU slowly evolved from a teaching‐centered institution into one with a research focus, Hardee’s priorities and strengths eventually became a fit issue. It was in the area of research, hers, and her doctoral students, that others took exception.

Courses Taught

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Hardee taught several courses but three courses bore her unique signature: The

American College Student, The Woman Administrator, and a practicum that served as a capstone course for those in student personnel study.

The American College Student: A Developmental Study of the Contemporary College

Student and the Campus Climate.

Turner described this historical review of students as fascinating, “The student was the focus of our studies. It was important to study students to know who they are individually or as groups. We needed to understand the communities that they developed as they went through their collegiate experience” (N. Turner, personal communication,

October 25, 2007). The 1987 syllabus laid out seven desired outcomes including fostering participants’ understanding of the diverse pre‐college experiences and preparation that students brought with them. Hardee aimed to put current college students in historical context. This included a review of historical documents that had shaped how institutions viewed and responded to students. With this, she paid special attention to how the media had shaped perceptions of college students. She intended to explore how research about students had affected student life over time and examine current student life approaches.

Hardee wanted her students to be able to identify and address the needs of diverse population of students living in an increasingly complex society and to leave the course with an integrated sense of college students and their issues. Most of all, she wanted her students to be forecasters of the future; she wanted them to be prepared, to the best of their abilities, for the time when they held positions of influence (Hardee, 1987, The

American College Student Syllabus). Hardee used vivid campus events, current events

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when possible, to convey lessons. Rita Moser took this class from Hardee in the early 1980s

and remembered,

It was organized around some of the major events of the 60s and 70s including the

Orangeburg Massacre in South Carolina where a number of black students were

fatally shot. I cannot remember the specifics of how it was presented to us, but that

one really got to me. She was trying to get us to sense how emotional and violent the

time was during those protests. (R. Moser, personal communication, October 29,

2007)

Other learning opportunities came from processing a variety of campus events: James

Meredith’s enrollment at the University of Mississippi, the Ted Bundy murders at FSU’s Chi

Omega sorority house, and campus protests at Gallaudet University.

The Woman Administrator.

This course emerged from discussions that took place in 1973 with women who

held educational administration positions at FSU, FAMU, the Tallahassee Community

College, and the Capitol Center. Hardee was seeking input and ideas on how to expand

internship and mentoring opportunities for women students in the FSU higher education

graduate program. In 1974, Hardee took a professional leave to study women in

educational management systems. This included travel to Washington, D.C. to connect with

agencies “that were running full steam in affirmative action planning” (Hardee, 1976, p. 2),

and to Denver, Colorado and Claremont, California to visit established identification programs. During this leave, she developed liaisons with local, state, and federal institutional administrators. These experiences provided the backdrop for the development of the class.

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First offered as a special seminar in the fall 1976, the class was taught six times over

the next three years. In that time, 132 people took it (Hardee, 1979). A permanent course was approved with the title, The Role of the Woman Administrator; it was offered for the first time during winter term of 1980 with 45 students enrolled, eight of whom were men

(Hardee, 1980, A Report of the Center). Hardee made it clear that this course was for both men and women. She insisted that was important for everyone to understand the gender dynamics in contemporary work environments, particularly in the postsecondary education setting. Although open to and encouraged for both men and women, there was a component of self‐evaluation and an empowerment aspect for women participants. In a

1980 evaluation report, Hardee suggested that the course and subsequent internship

experiences led five women in the program to pursue dissertation topics that corresponded

with women in administrative‐management roles (Hardee, 1980, A Report of the Center).

Practicum: Capstone Course in Student Personnel.

Along with having internship and assistantship experiences, this practicum got

students off the FSU campus to other educational sites so students could understand different educational environments and issues. Hardee was preparing administrators for leadership roles in higher educational institutions. It was important for these leaders to be problem‐solvers.

The objective of this course is to extend to the student the opportunity of working

out a problem. It suggests working from a theoretical base, a conceptual frame. The

emphasis is upon theory‐applied. The result should be some shaping of the practical

man or woman in the direction of his/her profession. (Hardee, 1985, The Practicum,

p. 1)

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During this term, Hardee orchestrated three to four visits to distinctly different institutions

in the region. As a student, Harris Shelton remembered visiting FAMU, Lively Technical

Center, a vocational‐technical college, and the MacDonald Training Center, a place that

seeks to empower persons with disabilities (H. Shelton, personal communication, January

14, 2008). The field trips were accompanied with a breadth of reading, particular reading

about each institution, and comparative discussions.

Ralph Johnson’s practicum experience was atypical but nonetheless poignant; it demonstrated Hardee’s flexibility and creativity.

One of the things that Dr. Hardee used to do with all of her classes is that she would

do a practicum. Her class would go in a van and she would take them to visit several

universities within driving distance of Florida State over the course of a day or two.

The year my class came in, for whatever reason, logistically it could not be done. She

decided to invite our class out to her farm in Valdosta, Georgia. We were the only

class that she had ever done that with her. She invited many of her neighboring

farmers to come to meet us and she did a mini‐session on higher education access,

issues of higher education especially in relation to rural America. It was very

interesting. I remember it so very profoundly because that was when she really

began to show just her appreciation and depth for the average person. I mean we

always knew that she was egalitarian and she always talked about access but to just

the average farmer, many of whom were not educated, many of whom had hopes

and dreams of educating their children; she brought them all to together with these

master’s students of hers and we had good dialogue and conversation that day. That

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left an indelible impression on me. (R. Johnson, personal communication, March 21,

2008)

Other Courses.

The archival materials and interviews referred to other courses taught by Hardee.

One class with the prefix HIE 537 examined institutional organizations and governance

structures particularly in light of responses to and management of student unrest in the

late 1960s. Four diverse institutional types were compared. Hardee created and used a

monograph entitled Freedom and Campus Crusades: Governance in Camelot (1969) which

included case studies of the University of South Carolina, Revelle College (University of

California of San Diego), Tarrant County Junior College, and University of Georgia. Shelton recalled an earlier version of the course and Hardee’s utilization of the knowledge of her students,

I took a seminar where we were comparing the organization and the success of a

private eastern small college, a western public very large, well‐respected university,

a large community college in the southwest, and an institution that was just

beginning and just building its services program. This happened because Dr. Hardee

was in preparation of a monograph that ultimately became “Crusades in Camelot.”

She wanted to do comparisons. It was fascinating because that was not Dr. Hardee

lecturing, so much as it was listening to the mindset of all of the student colleagues

who were all bright cool people, and watching her manipulate; she was a marionette

director and did wonderful things. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14,

2008)

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In a year when no one was available to teach the higher education law course,

Hardee stepped up to assume responsibility. Joe Buchanan who had a law degree and a

Ph.D. accompanied her; he worked at FSU in student affairs. Harry Lamb, a law student, also co‐taught the course. As with her other courses, she brought her creative flair and her high expectations (Cade, 1999).

The year that I took the legal class, Hardee was the lead professor and Joe Buchanan

was her assistant. Hardee produced the syllabus with a cover entitled “Aladdin in

Legalland.” The cover of the syllabus [adorned with the title and hand‐drawn

sketches] made it seem juvenile. On the first day, she made us do a legal contract

with her about what we would put into the class and what we expected out of it.

During that semester, the class had generally started sloughing off but she brought

us back to reality one day. This was the only time in a class that I ever saw her mad.

We had taken lightly this whole legal study. She straightened us out in a hurry; the

second half of that class nobody got out of line. (N. Turner, personal communication,

October 25, 2007)

The higher education program celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1983. Hardee had orchestrated a gala celebration that not only looked back at the past but also predicted what the next 25 years might bring. Graduates of the program prognosticated about future trends and Hardee summarized the event and their predictions in a monograph entitled,

1984­2008: Predictions for Higher Education. Proceedings from the 25th Anniversary

Colloquium. (1984). A syllabus describing a practicum opportunity offered in 1984 utilized this event as a springboard. Students enrolled in this practicum focused on the next twenty‐five years in higher education and what that would mean for student affairs. The

54

culmination of their efforts was to be a program proposal for the 1985 annual conference of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) (Hardee, 1985,

The Practic um).

Mann commented on a special topics course of note that Hardee developed toward the end of her career.

She got very retrospective in those last five years in looking back at things. She even

developed a course, a retrospective course in student affairs, and she ended up with

about 40 students because it was the last course she was going to teach and it was a

potential study or article. A lot of the higher education students wanted to take a

course with her before they left. (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27,

2007)

The course was entitled, Student Affairs: A Profession in Focus; it was developed and taught with a current graduate student, John Opper.

She wanted to build a course around the profession and she wanted to start with

The Student Personnel Point of View as the basis for that and have students examine

where the profession came from and where it was going. It was a similar framework

to her 1987 [ACPA/NASPA] speech but we took it further. (J. Opper, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

Approaches to Teaching

In each available course syllabus, Hardee spelled out in detail what students could expect to learn, what was expected of them in terms of learning products, but also what was expected in the process of learning. Papers and projects seemed to be the products she chose for students to demonstrate their understanding of material; students had many

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opportunities to work together in groups. The American College Student syllabus (1987) included a paragraph describing this course as preparation for taking comprehensive exams. Students needed to be reading broadly, developing their philosophy, and writing at the graduate level. Handwritten sketches, arrows, and asterisks denoted with felt markers brought emphasis to deadlines, specific expectations, and instructions. At the bottom of one page was the handwritten admonishment to “Read On!” which was an encouragement to turn the page to see the calendar for the semester.

Like with most faculty members, attendance was paramount although she acknowledged that many of her working professional students might be absent from time to time. Given the media options of the day, she encouraged students to utilize the available technology.

In the event you plan to miss a 3‐hour class session (very costly!), arrange for a

classmate to tape‐record the events of the day. Note‐taking is of the century past.

Buy a couple of tapes and locate a recorder to insure the fact that you missed no

golden words in the 3 hours of our celebration” (Hardee, 1987, The American

College Student Syllabus, p. 1).

Note the tenor of what the student would be missing, not a class meeting per se, but a

“celebration.”

Hardee’s nature was interdisciplinary. Her interests were expansive and her reading habits voracious. She held high expectations that her students would follow suit.

She was a regular reader of the New York Times and all kinds of different periodicals.

She would come at ideas from all different places; different from someone who sits

back and reads the ASHE journal and the ACPA Journal and is just ensconced in that

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information. She would also be reading something like Nations Business, or the New

York Times. She would start to do what she would do in class. She would apply

something she read about an economic theory to the interpretation of something

else. She would bring a different focus in. It was very unlike my masters program at

the University of Georgia that was a counseling, developmental program. (J. Opper,

personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Hardee expected her students to read broadly but she wanted their interests to direct their

reading. Two syllabi addressed this expectation,

DO NOT be a ONE BOOK or ONE JOURNAL reader, and confining yourself ONLY to

education. Look open‐eyed to publications in business, public administration,

communications, urban planning, psychology, sociology, social work, and other.

Scour around and see/hear what other majors in this research university are

reading. (Hardee, 1985, The Practicum, p. 2)

Read USA, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, and THE

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION. (This last is permitted because it culls copy

out of the national media.) The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the

Miami Herald are permissible. What else of national/international caliber do you

read? What journals? (Hardee, 1985, The Practicum, p. 3)

What was it like to be sitting in the classroom with Dr. Hardee? This topic will be

vetted in Chapter Five, as interview participants commented liberally on this topic. Briefly,

the classroom for Hardee was a performance stage and she employed any number of

strategies to engage students in their learning.

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Her classroom was probably the closest thing to an interactive, multimedia

presentation you can imagine with no computers and no overheads. She used a lot

of flip charts, actual newspapers, pictures, slides, and audio tapes of actual people.

For example, if she were talking about the Orangeburg Massacre in South Carolina,

she would have audio tapes of people she had known. She wrote to them and asked

them to do an audio tape explaining the events leading up to that for her class and

she would play it. We had a unit on crime on campus and she had the president of

the house corporation of Chi Omega talk about the Ted Bundy killings. When you

walked into the class, there would be no lecture as such. It was all about

experiencing, talking, discussing, arguing, and learning from almost what I would

consider primary source material. (Cade, 1999)

In a 1961 presentation she gave to faculty at the Junior College of Broward County

entitled, Faculty Advisement as Creative Teaching, Hardee attributed her introduction to the

concept of creative teaching to her father. In Iowa, after enduring a long winter, her father

would announce mid‐week in the month of March that the annual Sunday outing to the

country would occur. There was quite a bit of ceremony involved in getting ready for the

trip. After a brief car ride, he led the children out to a spot beyond the White Fox stream

and challenged them to find the first crocus of spring. The Draheim children would scatter

in search of the delicate flowers.

We never were disappointed on this field trip, for the teacher knew well the

conditions of the classroom (the out‐of‐doors), the subject—the botanical lore, and

the terrain, changing and yet never‐changing, which brought the first flower of

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spring to which he could lead us. (Hardee, 1961, Faculty Advisement as Creative

Teaching, p. 3)

This spring ritual embodied, for her, the essence of creative teaching.

Creative teaching, I believe, capitalizes on (1) organization, (2) anticipation, (3)

readiness, (4) a sense of timeliness both of human emotions and seasonal change.

Creative teaching allows for (5) release of the human spirit; it (6) times [ties?] the

human entity with his world, the universe about him, placing him at a proper point

in time and space, and (7) eventuates in activity, in rewarding, meaningful results.

(Hardee, 1961, Faculty Advisement as Creative Teaching, p. 3)

Hardee was committed to this idea of creative teaching and, early in her career working with faculty advisors, she tried to inspire others to orchestrate their learning environments. “The climate of learning provided by the creative teacher should be one which is joyful and zestful in contrast to one drab, dispirited, routined, and aimless”

(Hardee, 1961, Faculty Advisement as Creative Teaching, p. 3). From all of the available evidence, it appears that she was committed to this approach in her own teaching.

Advising

Dr. Hardee is widely reported to have supervised 123 doctoral dissertations and advised an even higher number of master’s students. This number had to have come from her own tracking, as there is no official compendium available from the Department of

Educational Leadership at Florida State University. To confirm this claim, the researcher thoroughly reviewed Hardee’s available records. Several tracking documents were available including “A Professional Locator” (1983). Hardee prepared this document for the

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observance of the 25th anniversary of FSU’s higher education program (Hardee, 1983). “The

Locator” listed each of her doctoral advisees up through 1983 grouped by the general theme of their dissertations; there were 104 listed (see Table 1). Additionally, the inventory included eight student names with the titles of their approved prospectuses, the names of six pre‐prospectus doctoral students, and seven first‐year doctoral students. She regrettably noted that the record keeping for master’s students 1959‐1982 was not as keen. “The Locator” included 96 names of master’s graduates but with tentative addresses for many. Also available for comparison was an earlier version of “The Locator” entitled

“Research Studies: Doctoral Dissertations by Student Personnel and Academic

Administration Majors in Higher Education.” Prospective doctoral students were given this handout with the encouragement to contact former Hardee advisees if they shared similar research interests (C. Spring personal communication, February 11, 2008). Another helpful document was entitled, “Additional Doctoral Students—(Hardee) 1983‐1987” (1987) that included another 15 doctoral advisees plus two names and dissertation titles from the early 1980s that had been left out of “The Locator.” According to a handwritten notation on a 24‐page, typed document entitled, “Hardee Directory of Grads,” this directory was last updated in December of 1991; it contained contact information for over 225 people. This document is riddled with handwritten corrections and question marks indicating uncertainty about the addresses listed.

When all of these documents were cross‐referenced with records from the

Department of Educational Leadership at Florida State University and the ProQuest online searchable dissertation database, the researcher could locate a total number of 120 doctoral dissertations produced by Dr. Hardee’s advisees. A list of names and years of

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completion is included in Appendix I. Record keeping from Dr. Hardee and the current FSU graduate database do not allow for the identification of an exact number of master’s advisees. Since Hardee was the primary recruiter and Advisor for the master’s degree program from inception through the mid 1980s, the number of advisees may simply correlate with the number of students that participated in the master’s program during that period.

Table 1

Hardee Advisee Dissertation Topics

General Categories Through 1983 Through 1987

Administrative‐Managerial, Policies, Planning, Perceptions, Performance, and Accountability: 27 30 Campus, Governing Boards, and Legislature

Women in Higher Education Administration and Women’s Studies 15 17

Student Development: Process, Programs, and Product Evaluation 27 35

Curriculum and Special Programs: Their Development and Evaluation 9 9

Student and Faculty Rights and Freedoms 14 15

Historical and Developmental Studies of Professional Programs 12 14

Total 104 120

Note. Hardee defined these categories and assigned each dissertation to a category through 1983. (Hardee,

1983) The second column reflects the researcher’s designations for the final 16 dissertations based on the document, “Additional Doctoral Students—(Hardee) 1983‐1987” (1987).

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A discrepancy of three from the widely reported number of 123 advisees is not a large gap and it may be explained in several ways. First, it is possible that two of the people listed in the 1983 “Locator” with having approved prospectuses, Corbett and Pittman, were counted in the overall completed number when in fact they did not complete their dissertations. The remaining six approved prospectuses that were listed did become completed dissertations. Another factor could be the confusion and perhaps duplicate counting of women who started the program with one surname and ended the program with another. One example is E. Jean Walker who is referenced in one document with a dissertation related to foreign students, but it is Emma Walker Schulken who completed a

dissertation on the same topic in 1968. It is possible that this woman and others were

counted in Hardee’s tally twice. Finally, the methods of recordkeeping available to Dr.

Hardee were antiquated and relied on her attention to detail. All of her lists were hand‐

typed and probably had to be retyped each time significant additions and changes had accumulated. Toward the end of her career, she alluded to the prospect of using a computer but then admitted that her trusty typewriters worked just fine. Overall, Hardee’s attention to detail is remarkable given the fact that she tracked so many people over long periods. As can be expected there are some discrepancies in spellings and several listed completion dates are off. For example, “The Locator” (1983) listed Jack Kimball as completing his dissertation in 1962 and Robert Burns finishing in 1963. In actuality, the original documents available via ProQuest had completion dates as 1964 and 1965 respectively.

These several cases could explain the discrepancy in the numbers between what can be confirmed and what has been reported. It is also possible that three doctoral advisees escaped detection.

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Dissertation milestones.

Hardee’s dissertation advising milestones include her first advisee, Jack Kimball

(1964), who developed a proposal for a graduate program of study for foreign student

advisors. Her final advisee to defend a dissertation was Eugene Dial (1987) who conducted a longitudinal study on retention of students in Louisiana’s four‐year public institutions.

The first women advisees were Emma Jean Walker Schulken and Elizabeth Glover Shafer, both of whom completed dissertations in August of 1968. Schulken researched the history of foreign students in American higher education. Shafer explored the effectiveness of grouping students by ability in tutorial groups. Michael Miller (1981) is recognized as

Hardee’s 100th successful dissertation defender. He wrote a historical analysis of the

American student movement during the Depression. This accomplishment occurred in the midst of Johnson’s master’s program experience, “She came into the room and announced that her 100th doctoral candidate just successfully defended. I think there was a lot of

clapping and whooping in class. I remember it being very celebratory in spirit” (R. Johnson

personal communication, March 21, 2008).

The same tracking and reference checking produced 44 instances where Dr. Hardee

served as a member of a doctoral committee. (See Appendix J) This was a more difficult

search; it is likely she served on more than 44 committees. She served on at least six

committees before chairing one of her own. In 1963, Orrin Bert Powell included Hardee on

his committee; Powell had served as her assistant coordinator of counseling in the

preceding decade.

Many spoke admirably of Hardee’s aptitude as a dissertation Advisor. The overall

number whether 120 or 123 in a 24‐year period is, in itself, remarkable. Her record

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number was 15 dissertations completed over the course of the 1975 calendar year, a year

in which she also served on eight dissertation committees for other doctoral students. In

1981, 12 of her advisees completed dissertations and she participated on one committee;

11 dissertations and three committees were her numbers for 1968. In 1983, at the time of

the higher education program’s 25th Anniversary, she was noted as having successfully

advised 109 dissertations of the approximate 400 total dissertations produced since the

inception of the program. This total number of 400 was shared among the 36 faculty members identified as being associated with the higher education program in its 25 years

(Hardee, 1984, 1984‐2008: Predictions of Higher Education).

Campus skepticism.

Hardee’s impressive numbers garnered campus attention although it was not always positive, especially in the years when she hooded multiple students at a graduation ceremony. The headline of a Saturday, June 7, 1969 article in an unidentified newspaper read, “Dr. Hardee Breaks Her Record; Presents Nine Ph.D. Candidates – 16 more in ‘Wings.’”

In the text, “Dr. Melvene Hardee, FSU professor of higher education, set a campus record a year ago by presenting eight students for a Ph.D. degree, more than any professor before at one commencement. She will beat her own record tonight with nine” (¶1). The article described the former record‐setting group as all men; this group included three women.

The 1969 graduates were listed: Emma Schulken, George Kaludis, Elizabeth Shafer, Lester

Goldman, Martin McGirt, John Blackburn, Mary Green, Thomas Sheeder, and David Pierce. A former Hardee administrative colleague, Sherrill Ragans, described the faculty response to

Hardee’s Ph.D. output, “Old time faculty members were astounded that she turned out so many doctoral students. Sometimes they were somewhat critical of her. I used to laugh and

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tell them, ‘Well, if you worked as hard as she did you could too’” (S. Ragans, personal communication, October 28, 2007). Ragans was not the only participant in this study who commented on these external criticisms but vouched for the rigor with which Hardee approached dissertations. Turner, Mann, Robert “Bob” Dawson, and Mark Ziegler had vivid recollections of the copious number of graduates.

In 1975, there was criticism on campus because some professors questioned how

any professor could turn out 15 doctoral students at one time. I had many friends in

that graduation class. Hardee set up a platoon system that year. She assigned three

people to a platoon. (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Turner described Hardee as “smitten” with the 1970 movie Patton. This exposure to a military model gave her an idea; she adopted a platoon system with large groups of advisees and designated leaders for each small group. She met with the platoon leaders who consequently disseminated information down the chain of command. “I doubt that she would have paid a lot of attention to the criticism. She knew that she had done what she needed to do for the students” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007).

Turner suggested Hardee also employed a strategy of admitting a large class one year and then a small group the next year. This helped her manage her advising numbers (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007). Mann, a former student who in later years assumed Hardee’s teaching position at FSU, agreed with Turner’s assessment and thought that Hardee’s doctoral recruiting system evolved over time.

I do not think that she intended it but she found that it worked well. One year she

recruited a big class, the next year a smaller class, the next year a bigger class. She

probably had a huge class and finished them all up at the same time. Additionally,

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that was the time when there was graduation only one time a year. Somebody might

have finished in September but could not go through the ceremony until June. If she

is hooding seven people at a particular graduation, it becomes obvious that not all

seven people finished at the same time of the year. (B. Mann, personal

communication, October 27, 2007)

Dawson was a member of the 1975 group of 15. He suggested that Hardee’s large number of advisees was only part of the campus criticism equation. At the time, the higher education department was under scrutiny.

In 1975, you are one of 15 Hardee advisees to graduate at the same time. Louis

Bender also had a similar number of advisees graduate that year, and Maurice

Litton, the current department chair, had about seven. There was concern on

campus about the quality of the program and the attention students were getting.

This was the same year the department was up for evaluation by the Graduate

Policy Council. (R. Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

According to Leslie who arrived at Florida State to become the head of the Department of

Educational Leadership in 1984, Florida State had instituted a program review process conducted by a Graduate Policy Committee (GPC). “It was a committee of graduate faculty from across the university and they were charged with reviewing all graduate programs.

Reviews were done periodically, roughly every five to seven years” (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008). Although Leslie’s experience followed Dawson’s by 10 years, they both acknowledged the intensity of the GPC review process.

They were very, very searching reviews. The idea was we are going to weed out the

non‐performing programs; we are going to reallocate the resources from those

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programs to those that are going to make Florida State into a real research

university (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008).

Dawson had a front row seat to the Graduate Policy Committee in 1975; he was the

graduate student assigned to represent the College of Education (R. Dawson, personal

communication, October 29, 2007). He remembered that the sub‐committee examining the

higher education department produced a report that was highly critical; the committee

recommended the immediate suspension of the department’s degree granting authority (R.

Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007). Dawson played a crucial role in

turning the tide of negative sentiments directed at the department by filing a minority report. It was successful and the department remained intact.

Mann pointed to the pride Dr. Hardee felt in her accomplishment of preparing professionals for leadership roles.

She was a major professor for 123 doctoral students and she took pride in this

figure because that it meant she identified or had referred to her 123 higher

education professionals who were now equipped with a doctorate and who were

now out there doing wonderful things with students and furthering the profession

of student affairs within higher education. To her that was a very positive thing. It

was not putting notches on a stick about how many doctoral students she had

graduated. She was not out to set any records. It was her intent to give people the

tools they needed to advance the profession. Among more traditional faculty it was

not viewed so. It was that she was cranking out all these people. How could they be

well prepared if she was cranking out so many doctoral students each year? How

could their dissertations be of quality? They were looking at it from their lens, from

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their perspectives when hers was a very different perspective. Among some people

it was a joke, I am sad to say among some faculty across the university, and for some

administrators, it was a cause for concern. She was not a diploma mill but they were

looking at it from their perspectives and they did not understand her or what she

was doing. In some ways, that skepticism did not generate a lot of respect. (B. Mann,

personal communication, October 27, 2007)

Ziegler’s time in the FSU master’s program came at the end of Hardee’s teaching career. Although he was further removed from this particular incident, years later he had an understanding of the ramifications of these record‐setting graduations.

The main criticism that she got on campus was when she hooded a bunch of

doctoral students. That really rankled many people. She did not even respond to it.

She knew that there was rigor. The College of Education knew there was rigor. They

would not have signed off on it. The Dean of the College of Education would not have

signed. They knew what those students went through and if it was not perfect…

every “t” crossed, every “i” dotted, everything sourced, referenced, carefully thought

out, framed… you did not get a pass from her. The fact that 11 finished at one time, is

because she had a rough semester, not that there was any ease. (M. Zeigler, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

He thought the campus skepticism emanated from professional jealousy. “Most faculty members are not willing to handle more than two or three doctoral students at one time”

(M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Terry O’Banion, an early doctoral student, described how Hardee managed so many competing demands, “Hard work. Tremendous energy. Planning. Carefully sketching out the

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framework, looking at the big picture” (T. O’Banion, personal communication, February 20,

2008). Others, including Opper, spoke to her work ethic, “If work is what you do, you can get a lot done. People used to marvel at her focus. That is all she did. She either was corresponding, talking on the phone, reading dissertations, or pulling ideas together” (J.

Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007). Moser agreed, “I cannot imagine anybody spending the amount of time that she spent on our papers. You had to wonder did she ever do anything else besides prepare for class, work with her students, and tend to her farm” (R. Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007). David Meabon concurred.

She worked hard, all the time. She worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If it

was not at the school, it was at the farm. If it was not at the farm, it was at the house,

and if it was not that, then she was writing, and if it was not writing, it was reading

our stuff. I mean, she graduated over a 100 doctoral students. She was probably one

of the most professional people I ever met, just in the way she dealt with the world.

(D. Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007)

“The Mentor” and the “Life Net.”

In the history of the Florida State higher education program, two words are definitively associated with Dr. Hardee. Early on in her tenure on the faculty, she became known as “The Mentor.” Along with the interest, concentrated attention, and coaching she provided to students, Hardee expected her graduates to do the same for each other. Today we refer to the process of staying connected to our professional colleagues as networking.

She coined the phrase, “Life Net.” Students that studied with her became inextricably part of the “Life Net.” Ragans recalled how these two concepts fit together, “She was definitely a mentor to her students and they called her that. And she kept up with them and even today

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[her students] are very tight” (S. Ragans personal correspondence, October 28, 2007).

Mann’s experience as a potential student suggests that she invested in people right away. “I think the mentoring component to her was very, very important. She would call herself

‘The Mentor” and her students would call her “The Mentor.” When I went in to talk with her about the Florida State program, her mentoring started at that moment. Very shortly after I got back [to my campus], I got a letter from her reiterating what I should do” (laugh) (B.

Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007).

“The Mentor” moniker established itself early. Young graduated in 1966 and was among the first to study with Hardee.

That was a word she used frequently in class…she had a little expression, “Each one,

reach one.” She called herself “Mentor” many times. We just picked it up and I

started calling her “Mentor.” At times, I would call her “Tormentor” and she got a

chuckle out of that too. Later on, I started calling her Mel just for short but when I

called her on the phone, even after I got my doctorate, I would say, “Is this my

Mentor?” Oh, she loved that. (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Hardee signed letters to students with “Mentor” and she would refer to herself in third person as “The Mentor.” This titled seemed to be one that was reserved for students. Jim

Rhatigan recalled, “To many people she signed her letters, ‘The Mentor.’ She never did that with me. I was not one of her students but she mentored me” (J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008).

Hardee spoke about how this title came to be with professional colleagues in 1970.

Some years ago, on tapping the grapevine of graduate student‐dom, I heard a

reference made to “Mother” Hardee, and thereafter pulled a sudden switch, inviting

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the appellation Mentor. (Reminiscent of Abe Lincoln’s Mentor Graham.) So, to

students, I am mentor and even, sometimes, tor‐mentor. (Hardee, 1970, From Here

to Maturity, p. 1)

Dawson said that Hardee embodied the concept of mentoring.

That was her big word: Mentor. That is what she wanted to be. That is what she was.

That was very important to her. When she decided what she was going to do with

you, she may not have told you, she would put you in the places where you could

grow. Then you come out of it thinking in many cases that you did it all yourself. (R.

Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Meeting with faculty and staff at Gonzaga University in 1980, she referenced the Life

Net in operation while doctoral students worked toward their degrees.

I have 26 doctoral students currently, a number far too large for the “the system.”

Were it not for a parallel “system” which I prescribe, “the life net,” there would be

non‐survivors of the first year. Students meet in a group but with supplementary

individual conferences. (Hardee, 1980, Gonzaga University p. 15)

This group advising system resulted in graduate students investing in each other’s success, a behavior that did not stop at graduation. She spoke about the “Life Net” with students in

class and she actively facilitated connections post graduation through regular newsletters

in which she would share news about graduates and discuss students new to the program.

Moser spoke to Hardee’s commitment to ongoing communication,

People staying in touch as colleagues was very important to her. You have probably

heard others speak of the “Life Net.” She would sprinkle her talks in class with

references to other FSU graduates and what they were doing. She made sure that

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was a theme that continued throughout. (R. Moser, personal communication,

October 29, 2007)

Ziegler contended that the goal of connecting was even broader than staying in

touch with Florida State. It was a statement about the profession.

The ‘Life Net’ is what she wanted student affairs to be. Not just training leaders, not

just provide a good health center…but take care of people. Create a place or space

where people felt like they were at home. She did that here; she trained people who

do that. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Similarly, Johnson took away the same message.

Dr. Hardee believed very much in the “Life Net.” That was her term. She believed

that if you got the opportunity to help somebody else; that was your responsibility.

She often talked about tossing out the “Life Net” and helping everybody who came

into her sphere. That indeed as student affairs professionals we needed to be able to

nurture and develop people behind us. As a mentor, she taught us how to mentor. It

was a very deliberate message, a very deliberate lesson that she wanted us to get.

You had a responsibility to reach out and create a “Life Net” wherever you go. (R.

Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

Institutional Service

Beyond teaching, another expectation for faculty members involves providing service to the local, regional, and national communities. Faculty efforts and scholarly products should ultimately benefit the larger community where possible scholarly products should be applied to societal problems or present future possibilities that

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advance social organizations. When faculty members delineate their service, it is often

broken into activi ties directed toward the university and those directed externally.

Committee Work

A review of Dr. Hardee’s résumé shows a record of service on institutional

committees with the decades of the 1960s and 1970s being the most populated with activity (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé). In the first eleven years while serving as the

Coordinator of Guidance, she cited without specificity service to general education and student services committees. In the academic year 1968‐1969, Hardee was a member of the University Senate, on a special advisory committee to the institution’s president, and she served as the secretary and chairman on a task force appointed by the President’s

Committee on Student Affairs. In the 1970s, she served with groups investigating equity issues: the University Committee to Study Women’s Equity Affairs (1972) and the FSU group considering the implementation of Title IX (1976‐1978) (Hardee, 1980, A Report of the Center). From 1972‐1975, Hardee served on the University Graduate Policy Council.

The Faculty Senate appointed Hardee to an ad hoc committee to study the state of the university in 1974. She assisted in the selection of the vice president for academic affairs in

1977. In that same year, she chaired the committee to advise the president on the selection of a chief student affairs officer. She contributed to the student affairs program assessment committee in 1979. Toward the end of her teaching career her institutional committee service waned.

Interview participants recalled how Hardee helped to shape the student affairs organization at FSU. Moser heard about her from staff colleagues during a time when

Hardee assumed a leadership role at a pivotal time for the division.

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[Early on in my time at Florida State] we had an acting vice president for student

affairs. The new president, Bernie Sliger, appointed a task force to decide if there

should be a division of student affairs or if things should be reorganized because it

was a good opportunity at the time. Mel Hardee chaired one of the groups and her

group’s recommendations were the ones accepted by the president. He created a

strong division of student affairs and subsequently brought in Bob Leach as our vice

president. (R. Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Turner had similar recollections of Hardee and her determination to do what she thought

was right.

She could really press a point. I recall she was chairing a committee for the selection

of a vice president for student affairs. The structure of the university at that time did

not have a division of student affairs led by a vice president. She wanted to get

somebody who would make a difference, and be a strong leader over that unit. She

did what she believed she had to do to ensure that we got a very strong leader. If it

made everybody else mad, that was not an issue. She could be very outspoken about

the things that she believed in. (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25,

2007)

Ziegler heard about Hardee’s role in recruiting the new vice president, Bob Leach, to

Florida State. Apparently, Hardee went to a conference and met Dr. Leach. She returned to

campus and called the president. In Hardee’s telling to Zeigler she said, “’Bernie [Sliger],

stop the search. I have found your vice president.’ Bob Leach became the vice president for

student affairs and my understanding was it was because of her. She found him and thought he was a perfect fit” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

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Departm ental Leadership

In her department, Hardee assumed two significant leadership roles, one as the director of the Center for Studies of Women in Educational Management Systems, and the other as Director of the Institute for Studies in Higher Education.

Women in educational management.

One of the outcomes of Hardee’s 1974 professional leave was the development of a proposal to host a women’s research center on campus. While on leave, she explored similar institutes seeking to identify women with leadership potential who would benefit from educational opportunities, mentoring, and networking. The interest in women’s leadership development for educational settings far exceeded the capacity of the existing programs. The chancellor of the State University System of Florida approved Hardee’s proposal for a center in 1977. The funding she received provided salaries for two graduate students and it helped to establish the Center in the Stone Building at FSU (Hardee, 1980, A

Report of the Center). According to Mann, the Center for Studies of Women in Educational

Management Systems was named because, “At that time, one of the catch phrases was

‘higher education administrative systems.’ [The FSU center’s name was] based on the

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) model” (B. Mann personal correspondence, October 27, 2007).

She started the Center because in the 1970s, there were very few women chief

student affairs officers and she believed there were many good women in the

profession who were well prepared to assume these positions. She was turning

them out with doctorates so they had the credentials to do it. She knew that they

needed ongoing support. Because she got the funding, they gave her a faculty office

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space. The least desirable one, the one on the inside without the windows; the kind

of office faculty hate. She was given that space and she put the graduate student in

there and she had lots of shelves and filing cabinets. She gathered material and

collected books. She was a clipper. She was a big fan of the Sunday New York Times

section and would clip articles out of there on women and higher education and add

them to a collection that graduate assistants would catalogue. (B. Mann personal

correspondence, October 27, 2007)

Hardee explained the genesis of the Center to graduates of the higher education

program in one of her regular communiqués.

This idea was born of the Mentor’s interest in the field dating from her

teaching/administration at Stephens College and heightened by the historical fact

that the Florida State University “developed out of the rib of Eve”—that is from

Florida State College for Women. (Hardee, 1976, p. 2)

She tapped into women in the Tallahassee area to mentor women students in the higher

education program. She utilized the familiar faces of women in campus administrative roles

on posters and brochures to advertise the doctoral program of administrative studies for

women in higher education. The Center, coupled with the Woman Administrator course

generated research interests. By 1984, Hardee cited up to 15 studies involving women in

administration that had emanated from FSU doctoral students. Of these, six received nationa l or regional recognition (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

The FSU Center’s activities extended off campus into other institutions,

governmental agencies, and regional efforts to promote opportunities for women in

administration and management. Hardee served as the co‐director of the first Southeastern

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Regional Conference for Women Administrators held in February 1982. With the

coordinator of the Virginia Identification Program for the Advancement of Women in

Higher Education, the two‐day conference was held in Williamsburg, Virginia with 200 men and women participants. The setting provided FSU doctoral student with a platform to share their research highlights. A second conference followed in 1984 at FSU. These efforts

earned Hardee a position on the Florida State Planning Committee of the American Council

on Education’s (ACE) National Identification Program for the Advancement of Women in

Higher Education Administration.

Institute for the Studies of Higher Education.

In 1980, the Florida legislature provided Quality Improvement Program funds (QIP)

to FSU to promote areas of strength. The national reputation of the higher education faculty

earned the department $140,000 of the QIP monies for the establishment of an institute.

Melvene Hardee was named the first director of the Institute for Studies in Higher

Education (“Institute Exemplifies Value,” 1980). The first newsletter published by the

institute heralded Hardee’s appointment by saying she had “earned an enviable national

reputation as a scholar, mentor and innovator. Her energy and drive are legendary. And her

ability to get a job well done makes her appointment a great step forward for the new

institute” (“Hardee Named Director Institute,” 1980). The Institute housed three centers:

Center for the Studies of Women in Educational Management Systems; State and Regional

Higher Education Center; Center for Multi‐Campus Systems. The overarching purpose was

fourfold:

(1) focus on institutional, state, and national issues of management, governance,

finance, educational program and educational services through descriptive and

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analytical studies; (2) to serve FSU as a resource for policy analysis and research on

postsecondary issues; (3) to complement scholarly activities of the graduate

program in higher education of the Department of Educational Leadership; and (4)

to serve as an initiator of activities and services intended to assist practitioners to

deal better with problems and issues. (“Institute Exemplifies Value,” 1980, p. 1)

Of the four stated purposes identified at the outset of the year, Hardee believed that at the end of her year as director progress had been made on the latter two purposes. Despite getting a glowing report from the department head at the end of the first year for the tangible accomplishments she achieved, it was clear that this assignment was a challenge.

In an April report to the department, Hardee tried to inspire the individualistic faculty members to work together on defining the identity of the institute. There were distinct differences among the faculty regarding what the emphasis of the institute should be: service or research.

Teaching Elsewhere

Hardee’s résumé lists several visiting lecturer/scholar stints over the time she was working at FSU. Teaching elsewhere may seem counter intuitive but Hardee used it to her advantage. These contacts enhanced her professional network and she probably saw these teaching opportunities as a means of recruiting for the higher education program at Florida

State. In the summer of 1955, she was a visiting professor at Michigan State University

(Sheeley, 1975). In 1958 as she was transitioning out of the Coordinator of Guidance role, she spent some time at Brigham Young University. She returned to Michigan State in 1962 to spend seven weeks teaching in the established higher education program. Letters from program participants reveal Hardee’s profound impact after this short‐term engagement.

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Donald Adams spoke to her teaching, “The manner in which you made each person feel as a

distinct, separate, worthwhile, productive individual was rewarding.” He also

acknowledged the loss of her husband, “Your husband’s death was a terrific loss, but only a

person such as yourself could survive this type of shock and continue to give of yourself in

these trying moments.” Finally, he paid tribute to her standing in the student personnel

field, “I am proud to belong to a profession that chooses a person such as yourself as its

leader. Whatever success I may have in the future will always have some indebtedness to

your contribution” (Adams, 1962).

Similarly, Doug Toms wrote to her after the Michigan State summer session,

I feel that this summer just closing has been the most profitable educational

experience I have had in many years. Not only did I learn a great deal in your classes,

but also the example that you set as a professor profoundly impressed me. The

carefully executed combination of behavior, technique, and procedure provides me

with a mighty goal to shoot for! (1962)

Carol Payne Smith acknowledged Hardee’s impact as a role model.

I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to you for returning to MSU

this summer for the workshop. Your dedication to helping others, selflessness, and

your courage in overcoming such a great personal loss is inspiring. Your presence

was a personal inspiration to me especially in times of discouragement as a result of

discrimination against women in higher education. (1962)

During the1967‐68 academic year, she served in a half‐time faculty appointment for

Michigan State University. This appointment tied to the National Defense Education Act program, a national effort to prepare mid‐level management positions for top academic

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leadership positions. For her role, she supervised the research and professional writing of

12 students from institutions located in the southeastern region of the country. Special, limited teaching appointments from 1960‐1970 as noted on her résumé occurred at Boston

College, St. Louis University, Regis College, University of Denver, and University of Virginia

(Hardee, ~1984, Résumé). It is likely these opportunities resulted from the professional network Hardee had developed through involvement in professional organizations.

Consulting

In a 1977 grant application, Hardee claimed to have been an “Advisor to more than

130 colleges and universities organizations or agencies on curriculum and student services” (Hardee, 1977, Applicant). These consultations occurred with presidents, provosts, organizations, and agencies. Most seem to be short term although her affiliation with the president of the Tuskegee Institute occurred over a period of 14 years involving varied topics. She listed an affiliation with Higher Education Executive Associates from

1968‐1970. This was an early higher education consulting group that started in the area of student services particularly with diversity and student development issues. Numerous higher education policy groups are among the entities on the list including: Southern

Regional Education Board, the Institute for Higher Education, College Entrance

Examination Board, American Association for Junior Colleges, American Council on

Education, and the American Association of University Professors. Hardee advised the

National Council on Churches on matters relating to higher education.

Professional Service

Hardee was involved heavily in professional associations throughout her career. The most significant affiliations are described below.

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American College Personnel Association (ACPA)

One of Hardee’s highest profile leadership roles came with her election to the presidency of the American College Personnel Association for 1962‐1963; she was the 23rd

president and the eighth woman to hold the post. Hardee served in many ACPA leadership

roles leading up to her selection as president to include secretary‐treasurer (54‐56), chairman of the ACPA Publications and Research Committee (56‐58), at‐large member of the Executive Council (57‐58), secretary (59‐61), and president‐elect (61‐62). From 1961‐

1963 Hardee represented ACPA on the American Personnel and Guidance Association

Executive Council (APGA) (Sheeley, 1975). APGA was the umbrella organization under which ACPA was a division. The affiliation between the two groups was strained when

Hardee assumed leadership of ACPA; many ACPA members were dissatisfied with the lack of attention paid to ACPA issues and interests. At the 1962 Chicago conference where she took over as president, a motion called for the ACPA Executive Committee to seek out ways for ACPA to “exert more responsible and independent action in meeting its obligations to students in American higher education” (Hardee, 1962, High Tide or Low?, p. 42) and report back to the 1963 business meeting. Hardee took no formal position on the talk of secession from APGA; instead, she encouraged thoughtful study of the issue. In May of

1962, she convened a large steering committee to direct a self‐study of the organization.

Gordon Klopf and Kathryn Hopwood led the group and made good progress throughout the year. The results of the study were presented at a Boston Town Hall meeting during the conference the following year. Hardee crafted a unique invitation to the meeting, a flyer written in Old English font:

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The Township of the American College Personnel Association will hold a special

Town Meeting in the Ballroom of the Sheraton Plaza Hotel at two o’clock (sharp)

post meridian on Monday, the eight of April, in the year of our Lord the one

thousand nine hundred and sixty‐third. All individuals whose taxes have been paid

by that time and who are not under Township surveillance by the constable will be

recognized as proprietors of the town with a right to speak out as they are moved so

to do. (Hardee, 1963, Warning)

Hardee’s presidential pledge to ACPA membership was to improve communication both within the organization and externally among other organizations, APGA included.

Interspersed throughout the year, she wrote three presidential messages for publication in

ACPA’s Journal of College Student Personnel. She sent regular newsletters, Top Drawer Talk, to 150 officers and leaders of the organization. In these missives, she conveyed her schedule and activities on behalf of the organization and she gave updates on national issues. The scope of these communiqués broadened in March of 1963 with the evolution of

ACPA Today, a newsletter for the association. During the year, Hardee wrote letters to over

70 executive officers of associations with agendas and interests relating to higher education. In this bridge building maneuver, she inquired whether cooperation and collaboration was possible. She also made several trips to Washington, D. C. to get ACPA connected to higher education agencies (Sheeley, 1975).

Hardee represented ACPA on numerous legislative and policy issues. In November

1962, President Hardee initiated a letter writing campaign to the Southern Association of

Colleges and Schools, the regional accreditation agency for an 11‐state region, headquartered in Atlanta. The College Delegate Assembly was set to meet later in the

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month to consider adoption of new standards for institutional accreditations. A year earlier, Hardee had expressed her concerns over proposed accreditation standards regarding student personnel functions and still the same deficiencies existed in the final report. She posited that if adopted as written, “the cause of student personnel work in the

South will be set back thirty years” (Hardee, 1962, Letter to G. Sweet). Her main concern about the proposed standards was the omission of the majority of functional areas typically affiliated in a student personnel division and the inclusion of areas that were not likely to be included, such as alumni affairs and athletics. She objected to the strong reference to

“faculty control” without student representation referring to this language as “archaic.”

Hardee urged that the section be remanded to committee and that the committee seek the expertise of student personnel professionals in the region for assistance in constructing these standards.

To conclude, Section VII, pp. 34‐37 of Proposed Standards does Southern

Association much discredit in the eyes of student personnel workers in college of

the nation. This report fails to reflect the outstanding work of personnel and

institutions in the South, by reason of its omissions. The report is sub‐standard even

for the period of the early 1930’s when student personnel administration was

emerging in the colleges and universities” (Hardee, 1962, Letter to J. Hunter).

It was during her president‐elect year that she and Klopf set the groundwork for

ACPA’s commission structure. Hardee believed in grassroots organizations and wanted more people involved in the organization. She also wanted to affect the type of programming submitted for annual meetings. Robert “Bob” Shaffer served as the chairman

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for the newly formed Commission on Organization and Administration of Student Affairs when Hardee was president.

Mel started the ACPA’s commission system; it was a brilliant move. She appointed

ten commissions. Those commissions eventually became the program body for

ACPA. That was another brilliant move on Mel’s part. Up until that time, we had the

usual association program committee. People would submit papers or proposals

and they would pass on it. Under the commission system, each commission as part

of its commission work proposed programs. Of course, they were meaty and

meaningful to the commission members. You had well over 100 to 120 people

working then on your program committee. This not only developed good proposals

but it increased involvement and interest. (R. Shaffer, personal communication,

March 28, 2008)

The Commissions replaced ACPA’s committees whose performance often depended on the

chairman’s abilities and drive. Shaffer said that with Hardee at the helm of the organization,

people were constantly reminded to keep moving forward.

Mel’s system placed responsibility on the commissions because they had to get your

proposals in and get going. Most of the communication was by memo. These memos

would come out and give you deadlines and you met them. Mel followed up and so

did Gordon. Of course, the chairmen of the commissions, when they took their job,

realized it was their job to lead the commission to do its job. (R. Shaffer, personal

communication, March 28, 2008)

Shaffer thought that the Commission system resulted in a stronger ACPA. “Mel’s method of

involving people through all these jobs just increased interest in ACPA and its convention

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and contributed to it becoming so strong” (R. Shaffer, personal communication, March 28,

2008).

Hardee’s parting address entitled, “Perception and Perfection” (1963), outlined the tasks ahead. If the image of student personnel work was to be refreshed, she admonished

that personnel workers need to be present at the policy making tables of the American

Council on Education; they needed to be active in financial aid policy legislation; the

multiple higher education associations needed to work together; regional bodies must

work with regional entities and agencies; all levels of the organizations, state, local and

national needed to work collaboratively; and members of the organization needed to think

more broadly about the global dimensions of their work. Renewal of the profession would

come through eager young people emerging from the professional preparation programs

(Hardee, 1963, Perception and Perfection).

The real renewal of the image of student personnel work‐as well as the renaissance

of this Association – will come about through the ideas and energies of highly

motivated young professionals crowding the field and seeking our affiliation. This,

in turn, will exact of us “old pros” a singular performance in both practicing and

profession in the stream of student personnel work. (Hardee, 1963, Perception and

Perfection, p. 204)

Melvene Hardee served as ACPA president at a pivotal time in the organization’s life.

She infused the group with new energy through the adoption of a commission system and

she enhanced communication on all different levels. Her gifts of time and talent were given

in a time of great personal loss. Three months into her presidential term, Melvene became a

widow.

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American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA)

APGA, the umbrella association that included ACPA, was formed with the merger of four guidance and counseling groups. The other three groups that came together in 1952 included the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA), the National Association of

Guidance and Counselor Trainers (NAGCT), and the Student Personnel Association for

Teacher Education (SPATE) (American Counseling Association, n.d.). This affiliation clearly fit Hardee’s early work in vocational guidance but as she moved away from counseling, the

ACPA branch would have become the best fit of the four. Hardee was a member of the

Executive Council of the umbrella group from 1966 to 1971 (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

Upon the completion of her year as ACPA president in 1963, she was offered a place on the

February 1964 ballot for APGA president. She agreed to become a candidate. This strategy might have helped quell the discontent that was brewing in the ACPA ranks. She was only known in one segment of APGA’s membership so she put together a presidential platform and reached out to colleagues to make them aware of her candidacy. In this effort, she listed memberships in the following organizations: National Vocational Guidance

Association, American Psychological Association, International Council of Psychologists,

Southeastern Psychological Association, Florida Psychological Association, Association for

Higher Education, and American Educational Research Association (Hardee, 1963, Platform

Pledge and Petition). These affiliations do not appear in later versions of her résumé; they may have been short‐term affiliations. Membership in these groups would have resonated with the other three quarters of the membership of APGA. Despite her willingness and effort, she lost this election to Win Scott of Rutgers University (Hardee, 1964, COSPA

Commentaries).

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Southern College Personnel Association

In the early 1950s, many student personnel workers in the southern states felt the need for a regional group to address their unique issues. Melvene Hardee was among the

34 ACPA members who signed a petition requesting permission from ACPA to form such a group. The petitioners included people from 13 states in the Southeast. These ACPA loyalists did not want to establish a competing organization; they wanted to work within the structure of ACPA. At first, the group was referred to as “Southern ACPA.” In 1952 the name, Southern College Personnel Association appeared and stuck (Jenkins, 1974). The current moniker of the group is the Southern Association of College Student Affairs.

In work groups held in the early 1950s, Hardee was among a small cadre who met for three consecutive summers to consider some of the southern college’s special issues. In written reports, which Hardee helped to construct, the summer workshop participants explored “(1) the objectives of student personnel work in the South, (2) the training of student personnel workers, and (3) the status of research and special study in personnel

work in the South” (Hardee, ~1953, Review of Mars Hill Workshop, p. 1). In reflection years

later, Hardee wrote more specifically of one of the group’s key concerns.

The objective in 1949 was to prepare for the coming of integration of black students

in institutions of higher learning in the South, for which there was no model and in

the light of the Hawkins’ case in Florida as well as other impending suits in process

or contemplated. The need was to provide training of student personnel specialists

which required their close working relationship with academic officers and faculty

members. (Hardee, 1986, p. 1)

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On the agenda in the summer of 1954, one item was an investigation of the significance of

the May 1954 Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education (Jenkins, 1974). This

conversation was considered risky; some SCPA members feared the repercussions of talk

of desegregation. The SCPA organization involved women and Blacks from the beginning.

Despite this, Jenkins (1974) concluded that although membership and leadership was open

to all, the organization itself did not overtly confront the discrimination that women and

Blacks experienced in their professional work.

As a Midwesterner who was uncomfortable with segregation, Hardee had to

exercise enough political savvy to work toward change without being politically disruptive and consequently, ineffective. According to her brother, when she provided financial assistance to a Black church near her Georgia farm, she was careful not to draw too much attention to herself. “She was always helping but when she first went down there she had to be undercover. If you got too close to a Black church you had better be careful or your barn would be on fire the next week” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

Hardee experienced the foreign culture that required Blacks to ride in the back of the bus and use separate public facilities. “All that she didn’t like but she knew she had to live with it. When she first went there, they still had the Ku Klux Klan operating in Tallahassee” (N.

Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

Anne Pruitt‐Logan encountered Hardee in the early SCPA years. At the time, she served as the Dean of Students at Albany State College, a historically black institution in

Southwest Georgia.

She asked me, “Why don’t you join with us? I have something called the Southern

College Personnel Association and it is a gathering of those of us who are in student

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personnel work in several southern states.” She asked me to come to a meeting; it

was probably the 1956 meeting of the Southern College Personnel Association. (A.

Pruitt‐Logan, personal communication, March 5, 2008)

Hardee’s outreach was a welcome surprise for Pruitt‐Logan.

As you probably know, it was during a time when America had a parallel universe;

there was almost a caste system where Blacks and Whites did not interact. I found it

very refreshing to know that she would reach out to me. She knew that Albany State

College was an African American institution, you know, there were no White

students there. Our relationship was very respectful and friendly, which was

unusual in the late 1950s. (A. Pruitt‐Logan, personal communication, March 5, 2008)

When SCPA held its annual meetings conferees met together for sessions but, as was custom, Blacks and Whites were not housed in the same facility. At the Atlanta meeting in

1955, a Black SCPA member was stranded downtown as the taxis would not provide him service which infuriated conference participants (Jenkins, 1974). The next year the group met at the University of Kentucky still with separate accommodations. Hardee was the incoming SCPA president at the Kentucky meeting. She pledged that future SCPA conferences would only be held in locations where all participants could be housed together. Pruitt‐Logan credited Hardee for making this significant change happen. “You know I can hear her saying, “Whoopee, we found a place! (laugh) We found a place that would let us stay together” (A. Pruitt‐Logan, personal communication, March 5, 2008). In

1957, with President Hardee at the helm, SCPA held its annual meeting at the Delano Hotel in Miami and all conferees were housed in the same facility. Hardee was the sixth president of SCPA and the first women to serve in that role.

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In his dissertation on the early history of SCPA, Jenkins (1974) noted Hardee’s keen

interest in research about college personnel as practiced in the South and the graduate

training programs that were preparing new practitioners. Hardee felt that SCPA needed a

specific commission to foster a research agenda. In 1956, Hardee was elected for a three‐

year term to serve as chairman of the Research and Publication Commission. “It was under

her leadership that the Commission’s impact was felt.” (p. 100). She resigned after two

years citing competing demands at FSU.

Melvene Draheim Hardee was the most prolific writer in SCPA membership and

frequently gave credit to the organization in her own works. In The Faculty in

College Counseling (1959), she made reference to the 1953 Summer Work

Conference, several papers from which she conceived the idea for this book. She also

cited addresses delivered at SCPA annual conferences by Nicholas Hobbs in 1953

and John G. Darley in 1955. Although SCPA did not participate in publishing

Hardee’s book, the organization’s contributions were evident in its pages.” (Jenkins,

1974, p. 129)

American Association of Higher Education (AAHE)

Hardee was a member of the Executive Council of AAHE from 1965‐1968. In this

time, she served on the convention planning committee, the nominations committee, and

was the chairman of the Committee on General Education (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

The most historically significant aspect of this affiliation was her participation in a meeting hosted by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). She was one

of 33 representatives from 10 organizations to meet in November of 1966 to discuss

academic freedom as it related to college students. Hardee represented both AAHE and

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ACPA at this meeting. During this historical period, a variety of issues exploded on college

campuses around the country, such as protests against the war in Vietnam, racial tension,

and civil rights. College presidents, provosts, deans, and faculty tried to rethink and

negotiate their relationship with students, as it was apparent that conditions on campuses

had changed. The discussions at this conclave produced a first draft of the document, The

Joint Statement on Student Rights and Freedoms. Eventually, 10 organizations endorsed the final product and this statement then influenced reforms in student codes of conduct, in student judicial procedures, and with students’ rights regarding classroom and campus

participation (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

Several years later Hardee investigated the degree to which campus reforms had

occurred in light of this treatise. She surveyed 800 institutions in 1971 to see how

institutions put the Joint Statement into operation, or not. This effort resulted in a

publication entitled, The Impact of Statements on Student Rights (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

Council of Student Personnel Associations in Higher Education

From 1963 to 1966, Hardee served as the executive secretary for the Council of

Student Personnel Associations in Higher Education (COSPA) (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

This began as the Inter‐Association Coordinating Committee in 1958 and consisted of representation from ACPA, NASPA, the National Association of Women Deans, and

Counselors (NAWDC) and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and

Admissions Officers (AACRAO). Tom Emmet was the NASPA representative to COSPA when

Hardee served. They followed a very prestigious group of COSPA founders. “We were the bridgers between the first generation of inter‐association efforts with the likes of W. H.

Cowley, E. G. Williamson, Esther Lloyd‐Jones, Margaret Ruth Smith, and A. J. Brumbaugh

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(Mel’s mentor from Chicago) (T. Emmet, personal communication, May 21, 2008). The group formed in an effort to coordinate scheduling of association activities so they would not conflict with each other and to collaborate on common areas of concern. In a report announcing the expansion of the group, Hardee wrote, “The implementation of a long‐ anticipated dream for consolidating the effort of student personnel groups in higher education without attendant loss of organizational identity in special areas seems imminent” (Hardee, 1963, Report on the IACC). Later the group expanded to eight members to include the Association of College Unions (ACU), the Association of College and

University Housing Officers (ACUHO), the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors

(NAFSA), and the Association of College Admission Counselors (ACAC) (ACPA, General

Business Meeting Minutes, 1964). Shaffer, Dean of Students at Indiana University took over the COSPA chairman role with the premature passing of Denny Trueblood who served as a representative for ACPA.

COSPA was essentially a coordinating body composed of eleven or twelve

organizations concerned with various aspects of student affairs such as housing and

college unions, admissions, registrars, financial aid, etc. Neither NASPA nor NAWDC

had joined APGA primarily because they felt they would lose their identity. Some of

the other organizations did not want to be so closely related to student affairs. With

so many organizations, a coordinating body or a clearinghouse was needed. An

example was the need to eliminate conflicts over the date of conventions and other

meetings. One can imagine the problems that would occur if NASPA, NAWDC, and

APGA all had their conventions at the same time. Staff and students could not go

because not everybody could be gone from the campus at the same time. We tried to

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help coordinate or at least clear things of that type. (R. Shaffer, personal

correspondence, March 28, 2008)

Hardee’s term in office spanned the organizational name change and expansion. As

secretary‐treasurer, she was responsible for publicizing the Council among the various constituent groups (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé). She did this through regular typed updates,

“COSPA Commentaries” and meeting minutes that reflected her good humor and her penchant for adding emphasis with arrows, underlines and other handwritten greetings.

During this time, COSPA considered a variety of issues. First, members worked to build bridges with other organizations in the hope of bringing more associations into the fold.

They worked with the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Commission on Academic

Affairs to draw higher education leaders’ attention to the issues in student personnel work.

The group discussed concerns about how student personnel fit into institutional accreditation criteria. Members monitored legislative action, particularly in the area of financial aid, and tried to lobby for favorable action for higher education and student personnel. Interest was raised about expanding the National Defense Education Act

(NDEA) funding to support a broader scope of education and training beyond counseling functions. The group’s Commission on Professional Development worked to identify and then articulate basic premises and components of a student personnel preparation program. This same group assumed responsibility from NASPA for a career in student affairs brochure (Hardee, COSPA Commentaries, 1964).

COSPA lived a relatively short life span, maybe 12 years. O’Banion was a doctoral student at FSU with Hardee as his Advisor.

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All of the great lights of higher education student personnel work were on COSPA

and they were trying to coordinate the efforts of ACPA, NASPA, to keep all of these

groups from stumbling over themselves. One of the things that COSPA did was to

create a document on a model professional development program for higher

education student personnel leaders. (T. O’Banion, personal communication,

February 20, 2008)

“The Mentor” provided O’Banion access to this organization and the professionals involved in it.

I did a dissertation that, in some ways, was a field‐testing of the COSPA statement

and I did it through that COSPA committee. I came up with a panel of judges who

were the outstanding people in the field: E. G. Williamson, Esther Lloyd‐Jones, and

all those folks. Can you imagine me as a 25‐year‐old, (laugh) meeting people like

that? Well, that is what Mel did for me. She really got me right out there and had me

meet the bigwigs of the day. They were all so kind and good to me. (T. O’Banion,

personal communication, February 20, 2008)

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators

Hardee’s connection to NASPA strengthened when her former students began to ascend to leadership roles. Up until that time, there is no indication that she dedicated much time or energy toward NASPA. She had many contacts with NASPA representatives through her work with COSPA and ACPA. She may have attended NASPA conferences and she would have considered many NASPA members to be her colleagues and friends.

Between 1973 and 1981, a period of eight years, four of her former students became

NASPA presidents. John L. Blackburn was the first in 1973. He was followed by Donald

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Adams (a Michigan State connection) in 1978, George Young in 1979, and E. T. Joe

Buchanan in 1981. Four years later, Bob Leach, FSU’s vice president for student affairs, became NASPA’s president. “The Mentor” may not have had a formal leadership role in

NASPA but she had an avenue of influence. Rhatigan recalled, “She became very close to

NASPA because of her relationships with these students who became leaders in NASPA.

They loved Mel; they brought Mel into NASPA” (J. Rhatigan, personal communication,

March 9, 2008).

Her former students served the organization on conference planning committees and they invited her to speak at association meetings. The researcher was able to locate scripts and recordings for three such presentations. In 1972, she gave the keynote address to the annual conference; the speech was entitled, A Community Construct for Student

Personnel Work: Camelot or Circus Lot? In 1977, she orchestrated a multi‐media presentation at the NASPA annual conference entitled, Student Affairs: The Old West, West

World, and Future World. It is more fondly remembered as Annie Oakley and the James Boys.

In this production, Hardee assumed the role of sheriff and she was accompanied by two gunslingers, James Appleton and James Rhatigan. The third NASPA presentation of note occurred in 1987 at the joint meeting with ACPA. This combined meeting between the two leading student affairs associations entitled, Make No Little Plans, had historical significance. It convened in the year of the 50th anniversary of The Student Personnel Point of View. Hardee’s keynote presentation opened the meeting. The multi‐media presentation was entitled, The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View: The Birth of a Charter. Of these three presentations, the latter two are worth further consideration as they are examples of

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Hardee’s creative, engaging teaching style. Participants in this study vividly recalled these

particular presentations as definitive Melvene Hardee moments.

Annie Oakley and the James Boys

Young was the conference chair of NASPA’s annual meeting in 1977. In search of a great conference keynote, he and the committee came up with the idea to involve some of the leading voices in the association and they chose Jim Appleton and Jim Rhatigan, two

recent presidents of NASPA. With Young and several other Hardee graduates on the

program committee, her name came into consideration (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008). Young contacted the threesome and made the pitch.

Rhatigan recalled Hardee took the reigns of the program. “She is the grand manipulator. She waved the wand and we were a couple of pawns in her hand. That is how it happened. It was all her doing” (J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008).

Hardee told Rhatigan, “Let’s just pick five issues and you are a couple of gunners. I will referee it and you two go at it” (J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008).

Hardee was not interested in having the two men blandly reading scripts in response to pre‐determined questions. She wanted it to be spontaneous but that involved some risk for

Rhatigan. “I was nervous about the presentation because I can be pretty frank. I didn’t want to step on anyone’s feelings. I was nervous. Appleton told me he was nervous too” (J.

Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008).

I said during the presentation, Mel when you were not around I made a few notes.

That got a good laugh [from the audience]. When you are speaking in front of all

those people, you cannot be totally ad lib. I had a few notes but we did not have a

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script or anything, but we did know where that thing was going. (J. Rhatigan,

personal communication, March 9, 2008)

For her role, Hardee wore a cowboy hat, a sheriff’s badge, and a pair of guns around her waist (J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008).

We were supposed to wear a pistol and cowboy hats. I drew my pistol, but we all

came in whooping and hollering; we all had our hats. It was a plenary session at the

Atlanta conference, the only session in that hour, so we had a huge audience. It was

just so much fun and people laughed with these slides that you could not [use] now.

(J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008)

Although he had graduated and left Tallahassee, Hardee turned to Dawson for media support. Dawson had located some old West photos and coordinated the pictures into a multi‐projector slide presentation. This introductory section of the program was intended as an audience warm up. Rhatigan recalled the verbal exchanges that accompanied the slides.

They were old west photos mixed in with some campus scenes. We prepared these

little witty comments before the program. She had a photo of the Trojan Marching

Band, but then next there was this group of guys with little banjos, so I would say,

‘There’s the Wichita State marching band.’ Next, there was a picture at USC with a

rainbow stretching across and I said, ‘There is God pointing his way to Jim

Appleton’s office.’ (laughing) There were a number of those. (J. Rhatigan, personal

communication, March 9, 2008)

Hardee moderated the remainder of the program and although the laughs and barbs continued, the threesome addressed current issues. These included the management of the

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campus political environment, the role of the dean in student disciplinary process, the balance between managing student services and facilitating student development, the importance of tending to new professionals entering the field, and the employment of personal values in one’s leadership style.

After the conference, Rhatigan wrote a letter of appreciation to Hardee with praise saying, “In my 15 years in attending NASPA meetings and contributing to sessions, I have never received anything close to the reaction we got on this one. Phenomenal would be the word I would choose” (Rhatigan, 1977). Channing Briggs, executive director of NASPA wrote,

By this time, the flood of letters of appreciation for the Annie Oakley show at Atlanta

may have diminished to a trickle. Let me add one more. Watching you three work a

few times prior to the occasion was cue enough to the likelihood of a unique and

enjoyable wingding. The cues were accurate predictors – it was unique for sure and

anyone who didn’t enjoy it should not be in student affairs! (Briggs, 1977)

Young has been told repeatedly that the Annie Oakley presentation was one of best programs ever put on at a NASPA conference (G. Young, personal communication, March

26, 2008). Praise and gratitude from the conference chair to “The Mentor” was sent via letter,

You will recall the objectives we discussed for your presentation. Never in my

wildest imagination did I dream they could have been met so completely and with

such enthusiasm. Many deans came up to me following your “show” and expressed a

new confidence in the profession and the future of higher education. You

demonstrated so well your keen, incisive insight into all of us and used that insight

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through your able henchmen Rhatigan and Appleton to enlighten, motivate, and

educate us with regard to alternatives for the future. (Young, 1977, p.1)

Shelton attended the Atlanta conference and witnessed the presentation.

It was so perfectly typical of her. She is the author of that. She is the coach,

conductor, the whole thing. More than any other leaders in that profession, I think

that was her favorite, favorite moment. There is no sense you were better than Jim

Rhatigan, you simply were not. Jim Appleton was sharp as a tack. Both of them had a

great sense of humor. It was the perfect, perfect moment. I don’t know why it wasn’t

videotaped and played to every single student in any program forever. (H. Shelton,

personal communication, 2008)

Years later, Meabon spoke about the impact of the program.

I do not know if I could tell you the details of the James Brothers program, I can just

tell you how it felt. You walked out of there thinking man I have just heard and seen

one of the best professional development experiences. At the time, it was very

relevant to what was going on in the field. Appleton and Rhatigan were two major

players in the field and she choreographed the whole thing. (D. Meabon, personal

communication, December 6, 2007)

The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View: The Birth of a Charter

The Student Personnel Point of View (SPPV), released in 1937, was a pivotal document that shaped the student personnel profession. In 1987 the two major umbrella student affairs organizations, ACPA and NASPA met together in Chicago. The theme of the conference was “Make No Little Plans” and it used the 50th anniversary of the SPPV as a

cornerstone of the program. Hardee was chosen by the conference committee to provide

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the opening keynote address. In preparation for this historic presentation, Opper said that

Hardee had visited the Library of Congress more than once.

She was corresponding with a librarian at the Library of Congress, pulling

photographs doing research, looking at original documents. She worked on the text

and the background for a good year. She worked with people at Florida State on the

slides. She wanted it exactly the way she wanted it. She worked hard on it. That was

her way. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Other preparations included a survey she sent to leading student affairs practitioners reminding them of the tenets of the SPPV and requesting them to articulate how they were living up to its aspirations (Hardee, 1987, Louisville). Specifically Hardee asked them to respond to these questions:

1. How have you operationalized the first part of this double‐edged objective: to

assist the student in developing to the limits of his potentialities?

2. How have you operationalized the second part: To assist the student in making

his contribution to the betterment of society?

3. What are some strengths or limitations of this objective for the future? (1987

and beyond?) (Hardee, 1984, SPPOV Survey).

In response Alice Manicur, vice president of student affairs at Frostburg State

College wrote, “This assignment proved to be a very challenging one. We take so much for granted. In fact, I think we freeze when we are asked questions about how we are making a difference in a student’s life.” And later, “You do such interesting things” (Manicur, 1984).

Tom Goodale, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Denver responded,

“Mel – As usual you are in the forefront and we are all better for it! May I have a copy of the

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finished product? Warm regards Iowan! Tom” (Goodale, 1984). Peggy Elder, vice president

for student affairs at New Mexico State University wrote, “Well, none of my colleagues ever

accused you of being easy” (Elder, 1984).

Again, Hardee utilized a multi‐media format to convey her message. Opper was

tapped as a consultant and an assistant.

Her keynote was impressive…for the time. In my years in the profession attending

NASPA and ACPA and APGA, I do not think I ever saw one like it. It was multi‐media.

It was music. She knew exactly what she wanted to say between the slides. She

made her point. It went right to a slide, it was classic her. Anybody who was her

graduate, this was like being back in her classroom… but more. It was probably the

equivalent of multi‐media extravaganza. I remember she kicked it off with the Gone

with the Wind theme. She went through a number of different pictures from the year

1937. That is where she spent time in the Library of Congress looking for exactly the

picture that she wanted. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Near the end of her working career, Hardee dispersed her professional library.

Among the audio tapes, documents, and other treasures Hardee left to Opper for safekeeping, is a recording of the radio production We Hold These Truths written and produced by Norman Corwin. This radio show was commissioned by President Roosevelt in 1941 to observe the 150th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. The show featured celebrities of the time and included the voices of Jimmy Stewart, Orson Welles, Walter Brennan, and

Lionel Barrymore. The appeal of the show was heightened because of the timing; it aired on

December 15, 1941, eight days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was estimated to have been heard by over 63 million Americans, in part due the timing of the release, in

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part because all four national radio networks aired the program simultaneously (Corwin,

n.d.). Hardee used this tape in the classroom as late as 1988. She cued students to listen for

content and emotions and then they were to write a 250‐word essay on how they thought

the Bill of Rights was viewed today. The radio broadcast must have been meaningful to her

in that she kept it for decades and it was among the items she valued but could not decide

where to send upon her retirement from teaching. Because a reference to the radio

production was stored with FSU archival materials under the heading, “50th Anniversary of

SPPOV planning materials” it suggests that this radio program was an inspiration for her presentation. Hardee was attempting to get an emotional response from her audience in

Chicago. This radio performance set a standard she hoped to reach.

She finished the script November 15, 1986 and then she worked with the Multi‐

Media Department of FSU to put it all together. When the final product was ready, several

copies of the slides and tapes had been prepared so she was sure at least one would make it

to Chicago. Different formats were prepared in case of compatibility issues with the hotel’s

equipment. Opper said that Hardee was concerned about the presentation arriving in good

order.

She actually purchased an extra seat on the airplane so that she could put all of the

materials right there on the seat next to her. She had all the slides. She had tapes.

You probably remember the technology. You put these tapes in the machine and the

music would cue the slides. It was all timed out. She had done it probably 100 times.

She had tapes for this kind of projector, tapes for that kind of projector. She had

back up after back up after back up. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26,

2007)

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Unbeknownst to Hardee, a major glitch did occur with the hotel’s media equipment. Her three assistants, Opper, Dawson, and Mike Lawrence, had to do some quick problem solving.

We get to the hotel in Chicago, there are three of us, and she goes off in her hotel

room. She gives us the slides and we go down to the big ballroom, there are these

two huge screens and a podium in between, and we put the stuff together and start

testing. It does not work. None of it works and we have an hour to figure it out. I was

out in front. Mike was behind the screen and we manually keyed the projectors. We

signaled each other because none of this stuff would work. She came in about 45

minutes before the program, “Everything fine?” “Yes Ma’am, everything is fine.” We

knew if we said it did not work we might make her nervous. Boy, when it was over,

we needed a drink (laugh). It took three of us to pull it together but it worked. (J.

Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Dawson remembered the tension and the responsibility to get it right.

I remember there was a final slide, when she was going to eventually ‘Ta Da’, point

to the screen and something was supposed to happen behind her. Now, she had no

idea that any of this is going on behind her during her talk. What was going on

[behind] was different from what was going on out front. Everything went off

without a hitch. It was luck more than anything else. (R. Dawson, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

The production started with the theme music from the movie, Gone with the Wind, which had been released in the same year as the SPPV. She used a black slide with bold red letters “1937” appearing interspersed with historical highlights from the year.

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Click. Then she would say, “This is the year that the first transcontinental balloon,

the Hindenburg…” and then she would flash and this huge picture of the Hindenburg

blowing up and then it would go dark and then it would go back to red and 1937.

Then she would say, “This is the year that the great dust bowl,” and there were

pictures of the Depression. She did about six of those things to get everyone at the

point of what was going on in 1937. Then she said, “At 8 o’clock in the evening I was

weighing some matters of my examination of my master’s degree…” and she went

off from there. She would go back and forth between the year, stuff about her, back

to the work of the committee. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

After setting the economic, cultural, and political context for the writing of this historic document, Hardee described the genesis, the players, the details of how long, how many paragraphs, and how many unique roles and functions were articulated in the treatise. She posited that the basic premise of the document was a reaffirmation of the student as a whole person (Hardee, 1987, The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View). At the conclusion, she quoted Theodore White and his contention that the Constitution of the

United States was an idea that became a nation. In comparison she wrote, “The legacy of the 1937 Student Personnel Point of View is an idea which became a profession…for it assuredly gave stature to that specialty” (Hardee, 1987, The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View, p. 34).

Leslie, Hardee’s then department head, travelled to Chicago to support her. It was not just any keynote.

Mel’s grand extravaganza at the joint anniversary meeting of ACPA and NASPA was

not a “presentation.” (laugh) This was an Oscar‐worthy dramatic show. There were

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probably three‐thousand people in the hall. At the end of it, they were in tears, they

were standing on chairs, and they were applauding. I have been to a Christmas Mass

with the Pope in St. Peters, and that is the only thing I can say that rivals what Mel

did for the two associations. (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

After the joint meeting, Caple (1987) wrote an editorial in ACPA Developments summarizing Hardee’s keynote address.

Her use of history, her understanding of the political, economic and cultural climate

of the period, her knowledge of the field of College Student Personnel work, and her

skill in presentation combined to make this the best keynote address I have heard in

the 20 years I have attended the Convention.

In a letter to Dawson after the Chicago speech, Hardee acknowledged his contribution and conveyed her confidence in his abilities.

The commendatory remarks were many!!!! I got them in the restaurant, rest rooms,

elevators, escalators, in taxi, waiting lines, running spaces…all kinds of places from

the very new to the profession to the very old, and the senior elders Lloyd‐Jones,

Wrenn and on and on… ALL THIS I REFELCT TO YOU AND YOUR GOOD

SURVEILLANCE AND COOL EXTERIOR… (Hardee, 1987, Letter to R. Dawson)

While many saw this as one of Hardee’s finest moments, Shelton had a different take.

I was a little disappointed. Melvene is a wonderful actor among all the many

wonderful things she is. She is not a wonderful public speaker. You have to give her

your complete attention because she is going to talk fast and she is going to talk in a

kind of, I don’t know, I started to say a kind of Shakespearean, but that is not it. She

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positions her words differently than others. Correctly, but it is for effect; it is for

theatrical effect. That does not make it easy to hear over a microphone in a big old

room. It was the magic of being in the room with Melvene, which is just electric by

definition. It was wonderful to see her energetic and healthy. (H. Shelton, personal

communication, January 14, 2008)

For Leslie this event highlighted Hardee’s role in the profession.

When you have seen how, what, she means to the profession and the fact that she is

in large measure the institutional memory of the student affairs profession, at least

at that stage, you do not want to get in the way of that kind of thing. I felt that

Florida State benefited from Mel’s presence but perhaps more importantly the

profession needed Mel’s institutional memory and her talents and that we [FSU]

should support her to the extent that we could continue to do so. (D. Leslie, personal

communication, February 15, 2008)

After the joint meeting, there was a demand for repeat performances of this presentation and Hardee accommodated a few requests but each time she would shuffle the slides so that the presentation was tailored to her particular audience.

After she gave the speech, she came back to campus and many people who

saw it wanted to see it again. They wanted her to go to their campuses and do

it again. She was not somebody who liked to travel around, I mean she

enjoyed it but she was not one to go out on the circuit. She had many

requests to do it again and I do not know that she might have done it; she did

a version of it for Florida State faculty, for the student affairs group. I saw her

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do that. And she may have done one other version of it. (J. Opper, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

Other Affiliations and Non­affiliations

Despite Hardee’s interest and support of women’s advancement in higher education administration and management, she did not have a strong affiliation with the National

Association of Women Deans, and Counselors (NAWDC). Beyond three contributions to the association’s journal and two national conference presentations, there is no evidence that

Melvene Hardee was involved with NAWDC. Formed as the National Association of Women

Deans (NAWD) in 1916, this group provided support, research, and professional development for women in higher education administrative positions through 2000. (In

Hardee’s lifetime, this group later went by NAWDAC that stood for National Association of

Women Deans, Administrators, and Counselors.) After considering this gap of documentation from Hardee’s papers the researcher inquired with Dr. Jo Ann Fley and Dr.

Joanne Trow, two women highly involved with NAWDC in the years 1960 through the

1980s. Dr. Lynn Gangone who had just completed a summary of the organization’s 87 years of history was also consulted. (Gangone, 2008) None of these women could recall Dr.

Hardee’s involvement in the association’s leadership or activities. Rhatigan, NASPA’s long‐ serving historian conjectured,

She always supported the women deans. I mean she probably wished that there

were no such thing as the women deans. It ought to be deans only but, in those days,

that was not the way it was. There is no indication that she served in any way with

the woman deans. (J. Rhatigan personal correspondence, March 9, 2008)

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Hardee was such a strong advocate for professional women but she was not involved to a

larger degree in the women’s organization in her professional field. Since none of the data

collected in this research addressed this question, it will remain a mystery.

At the same time, Hardee did contribute to other women’s groups and initiatives. In

1979, she was invited by the U. N. Secretary of State to participate in a planning conference

entitled “The United Nations Decade for Women.” The purpose of this meeting was to work

on developing the program for the “World Congress for Women” which met in Copenhagen,

Denmark the following year. One of Dr. Hardee’s advisees, Gayle Wolfe was able to attend

the World Congress (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé). She was a member of “Florida’s Planning

Committee, National Identification Program for the Advancement of Women in Higher

Education Administration” under the auspices of the American Council on Education.

Hardee was instrumental in planning a regional meeting for women administrators in

1982. This was planned in concert with the Virginia Identification Program and held in

Williamsburg (Hardee, 1985, Board of Regents Review). She also served on the “Florida

Commission on the Status of Women” under Governor Askew.

In 1960, early in her professorial career, Hardee served as the chair of the National

Committee on General Education, Association for Higher Education, which was affiliated, with the National Education Association (Hardee, 1960, Letter to Unidentified Manuscript

Reader). She provided structure for early efforts to share information about successful academic advising practices by forming Consolidated Effort in Academic Advisement (CON

EFF) at Florida State University (Hardee, 1975). With graduate students, they developed a

national research clearinghouse (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé). She was invited by Dr. Lewis

Mayhew of Stanford University to be an area coordinator for the Study of Emerging

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Graduate Institutions (Hardee, 1977, Applicant). In this role, Hardee conducted onsite reviews for: Atlanta University, Old Dominion College, Fisk University, College of William and Mary, and Emory University (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé).

A final professional involvement worth noting is the invitation she received to be one of 14 consultants to a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) meeting entitled, “The Roundtable on the Role and Nature of Higher Education in Contemporary Society in Asia.” Among others, she was joined by delegates from the

U.S.S.R., Afghanistan, Argentina, and Iran. This occurred in April of 1972 in Manila, the

Philippines. She served this body as “rappoteur,” by assisting in the editing of the meeting’s official proceedings (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé; “Dr. Hardee is Invited to UNESCO,” 1972).

Hardee’s Definition of Scholarship

Melvene Hardee defined the idea of scholarship on her own terms. Her thinking was contrary to the customary beliefs held by new faculty joining universities in the 1970s and

80s. The definition of successful scholarship at FSU, an emerging research university, would have included a demonstrable track of empirically based research published in select, refereed journals. For Hardee, scholarship was an integrated process involving all of her activities. Mann observed Hardee from a student perspective and then became a colleague. In the course of her orientation to faculty life at FSU, Mann and Hardee discussed definitions of scholarship.

She had a different definition of scholarship than what evolved here at Florida State.

Florida State, of course, was in the research university mode, it aspires to be part of

AAU [Association of American Universities]. You can imagine what that means for

faculty. She came from a different perspective, that research is putting things

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together in new ways, making people think about things in new ways. It is what she

did in the classroom; it is what she did in her presentations. She was not into

empirical research as much. She thought there were other ways of learning and

doing. She thought that you could learn by doing historical study. You could learn

from somebody’s life. You could learn from what they believed and did. You could

learn by doing survey research and asking people and then putting that together in

some way with some outcomes. That did not fit well as Florida State grew. (B. Mann,

personal communication, October 27, 2007)

When Mann joined the FSU faculty, she was able to observe Hardee’s dissertation advising

in a new light.

She was not particularly comfortable with heavily statistical dissertations. Her

published research had nothing to do with statistical research. Although she seemed

to understand the statistics, I do not think she was comfortable directing

dissertations that had a lot of statistics. For instance, she would have you get

somebody on your committee that was good with statistics. Of course, I did not see

it [when I was a student] but when I came back [on the faculty], I was on many

committees immediately. I would then see she relied in defense on the committee

members who understood and really knew their statistics for their input on the

statistical part of the dissertation. Then I really understood, I think, what it was. We

all have different strengths. My strength as a major professor was not in statistics

but I learned a lot. (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007)

Hardee’s clear contribution to the profession’s knowledge base came early in her

career when she was working as the coordinator of counseling. According to Meabon, “She

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had a number of the early monographs, publications, and articles that spoke to advising and how students and the institution related, student/institutional relationships” (D.

Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007). O’Banion suggested that Hardee’s major contribution to the profession’s knowledge base was the book she wrote, Faculty and

College Counseling. “Which in one way, I do not think it was an enormously scholarly book, but it was probably the best articulated view of the role of four‐year college and university college faculty member in their role in academic advising” (T. O’Banion, personal communication, February 20, 2008).

Shelton spoke to Hardee’s influential hand in shaping many of the key concepts of the student affairs profession; her name might not be directly attached to these products but her thinking and questioning helped them to take shape.

If there is such a thing, she was not a stereotypical scholar who hides away hours

somewhere and reads and writes with the idea of adding to the body of knowledge.

That is not the Dr. Hardee scholarship that I saw. Her scholarship place was when

the CAS standards were just figments, you know, they had not really come to

fruition yet. They came to her and said ‘Do you, number one, believe that the

profession needs a statement of standards? Number two, ‘How do we get unanimity

out of thousands of us or a piece of it?’ You will not find her name on the CAS

standards but it is all over it. That is her contribution. She, as you know, was part of

the Joint Statement [The Joint Statement on the Rights and Freedoms of Students,

1967] that was written by a cooperative group from various organizations. She was

in that organizing group that wrote the first draft. The Joint Statement is one of the

three or four significant pieces or writing ever done in our profession as far as I am

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concerned. She was not an article writer. If you look at a bibliography, you are not

going to find that kind of entry. She was a contributor, an editor, a consultant. She

would plant seeds and let other people do the work. I think there is certainly a place

for that kind of scholarship. That is a niche that not many can occupy. (H. Shelton,

personal communication, January 14, 2008)

Building upon her knowledge base and years of experience, Hardee was tapped as a consultant for numerous institutions for a variety of reasons. Young suggested she was most interested in the practical application of knowledge.

I think her later scholarship devolved into consulting. I know she consulted at many

different places both inside and outside the country. I do not remember seeing a lot

of research work, you know, what Hugh Stickler would have considered research. I

think her thing at that point in her life was to facilitate her students and put out the

best product she could possibly put out of this program. She wanted to be sure that

they really got the kind of attention that she, as “The Mentor,” could provide. That is

what she focused on. I never saw her as a person bent over a carrel in a library

doing that kind of scholarly research. In fact, I remember when I was writing my

dissertation I did a lot of that at the FSU library. I felt like she read it but she really

did not react to much of the historical stuff I did. She was more interested in the

conclusions. (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Exposed to Hardee’s writings in the FSU master’s degree program, Johnson was struck by her foresight.

I will tell you that I was amazed at the number of articles that were “landmark

articles” in our profession that she had written years before the actual issue or topic

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became, for lack of a better word, popular. In many ways, her writings were ahead

of her time. We would discuss this. We would say, “Wow, Dr. Hardee wrote this

article back in the 1960s and this issue is just really coming to fruition. (R. Johnson,

personal communication, March 21, 2008)

Professional colleagues like Shaffer appreciated her contributions to the

profession’s knowledge base. “She was creative, energetic, and had a lot of initiative. I do

not know if she was the greatest theorist, as I certainly never was. She kept up on her

subjects. We all admired her creativity and scholarship” (R. Shaffer, personal

communication, March 28, 2008).

Scholarly Products

The researcher found references to 59 Hardee speeches, presentations, or panel

discussions. A list of her presentations can be found in Appendix B. The researcher found

references to 57 written pieces authored or co‐authored by Melvene Hardee. A list of her publications and writing is located in Appendix C. There is some duplication in titles between the two lists, as some of her presentations were eventually published in journals.

The topics she wrote about and her writing and presentation style will be addressed in

Chapter Four which contains an analysis of Hardee’s writing and speaking. Hardee also served as a consultant for many institutions and agencies. This professional activity will be delineated in the subsequent section entitled, “Institutional Service.”

Changing of the Guard

Mann thought Hardee would have continued her driving pace right up to her death.

“I do not think she ever wanted to retire. I think she just planned to keep teaching, directing dissertations, and mentoring students” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27,

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2007). However, by the early 1980s the climate at FSU had changed. Newer faculty hires

brought a different point of view and they did not understand Hardee’s perspectives on

teaching. “In the 80s, it got tough for her because of this new influx of people who had a

more traditionally‐empirical perspective of higher education as a field of study” (B. Mann,

personal communication, October 27, 2007). Their training and background differed from

what Hardee had to offer (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). Mann

noted that around 1983 there was considerable tension in the department. “At that time,

she was in a mode of constantly justifying what she was about” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007).

When Leslie assumed the leadership of the Educational Leadership Department in

1984, he encountered a unit in transition.

The department was in some disarray when I got there, I do not think anybody

would disagree with that. The dean who at the time was a very controversial figure

had essentially given me marching orders to straighten out the place. The

implication of that was we were going to be a research‐oriented university and we

needed faculty who were going to understand and appreciate that mission and who

are going to perform in line with expectations of a research university. The faculty in

all of these fields which had national reputations, higher education included, the

faculty were old, capital O‐L‐D, Mel among them. In the case of some of the faculty,

they had simply given up. They were just no longer interested; they were marking

time and the department was just not functioning. There were individual islands of

serious scholarship, but overall this department needed a whack with a two‐by‐four.

(D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

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Leslie affirmatively stated that Hardee was not among those who were marking time.

She had not given up. Mel was a Winston Churchill type – Never, ever, ever give up.

She was one of the most iron‐willed people you would ever want to meet. The deal

with Mel at that stage of her career though, where the world had changed, the

knowledge base had evolved, it takes a lot to keep up with the emerging norms,

standards, knowledge base, research methods, and so forth of the field. I think the

professional world had moved in a direction that Mel was not prepared to move in.

(D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

In one of the Graduate Policy Committee reviews in the 1980s, Hardee’s doctoral directive status was pulled. Mann recalled this occurred between 1985 and 1988 (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). Leslie suggested that this move was not about her effort, her dedication, or her value to the department. The removal of doctoral directive status happened across campus to other faculty who were not producing scholarship products in the manner expected of faculty at a research institution. “The doctoral degree is a research degree and if these people are not current in doing research, they ought not to be training people to do research; that was the bottom line” (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008).

Mann suggested that this inability to advise doctoral students was a significant blow to Dr. Hardee. “I know it led to her deciding to retire. Because if there was one thing she loved to do, part of her mentoring role was to direct dissertations. It hurt tremendously to have that happen” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). Hardee went into a phased retirement in 1985. She taught one class a term and then one class a year until she fully retired at the end of 1989.

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Home Life

About the time Dr. Hardee moved from her coordinator of counseling position to the

higher education faculty, she and Tom built a home on a couple of wooded acres of land at

910 North Ride Street. This house served as her Tallahassee home base for the remainder

of her life (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). She and Tom had no

children. They lived apart much of the time due to Melvene’s demanding faculty position

and her involvement in professional organizations. Among Tom’s work locations over their

married life, the researcher learned of a stint as a physical education instructor at Broward

County Junior College in Ft. Lauderdale (G. Young, personal communication, March 26,

2008; Hardee, 1962, Top Drawer Talk). Hardee’s brother recalled Tom served as a civilian

physical education coach at Bainbridge Army Air Field in Georgia that was 37 miles from

Tallahassee (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). Weekends were spent at one of their home bases or at the Valdosta farm that Tom had wanted to purchase.

Increased family obligations may have been difficult to manage given their perpetually separate liv ing arrangements.

A letter written to Tom by Melvene one month after her marriage painted a picture

of the life she wanted to build with him. She wrote, “These are ‘the best years of our lives’

and I thought maybe we would both be inspired to work and prove it,” (Hardee, 1948, p. 1)

and she proceeded to make a list of things to which they both could aspire. The list included

the desire to have a model home and a comfortable, yet modest, living. She cited the desire

to be “influences for good in the community and the state” (p. 1) and commented on her

desire to “do everything in her power to help Tom achieve this recognition,” (p. 1) which

meant, Tom should run for political office. She spoke of wanting to go places, to see the

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world, to learn from others, and to cultivate many friendships between them. She

articulated the desire for a family that explicitly named four children but she acknowledged

she would be happy with whatever arrangement God might provide.

The Hardees, in summary, are going places! They are never going to stand still; nor

are they going to waste time looking back. Their eyes are straight ahead, and their

determination to “go places” and “get places” is GREAT. The Hardee team works

together, is loyal to the core, and is bound to succeed. (Hardee, 1948)

As a young girl, Melvene scorned domesticity; this sentiment appeared in several

documents. The discussion of whether she wanted children was not referenced in any

archival material other than the abovementioned letter. Her brother doubted whether

motherhood was on Melvene’s life agenda.

If she is 35 when she got married, I think she might have thought she was past

childbearing age without worrying about it. The children would take more of her

time and she wanted to be devoted to her profession. I think that letter probably

tells him [Tom] what she is going to do and what he is going to do. I think having a

family was not foremost in her mind. (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2,

2008)

Whether Tom actually had political ambitions is difficult to assess. The ambitions may have belonged to Melvene, the guidance counselor, who believed Tom had the right personality for the role.

I think he [Tom] needed to be motivated. His main thing was to watch football

games, he wanted to coach, and that was it. Many of her thoughts were to motivate

him into other things. He had a good personality. In politics, he could have gone just

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by getting votes. I think she thought that might have been his forte. He was

acquainted with some of the people in politics in Georgia and later became

acquainted, down in Florida. (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008)

There was a mystique about Hardee’s home. Over her life, she did not entertain very many people and only select students were invited to come by, usually to pick up a graded paper left on her door or to take care of things while she was away. Former advisee, Moser, spoke of the perceived status of those who were allowed to come to the house,

I was not as close to her as some of the other students. We jokingly said that the

special ones got to take care of her house when she was gone. They would take in the

mail, water the plants, and if you were really special, you got to go inside her house. I

never did. On one occasion, she asked me to get the mail and put the plants out. She

was pretty much the director and I was the pupil. (R. Moser, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

The FSU alumni coll eagu es who had encouraged Opper to study at Florida State told him,

They would never go to her house. If she allowed them to come to the house, it was

to pick up a paper. Well, I picked up papers on her porch many times. I would visit

her, we would sit, I have been in her house many, many times, and they thought that

was just unbelievable. Maybe because it was that she was at that stage in her career,

maybe it was because I was not one of her students and she was not supervising me.

(J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Mann said when she was invited inside, “Usually it centered around something we were doing with a student. I think the last time I was in her house, she was doing a speech at a

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national conference, and she wanted to run things by me” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007).

The people who spoke about the interior of Hardee’s home did so with reverence.

Hardee had paperwork everywhere and projects going in several rooms of the house.

There were typewriters located in several rooms with letters or papers in various stages of completion. Meabon was a Hardee advisee; he described her stream of consciousness approach to writing, “She had a running list going in several typewriters. Consequently, sometimes her letters would be disjointed. As she would think of something she would add it, and then she would write all over the letter and say forget this or that” (D. Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007). Opper admitted, “Pretty much she lived in her bedroom and her dining room where she had paperwork everywhere” (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007). Her brother spoke about the significance of one of the typewriters,

She had a portable typewriter that my mother got for her when she went to college.

It was a used one. She called it the “Ernie Pyle typewriter” because Ernie Pyle had

one just like it. It was a Royal portable. The keys folded up and down, you put the

case on the top. She banged away on that a lot. She had another, a bold upright. She

did not have any electric ones that I recall. She was used to having to pound hard.

(N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008)

“Having heard the stories about the typewriters, and being the recipient of some of those letters” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007), Mann appreciated seeing the setting first person. The living room was not used in a traditional sense. There was limited seating due to several antique pump organs that took up most of the space (B.

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Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). She had up to eight organs in her

collection (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé; J. Opper, personal communication, October 26,

2007; N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008) Opper observed, “She had a 12”

black and white television and she had a typewriter, a standard old typewriter. She watched television one hour of television a day, the McNeil Lehrer News Hour” (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007).

Love and Loss

In the summer of 1962, Melvene Hardee was teaching at Michigan State University.

Tom had taken classes there (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé) and was heading home to

Valdosta via New York City where he visited Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant, enjoyed several theatre productions, and took in a baseball game. This itinerary was articulated in a letter she received upon returning to Valdosta several days later. Their playfulness is evidenced in the salutation to her, “Hello Scrappy” and it is signed, “Your Ace, Jim Leadville Brown” a reference to “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” a play they had seen together in Detroit

(Hardee, 1962, Letter to A. & H. Draheim, p. 1). Melvene had travelled the opposite direction in route home in order to visit family in Clarion for a couple of days. They did not see each other again after the Michigan visit. While waiting for the train to Atlanta on the

platform at Pennsylvania Station, Tom Hardee collapsed and died from a massive coronary

(Hardee, 1967, Role and Control; Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé; N. Draheim, personal

communication, April 2, 2008).

The next day, a Clarion police officer delivered the news to Newt, a former county

attorney; the officer had not wanted to deliver the telegram directly to Melvene who was

staying at her parents’ home. Sitting at the kitchen table with the assistance of his father

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and sister, Newt broke the news to Melvene (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2,

2008). She remembered the day this way:

And ‐‐ if I had taken home economics in high school, I should surely not have been

prepared on the day of July 28, 1962, to accommodate myself to sudden death. No

curriculum of my knowledge readies a woman for facing the interrogation of a

lawyer‐brother who has just received a message from the police department of the

largest city of the world—and must confirm it. How much did (not does) your

husband weigh? What was (not is) the color of his eyes? His hair? Would he have

been in New York City yesterday? And my answers coming hollowly: 225

lbs…brown…dark brown…yes, he would have been route from Michigan to

Tallahassee with a short stay in New York to see good baseball and good plays…

(Hardee, 1967, Role and Control, p. 3)

Melvene made an immediate trip to New York. Accompanied by Newt, she reported to the morgue on First Avenue in New York City. They spent two hours in the police precinct, arranged affairs in the mortuary off Park Avenue, and stayed in a hotel that she and Tom had previously stayed in (Hardee, 1967, Role and Control). Newt recalled, “We got the body put on a plane and sent down to Valdosta. Then we went down there and arranged for the funeral. It was a tough time” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April

2, 2008).

Melvene was not familiar with widowhood. She had no role models in her family to guide her, only distasteful stereotypes from literature portraying a grim picture, a life over, for the subjects of novels. Speaking to a group of widows in 1967, Melvene told her widow story and asked, “How does one move from wife to widow in five minutes, or 5 hours, even

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5 days?” (Hardee, 1967, Role and Control, p. 3). From most accounts, her response to

widowhood was private. For 14 years, Tom and Melvene’s life was dispersed over several

locations. They had spent weekends and summers together either in Melvene’s home base

of Tallahassee, at their farm near Valdosta, Georgia, or in Tom’s work locations. Given their

limited time together, it is not surprising that Melvene’s students and colleagues had

limited knowledge of Tom.

Interview participants for this study had only vague recollections about her marriage. Those who knew the story best included her brother and doctoral advisee Young.

Young completed the FSU program in 1966 but also attended FSU as an undergraduate and

was familiar with Dr. Hardee in the early 1960s. While in the doctoral program, Dr. Hardee

often asked Young to move her ’53 Chevrolet Bel Air into a more suitable campus parking

location than where she had hurriedly left it. “She had Tommy Hardee’s pictures pasted all

over the dashboard. Despite Young having seen the pictorial display, he never discussed it

with her. “She didn’t really want to talk about Tom at that point. I never wanted to bring it

up; I think she had settled it, she was okay with it, and she didn’t need me reminding her of

her loss” (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008). Shelton, a later FSU student

who graduated in 1971, described the same scene, “On the metal dash were three to four

photos of Tom Hardee scotched taped and weathered by the sun” (H. Shelton, personal

communication, January 13, 2008). Opper was a doctoral program participant toward the

end of Hardee’s teaching career and became her confidante. He recalled a sign on Dr.

Hardee’s desk that read, “Coach Hardee.” He suspected it had belonged to Tom who had

been a coach but she never confirmed this supposition (J. Opper, personal communication,

October 26, 2007). Queries to other interview participants revealed that even in later years,

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Tom Hardee was not a subject of in‐depth or intimate conversation. Mann recalled indirect

references, “She did not talk about [her marriage] except, if she did make comments she

would make comments about a supportive partner is a tremendous asset for a woman

administrator” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). Generally, former

students and colleagues knew that she had been married and that her husband had died.

For most of them, mystery shrouded this part of her life (T. O’Banion, personal

communication, February 20, 2008). What is clear after Tom’s death is that her focus

turned to her work as a higher education faculty member with a unique weekend diversion,

one that she discussed quite readily.

High Noon Farms

The initial impetus to purchase farmland came from Tom Hardee who had lived in

the Valdosta, Georgia area. Melvene was comfortable in an agricultural setting having come

from Iowa, but running a farm was probably not on her radar. According to, Newt, “He

[Tom] came up with this patch of ground, 90 some acres. Melvene had the money. After he

died, she got involved in managing the farm and that was another outlet for her on

weekends” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). The decision of what to

do with the farm when Tom died weighed heavily on Melvene. She described the decision

in psychological terms; for her it was a way to face the fear of being alone (Hardee, 1967,

Role and Control). Newt directed her to the U.S. Office of Agriculture, Soil Conservation

Office in Tallahassee where an officer suggested she sell the property and be done with it.

But some conditioning or inherited tendency—a Germanic love of land; my

familiarity with farm people in the mid‐West—a wish to do something that, had my

husband lived, he might have done‐‐‐prompted me to speak with some show of

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spirit. I related how I needed to be kept very busy…how the week‐ends otherwise

would be very long for me…how I was used to responsibility and was not afraid of

work…all this. And he said, with a grin, “Lady, you have lots of nervous energy. I

think you might try managing that farm…and here’s the way to start…” (Hardee,

1967, Role and Control, p. 9)

In a letter dated November 18, 1994, she hinted that one factor in the decision to keep the farm might have been to appease her mother‐in‐law. “I have a community of my own design, dating to 1962, July, when I answered my mother‐in‐law’s appeal – Mel, you will operate (‘take on’) the farm since we have no men now. (I could not reprove her)” (Hardee,

1994, Letter to Committee of Five, p. 3).

Over time, she added acres as they became available until the slash pine tree farm

measured some 877 acres. “Although I did not know anything about farming, I decided to

try managing the farms in which he and I had invested. All I knew was what a good farm looked like! (Iowa farm, of course)” (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé, p. 2). She soon learned that Southern farms presented their own challenges. A simple lesson was described in one of her unpublished poems,

Lilacs are my favorite flower. So I tried to get them to grow at my farm‐‐‐three

bushes, only two remaining. I find they demand a dormant season else they cannot

thrive…and in the South, they will only bloom themselves to death. Terrible fate.

(Hardee, 1968, Psychedelic Sorrow)

Her brother offered valuable advice after Tom died, “She would call weekly for advice. I

suggested conservation programs and got her to investigate the federal agencies that were

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eligible to help her. She got conservation awards year after year for developing the land

and ponds” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008).

Melvene Hardee had lived in the South for 14 years at the time she made the

decision about keeping the farm. Newt recalled her frustration in learning the culture of the

South. She was a mover and a shaker in other settings and the South had a slower pace to

which she had to acclimate. “At the farm she could take out her frustrations because she

ran the show. Farming was her job to tell her guy what to do with the cotton, the corn,

tobacco, etc. That is the thing she liked” (N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2,

2008).

Contrary to the shroud of mystery that surrounded her marriage, everyone knew

about the farm. “I knew about that farm but she never told us anything about Tom. She was

always telling us how she managed that farm. We were intrigued that she could manage her

graduate program, manage ACPA, and manage the farm” (T. O’Banion, personal

communication, February 20, 2008). The farm produced watermelons, corn, soybeans,

cabbages, hay, cotton, as well as trees (Memorial Celebration of the Life and Career of Dr.

Melvene Draheim Hardee, 1995) and these treasures were shared liberally with the FSU

community. Meabon started at FSU in the early 1970s and he confirmed Hardee’s

reputation. “She was known for bringing different things around campus at different times

of the year, onions, watermelons, and pine trees at Christmas. This was not out of any sense

of obligation; she was just that kind of person” (D. Meabon, personal communication,

December 6, 2007). His first introduction to Dr. Hardee and the FSU program was a

surprise tour of campus.

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When we moved into our Tallahassee apartment and I went on campus to meet her.

What I recall was that she was in her farm clothes and in her truck. She said, “Come

with me David.” I did and we went got in her truck and all afternoon we delivered

watermelons to the high and the mighty at Florida State. We went to president’s

office, all the vice president’s offices. I could tell very quickly she was a lot of fun,

had a great sense of humor, and was a different kind of person. Here was a woman

in the 1970s, with her own truck, she did not look like a, I mean, she was not your

faculty type. She was down to earth and very direct. That was a great afternoon. (D.

Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007)

Sharing the farm’s bounty with colleagues gave Hardee an opportunity to nurture campus relationships.

It was clear that these offices were resources for her and for her class. This was not

necessarily for her personal gain. As students, we all found our way into these

offices in different ways through our course work, in our research, in our

assistantships, and in our practicum experiences. It was clear that these

relationships were built for us and not necessarily for her. (D. Meabon, personal

communication, December 6, 2007)

Farm management provided the professor farmer with all kinds of analogies and metaphors to link to the process and products of education. Turner, former advisee and confidante at the end of Melvene’s life, recalled one such lesson regarding the significance of culture.

When she chose to keep it that meant that most Friday afternoons she headed to the

farm in Georgia. I remember her talking one time about how you are shaped by your

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career. Here as a professor, there were certain things expected of members of the

culture; as a pine tree farmer, one lived with different cultural expectations. (N.

Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Another lesson could be entitled “campus culture meets farm culture.” For Turner the story illuminated the gender role conflict that Hardee encountered given her bifurcated life.

She described a time when women could not wear pants on campus. One Friday she

had farm duty and she had some books to return to the library before she left town

for the farm. She came to campus in her truck and she strolled into the library in her

pants, her farm wear. She talked about being criticized for appearing like that. The

campus culture did not allow this attire but it was the attire of the farm culture. She

lived with this conflict. The good thing about her, she took those criticisms or they

just rolled off her back. (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

The scholar farmer had a legendary partnership with her trucks. She drove them back and forth to the farm on the weekends; the old trucks emblazoned with the “High

Noon Farms” insignia made regular appearances on campus. As previously mentioned, pictures of Tom Hardee adorned the dashboard, apparently providing Hardee with someone to talk to on her 180‐mile weekly sojourns. In 1993 she wrote, “I have three trucks (no passenger car) and these are all in stages of near wear‐out! But…they serve my purpose! My oldest is 20 years old and does a good job of work on the farm” (Hardee, 1993,

Quick Résumé, p. 2). She wrote of a pact made at 100,000 miles with the truck she purchased in 1964 named “Old Blue.” “Looking her squarely in the motor, I said, I’ll go the last mile with you, Baby… will you do the same for me?” (Hardee, 1993, The Management of

Trucks).

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She did not learn to drive until her first year of teaching which means she was approximately 21 years old (Hardee, 1993, The Management of Trucks). She relied upon others’ expertise particularly in the area of automotives. When she planned to rent a vehicle during a sabbatical and discovered that manual transmission rental cars were no longer available, she made a deal with Dawson. She admitted to never having driven an automatic and said to him, “‘I will make you a deal. I will give you some non‐major professor editing services, on papers in exchange for your coming over and teaching me how to drive an automatic.’ That sounded like a good deal to me” (R. Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Opper conveyed a similar tale when he was consulted about new trucks she had purchased for the farm.

One was this big Lariat truck for the farm. Floyd, who worked for her on the farm, he

loved that big old truck. She bought a smaller Ford Ranger and it was an automatic.

She was having trouble getting her head around the automatic because she was

used to shifting on the column. I went over one day, we got the book out, and we

went over everything about the truck‐‐the radio, the CD player, and then we got to

the cruise control and she asked about it. I said, “Well you get on the highway and

you are going a certain speed and you push this button and the car goes and you do

not have to keep your foot on the accelerator.” “You mean it goes by itself?” “Well,

yes.” “Oh, I will never use that.” It was just funny to talk to her about the

convenience of what the truck did because she was all about manual everything. (J.

Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

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Hardee turned out to be an accomplished weekend farmer. During each trip to the farm, she inspected the work of the previous week, consulted with her many advisors, and charted what needed to be done the next week (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé). She did so taking full advantage of available resources and in a manner that demonstrated good stewardship.

This is my 22nd year of managing a farm of 877 acres which is done with no other

help (no hired personnel on the farm) but with great assistance from my neighbors,

the U. S. Office of Agriculture, the Soil Conservation Service, County Agent, and a

host of persons who have helped me clear land, plant trees, rotomow, build ponds,

make fences, repair buildings, build terraces and waterways, and farm the land that

is good for row crops. Half the farm is planted in slash pines which grow very fast.

I have tried to keep the farm as much a model as possible, working with little

money, and limited help. One of the things I can show as accomplishment is utilizing

old buildings (tobacco barns) [and making them] into livable houses. I have been

able to remake some 12 structures in the past 22 years, using labor available to help

me from the farm community. (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé, p. 2)

In 1979, for the first time in its history, the annual Alapaha District Farm Man of the Year

Award went to a woman, Melvene Hardee (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé). In 1989, the same entity recognized her as Conservationist of the Year. Her concern for conservation is evident here:

We have just finished setting out 31,000 pine seedlings. Next May, we will clear 50

acres of land and prepare to plant seedlings there in November and December. We

who farm are urged to reforest—the nation’s forests have been depleted in many

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places, and while slash pine grow fast in 20 years, that is not fast enough for the uses

now apparent. (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé)

Lives of Purpose

At age 75, Melvene sent her brother an audio taped greeting to celebrate his January birthday. It is entitled, “Thoughts About Retirement” upon which she admitted to thinking about retirement after 39 years at Florida State. She mused that her service at the institution is likely a record, especially for a female member of the faculty (Hardee, 1988).

At this point, she was partially retired and only taught one class a year in the Educational

Leadership program. This phased retirement arrangement commenced in 1984 and was to run five years. On December 20, 1989, she fulfilled her final contractual duties with Florida

State University, marking 41 years from beginning to end (Hardee, 1990, Letter to M.

Pankowski). She reflected upon the retirement of others she knew who concluded their professional careers and left all that was familiar for a warmer climate and places unknown only to return a short time later to the place where they felt comfortable. She mused over her now trifurcated life that included the intellectual community of Tallahassee and the tight‐knit agricultural community of Valdosta, “Where people know me in the courthouse, feed stores, on the country lanes” (Hardee, 1988). In a 1990 letter, she conveyed a sense of her partial retirement schedule and her commitment to the ongoing learning that the farm required.

At the farm and in the city of Valdosta, retirement has been filled with unending

conferences with advisors who interpret Georgia tax law as it applies, federal farm

assistance, along with the regular agri‐business involvements ‐ ‐ learning as I do

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with the men who know the ropes and know the land. In 28 years, I have absorbed

little, as a commuter each weekend. (Hardee, 1990, Letter to M. Pankowski, p. 1)

The third commitment at this point in her life, beyond part‐time teaching and

farming, was the historical museum she opened in Clarion to honor her parents. In January

of 1981, at the age of 92 ½, Hazle Howe Draheim passed away just a few years shy of her

goal to live to be 100. Initially, Melvene honored Art and Hazle through a gift of funds to

purchase a replacement fountain for the Clarion City Park (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé).

She then turned her attention to renovating the family house at 217 E. Central Street. She

considered allowing the Clarion Historical Society to use the house as a home base. In the

summer of 1981, as Melvene went through her parents belongings she was struck with an

idea,

[In the] papers, books, journals, and memorabilia of my parents, I kept running

across this phrase written in pen or pencil on these items: DRAHEIM HISTORICAL

LIBRARY. This was odd because there was no physical representation of any

Draheim Historical Library. The idea, however, dwelled in the mind of Hazle and Art

so much that they wrote it on their materials, and assumed that they had a Library

going for them—and its users. (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé, pp. 3‐4)

Even before the renovation to the 217 house was finished, Melvene had identified a

local partner, Bertha Williamson, and they began developing a plan to gather books, diaries,

maps and other artifacts for the museum. In the fall of 1982, the adjacent home that had

belonged to Melvene’s grandmother also became available “…and the idea arose in my

mind for having the Library in grandmother’s house (it was larger) and the Annex to be in the house 217 East, as a kind of overflow of artifacts from the Library proper” (Hardee,

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1993, Quick Résumé, p. 4). The library’s focus was threefold. The primary emphasis was the history and the people of Wright County. Her parents had researched and written about people in their county and Melvene knew that others would share this interest. Upon her full retirement from Florida State, Melvene hoped to consolidate all of the newspaper feature articles that her parents had written into book form. Additionally, the topic of war was explored at the museum, “My father was interested in the War Between the States, and that is one of my interests. That is another facet of the Library, and it will extend to other

American‐ U.S. war service as well” (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé, p. 4). To honor her mother’s life of work both with her business and in her community, Melvene sought to recognize women’s contribution to humanity. “My field is one in which few women participate and we know that in the ensuing century, more and more women will enter the educational fields, the professions, and business. I have written and taught in the area of women’s work” (Hardee, 1993, Quick Résumé, p. 4).

So…it has come along. We are not yet open, but we are very close. In view of the fact

that the house was not mine to deal with until January 5, 1983, it is something of a

miracle that it is where it is…useful from top to bottom, and in excellent formulation

of materials, made by Bertha whose enthusiasm equals mine. (Hardee, 1993, Quick

Résumé, p. 4)

Despite her enthusiasm, a local partner to tend to the day‐to‐day details, and the financial support she provided, the museum project was short‐lived. In 1989, Melvene dissolved the library. Not all her efforts were lost as many of the artifacts went to a good home. Typing on her mother’s 50 year‐old typewriter, she wrote,

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When I dissolved the Library in Clarion, the Chief Curator Michael V. Smith of the

Iowa State Historical Museum, came three times with his staff to discuss with me –

and our legal attorney–what of the hundreds of items in the collection I would be

willing to give to the Museum in Des Moines. (262 individual pictures of our town

and its people in one unified showing went there….together with two very unusual

fittings – (1) a replica of my mother’s business – typewriter exchange – which she

initiated and kept going for over 60 years in our home – in short, Hazle at Home and

at Work – a model female ahead of her time by about that many years – her model

typewriters, office equipment, advertising schema – all this now in the State

Historical Museum PLUS…. And this is even more unusual, (2) a matching space

portraying my dad’s specialty ‐ ‐ an early tailor in his work place! That matching

unit showing his record books, the equipment he used in time 60 years ago…a quilt

he made out of Hart‐Schaffner‐Marx wool which we kids slept under in the

Depression Days. (Hardee, 1990, Letter to M. Pankowski, p. 1)

She was pleased that her parents’ lives were to be honored in the state museum, “The idea of a memorial for WOMAN’s Work (Hazle’s) in the 1920s in the capital city of Iowa was honor enough…. BUT…. Linked with it was that honor given my dad ‐ and the two parents are memorialized in company” (Hardee, 1990, Letter to M. Pankowski, p. 1).

Melvene Draheim Hardee remembered her place of birth with great fondness and

continued to support home causes well after she had moved to the South. In addition to the

investments she made in the fountain and the museum, she helped to restore the Rock

Island Depot, made contributions to the Clarion Memorial Hospital, the UCC Congregational

Church, and the Clarion Public Library (Draheim, 2008). Over the years in the name of the

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Draheim family, she sponsored scholarships for graduating seniors of Clarion‐Goldfield. In

1993, she gave the school district funding to provide foreign language instruction in the

middle schools because she believed communications skills were important and young

people needed to be instilled with the love of language earlier in life (“Draheim family

impacts local education,” 1994, p. 1).

Another Collection

Leading up to full retirement, Hardee spent time considering what to do about her

collection of teaching materials and dissertations. She enlisted the assistance of John and

Nancy Opper to review boxes of audio and VHS tapes and then advise her.

Most of this (pointing to several boxes on the table) is something she sent to me or

tapes that she gave to me and she said, “Keep this.” I would keep it until she told me

what she wanted me to do or, maybe she did not know. She would give me boxes of

cassette tapes and we would listen to them and list out what was on them. Then I

would give her lists and she would tell me what needed to go and what was

important. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Concerning copies of her students’ dissertations, Opper said Hardee did not want to dispose of them.

She decided that she was not going to throw them away, she did not want them, and

she did not have anywhere to put them. The library already had a copy. She drafted

a letter to all of her graduates, “I have a copy of your dissertation, would you like it?”

It had a little card and they would send it back, “Yes.” She would bundle it all up and

mail it to them at her own expense. That is what she did with them. If she did not

hear from somebody, and there were only a few that did not respond, she might

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have put them in the Hardee Center as examples. (J. Opper, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

One Last Project

Hardee’s research agenda extended past her official retirement from FSU. Her papers contain remnants and roadmaps of a few projects that did not come to fruition. One involved a legal case she wanted to explore. Another involved writing an article for publication that essentially mirrored the keynote speech she gave at the1987 NASPA and

ACPA (American College Personnel Association) joint meeting. A significant interest commenced in June 1994 when she constructed a “Committee of Five” that included John

Blackburn, Leslie, Opper, Turner, and Hardee. In a handwritten missive to her committee, she laid out “The Project” and posited the research question, “How has the major in FSU higher education come to be and to be so good? (Hardee, 1994, Cannon Sketch, p. 18).

Hardee gave $11,000 to the higher education department to fund a doctoral fellow to begin in the fall of 1995. The members of the Committee had pledged to be available to the fellow for consultation. Turner was on the committee.

Originally, her first thought was to pull together a historical account of what she had

done. Then she decided the story was bigger than she was. She believed there

needed to be an accounting of how student affairs and higher education had

developed in the Southeast. She formed a committee of five individuals to share her

thoughts with and started collecting all of the resources. She would send out

questions to those of us on the committee and have us answer them. . After a year or

two, one of the members suggested we should dissolve the committee. She was still

working on it but I recall the higher education department representative had

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moved from FSU by that time so there were a few things that were changing about

the committee. I believe she also thought the project could move forward without

the committee at that point. (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Hardee and other committee members had invested time in gathering information and suggesting areas for exploration some of which included the influence of

Midwesterners in the development of the higher education program. Of the program founders, Stickler was an Iowan educated at the University of Iowa, Schultz earned his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin, and she was an Iowan. “The Project writing must show the great influence of a goodly number of Midwesterners who came to learn and to coordinate action” (Hardee, 1994, Letter to G. Kropf). She thought it important to identify

“the political, academic, economic, cultural influences that shaped the development of higher education systems in the Southeast and particularly in the state of Florida” (Hardee,

1994, “The Project,” p. 18). Committee members thought that a bibliography of program faculty could be developed along with a classification of completed student research topics.

Other areas for exploration included an analysis of the quality and variety of internships, a study of how the program connected to the region, and an updating of the directory of graduates was badly needed (Hardee, 1994, “The Project”). Opper recalled some of the work done that year,

There was a lot of work done one year, and several of us participated. The “Life Net”

directory had become outdated. The locations and the names and the graduates,

where they were, and what they had been doing had become outdated. She knew a

lot of it in her memory of where these people were because they would keep in

contact with her. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

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In a handwritten letter to committee members dated November 18, 1994, Hardee formally dismissed the committee. She stated her praise for the work done in six months but concluded that competing commitments and distance made it difficult to move forward with this idea. As much as she would have liked to see a history of the FSU higher education program written, this final project escaped her. Lung cancer was ravaging her body, she had chosen not to seek treatment, and she probably knew her time was limited. A month after writing this letter, Melvene D. Hardee passed away.

The Final Chapter

Hardee controlled the last year of her life by keeping her illness private, choosing not to have medical treatments, staying on her farm, and arranging for her papers and effects. Her brother believed she chose the day that she died.

I did not really know she was ill until the end. Then there was a rush to simplify and

to clean stuff out and I heard, not from her, that once she knew she was ill she was

not going to go get prodded and poked. She was just going to ride it out. That is just

so like her. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Turner learned from Hardee’s brother that she was dealing with an illness but she was not privy to the details. Hardee made sure that Turner connected with Newt at the

1994 annual NASPA conference. For some reason he was to accompany Melvene at this meeting (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007). “I met Newt, we spent time together, and he told me he was sworn to secrecy about why Melvene’s [arrival at the conference had been delayed by a day] but that she had a health issue” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007). Newt asked Turner to call him if she noticed Melvene was having difficulty.

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On a Friday night in December 1994 I stayed late on campus and came home to two

phone messages from Newt. He first called and said that Melvene’s neighbor had

called saying she was not well. The second call told me he was driving to Tallahassee

and that it would take about ten hours. The next morning I called Hardee’s house.

Her farm hand, Floyd, answered and told me that Ms. Hardee was in the emergency

room and that Judge Newt was with her. I called the emergency room at the hospital

and I reached Newt. He could not talk freely so I went to the hospital. He told me

that he took her in under the pretense that she had pneumonia; that was the only

way that she would go. It was then that I learned she had cancer in her lung. He was

going to find a nursing home, or something, because she could not go back home by

herself. I thought ‐ a nursing home. This lady is never going to go to a nursing home.

She was just always too much in control of everything. (N. Turner, personal

correspondence, October 25, 2007)

By Tuesday morning, the plan had changed.

Melvene had decided she wanted to go to Iowa and he asked if I could take them to

the airport that day. I rode over to their house and that was the first time that I had

seen her in about a month. Her head was pulled to one side. She was just chatting

away as if nothing was going on. I took them to the airport and he got a wheelchair

and put Melvene in it. That was another foreign sight to see, that she rolled out of

here in a wheelchair. The thing that I was concerned about was that she always

wore a scarf around her neck and she did not have one. I had a scarf and tried to

give it to her. She turned it down and looked up at me as I was telling her goodbye

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and said, “I’m off to a great adventure,” and they were gone. (N. Turner, personal

communication, October 25, 2007)

When Newt called on Friday, he bore the news of her death. “He told me later that she had

circled that date (Friday) on her calendar and marked it with two or three Xs. He said it was

as if she knew that was when she was going to die” (N. Turner, personal communication,

October 25, 2007).

A Distinguished Life

Hardee did not desire public attention and she was not motivated by the prospect of

getting attention.

She hated the limelight. She hated students that would try to give her gifts. She

would just say, ‘No.’ She did not like to get awards. She liked to be in the

background. Often times in class she would bring somebody in to present she would

be off in a corner writing little notes down but she would be way off on the side.

While she would direct and be dramatic, once she started the process she would

back off, watch, and observe. I have a vague memory of talking with her when

somebody was trying to give her an award and she did not want it. She just did not

want it. I do not really know what drove her. It certainly was not [getting awards]. It

was the relationship with students. She enjoyed the work. She truly did. (J. Opper,

personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Despite this aversion to getting attention, Hardee received numerous recognitions over her professional life. Those listed on her résumé include Who’s Who of American

Women; Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Northern Iowa; Distinguished

Professor, Stetson University; and Woman of the Year proffered by the Southern Financial

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Aids Officers. In 1964, she was recognized by ACPA for distinguished service largely due to the establishment of the commission system introduced two years earlier. In 1976, Hardee was the recipient of NASPA’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to American Higher

Education. In the same year, the Southern College Personnel Association established an annual award in her name to be given for outstanding research in the area of student personnel administration in higher education. In 1982, she was recognized by her department with a Distinguished Leadership Award for directing the first year of the

Institute for Studies in Higher Education (Hardee, ~1984, Résumé). Aubrey Lucas wrote of one of Hardee’s prized accomplishments.

Dr. Hardee loved tree farming because she was able to do for the land what she was

able to do for people – make it better. She could also prove that women could be

successful farm managers. She received many honors but probably was proudest of

being named, “Man of the Year in Forestry” on two occasions. (Lucas, 2003, p. 4)

Even more significant to Hardee, perhaps, were the several national and regional dissertation awards that her student received over many years. NASPA’s Board of Directors recognized her dissertation advising in 1985 when it chose to add her name to its dissertation of the year award. Richard Correnti, past president of NASPA, wrote to inform her of this honor and share the rationale behind it.

Several individuals at the meeting, who have known, respected, and loved you

throughout some of your teaching years, noted the high interest you take in your

students as well as the rigorous standards you establish for them. I understand this

has been particularly true of those students whose dissertations you have reviewed.

Given this high commitment to advanced graduate students and their research, the

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Board felt it was most fitting that this award be named in your honor (Correnti,

1985).

In subsequent years when the Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation Award was bestowed, recipients would receive a letter of congratulations from Dr. Hardee. If she attended the annual conference, she arranged to meet recipients; if she did not attend, she would send a proxy to convey her warm wishes and congratulations.

Honoring “The Mentor”

Two recognitions occurred in Hardee’s name that were intended to benefit the higher education program at Florida State. Both involved the solicitation of former Hardee students. One had Hardee’s support, the other did not.

Young had the idea to establish a scholarship in Hardee’s name but before he went forward with it, Hardee was consulted. He then wrote and sent letters to graduates of the program with modest results. The kick off to this solicitation was orchestrated by Young at a breakfast meeting. In the telling of the story, Shelton revealed a ruse.

I think maybe at the next NASPA [after the Annie Oakley skit], was the inception of

the Hardee scholarship. George Young had called us all together for a breakfast

meeting. We got up there and he said, “We have got to wait for Melvene. She wants

to be a part of this.” So we wait, we wait, and he is looking at his watch, “Have

anyone of you ever known her to be 12 minutes late?” We’re all going “No.” We

didn’t know anything. “I am going to give her three or four more minutes.” “And

then we just go on without her?” He said, “No, I may have to go up and get her.

Obviously she is not out of bed.” The room is just buzzing. He waits three or four

minutes and picks up the phone. “Hello Mentor. Are you awake? Oh, really? Well, we

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are waiting breakfast. Okay. Bye. She is on her way down. Somehow or another she

spaced this.” Within 40 seconds, there is a knock on the door. He opens the door to

his suite. She is standing there curlers in her hair, lipstick up here (laugh) mascara

over here, wearing an old housecoat, mule slippers. I mean it was all staged. She was

waiting outside the door for the perfect moment, she walked in, and she said, “You

know sometimes even mentors make mistakes.” You know, everybody had to go hug

her. I think a lot of that was the product of the Appleton, Rhatigan, Blackburn, great

feeling, good spirit, whatever we do is good all together. There wasn’t anybody that

did not write a check that morning. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January

14, 2008)

It was thought that Hardee would leave a gift from her estate to supplement this

scholarship program but that never happened.

The second effort to honor Hardee came after her retirement from directing the

Center for Studies of Women in Educational Management Systems. According to Mann,

“One of her fights when she was retiring was for the Center to continue. She got a promise out of Dean Lathrop, who was very supportive of her, to provide space and to name a director” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). The new director came on and developed a new administrative structure that included well‐known people who were well placed in the institution and the local community. She also set the wheels in motion for the center to take on a new name, the Melvene Draheim Center for Women in Higher

Education in honor of its founder. This change received final approval in October of 1992.

The new director’s goal was to raise money for the Center. What you did when you

raised money was to name a board of highly placed women at TCC, FAMU and then

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anything related to higher education in Tallahassee and they become your major

contributors, for naming them to a board. She decided to call it a ‘Board of

Governors’ because that was an impressive title. She went into fundraising and used

Mel’s list of graduates to write to letters to raise funds for the Hardee Center. (B.

Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007)

Opper asserted that Hardee was sensitive about the use of her name.

One of the things they wanted to do was raise money to support graduate students

so [the director] started on a big fund‐raising campaign. Hardee was opposed to

having her name used to solicit money. She was not opposed to raising money to

support students but she was unhappy about that whole idea. At one point, she was,

“I am not okay with this. Just take my name off it.” She was not interested in having

her name used in that way. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Young was aware of Hardee’s discomfort and attributed her feelings to her Mid‐Western values (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008). Turner was Hardee’s confidante as she was working through her discontent.

She did not like having her name used to ask for money. Period. She thought her

graduates from the program were eking out their salaries, and that they were not in

a field where they were making very much money. She certainly did not want the

Center asking them to give money in her name. (N. Turner, personal communication,

October 25, 2007)

Hardee also objected to the exclusivity that surrounded the Hardee Scholar program.

Hardee summoned Opper to be her guest at a Hardee Scholar event.

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She told me at the door that these events were only for the Hardee Scholars and she

pulled me into the room and said, ‘He is with me,’ and just walked through the door

like a bull and she sat me down at a table. Then after that was over, she may have

written a letter. There was this big discussion about how the Center needed to be

inclusive of all students, that she did not want her name to be used to exclude

students from learning and from getting the best they could. (J. Opper, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

According to Turner, Hardee was consulted when the decision was made to name the

Center in her honor. She objected but her wishes were not honored. “She made certain the dean, the director of the Center and others knew of her dissatisfaction” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007).

She took me to the Radisson, a hotel downtown, to make sure that I knew. The

program had had her support up to that point. She laid out copies of the Center

budget and her finances that day. She was convinced she knew what financial

resources the Hardee Center was operating with and that it was sufficient without

asking people for money. She was just very upset. (N. Turner, personal

communication, October 25, 2007)

According to Hardee’s accounting, she had given the Center $36,500 between 1988 and

1993 (Hardee, 1993, Hardee Summary). In subsequent letters to the dean and the director,

Hardee withdrew her participation in Center activities and put an abeyance on a $7,500 scholarship that was intended for dispersal in 1994. Turner believed that prior to this conflict the Hardee Center stood to be a beneficiary of Hardee’s estate but this also did not happen.

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I think that at one time she would have made a different decision about the Center. If

there had never been an issue of Hardee in the name of the Center, she might have

made a different decision. Once she made her mind up about something she was just

very stubborn about sticking with it. (N. Turner, personal communication, October

25, 2007)

In 2004, the Hardee Center for Women in Higher Education merged with a new entity, the Center for the Study of Values in College Student Development to become the

Hardee Center for Leadership and Ethics in Higher Education. The Hardee Center and the

Hardee Scholars program continue at Florida State University as do references to the “Life

Net” that Hardee initiated (Hardee Center for Leadership and Ethics in Higher Education, n.d.).

A Final Goodbye

Melvene Draheim Hardee’s life ended where it began, in Clarion, Iowa on December

16, 1994. She was 81. A memorial celebration of her life and career was held on the campus at Florida State University on January 12, 1995. Young presided over the service. Other attendees included Louis Bender, Barbara Mann, Aubrey Lucas, John Blackburn, Nancy

Turner, Suzanne Gordon, Eva Wanton, Nancy Kane, Wayne King, and Judge Newt Draheim

(Memorial Celebration of Life, 1995). Leslie attended the service too.

I remember I was very impressed with the number of people that came. I was very

impressed with the reverence they expressed for Mel. It was an overwhelming show

of respect for Mel Hardee. The audience extended far beyond my own appreciation

for her reach. You have this lady, she is going to retire, and the world is passing her

by. You begin to lose focus on the fact that she has had an extensive impact and that

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people from many different universities around the country know and hold Mel in

the highest of regard. I remember thinking this is a very impressive outpouring of

respect for what Mel has done with her life and her career. It reminded me that this

woman was more than what I had seen at the very end of her career and these

people were all there to, in effect, to tell the world that she was a very important

person in their lives. (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

Young remembered,

Everybody contributed. They had some fascinating stories about Mel, some nice

quotes. She would have loved that service. I got them together and said, “You know

what, “The Mentor” would have loved this. The only problem was she did not write

the script.” I added, “In fact, she did write the script because we were all her

prodigies and we remember the kinds of things she wanted to be remembered for.

(G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Those in attendance learned that Hardee directed her entire estate, 2.5 million dollars, to go toward undergraduate scholarships. After expenses, the remainder was divided equally among five universities with which she had an affiliation: Florida State

University, Florida A & M University, Valdosta State University, the University of Southern

Mississippi, and the University of Chicago (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25,

2007).

In his remarks at the 25th anniversary of the Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for

Women in Higher Education, Aubrey Lucas, President of Southern Mississippi, continued to memorialize his mentor.

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We honor at this celebration an absolutely remarkable person who mentored so

many of us directly and many more indirectly, who was Midwestern to the core and

was loyal to her Midwestern values, who renewed herself in many ways including

prosperous tree farming, who was a daughter of Clarion, Iowa and who always

sounded as clear as a trumpet about her beliefs and causes. (Lucas, 2003, p. 6)

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CHAPTER IV. AN ANALYSIS OF MELVENE HARDEE’S WRITING

Melvene Hardee wrote for publication and she penned detailed scripts for

presentations. When she wrote for publication, she needed to conform to the standards of

peer‐reviewed journals. When she wrote for presentations, she had a more creative

platform; Hardee was resourceful and inventive in this regard. For simplicity, this chapter

is divided into three sections. First to be addressed are the written products that were

published or intended for publication. The second section is an analysis of the scripts

written for presentations and delivered to an audience. In several instances, these scripts

were later published in journals. One such example is her ACPA presidential speech

“Perception and Perfection” (1963) that was delivered at the annual conference and later

appeared in the June 1963 issue of the Journal of College Student Personnel. The final section of this chapter will explore several important themes about which Hardee wrote and spoke.

Writing for Publication

Of the 57 written pieces identified as published or intended for publication, 29 were available to the researcher for analysis. Article titles were culled from her résumé, from reference lists of other articles, and from mentions made throughout the archival collections. Some articles were available in the collections; others had to be retrieved from journals (many of which are no longer in publication). Each piece was summarized for main points, a thesis was developed, references were noted, and Hardee’s writing style was considered. The list of titles is located in Appendix C.

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Chronological Synopsis

Four distinct periods of writing are noted below: 1948‐1961, 1962‐1969, 1970‐

1974, and 1975‐1992. Each period varies in length ranging from four to 17 years. The groupings reflect natural breaks in either the subjects of her writing or the nature of its publication.

1948­1961

Over a period of 13 years, beginning with her dissertation in 1948, Hardee’s writing revolved around her work in counseling and guidance. Twenty‐five publications were produced up through 1961. Hardee’s articles are found in journals with educational titles such as Occupations, Personnel and Guidance Journal, Educational Record, and Junior College

Journal. Hardee also edited two books in this period and wrote a chapter for each. In 1955, she edited, Counseling and Guidance in General Education and contributed the chapter entitled, “Counseling as an Integrating Factor in General Education.” In 1959, she edited,

The Faculty in College Counseling, and wrote the chapter “Productive Inquiry: Solving the

Unsolved.”

In this period, there was a distinctly practical focus to her writing. She offered colleagues suggestions on how to design a system of faculty advising, how to coordinate all counseling services, how to organize advisor training, and how to apply occupational guidance techniques. Hardee addressed the issue of students’ moral development and asserted her belief that academic advisors could and should shape students’ personalities and character through positive adult role modeling. In two other written pieces, she addressed the role of counseling and guidance in general education.

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Toward the end of this first period, from 1958 to 1961, Hardee’s work transitioned

from counselor/practitioner to faculty member. Of the twelve products produced in this

three‐year period, half addressed counseling and guidance issues while the other half

began to touch on broader topics in student personnel services including budget

preparation, student records, and the improvement of the campus learning climate.

1962­1969

In the subsequent seven‐year period, several new areas of interest were included in her repertoire. On three occasions, Hardee wrote articles with a focus toward empowering women. In 1967, she spoke to the advisement of foreign students. Toward the end of the

1960s, Hardee began writing on the changing nature of the relationship between students and their institutions. This interest undoubtedly emerged in response to campus unrest during the decade.

There were 15 published pieces identified in this period. Four items were published in the proceedings of conferences or meetings (which meant these were presentations originally). Seven were published in journals; four of the articles directly related to her position as ACPA president. Three ran as presidential messages with the fourth being the transcript of her closing speech from the annual conference. She also contributed two chapters to edited books; one was a survey of research on the education of women and the other addressed the relationship of students to college administrators. She constructed her own resource for use in class, a book entitled, Freedom and Campus Crusades: Governance in

Camelot. This volume examined the philosophical foundations of the Joint Statement on

Student Rights and Freedoms, and then explored how the statement was implemented on four distinct campuses.

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1970­1974

Ten written products emerged during this four‐year period, seven of which related to the changing nature of the relationship between college students and higher education institutions. A piece published by Florida State University on content analysis related directly to her work advising students on their dissertations. The proceedings of the

Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administration included her remarks entitled, Talent and Turnstiles. Hardee’s final written words on faculty advising were published as a monograph by ACPA in 1970, Faculty Advising in Colleges and Universities.

Her final published work was a chapter entitled, “Politics, Pluralities, and the Student

Development Perspective” that appeared in DeCoster and Mable’s (1974) Student

Development and Education in College Residence Halls. In that chapter, Hardee argued that we must capitalize on the opportunity to provide political education for students within the residence hall environment, especially since the age of majority had dropped to age 18

(Hardee, 1974, Politics, Pluralities, and the Student Development Perspective).

1975­1992

In this final 17‐year period, there were nine written products, three of which were published but only in limited formats. These included Hardee’s remarks published in the proceedings of the Educational Futures International Colloquium, “The Student as a

Person” and two pieces, published by FSU, the most significant of which was Hardee’s edited compendium of the proceedings of the higher education program’s 25th anniversary

colloquium. This edited piece glanced back at the beginnings of the program but focused on

the prognostications of selected former graduate students. These graduates attempted to

predict where the student affairs profession would be in the next 25 years. The cover of the

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book featured a picture of pioneers in covered wagons juxtaposed with a picture of the

space shuttle in flight. This publication is entitled, 1984­2008: Predictions for Higher

Education. Proceedings from the 25th Anniversary Colloquium. The retired professor had hopes of continuing a research agenda. Among her papers were two pieces dated 1990 that contained the handwritten notation, “I thought of a monograph a little too late.” One was entitled, “The Campus in Endless Re‐invention” (1990) and the other, “The Encounter with

Diversity: Confrontation or Community?” In 1992 Hardee changed the title of her 1987

“Birth of a Charter” speech to “A Transcendent Idea: The Student Personnel Point of View” and submitted a revised version to the NASPA Journal. She later withdrew her submission for reasons unknown (B. Bender, personal correspondence, April 10, 2008).

Her writing in this period was reflective, historically and personally. While retrospective, it also provided commentary on the future of the profession and the manner in which student affairs professionals should prepare for the future. Over the years, she wrote less for peer‐reviewed journals and more for the practical use of professionals and their associations, or her own use in the classroom. This aspect of Hardee’s scholarship was brought into question toward the end of her teaching career. If a graduate review committee examined her writing according to the standards of a research university, it is easy to see how they concluded she was deficient. Her last viable publications were the monograph, Faculty Advising in Colleges and Universities (1970) and a book chapter,

Politics, Pluralities, and the Student Development Perspective (1974). From that point on her writings were published by Florida State University, published in proceedings, or not published at all. A ten‐year period without significant, peer‐reviewed writing contributed to the loss of her doctoral directive status.

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Publication Writing Style

In all cases, Hardee’s writing was well referenced and cited. She used a breadth of

sources beyond the higher education literature of her time. She read from the academic

journal DAEDALUS (Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences), American

Psychologist, and doctoral dissertations. Hardee referenced politicians, governmental

agencies, and task forces including President Kennedy’s 1961 Commission on the Status of

Women. She quoted writers from the New York Times, the Saturday Review, and Time

magazine, including Lance Morrow, Theodore White, and Walter Lippman. She often

quoted speakers from prior professional meetings that she had attended.

The more formal the audience, the more formal Hardee’s writing. Yet when she was

writing for an audience she knew, Hardee was more apt to include a personal story,

rhetorical questions, metaphors, and colloquialisms. This informality is evident in her three

presidential messages published in the Journal of College Student Personnel. In “High Tide or Low?” (1962) she wrote of trying to regain her perspective on life while visiting the Ft.

Lauderdale beaches that she and her recently departed husband often visited. Later in the article, she asked members of the organization, “Are we a high or low tide? We need to catch the crest of the wave. The time is now. ACPA is not a placid national body, but like the ocean shows a restless, ceaseless undulation, denoting its vitality” (p. 43). In the next presidential installment, “Keynote Caring and Keystone Comedy,” Hardee discussed the rumblings of succession from APGA and peppered the article with reflective questions intended to stimulate critical thinking on the issue. Some examples included, “In the face of

its special mission in higher education, how can ACPA acquire the independence and accept

the responsibility necessary to its purpose and program?” and “How does ACPA figure in

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policy‐making at the national level in ACE?” (p. 106). In the third presidential message,

“Trademark, Hallmark, or Marking Time” she asked the reader if ACPA was being

innovative, future thinking, open to new members, and vital. If the reader answered no, she

challenged them to make it so. These writings are markedly different from her earlier

writing about vocational counseling and guidance. Her early professional writing was bent

toward practical application and had a much more distant and technical tone. If there was a

human element to these early articles it would be in the case studies she included to

demonstrate the practical application of ideas.

Hardee used comparison freely. In the abovementioned “High Tide” example,

Hardee used a simile to compare the organization to the ocean. In Freedom and Campus

Crusades, (1969) Hardee compared campus constituencies to the characters in the Camelot

story. In “Talent and Turnstiles” (1970), Hardee compared the same campus constituents

to players found under the big top circus tent with the president serving as the ringmaster.

She utilized alliteration when she referred to “budget baffles” in “The Art of Budget

Preparation” (1961) and employed colloquialisms in the form of “the week that wuz” and

“doin what comes natcherly” in “The Student Personnel Professional and the Visible and

Invisible Publics” (1970).

Gender References

Hardee’s published writing does not contain an overt feminist agenda. Whenever

her writing focused on women, she tended to acknowledge women’s unique strengths and

sought to empower them to fulfill their potential. Her message was one of assimilation into

the male world. Progress and change would come when women worked diligently within

existing systems. This message as opposed to the promotion of a separatist strategy, that of

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creating a separate women’s public sphere” (Freedman, 1979, p. 513). By summarizing

research on women in education for the Encyclopedia of Educational Research in 1969,

Hardee contributed to a better understanding of women’s issues through the provision of

empirical research. She did begin to address sexist language with a first reference in 1961

where she qualified that women were involved in the educational enterprise, “the man in

the mortarboard (and the woman, too)…they are said to be reconnaissance men (and

women)…” (Hardee, 1961, Faculty Advising, p. 112). Hardee used the generic inclusive

pronoun he up into the 1960s. This would have been the acceptable practice for the time.

The use of “his” in her article titled, “The Coordinator of Counseling: His Role in

Administration of Student Personnel Services” (1952) is ironic. She may have been the only

person in the country to hold the title “Coordinator of Counseling” as this was an

administrative model being tested at Florida State University.

Writing for Presentations

Of the 59 presentations identified, 44 were in the archives and available for analysis.

Each piece was summarized for main points, a thesis was construed, references were

noted, and writing style was considered. The list of titles is located in Appendix B.

Chronological Synopsis

Hardee’s speaking topics paralleled her writing so for simplicity, the chronological

periods of comparison are identical to the framework used in the analysis of her

publication writing.

1948­1961

During Hardee’s years as Florida State’s coordinator of counseling, she tackled substantial issues in her early presentations. Most often, she spoke to her professional

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colleagues introducing them to issues such as the importance of bridging and integrating

student personnel work into the instructional program, the need for assessment and data

analysis in institutional decision‐making processes, and the role of the humanities in

understanding the human condition. Hardee asserted that counseling required an

understanding of the other and because so many human experiences elude us, we need to

access varied experiences through books, plays, music, and art. During this period, Hardee

also gave a presentation to nurses about the process of communication.

1962­1969

The dominant characteristic of this period is the prevalence of presentations to women’s audiences. This included widows and divorcees, women in banking, university educators and administrators, and college women at Hardee’s alma mater. In each of her three available scripts, she sought to empower women from a unique angle. In one, she encouraged women to continue their educations, in another, she challenged them to mentor other women, and with the widows, she urged them to prevail in the face of adversity.

Hardee gave two major presentations to ACPA in this time period, one as she came into the role of president and the other as she was concluding her yearlong term. In the first entitled, “Of Porpoises and Personnel Workers” (1962), she discussed the dynamic of adding a commission structure to ACPA so that specialty areas in student personnel could be explored. At the same time, she admonished members of the organization to keep sight of their commonalities and the need to address the larger issues in the field. In the second address, delivered to the membership at the annual conference in 1963, Hardee highlighted

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the important activities of the year and discussed the need for the student personnel field to claim its rightful place in the enterprise of higher education.

An additional theme of exploring the campus learning environment was addressed in two presentations. Hardee asserted that all entities in the campus community could work toward creating a favorable learning climate. Toward the end of the decade, and reflective of her writing in this period, Hardee began to speak about campus unrest and the changing nature of the relationship of students to the institution.

1970­1974

There were 15 scripts dated in this four‐year period. Hardee’s predominant message related to the changing nature of institutional governance that was occurring because of student unrest and the emergence of state governing boards or “super boards.”

The Joint Statement on Student Rights and Responsibilities was referenced liberally in these presentations. Hardee insinuated on several occasions that the best way for student personnel practitioners to understand the climate of the day was through graduate study in higher education, a field worthy of study in its own right. She continued to speak to the role of student personnel in the enterprise of higher education by countering attacks on the profession’s purpose and sense of worth. In “High Noon: An Account Taken of the Student

Personnel Professional” (1972), she rebutted the prediction that the student personnel function would disappear by drawing upon the language of poets, “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamer of dreams” (p.11). She asserted that the role of assisting students to achieve their dreams was a valid and worthwhile function in the university.

In over half of her presentations in the early 1970s, Hardee reminded participants of key aspects of student personnel history. This historical review not only provided a context

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for her remarks but it also drew people back to the central tenets of the field found in

documents such as the SPPV and the Joint Statement of Student Rights and Freedoms.

1975­1992

Presentations with historical relevance continued up through 1990 when Dr.

Hardee was the subject of an ACPA Generativity video project. The year prior, for the same project, Dennis Roberts had interviewed Esther Lloyd‐Jones, Gilbert Wrenn, and Robert

(Bob) Shaffer. In that video production, Roberts met with each participant, interviewed them about their career in student personnel, edited the interviews, and tied them together with introduction and commentary. The Melvene Hardee Generativity Project video was a scripted interview format with her former student Richard Mashburn asking questions and

Hardee responding as per the script (that she probably wrote). This video is highly autobiographical but it also touched on predictions for the future of higher education. She posited that “values education,” also called ethics or moral development, would become a central focus of higher education’s concern. She based this forecast on the predictions shared by FSU graduates at the 25th anniversary colloquium of the FSU program of higher

education. Secondly, she thought professional preparation programs should focus on policy

analysis as that is one way institutions could benefit their communities. The third trend

identified would be the globalization of the curriculum. The video closed with her final

hope, one that reflected her belief in how student affairs professionals should view

themselves, “The thought that I most want to leave is this, that I hope whatever the subject

under study, that student personnel professionals be continuing scholars…because the title

scholar is a prized descriptor” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview).

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Six other speeches given in this period reflected heavily on the history of student

personnel work as she had experienced it. This included Kent State (1975), ACUHO (1980),

Wizards of Oz (1981), Dare to Dream of Higher Learning (1982), The Student Personnel

Point of View: A Birth of a Charter (1987), and Louisville (1987). During a second trip to

Kent State in 1975, Hardee spoke to the changing nature of student populations and the changing needs institutions must address due to the new students coming to campuses. In

Personal Orientation to the Educational Enterprise, Hardee returned to the importance of academic advising saying it was the key to individual development and to the process of educating people for constructive citizenship. Hardee, along with Appleton and Rhatigan as the “James Boys,” fleshed out current issues at the 1977 NASPA annual conference. In two presentations with similar “Wizard of Oz” titles, Hardee examined what professional preparation programs needed to include to prepare professionals for higher education’s future challenges. A new aspect added to prior presentations on this topic included the need for professionals to be politically astute. She thought students should be engaged in internships with governing boards and in political organizations to provide solid training for the next wave of educational leaders.

Hardee continued speaking with the aim of empowering women. She kicked off the first Southeast Regional Conference for Women Administrators in Higher Education in

1982 with a presentation on mentoring. In her comments, she argued that Southern women existed in a culture that perpetuated a genteel myth that did not promote their interests. Hardee implored women to work together to advocate for advancement opportunities.

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Stand and Deliver

Nancy Turner described Mel Hardee as “a surprise of a person” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007). This descriptor plays out particularly well when

Hardee’s speaking and presenting are examined. The combination of performance experience and communication knowledge converged in Melvene Hardee’s life and resulted in a number of surprising performances. She preferred to deliver a message in a way that would have a long lasting impression. As important as the content of the message might be, the telling of the story for effect was equally important to her.

As previously mentioned with her publication writing, a recurring message, especially in her early work with counseling and guidance, was the importance of understanding the human condition. She thought the humanities disciplines were central to this comprehension and that it was possible to develop understanding and empathy,

“Through art, music, literature, and drama which hold a mirror up to life. And this we must do to better understand the person who is a result of a process – the person we counsel”

(Hardee, 1956, p. 3). In one of her final written works, a note about the author gave her title of professor emerita, described her background, and ended with, “… she continues to write and speak on student personnel administration, women in higher education, and the inclusion of the arts and humanities in teaching of graduate education” (Hardee, 1990, The

Campus in Endless Re‐invention, p. 11). The value she held for the power of the humanities is evident in this statement.

Hardee’s scripts are rich with references to plays, movies, music, and poetry; over half of the available scripts included at least one such reference. In a speech to the annual

NASPA conference in 1982, Hardee evoked one of her favorite phrases, “Dreams are what

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students are made of” (Hardee, 1982, Dare to Dream, p. 1). This phrasing shows up in

several scripts (1956; From Here to Maturity, 1970; High Noon, 1972). From the woman

who took Shakespeare lessons in high school, this phrasing seems to modify Prospero’s

words in The Tempest, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on” (Shakespeare, Act 4,

Scene 1, 148–158). In fact, the 1956, “Of Them I Read” script uses a closer word match,

“For dreams are the stuff that people are made of!” (p. 4). In these instances, she reconfigured the words of Shakespeare to help convey her message.

Hardee did not hesitate to invoke a personal story to make a point or to explain her thinking. This is truer of her writing for presentations than her writing for publication. In about a third of the available scripts, Hardee conveyed a story about her family, her life on the farm, or some other aspect of her life experience. One of the most emotionally powerful pieces was delivered to a meeting of widows and divorcees where Hardee recounted her experience of becoming a widow and moving through what she identified as nine stages of

grief (Hardee, 1967, Role and Control).

Hardee’s scripts demonstrated an ongoing search for the right word, phrase, or

expression. Her philosophy regarding the communication process was articulated in a

presentation, “Communication is, in essence, a creative act and as such should be

understood as something never quite accomplished but always existing in a state of being

perfected, of becoming” (Hardee, 1960, How Do You Say What You Mean?, p. 7). All of the typed scripts are in double space format, most all have handwritten corrections and changes indicated. It is also apparent in the mix of paper and numbering that some pages were borrowed and repackaged for other presentations. The scripts were prepared in a way to facilitate her presentation with cues about where to emphasize words and phrases.

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In several instances, she used a stair step layout that staggered singsong phrases. This is demonstrated in the script for “Dreams, Visions, and Hallucinations” (1971) delivered to the Jesuit Student Personnel Association.

I weary my eyes with the late‐night reading of the late‐day press with

accounts of

ecological disaster

population aborts

religious exhorts

medical surges

man‐to‐moon splurges

archaeological achievements

military non‐achievements

employment breakdowns

womanpower breakthroughs

human encounterings

identity groupings

welfare scrapings

political scrapings

and other societal gaspings…(Hardee, 1971)

As evidenced above, Hardee crafted her words carefully and creatively. She also crafted creative speech titles that used symbolism to convey a subtle meaning and to pique others’ interest. “Of Porpoises and Personnel Workers” (1962) began with a description of the communication patterns of porpoises and then transitioned to the communication

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between members of ACPA. She used alliteration well and often in her speeches as evidenced in her description of places of learning, “laboratories, lecture halls, libraries, listening rooms” (Hardee, 1967, The Learning Environment, p. 8). She used a metaphor comparing the Student Personnel Point of View to a musical score. She described her search for a starting point for a presentation to women bankers using similes:

Like a cruising hawk surveying the landscape, I sighted the word universality and

have swooped down to grasp it—to scatter the rest of the words (like frightened

chickens) into other corners and to come up with a title about which I would like to

speak. (Hardee, 1963, The Global Woman, p. 1)

Performers often use props and costumes. When Hardee came to the stage as Annie

Oakley, she was dressed up in western gear. For one of her “Wizard of Oz” presentations she donned a sunbonnet to emulate prairie apparel. After speaking to women about becoming a widow, Hardee hosted a fashion show of hats to illustrate her phases of recovery. “If you observe the purchases and expenditures of a woman who is re‐ordering her life, you will get a rather good notion of where she is heading” (Hardee, 1967, Role and

Control, p. 12). In a late October presentation on women in management, she recalled historical women role models and then pointed her prop, a witching stick, at women in the audience who were to speak about their experiences in management (Hardee, 1973).

Questioning

Ever the teacher, Hardee the speaker posed questions to her audiences to promote their critical thinking on the topic at hand. In almost half of the scripts available for analysis, Hardee posed rhetorical questions either to reason aloud with participants or to request them to render judgment on the subject. In the midst of ACPA’s movement to the

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newly introduced commission structure, she rhetorically asked, “How can we serve these

special interests and meet the needs of 3500 individual members?” Later, “Next time we

meet will hundreds of ACPA members ‘get the message’ of unity within acknowledged

diversity?” (Hardee, 1962, Of Porpoise and Personnel Workers). In a presentation on

mentoring in 1982, she invoked participants to, “Trace your memories to mark that

individual who made a difference in the way, the means, the method of your movement

up…in and out of formal education and the work experience. Who helped you to dispel a

legend?” (Hardee, 1982, Mentoring, p. 14). In a keynote address to the Southern College

Personnel Association in 1971, she called upon eight strengths that SCPA could employ to

counter criticism of a quiescent organization. She made her case citing these strengths and

concluded the presentation with,

Can this organization, with full strength marshaled, move into the new and

expanded higher education for the coming century? Can we affect change? Can we

move with change? I leave this question with the jury of my peers. What is your

verdict? (Hardee, 1971, Untitled, p. 15).

The Power of Involvement

In the presentation noted in the above paragraph, Hardee utilized another strategy to keep the audience’s attention. Hardee often highlighted her graduate students in some role that would add an element of surprise or interest. For example, in the SCPA speech noted above, a woman entered late, was acknowledged by Hardee, and was invited to find a seat in the front row. She was later referred to as “Sue.” Hardee continues into the presentation and a bit later, “George” interrupted with a question from the floor and these two become antagonists lobbing criticisms at the organization. Hardee takes on the defense

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of the organization by articulating eight strengths and imploring the membership to move forward.

Harris Shelton performed in one such presentation that not only involved graduate students but also demonstrated her ability to capture the audience’s attention.

She selected four graduate students to come to a NASPA meeting. Dr. Hardee got us

together in her room and she said, “Here is our theme, here is our vision, and we are

going to do this in a very dramatic way. Then, the drama played out. This

presentation was in a room of about 100 people. There were four stools, one for the

each of us, and we had our backs to the audience. At the back of the room to begin

was Dr. Hardee but you could not see her because she had an open newspaper in

front of her face. She narrated this wonderful program but invisibly. At one point,

she would make a point and then Joe Buchanan turned on his stool and faced the

group and sang “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Then he would turn back around. She

would make another point and I rotated on my stool and sang, “Teach Your Children

Well” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Doris Cantey had a Martin Luther King snippet of

the “I Had a Dream Speech,” and Karl Ijams, something similar. Near the end of the

program, we are all facing away from the people but we could all sort of look out of

the corners of our eyes and watch them. And you know if you have been a teacher

for a while, you are pretty clued in about your audience and whether they are clued

in to you. It was something to watch the physicality of the room because people

started sliding forward in their seats. I mean, they were leaning forward. They were

not whispering or coughing. They knew what was going to happen with a Melvene

Hardee but what they knew was they did not know what was going to happen; it

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was just going to be good. This was the first reference that I had seen to the Crusades

in Camelot, it came up in the conclusion of this program. She began to walk to the

front of the room but keeping the newspaper completely blocking her, turning its

pages, as if she were reading the newspaper, and reading little stories of things: a

fire in a residence hall, a corruption situation in the business office involving

financial aid. It was all higher education, it was all student issue related and when

she got to the front of the room is where the line came from, “And so I think

students, the light of students in Camelot is luminous.” As she said that, she opened

the last page of the paper, there was a hole in it, and she is looking through at the

audience. The place erupted. People are just standing up yelling, ‘AAAAAhhh.’ It was

so wonderful. (H. Shelton, personal correspondence, January 14, 2008)

Hardee would often speak of her doctoral students and promote their research and dissertations topics. In this particular instance, she promoted their availability for employment.

She got everybody settled down and we are still on our stools, and she said, “I think

it’s appropriate that these four incredible graduate students are here in a real nice

array for you to have a chat with them about the future of your institution and their

role in it. So line up.” And every one of us had 15 people lined up to talk with us, and

write things down, and hand us business cards. I thought, “We have gone from

instruction to career services all in one moment.” You knew you were in the

company of someone special. (H. Shelton, personal correspondence, January 14,

2008)

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Use of Media

In the classroom, Hardee utilized different media to engage students in her lessons.

This was true of conference presentations and became especially more true as media

technology advanced. The first multi‐media presentation of record came in 1977 with

“Annie Oakley and the James Boys,” which incorporated slides of the Old West. In 1983, she

orchestrated the 25th anniversary of FSU’s higher education program by using slides to

show the faces of about 100 people who could not attend. For the ten guest presenters,

Hardee had carefully chosen a piece of music to introduce them and their topic (Hardee,

1984, 1984‐2008. Predictions for Higher Education). She used a music sound track and pre‐

recorded voices for the 1980 Association of College and University Housing Officers

(ACUHO) address and for the 1987 SPPV presentation. Her typed script for ACUHO

reflected the role that the music was intended to play. “Voice Two” listed best selling books

of the 1970s: “Toffler’s Future Shock, Blatty’s The Exorcist, Bach’s Jonathan Livingston

Seagull… (Music swells and recedes to indicate next sequence.)” (Hardee, 1980, ACUHO).

Prior to having the capacity to incorporate slides and music, Hardee utilized

pictures, perhaps on an overhead. When she would speak about the development of higher

education in the United States, Hardee utilized black and white sketches drawn for her by

student, Margaret Nuckols (Hardee, 1974, The Philosophical Rationale).

Audience Response

In the ACUHO archival collection, evaluations were available for the 1980 conference where

Hardee recalled the lessons of the 1970s. The comments from the evaluations were overwhelmingly positive about Hardee’s performance at the conference’s opening session.

Respondents used words like “inspirational,” “theatrical,” “dramatic,” “a good choice,” and one

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wrote, “The messenger is a large part of the message.” A few people expressed discontent about the dramatics but most respondents were highly complimentary (Hardee, 1980, ACUHO). Sandy

Westfall, a relatively new professional on the major speakers committee, was given the assignment to introduce Hardee at this conference.

Her address was about the challenges of the new decade. More than the content, I

remember her presence on that stage. I can’t be sure now, but I think she had some

aspect of the theater in her background. Well, she certainly had a stage presence!

She didn’t speak from the podium. Instead, she sat on a high stool and spoke without

notes. The room was darkened, and a spotlight shone only on her on that stool. It

was different, and it was lovely. She also had a slick slide show (remember, these

were the days long before PowerPoint) to enhance her presentation. (S. Westfall,

personal communication, September 29, 2008)

Bob Shaffer remembered Hardee as an active and energetic speaker. “At the meetings she was

always so creative, vivacious, and full of energy that we would all go hear her speak. She would

often read some of her papers and she would hold up her fingers and she ticked off points in her

presentations” (R. Shaffer, personal correspondence, March 28, 2008). Shaffer said Hardee had a

way with words. “When we would go to her sessions at conventions we would often come away

with a word that Mel had coined or used which would be the buzzword for a little while at our

own staff meetings” (R. Shaffer, personal correspondence, March 28, 2008). George Young invited

Hardee to speak to his staff at Broward Community College. She whipped out a bottle of Heinz 57

ketchup talked about how there were 57 varieties of students on our campus.

It was brilliantly done. She had this big sheath of notes for her speech and the first

thing she did, it was very dramatic, she threw them out, just threw them down in

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front of the audience. She said, “I do not need these notes I want to talk to you about

your students, all 57 varieties.” It was a huge hit. (G. Young, personal

communication, March 26, 2008)

Young also asked his mentor to make presentations for the Florida College Personnel

Association. “Always, people would say, ‘I cannot wait to hear Melvene Hardee speak.’ I

thought it was great that they were turned on by this but I had heard everything that she

had to say. [Yet] She always put a different twist on things so I was never bored listening to

her” (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008).

Of This, She Wrote and Spoke

Hardee’s writing and her public presentations ran parallel. When she was writing about academic advising, she was speaking about the same subject. There were a few one‐time topics in the mix but among the breadth of her interests, several themes ran throughout her professional career.

The Student Personnel Profession

Hardee was among the voices in the profession encouraging student personnel

practitioners to expand their thinking about the role they played on campus. She explained our

historical role,

The antiquities of the profession are sounded in the words of the historians of

higher education who affirm that student personnel work has had a mission – and a

high one—that of humanizing American education, particularly that influence

characterizing the German university with distance; between professor and student

wide, and the barriers in communication high. (Hardee, 1970, Student Personnel

Work, p. 2)

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More so, “The visionaries in the profession believed that education encompassed more than the formalities of class, library, and lab: that the quality of life on campus could be improved and enriched for collegians, then and thereafter” (Hardee, 1970, Student

Personnel Work, p. 3).

In a brief summary of the profession’s emphases over the decades, Hardee suggested,

[In the] 1930s we concentrated on individual needs and interests

In [the] 1940s the concentration was on groups within a democracy

In [the] 1950s, we contemplated our humanist‐scientist duality and our role to

include improvement of the quality of life

In the 1960s [we] moved toward a legalistic stance; recognized the worth of

internships and down‐the‐road possibility of technological aids like the computer

In the 70s, we took sides: student development specialists and managers of the

corporate campus

While the profession wittingly—although maybe not purposefully—and there is a

difference, we seemed to attempt to respond to the needs of the nation [sic]. At the

same time, we appeared to be conducting a journey into our own interiors to

examine our hearts, minds, and the parameters of our courage. (Hardee, 1981, Wiz

of Oz, p. 14)

Hardee was fervent in her belief that student personnel workers could positively influence the climate of learning on their campuses. “The student personnel specialist role is that of a higher education environmentalist – one who seeks to marshal campus resources to effect “the whole institution for the whole student” (Hardee, 1967, The

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Learning Environment, p. 13). To be successful in this endeavor, student personnel

professionals needed to be knowledgeable and engaged in the full spectrum of university

life. Early on in her professorial career she said, “I believe the weight or weightlessness of

student personnel workers, as adjudged, is in direct proportion to the amount of interest

shown by them in these matters of institutional concern and the extent of their

participation in them” (Hardee, 1961, Personnel Services, p. 124).

How well do you know your campus? How sophisticated are you about the budget of

the institution, its income and outgo? How well have you kept pace with educational

television and other media designed for improving teaching in college? Student

personnel can remain on the periphery if not paying attention “for the main

business of the campus, which is learning” (Hardee, 1961, Personnel Services, p.

125)

Almost ten years later, her message remained constant. In 1970, she wrote that campus

activism had challenged student personnel’s historical humanitarian role. She posited that

it was essential for student personnel professionals to appreciate institutional

development in relation to student development; that we needed to see ourselves as

central to the educational process and not as an appendage (Hardee, 1970, Student

Personnel Work).

Crookston (1976) noted Hardee’s contribution in his final written work, “Student

Personnel – All Hail and Farewell!” As practitioners attempted to broaden the profession’s identity beyond the narrow connotations of the “personnel” moniker, Crookston credited

Hardee among others as being a “bridge builder” (p.27) in the attempt to integrate student affairs into the core of the educational process. He cited her 1955 publication Counseling

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and Guidance in General Education as one example of encouraging practitioners to broaden their interest and efforts toward building curricula and developing methods of instruction.

Similar to Hardee, Crookston articulated, “Student personnel work no longer merely supplemented the academic program it was complementary to it. The student personnel worker had become an ‘educator’ collaborating with the classroom teacher toward the development of the student as a whole person” (Crookston, 1976, p. 27).

Another concern for Hardee was the need for research to become an expected knowledge area for professionals. She warned that educators tended to make pronouncements on college students and college environments “on less than carefully meditated results from systematic research” (Hardee, 1961, Research on College Students, p. 2). She thought administrators needed to be knowledgeable in three areas: higher education, institutional research, and student personnel issues. She called for student personnel professionals to make time for research on local, regional and national levels and subsequently find their place in “the mainstream of ongoing research” (Hardee, 1961,

Research on College Students, p. 11).

Hardee thought the strength of our profession came from its diversity. In her 1987 speech to ACPA and NASPA, she spelled out this diversity.

We are the business oriented, the management prone…

We are the keepers of records, and the keepers of law…

We are the technically oriented…the computer “byten”…

We are the elder statesmen, orating from pulpit and press…

We are the young firebrands, pied pipers without burn‐out…

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We are humanists, anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists, biologists,

psychologists…technologists…and more…But we are mostly what O’Shaunnessey

wrote in his matchless verse… We are the music makers and the dreamers of

dreams… (Hardee, 1987, The Student Personnel Point of View, p. 38)

According to Hardee, the future of the field would rest with the next generation of professionals, many more of whom were emerging from student personnel training programs. In her final address as president of ACPA she said, “The real renewal of the image of student personnel work – as well as the renaissance of this Association – will come about through the ideas and energies of highly motivated young professionals crowding the field and seeking our affiliation” (Hardee, 1963, Perception and Perfection, p.

204).

The Student Personnel Point of View

To Hardee the 1937 Student Personnel Point of View was sacrosanct. In the ACPA

Generativity Project video, Hardee described the publication she learned about at

Columbia, as “a scholarly philosophy of student affairs (Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview). She honored it with noble monikers: “the Magna Carta of the student personnel movement” (Hardee, 1971, Dreams, Visions, and Hallucinations, p. 5), “the premier charter of our specialty” (Hardee, 1987, Louisville), “the Manifesto” (Hardee, 1970, Student

Personnel Work, p. 1), “our base of continuing practice” (Hardee, 1975, Student Personnel

Training Programs, p. 1), and the preamble was “our parameter for dreams” (Hardee, 1982,

Dare to Dream). She also suggested the document was a “musical score [that represented] a set of goals appropriate to our talent and training…” (Hardee, 1972, High Noon, p. 3). Lucas

(2003) spoke of the reverence Hardee held for the document.

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In her graduate classes and seminars, she was clear about the importance of the

Student Personnel Point of View, which, according to her is right in there with the

Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. She had little patience with leaders in

higher education who did not seem to understand the important role of student

personnel administrators in building a climate for learning and growth in our

institutions of higher learning. Her speeches were clarion on this point. (¶ 27)

Hardee referenced the tasks of colleges as outlined in the SPPV; they were “to vitalize the product of scholarship, research, creative imagination, human experience, and other educational purposes so as to assist the student in developing to the limits of his potentialities and making his contribution to the betterment of society” (Hardee, 1975, p.

9). These two goals are the “unalterable obligations of the educational enterprise” (p. 10).

In her opinion, institutions had, in 50 years, done well on the first task of helping students in their individual development. In the ACPA Generativity Project video (1990), Hardee acknowledged the challenge in the second task. “This is where we in student affairs, we must not lag, we must lead. We must assist students in contributing to the development of society” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview). When she did not refer to the SPPV directly, she wove its tenets into her remarks. Without mentioning the SPPV at the

dedication of a student center at the University of Alabama Birmingham, Hardee spoke to

its main points. “The aim is to serve them in order (1) to develop their potential and (2) to

assist them in contributing to the world of reality—for this state, this region, this country,

and the global village‐at‐large” (Hardee, 1984, Untitled, p. 3).

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The Future

As much as Hardee may have regularly reminded the student personnel profession of its history, she had a keen interest in the future and anticipating what could be done to prepare for it. In a 1972 presentation, she suggested that student personnel had failed to respond on so many fronts to the campus unrest of the 1960s and 70s. (Hardee, 1972, A

Community Construct) She challenged her colleagues in written and spoken words to anticipate better what was coming on the horizon. In an address to the Southern College

Personnel Association in 1971, Hardee suggested that higher education needed new forms to fit the new times. She spoke of the tension to move forward while being restricted by traditions and old models. “Student personnel must challenge the old trappings and respond to the new call. A new day with a new call to serve has arrived…and the service is outward to community, region, and society” (Hardee, 1971, SCPA, p. 15).

On several occasions, Hardee posited that the future was easy to predict if one only paid attention to the dreams of students. As previously mentioned, she often used the phrase “Dreams are what students are made of,” and then she might add, “If you want to predict the future, ask what students are dreaming” (R. Johnson, personal correspondence,

March 21, 2008). She also advised an audience to “read in youth – fashion, music, antics, art, editorials, rebellion, dress, drama –all things that depict and describe. Read youth by their dreams” (Hardee, 1981, Wiz of Oz, p. 19).

Student Personnel Preparation

Hardee contributed to shaping graduate training beyond her own campus. She articulated this as a difficult task to COSPA members in 1975 because the profession had

not yet articulated a clear product. She asserted it was difficult to “prepare for the not‐yet‐

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ascertained‐and‐assured future of student personnel administration in American higher education, with its not‐yet‐clarified‐goals‐and‐defined‐mission” (Hardee, 1975, Student

Personnel Training Programs, p.1).

From a variety of sources in her own writing, key components of student personnel graduate training would include a good dose of the “basics” (an understanding of the profession’s historical foundations), research skills and an appreciation for how the process of discovery can be applied in the setting of higher education, and well‐structured and supervised practicum experiences “to kitchen test our product” (Hardee, 1979, The

Wonderful Wizards of Oz, p. 6).

Given the presenting challenges on campuses in the 1960s, Hardee’s list of criteria for graduate training expanded by two items. “Student personnel professionals are anxious, largely as a result of catapulting changes for which they were not prepared. (What programs of training includes coursework in initiating rumor clinics and crisis control centers, reconnaissance by night and combat by day?)” (Hardee, 1970, Student Personnel

Work, p. 6). It was her observation that students had a better command of media skills in the 1960s and she came to believe that some public relations training would be beneficial to campus administrators. (Hardee, 1970, The Student Personnel Professional) Another area of focus for training programs would be to add, “’applied politics’ to the slate. This is not a substitute for ethics, nor for honest communication, nor for sound public relations”

(Hardee, 1981, Wiz of Oz, p. 15). Educational organizations are political organizations and it was Hardee’s belief that graduate students needed to be cognizant of and ready for that reality.

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Teaching

Hardee proposed that advising was “creative teaching” and set out to explain the conditions that made it so. (Hardee, 1961, Faculty Advisement as Creative Teaching)

It is safe to assume her beliefs would transfer to other settings, including the classroom.

She wrote of the importance of organization, of setting the stage, of building anticipation, of being current, and of the process ending in a meaningful conclusion for the student. Her background in theater played nicely into this schema. She said of theater, it “is a reflection of life. Sometimes it is overdrawn but usually it is in truth. It is a study of character and it has given me perspective on the life I see on campus” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview).

One of the prime examples of her dramatic teaching style is associated with the

American College Student class and her unit on campus rebellion. “Our repertoire included connections by phone to those who were there, guest speakers, audio tapes… and there was a stack of photographs that gave dimension to the scenes” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview). Even after twenty years had passed, students learned of the 1962 University of

Mississippi confrontation, the Orangeburg Massacre, and the Kent State shootings in such a way that made them feel as if they had been there. This occurred in part by viewing

Hardee’s collection of memorabilia but more so through her connections with witnesses who made themselves available for teaching purposes. This process had a name. “I call it

‘managed dramaturgy.’ I preface the word managed because in the class we control the

presentation, as do news media, by showing the slices we choose to teach and learn by”

(Hardee, 1970, The Student Personnel Professional, p. 2). With pride, Hardee asserted that

learning could occur without a textbook. “We managed to illuminate the American College

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Student, dissent that surpassed [any] book reading” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity

Interview).

All of this drama required organization. Hardee told of her first teaching experience where the seed of organization was evident. “As a sophomore, my professor of Ed Psych

101 asked me to teach two class sessions while he attended a conference. I furiously wrote two lessons plans and a third one in case one did not pan out. I still do that in my graduate teaching today” (Hardee, 1990, Generativity Interview).

Hardee also believed faculty expectations should include an advisory role. She quoted Arrowsmith regarding the failure of education if students move from beginning to end, “without ever encountering a man (woman) who might for the first time give him the only profound motivation for learning, the hope of becoming a better man…” (Hardee,

1967, The Learning Environment, p. 3). She thought part of the role of teacher was to impart values and to encourage positive changes in behavior.

Advising

Hardee wrote extensively on the topic of academic advisement. This was concentrated in her early years but it is a thread that continued throughout her career. In

1974 she acknowledged this long affair with humor, “…so one book, one monograph, and eight journal articles later, I should perhaps consider ceasing and desisting” (Hardee, 1974,

And Four to Go, p. 6). It was her belief that faculty expectations at campuses should include advisement of students but she also was aware than not every faculty member was cut out to be an advisor. Advisors were to be “carefully selected and trained” and willing to work in cooperation with other counseling professionals to proactively assist the student in meeting his or her personal goals (Hardee, 1967, The Learning Environment). From this

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came the idea of “coordination” of all facets of university counseling services that she proceeded to operationalize at Florida State University beginning in 1948.

Hardee believed those who interacted with college students, whether in or outside of the classroom, had the great potential to model positive attitudes and behaviors and consequently “teach” lessons of character. Hardee did portray that the teaching and advising relationships contained some component of moral guidance and character building. If she did as she implored other advisors to do, her students would have been exposed to her articulated basic moral teachings. She spoke of the importance of

persons, sharing, duty and personal responsibility, distinguishing between good and

evil, work, good workmanship, the place of material things, the importance of

economy (the wrongness of waste), honesty, clear communication, dedication

(pursuit of a worthy goal), solitude (time to reflect), faith, important things (ability

to prioritize between competing values). (Hardee, 1953, Moral Guidance, pp. 221‐

222)

The expectations she had for other advisors may have been different from the expectations she held for her own advising. As described, she appeared to own the charge to build character.

My advising style is no model for my nine colleagues. Mine is a ‘conscience and

consequence’ style. I think I exist to twinge the consciences of students when theirs

does not! Apart from this ‘surrogate conscience,’ I am a ‘look‐ahead consequence

caller’ particularly on matters of timing and dispatch. This is an extension of

myself—a product of my upbringing of my sense of competition with TIME, and

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experience with events that I see as manageable if they are anticipated. (Hardee,

1980, Gonzaga University, p. 17)

Mentoring Women

Hardee advocated for women to have the same opportunities as their male

counterparts yet she did not consider herself a radical feminist; at least she seemed to

scorn the label. She described the distinction,

My mother was an advocate of women’s work, the means women used to contribute

to community, the betterment of the lot of life of both men and women. That is

likewise an interest of mine since my field is one in which few women participate

and we know that in the ensuing century, more and more women will enter the

educational fields, the professions, and business. I have written and taught in the

area of women’s work… (I distinguish between a radical feminist—which I am not—

and a reasoning female who has always worked in company of men and has been

well received in such partnerships). (Quick Résumé, 1993, p. 4)

When she spoke to women’s groups, she constantly spoke of the responsibility to mentor those who are coming up in the ranks. In a speech to the National Association of

Women, Hardee quoted Hale who in 1930 wrote, “Let us not forget that all the rights and privileges we enjoy today were obtained by the daring, perseverance, and industry of the earlier women” (Hardee, 1969, Out of Eden, p. 20). She went on to suggest that the responsibility for young women’s readiness for the world belonged to all of them. “On the campus, there is need for dispersing the responsibility for growth and development of women students to the many who have talent and grace to role mentor” (Hardee, 1969,

Out of Eden, p. 21). In the same speech, “History awaits tomorrow’s writing in your action.

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That every freshman woman has access to a “role mentor” is the assignment of the future”

(Hardee, 1969, Out of Eden, p. 21). At the closing of a presentation to women in management, Hardee expressed her hope to participants that through their work in management, “…you will draw to you…the young who will emulate you…and so effect a great chain of women of positive good works, helping each other, young with older, stretching from Genesis through the Renaissance through the Age of Aquarius to this moment” (Hardee, 1973, p. 5). To graduates of the Mississippi University of Women at their commencement ceremony, Hardee encouraged them to support one another.

“Replace the ‘old boy politicking’ which is a formidable barrier to ‘new girl’ office‐holding.

Push your fellow women into the system; get them in positions to raise funds, and build platforms for public good” (Hardee, 1977, Links to Life, p. 17).

Hardee used humanities references to empower women. “…William Shakespeare whose name I praise because the women of his creation are so powerful –as Lady

Macbeth; so tempestuous—as Katherine the Shrew: so gentle—as Ophelia. Shakespeare is the author of the true liberationist female!” (Hardee, 1971, The Quality of Mercy, p. 15).

She used a similar tactic in a panel response by referencing the Wives of Argos, warrior

Amazon women, Joan of Arc, and Jane Addams of Chicago’s Hull House to provide examples of strong women whose lives and character could be emulated (Hardee, ~1960,

Untitled).

Summary

Hardee’s 116 publication and presentation topics were numerous, running the gamut from counseling to student personnel services, empowering women, advising foreign students, faculty advising, mentoring, political education, relations between

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students and institutions, predictions of the future of higher learning, integrating student

personnel work into the instructional program, the history of the student personnel field,

and the importance of the humanities. The breadth of her interests and reading, along with

her love of music, theatre, and literature, informed and enlightened her writing. Hardee

consistently employed rhetorical questions, phrasing, metaphors, and other forms of

comparison. Her methods included story telling, interview, poetry, media, drama, props,

and elements of surprise. To Hardee, the manner in which the message was delivered mattered as much as the message itself. If delivered well her words could encourage critical thinking and personal action.

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CHAPTER V. RECOLLECTIONS AND RENDERINGS OF DR. HARDEE

Melvene Hardee’s voice is represented in Chapters Three and Four as she provided the fabric for us to interpret her life by means of her written words. Through the voices of others who knew her, this chapter will add perspective and provide commentary on

Hardee’s personal presence and style, her place as a woman in history, the guiding principles of her life, her contributions to the student affairs profession, and the ways in which she is remembered. Seventeen voices contributed to this chapter including her only surviving sibling, Newt Draheim. The other 16 participants were colleagues and former

students who connected with Dr. Hardee as early as 1956 up through the end of her life.

With the exception of her brother, each participant responded to the same set of questions

(Appendix E) either in person or by telephone. Interviews ranged from one to two hours

and they occurred between October 25, 2007, and April 2, 2008. The interviews were

digitally recorded, transcribed by the researcher, and analyzed for themes.

Personal Presence and Style

Not surprisingly, people who knew Hardee at different times and in different

settings had varying descriptions of her. From a limited perspective, professional colleague

Anne Pruitt‐Logan met Hardee in 1956. She used this descriptor, “I have a general

impression of her as a very warm, friendly, and persuasive person” (A. Pruitt‐Logan,

personal communication, March 5, 2008). As previously discussed, Hardee convinced

Pruitt‐Logan, an African American professional, to join the Southern College Personnel

Association at a time when segregation was the norm.

Harris Shelton had observed Hardee in many different settings and determined that

Hardee the teacher was a distinct persona from what she presented to non‐students.

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I can characterize her as a charming woman when she was not in an educational

setting. In an educational setting, she was a mentor; there was no room for charm. In

a meeting with parents, which we had, a meeting with wives of graduate students,

which she would have, she was a wonderful, warm, giving lady. She was honest,

beyond any description. There was no time for laziness, no time for quitting, no time

for not being able to look in the mirror and say I gave 100 percent. Life was always

too short, too much to do, too fast. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14,

2008)

While she had the capacity to be charming, her students said that Hardee had a commanding personal presence and could be intimidating, even years after graduation. “I can remember saying to myself while looking in the mirror shaving, ‘I am a 44 year‐old professional, successful man, and I am so bloody intimidated by this little woman’” (H.

Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008).

David Leslie came onto the FSU scene in 1984 as a new department head and had to figure out all of the players, Hardee being one of them.

You could tell that Mel would brook no nonsense. She held herself with great

dignity; she spoke with great dignity. You knew that she was connecting with you.

She was not a mushy person but you could see that this was a highly intelligent

woman who was really taking it all in. She was getting your measure and she was

working assiduously to understand whom you were, what you were about, and

what kind of relationship she was going to have with you. I mean you knew that you

were in the presence of a very alive intelligence, a very aware and perceptive

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person. At the same time, a person who held herself with great dignity and reserve.

(D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

Professional colleague, Jim Rhatigan, knew that some people did not like Hardee’s theatrical qualities. “They thought she was a ham; that she drew attention to herself. In all of her loving, caring, and sharing, she also had a little incisiveness about her. She could cut you dead in the water if she wanted to” (J. Rhatigan personal communication, March 9,

2008). At the same time, the theatrical part of Hardee, made time spent with her enjoyable.

Rhatigan fondly recalled, “We had some very entertaining times together. My God, it was such joy to be around her and hear her side comments” (J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008). Mark Zeigler commented on the humor he appreciated so much. “All she did was make me laugh. There was no one funnier than Dr. Hardee. I do not ever think she knew she was funny…which is why she was funny” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007). One of his favorite Hardee phone calls occurred when she was trying to locate something in her home.

She had a paper she wanted to read to me or a reference she wanted me to look up

and she could not find it. “I cannot put my finger on it but stay with me. I am placing

the phone on the ironing board”… and then she went all over the house and she

would yell, “From the kitchen into the dining room”… (laugh)… “Nope, not here.

There are several piles.” Then she would say, “”From the dining room into the TV

room…Nope, not here either. I am having a hard time Mark, stay with me.” She was

yelling (laughing) and I was just cracking up. (M. Zeigler, personal communication,

October 29, 2007).

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A Private Person

Hardee’s commanding persona also had a private side. Hardee did not open up and talk about herself with others.

She did not do a whole lot of talking about herself personally. What was so

interesting was as close as you felt to her and how much I relied on her; she did not

want to be in a vulnerable position. She did not allow herself to be vulnerable. Yet,

she made it where you wanted to be. I feel like she was, in a large part, very alone. I

do not know if that tied to grief issues and the loss of her husband. (M. Zeigler,

personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Dr. Hardee constantly surprised Nancy Turner. “We thought we knew her and lo and behold, she would do something unusual and we realized that we did not. I think that was it; we wanted to know more about her than we really did” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007).

To Be in Her Presence

By the “larger than life” way people spoke about Hardee, it might have surprised someone making a first encounter to be in the presence of such a petite woman. Leslie commented on her size. “One of the things that always impressed me about Mel was how small she was, physically small. She was a little, tiny creature” (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008). John Opper captured the awe that people conveyed when they spoke of her.

To hear her students talk about her, they respected her, she meant the world to

them, but when they described some of their experiences, you get the idea of

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someone who is a six‐foot seven, 250 lb. linebacker that took no prisoners. (J. Opper,

personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Rita Moser described Hardee’s unconventional personal presentation.

She is remembered by colleagues fondly, humorously. We tell tales when we get

together. We talk about her being tough, that she was hard on people, and that she

was as eccentric as all get out. She wore white patent leather Go‐Go Boots. You could

never accuse Dr. Hardee of spending too much money on clothes. She was still

wearing 70s stuff in the 90s, up until she passed away. (R. Moser, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

Ralph Johnson reinforced this picture of Hardee.

She was an interesting personality, eccentric in many ways. I think we jokingly talk

about those things as well. Here is this very petite, older woman in white Go‐Go

Boots and very bright lipstick with scarves. She was very interesting personality in

many ways. It added to the mystique of the Mel Hardee we came to admire so. (R.

Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

According to many, including Sherrill Ragans, Hardee had a unique fashion sense.

I am sure somebody has spoken about her kind of flamboyant dress. She loved

bright colors. She would wear a white sheath dress with a high neck [and she would

accent it with] a red or yellow scarf, primary colors. She had different little shoes,

boot‐like shoes. I do not know where she got it. Maya Angelou would say, “I don’t

know where she got this get‐up.” (S. Ragans, personal communication, October 28,

2007)

Regardless of what she wore, she had a unique presence as described by Zeigler.

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She was rather harried‐looking. She had purposive jerky movements. Stretch pants,

boots, sleeveless sweaters with cowl necks, scarves, hair askew but fixed, rouge,

lipstick, just a fireball. Short. She was really short (but the boots added a couple of

inches to her height). I always saw her as really tall. That is what so funny because

she was larger than life. I can remember thinking at the time… this person is unlike

any person that I will ever meet. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29,

2007)

Rhatigan spoke of her personal energy, “She was the ‘Energizer Bunny’ for sure.

Even at an older age when most of us slow down, I could never detect that she did” (J.

Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008). Shelton described two Hardee speeds.

She moved at a very rapid pace. She spoke rapidly, she walked rapidly, and she was

a dynamo that way. That is in one setting. On the other hand, I watched her sit under

a pine tree that she had grown, and read a draft of my dissertation. (H. Shelton,

personal communication, January 14, 2008)

Having Influence

Hardee held several formal leadership roles during her career but she also exercised leadership outside of these formal roles. When speaking of her leadership style, study participants used words like deliberate, intentional, visionary, and strategic to describe her.

Most of all, they thought she led by example. Bob Shaffer worked with Hardee at the time she held the presidency of ACPA.

Mel was a five‐star leader, a full general. She was a good organizer, she delegated to

the extent that you had the job to do and she would follow up with one of her color‐

penciled memos, with a request to report on this or that at the next meeting. I would

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say as a leader she had great initiative as exemplified by the way she took a hold of

reorganization of ACPA at a time it really needed it. She had great conceptual skills,

which was important. (R. Shaffer, personal communication, March 28, 2008)

The military comparison came up later in her career when Hardee led David Meabon and other practicum students on campus visits.

She viewed herself as [General] Patton. On our practicum trip, we collectively went

to see the movie, Patton. I took one of my military jackets and got stars on it, and she

wore it on the trip the whole time, she even went to the movie in it. One of the

qualities was the ability to conceptualize the things that other people would only

talk about. She could do it in a way that would inspire you to see where she was

headed. She was kind of like a field general or a general who could strategize the

whole battlefield so to speak. She signed this one letter “GENERAL PATTON RIDES

AGAIN. All the organization is clicking. (Meaning her organization, everything is

getting done and so forth.) How about yours?” She had a quality that could inspire

you to do more than you thought you could. (D. Meabon, personal communication,

December 6, 2007)

Hardee’s actions created momentum.

What she did was the message. Dr. Hardee did not talk about “I do this and I do that,

this is what I think and this is what I believe…” Even in her talks and speeches, that

was not her style. It was clear to her that she was in control, she was moving

forward, and you had better not get in her way. There was just so much energy there

that sometimes I do not think she could figure out why other people could not catch

the energy. (D. Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007)

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Rhatigan put it this way, “She taught me by example that you never do arrive; you just keep striving ” (J. Rhatigan personal communication, March 9, 2008).

Hardee was not overtly political but she knew the right people and stayed informed.

Meabon commented on her lack of interest in engaging in Florida State campus politics but

to him, she appeared well connected to campus leaders. “She knew how to get her students

placed for assistantships and educational experiences. She knew an awful lot about

everybody at any level, the chancellor, the governor, and the presidents of colleges” (D.

Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007). Her external involvements did

position her in political environments (D. Meabon, personal communication, December 6,

2007).

She held offices in several major associations. That speaks to her political abilities.

With some of her major conference presentations, it was clear how she drew people

into those from a political standpoint. The James Brothers with Jim Appleton and

Jim Rhatigan would be an example. (D. Meabon, personal communication, December

6, 2007)

What most impressed Barbara Mann was Hardee’s interest in trends and forecasting

future issues. Hardee wanted to prepare her students for what was to come. She was

always asking,

What is it going to be like in the future? What are you going to have to wrestle with

in the future as a student affairs professional? What are you reading now? What are

people finding out about the trends now? She did not do that and present it to you.

Based on what you are reading, seeing, and experiencing, [she wanted you to figure

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out] what is going to happen in the future? How are you going to deal with that?

Where are things going? (B. Mann, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

According to George Young, she was always striving for continuous improvement despite the uncertainty that change brings.

One thing I really liked about her, she communicated that entrepreneurial spirit to

every student she ever worked with. She always wanted you to be thinking outside

the box and challenging the status quo. She wanted you to try to do different things

and better things for the sake of the students you were working with. (G. Young,

personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Hardee had a way of getting you to do what she wanted to do and it was difficult to say no to her. Shelton received a call from Hardee when they were both slated to serve on the faculty of a professional development institute. She thought it would be unforgivable if they did not team up.

“Well, I don’t know what your particular role is but here is what we are going to do.”

Then she described her plan. Now it was not, “Well, how do you feel about that?” It

was, “In preparation here is what you need to do prior to arrival, you need to have

done this, and I want you to go and read this article.” I hung up and the phone rang a

little later and it was Mel again, “I was just thinking and you know there’s a way to

do this with a little more theater. What we should do…” Our first meeting was a

breakfast. It was just the two of us sitting at a table eating scrambled eggs and toast

and talking this over. She was talking me through it. She knew exactly what she

wanted, every word of the script, and she was trying to get me to say these words

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without her telling me to say them. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January

14, 2008)

During her memorial service, Young shared what it felt like to participate in a Hardee presentation.

When you were summoned to make a presentation with Mel Hardee….you got a

knot in your stomach. A few weeks before you were supposed to appear with Mel,

you were sent a script banged out on an Ernie Pyle typewriter complete with a

number of margin edit notes in red and black magic marker frequently adorned

with red dots or duct tape. We had notes on where to stand, how to enter,

inflections, transitions, and the substance of what we were presenting. (Hardee

Memorial Service, 1994)

When Rhatigan said no to one of her requests he had to be persistent and firm; there were consequences if you said no to her.

Twenty years later, she wanted to reprise the James Boys. I told Appleton, we knew

everybody at the time we did the first one, we were contemporaries, and we were

leaders. I did not think this could be reprised; I really did not. Plus, Mel was not as

with it. I told Jim, “I don’t think this is going to go over.” Well, Mel was not happy

with me about that. She told me, “You’ve given up on the Mentor.” (You know, she is

playing you all of the time.) I said, “No, it’s just me. We have moved on. We cannot go

back to the way it was. Appleton and I are different. He is a college president. We

can’t recapture that.” She said, “Well, yes we can. If we think about it, we can do it.” I

held out and she was not happy. (J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9,

2008)

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The Great Communicator

Hardee was an engaging speaker at regional and national conferences. Shaffer

admired her energy and creativity.

She had a way with words. She could say things that we wish we had thought to say

in that way (laugh). When we would go to her sessions at conventions, we would

often come away with a word that Mel had coined which would become the

buzzword for a little while at our own staff meetings. (R. Shaffer, personal

communication, March 28, 2008)

Shelton thought Hardee gained confidence in her speaking over the years.

Melvene was constant but also changing. She got more and more comfortable with

those kinds of moments [Annie Oakley]. I think, she always had a sense of humor,

but I do not think that in the very beginning of her professional life she was as

confident. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008)

If Hardee was an accomplished speaker, it was partly because she would invest time

in practicing her delivery. Young said, “She and I use to talk about it and she explained that

she stood in front of a bathroom mirror and talked to that mirror like it was everybody in

that audience” (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008). Turner said Hardee

was absent until her presentation, “When we went to conferences at which she was

presenting, we noticed that we never saw her until the time of the presentation. Later we

learned she set time aside to practice in her room before the mirror. It was an important lesson for us” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007). Meabon said Hardee would test run ideas with her students. “In our classes it was fascinating to watch her put a program together because she would talk about what she might do, she would talk about

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how she was going to set it up, and then she would talk about what she did do” (D. Meabon,

personal communication, December 6, 2007). Young described it similarly; “She brought

stuff that she was working on to class, mostly speeches. She really communicated well. She

referred to herself as a ‘great communicator.’ I always thought she was too” (G. Young,

personal communication, March 26, 2008).

A Defining Moment

To some degree, the 1987 conference presentation, The Student Personnel Point of

View: Birth of a Charter, has already been explored in Chapter Three. Many of the interview

participants commented on the skillful way in which Hardee approached and delivered this

presentation and some thought it was a defining career moment. Rhatigan acknowledged

the work that she had put into it; he thought the delivery was, “superb, and unbelievable”

(J. Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008). “The people on their feet at the end

were probably the people who knew her or, anybody who could see the amount of work.

She went to the Bowling Green archives to study. She really loved doing that program” (J.

Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008). Terry O’Banion thought Hardee created an unforgettable performance given the technology limitations of the day.

“Remember now ‐ the technology that we had available for speakers back then was nothing. What Mel would have done today with the technology” (T. O’Banion, personal communication, February 20, 2008).

She did a Gone With the Wind theme and she had pictures on both sides of the room.

The audience was totally engaged in this process and finally at the end, after she had

positioned her ideas in the framework of Gone With the Wind, her last line was,

“Frankly my dears, we are the ones who give a damn.” The audience rose to its feet

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in thunderous ovation. It was one of the greatest speeches I have ever seen in an

educational environment. Mel was just a master of that sort of stuff. She really had a

sense of drama. She was a great communicator. I think it was probably her greatest

moment as a professional. (T. O’Banion, personal communication, February 20,

2008)

Memos and Markers

Hardee communicated with students and others through notes, memos, and letters.

She drew attention to important points using bold markers. Shaffer witnessed this in his

ACPA work. “Mel would send out memos with color‐coded highlights. You would get a memo from Mel and it would have blue and red underlining. Of course, deadlines were circled with exclamation points (laughing). This was her trademark” (R. Shaffer, personal communication, March 28, 2008).

For students she used her office door as a central repository for notes.

The door had a sign on it that said “Communidoor.” It had her typical magic marker

handwriting and she would leave you notes. “George, make sure you do this, this,

and this today,” or, “See me at this hour,” because she wanted to talk to you.

Everybody knew that you had better check the “Communidoor” once a day if you

were in the building. (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Turner described the importance of this space and the written communications.

She had signs posted all over the office door. It might be what she read in the New

York Times today about women in education and she underlined the title or circled

paragraphs that were important. She had notices about upcoming events. She

intended to make sure that you saw it. When she sent materials back to me, the

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envelope was written all over with black magic marker. She was famous for her

notes written with magic markers and underlined. (N. Turner, personal

communication, October 25, 2007)

Hardee’s penchant for note writing extended beyond students and even beyond the

campus. Turner assisted Hardee in identifying someone to help her at home.

She would call me occasionally and ask for some personal help. I recall when she

needed somebody to clean her Tallahassee yard. I recommended a yardman and she

hired him. One day I was talking with him at my house and told him I appreciated

his going over and helping Dr. Hardee. He said, “You know she is a funny lady. She

writes notes and tacks them to the pine trees outside for me.” I smiled. (N. Turner,

personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Johnson delighted in the manner in which Hardee’s notes were written.

When I won the ‘Dissertation of the Year’ for SACSA, she sent me a note and just the

way she wrote her notes was so interesting. She would ask all these questions, “I

understand you got dissertation of the year. Congratulations. What was your topic?

How did you do this? What did you find?” At the end of these series of questions, she

put one word at the end with an exclamation point “Confess!” I just thought that was

so “Hardeesque.” (R. Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

Choosing Florida State University

The FSU program had an established national reputation in large part because

Hardee was known as a person with whom to study. According to Young, she was constantly promoting the opportunities that awaited prospective students at FSU.

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It was a great program because of her stature. Secondly, it was a solid program

because of people like Ray Shultz, Maurice Litton, Hugh Stickler, and a few other

professors who were very highly regarded around the country. Mel was the student

affairs person or, in those days, college student personnel. She had her linkages out

around the country to different programs and everybody knew about her. Mel was a

sales person. She did not go anywhere without talking about her students, and the

program, and how great they were. It was good to be part of that. (G. Young,

personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Leslie recalled having heard Hardee’s name early on in his career.

I had been aware of Mel’s name for a long time. I probably heard her name most

prominently when I took a course in student personnel services as a graduate

student. The name was one of those that just sort of seeps into your consciousness if

you have a professional career in this business. I was aware of Melvene D. Hardee

probably from the beginning of my professional career. (D. Leslie, personal

communication, February 15, 2008)

Meabon was encouraged to study with Hardee by former students.

Paul Fidler and Chuck Whitten had both been with Dr. Hardee at Michigan State for

a summer institute. Both of them felt like I needed to get a Ph.D. They thought I

should apply to Georgia, Michigan State, or Florida State, but there was really only

one school to attend. It was Florida State and that was because of Dr. Hardee. (D.

Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007)

He was impressed with Hardee’s personal connections and the variety of activities in which she was involved.

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Here was a person on any given day she would go up in her farm clothes in the

office, pass out papers and feedback, sit down and talk to you, write notes and stick

them all over the wall. The next day she would be at the board of regent’s office or

the governor’s office or NASPA or ACPA. (D. Meabon, personal communication,

December 6, 2007)

Rita Moser’s choice of Hardee for an Advisor required little consideration.

I chose her to be my major Advisor because she was Mel. I mean, who would want to

be at Florida State and not have Dr. Hardee as your major professor? I did not know

anything other than to want to go to be with her because she was the student

affairs/student personnel person. Yes, there were other people around, but Mel was

the one under which you wanted to study. (R. Moser, personal communication,

October 29, 2007)

Johnson had a friend who had thoroughly researched all of the master’s programs in the

country.

He told me that one of the best programs in the country was at Florida State. There

was an amazing woman who was considered a trailblazer in student affairs. She was

noted for having produced more Ph.D.s than anybody else has. Her name was

Melvene Hardee. (R. Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

Zeigler believes that even now the Florida State program benefits from Hardee’s reputation. “Here she has been dead 13 years, and when people say I am going to go study higher education at Florida State… ‘Oh that is a really good place for higher education…’

That is Dr. Hardee” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

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Recruiting Students

Before a prospective student met with Dr. Hardee to discuss entering the program, her network had provided information upon which she would base her decision. This was the case for Mann.

She knew a lot about people early on because of this networking. At some point I am

sure she asked my boss [a former student] some questions although it did not

happen [in my presence]. As part of this networking, if she trusted one of her

graduates, and that graduate was making a recommendation and calling while that

person was in the office, she would take that recommendation at face value. That

level of trust was there with that former student. [In essence, she was saying,] ‘Okay

then I will do everything I can.’ I saw her do it with people over the years” (B. Mann,

personal communication, October 27, 2007).

John Opper’s colleagues swore Hardee had a dossier on each student because she knew so much about them. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

She knew a lot about me before I walked in the door. I have no idea how she found

out some things that she found out but part of it was that network. It is probably

safe to say that by the time you ended up in this program the network had provided

her a good bit of information about your professional development, your strengths,

and weaknesses, and she knew a good bit about your interests. (J. Opper, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

According to Shelton, Hardee assessed people’s interest and motivation thoroughly on the front end of the program.

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Her opening line with a prospective student was, “I am willing to give you two years

of my life and no more, are you willing to give me two of yours?” I think everybody

is going to say “yes” but I think she is looking at eyeballs at that point. Her attitude

was, and this was Florida State in general, this is not where you make your

contribution to your profession or to posterity. This is where you learn how to make

it. So keeping you here for three, four, or five years in a doctoral program is

counterproductive. We want to teach you how to do research, we want to teach you

to think critically, we want to teach you all the basics you need, and then we want

you out of here. You were going to bring great credit to us by what you do in your

profession. (H. Shelton, personal correspondence, January 14, 2008)

Hardee made an investment in prospective students right away; she created a detailed plan for Mann. “When I went in to talk with her about the Florida State program, her mentoring started at that moment. Very shortly after I got back home, I got a letter from her

reiterating what I should do” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007).

Teacher Extraordinaire

Without exception, study participants who had taken a course from Dr. Hardee

professed that she was the most exceptional teacher they had ever encountered. Words

they used to describe a Hardee learning experience included current, practical, involving,

engaging, stimulating, creative, organized, and challenging. Her classes did not follow a

standard lecture format. In fact, seldom would she lecture at all. Shelton put it very simply,

“…she did not do a lot of that kind of speaking in class. She did not walk in with a script and

do it” (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008). In consideration of her

teaching style, Bob Dawson made this a point:

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If you really sat back and analyzed her style of teaching, it was that she did not teach

in the traditional sense. She organized a class around concepts and let the students

teach themselves. Do research, find something, create something over here, read

about this, read about it over there, go find some more stuff, and then come back

and tell me about it. (R. Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Dawson compared her style to that of early faculty colleague Hugh Stickler.

It was a perfect last name for the man. He taught the readings course that had a

bibliography with hundreds of books and articles. He would come in, he would

assign everybody a reading for the next class, and you had better be prepared to talk

about that in class on that day. (R. Dawson, personal communication, October 29,

2007)

Young made a similar oppositional comparison to Stickler.

Her classes were probably some of the most stimulating classes I have ever taken

anywhere. She gave you a lot of freedom. She gave you many things she wanted you

to read. Stickler was her counterbalance. He really was tough, he gave us a reading

list of like 15 or 20 books we had to read, and then you would be grilled on them.

Mel gave us many different resource materials. She also brought in journal articles,

things out of the press that were happening, at the time. She kept it very stimulating.

(G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Hardee expected students to be partners in the learning process; they were responsible to direct their own learning.

Today we talk about students being the center of their learning; she always

expected that was what you were going to do. You needed to figure out what you

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were going to learn. Here is the class and these are some general things. She would

be very prepared, she would hand out some very specific material and instructions,

and that was it. The rest was up to you. (D. Meabon, personal communication,

December 6, 2007)

The classroom was her stage and she facilitated and directed learning in unforgettable ways. Moser described her style.

Dr. Hardee orchestrated. She set the stage and she had a real appreciation for

theater. It was not bland didactic learning. She would use creative methods to get

her point across, like the use of audio and visual media. She never sat down. She

always stood in the back of the class. Students did a lot of the actual teaching too.

She had it set up so that students were engaged in presentations. (R. Moser,

personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Hardee’s background was in English and drama and she incorporated drama into many things she did like the presentation at the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1937 statement. Mann observed,

We often got those kinds of presentations in class too. “Okay, here is what happened

in the 60s. Here is what was going on. Why were these things going on? How would

we deal with this now? What did we learn from that? What changed as a result of it?

(B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007)

Opper also commented on the theatrics of Hardee’s classroom.

She was very dramatic and those things would stick with you. She believed that if

she was going to cast you out in the profession on your own, then you needed the

best preparation that you could get. Some of that was found in books but some of it

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was to be found in talking to people who had walked the walk. She tried to bring

those people into the room. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Hardee brought events and issues to life and then asked her students to process the events in class. Students said they never quite knew what might be around the corner.

Young credited her involvement in professional associations as one way she stayed informed and current. “She was involved professionally in a lot of different associations and she always brought in things that were happening in the profession, in the country. She would talk about ACPA, NASPA, and NAWDC” (G. Young, personal communication, March

26, 2008). Opper shared, “Something people appreciated about her classes, they were never boring and you never knew what you would be asked to do. You never knew who would show up, or be on the phone, or be on the tape” (J. Opper, personal communication,

October 26, 2007). He recalled one such surprise.

I remember [conferencing] in her office and we were talking about Sandy Astin’s

book. There are five of us, and we asked a question about a piece of his research. She

looked at us and said “I do not know,” and she picked up the phone, dialed, and said,

“Sandy! I have students here and they have a question.” She handed the phone to us.

Right out of the blue. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Hardee was flexible and incorporated current issues in class. Moser went to her first

Hardee class with trepidation; she had not completed her assigned book report.

I had put [the report] off until the weekend before, and I planned to read all day

Sunday to finish it. That weekend we had the Chi Omega murders involving Ted

Bundy. So all of our time was consumed with meeting the students, talking with

parents on the phone, handling, and managing the crisis. I remember going into

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class and thinking, “Oh boy, here I am, my first doctoral level class.” [Hardee] set

aside what we were going to do and spent the whole time processing what was

happening on campus. The person who was the judicial officer for FSU was in the

course. The Greek Advisor was also a member of that class and of course, she had

been dealing with the incident all weekend. That was a profound experience. (R.

Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Hardee tapped into her Life Net to get a firsthand look at issues in higher education.

According to Opper, she was well connected because she had graduates everywhere. “Nine times out of 10, if we read something in the Chronicle she would say, ‘Have you all read this article? Well, I have Fred on the phone...’ One of her graduates was right where it was happening” (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007). After a student graduated, you became part of her network of information and she was always in touch.

“She called people in Washington and told them, ‘I want you to go to Gallaudet and film that, tape that, watch that.’ They would do it and they would send her newspaper clippings from Washington” (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007).

Campuses in the 1960 were volatile and Florida State University was no exception.

Turner said the campus unrest provided Hardee with ammunition for discussion.

I do not know if she would have been in the middle of any of the campus unrest at

Florida State but she definitely would have studied it. She kept newspaper clippings

about what was going on. It was a topic of discussion. What is happening with the

students in our nation? What will you find when you go to your campus? How do

you deal with these kinds of issues? (N. Turner, personal communication, October

25, 2007

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Shelton thought Hardee embraced this time as instructive for her students.

[She was] unlike the other professors in higher education who really disdained the

whole thing. Their hero was Samuel Hayakawa at San Francisco State who

essentially took batons and went out and beat students in the head, “You’re not

going to screw up my college.” That is an exaggeration but it was that militaristic.

Almost our entire faculty had that attitude. Dr. Hardee never particularly revealed

that. I think in her mind, this was the greatest teachable moment of her career, and

it was lasting way too long but it was very important that we, as future practitioners,

be all over it, tear it apart, and put it back together. (H. Shelton, personal

communication, January 14, 2008)

Zeigler agreed that every class and every individual meeting with Hardee was an event. Class with Hardee was, “a well‐planned, orchestrated event that you did not forget. I have tried to do the same [in my teaching]. Always application of everything, it is not just theory. It was always case study where you understood it and then applied it” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007). Shelton reflected on the outcome of that kind of learning experience.

I not only finished the survey and the history course with her but I finished it with a

sense of where we might have done better, where someone made mistakes, where

commissions were charged to do something and they wimped out, or were

incomplete. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008)

He described the physicality of Hardee’s presence in the classroom.

She was very energetic with her body. She was not a teacher that stood in front of a

class ever. She would sit in a student desk with us. She would be in a prominent

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place like in the corner and we would all sort of turn toward her but she was sitting

in the same place as we were. She would bob, she would nod, she would grin, she

would use her fingers [gesturing a “come here” movement], it was like saying,

“More, give me more of that.” She was fully involved, an incredibly good listener, but

she was a good listener for everybody else’s benefit. She was a conductor. She was

theatrical about it all. Her hands never stopped. And that is why you could walk out

of a class and not know how she felt about something or she would fool you into

thinking something because you’d make some blunt bull statement and she go,

“Ohhhhh, ohhhh,” And you’d go “Yeah,” and she may have been 180 degrees

different on that [issue]. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008)

Mann said Hardee loved the role of teacher. “Teacher is somebody who makes people think things through for themselves. This is how she approached her classes” (B.

Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007). Having taught for many years herself,

Mann reflected on Hardee as a teacher.

She was truly unique. You do not meet many people with the forceful personality

that she had and the ability to get people to respond, most people to respond, pretty

positively. As a result, she motivated them to do things, in some cases to do things

that they never thought they could do. When I listen to her graduates, really listen to

them, they felt like she forced them to think about things and to arrive at their own

conclusions and did not just jam information down their throats. In reflecting back

on it now, I realize how very unique she was and what a lasting impact she had on

many of her students and how different she was from most professors. She made a

different contribution. It was not in empirical knowledge. The contribution she

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made was really building into her students a belief in the perspectives of the 1937

student affairs statement as a basis for their work and their interactions with

students. It was real. (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007)

The Importance of Writing

Mann adopted Hardee’s penchant for assigning papers as a way to evaluate learning.

“Definitely one of the things that continued for me [as a faculty member], that I felt like was

valuable when I was her student, was to assign papers to students instead of giving a lot of

knowledge‐based tests” (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007).

Having been an English teacher, you had better not have the very basic things wrong

– grammar, punctuation, that kind of bit because she paid attention to that. You had

better be thinking clearly and you had better use well‐constructed paragraphs.

When she graded a paper there were two grades on the paper: one for content and

one grade for the basic paper, the construction, grammar, and spelling. It would be

possible to get a very good grade on content because you had good ideas and took it

in a good direction and not get a very good grade on the writing. She wanted her

students to write well. If they had trouble, she would send them to the writing lab.

Here are these doctoral students meekly walking into the writing lab saying my

major professor said I needed to come here because I cannot write. Everybody

learned to write before they left the program; everybody. (B. Mann, personal

communication, October 27, 2007)

Receiving Feedback

Hardee was direct in giving feedback to students. It was her job to see that they improved. “Feedback as a student was constant. Right in the middle of the class, she would

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stop you and say, ‘That is excellent thinking.’ She would never criticize you unless it was behind her office door” (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008). Shelton remembered,

Once you were accepted to the doctoral program and you were a Hardee advisee

you had a standing meeting with her. I do not recall if it was once a month but it was

not more frequent than that. It was about 10 to 15 minutes. There were times in

those when she would critique something. Generally, I think it was something that

either bothered her or she loved but she would wait and use that time. Other than

that it was getting something back, it could have been an examination, and it could

have been a piece of a draft of a prospectus or something. That was the magic maker

part of the feedback. The rest of it was body language. She was not a great

encourager; she was more of a demander, a drill instructor. The drill instructor does

not love you, but [in a strange way] she loves you. On graduation day at boot camp,

you love your drill instructor because he made you go through it and now look what

you have done. That dynamic is there with Dr. Hardee. Except you did not hate her

all the way through, you loved her all the way through. (H. Shelton, personal

communication, January 14, 2008)

Turner said she often got feedback immediately when what she really wanted was a reprieve.

I can remember, working for three or four weeks writing up a section to submit to

Hardee. She would give it back the very next day, not two days later, the very next

day…written all over with what I needed to do to improve the paper. I could not

believe she did not give me a little bit of breathing space before I had to start on it

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again. She gave immediate feedback. If I was going in the wrong direction, I changed

it right away. For her, that kept me on track. For me, my tongue was hanging out. (N.

Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Hardee was direct with her comments whether in writing or in person. Reading from some of the papers he had kept, Meabon shared her comments.

“I have to be very frank with you. I do not think you are going to make it on any kind

of time frame.” “Take yourself in hand and do a logical, realistic, much simpler

rewrite. I will want to see this by (date). Figure out a pattern.” I mean, this was not

any of this soft touch stuff. For a student, this is panic stuff. Many students when

they got this direct feedback, they went into panic and depression. Students today

do not respond very well to this kind of feedback. (D. Meabon, personal

communication, December 6, 2007)

“Read in a Quiet Place”

There was some apprehension when one got a paper back from Hardee. If the cover said, “Read in a quiet place” one needed to brace oneself. Johnson spoke of the experience.

I remember, like most people, receiving papers back with great trepidation. She

would sometimes write these interesting notes on our papers, of course in magic

markers or some kind of bold pen, it was never just a regular pen. If she had

particularly heavy comments she would write, “You might wish to read this in your

own quiet, sequestered place.” We would go somewhere to see what she would say

to us. It was just always fearful to get our papers back because we would not know

what she would be saying. It was always insightful and helpful points that she would

make on our papers. (R. Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

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Zeigler described a similar scenario.

She would give you your paper back in a manila envelope and she would write on it

with a black magic maker, “Please read in a quiet place.” You would get the paper at

the end of class, and you always did what she said, regardless of whether she was

watching you. You would go to a quiet place, under a tree or whatever, and you

would pull out the paper. I do not know how she had the time to write that many

comments on a paper unless she wrote 24‐hours a day. The feedback was always

very critical to make you think differently, maybe make you write differently. It was

not unheard of that she would write, “You do not write on a graduate level.” Many

people took offense to that. Very often, it would be mature, returning students who

had been in the profession. She really wanted everyone to excel. She wanted people

in student affairs to not be seen any differently that someone in religion, or someone

in humanities, as an academic. She not only pushed the administrative thing but she

really pushed the academic angle and some doctoral and masters students were not

ready for that kind of push. I think they took offense to it. (M. Zeigler, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

The Importance of Food

Hardee would regularly bring food to class. Turner suggested, “I guess she believed that if you were hungry you would not listen” (N. Turner, personal communication, October

25, 2007). Zeigler said food was present at all of his classes and that Hardee would monitor people and hand them a cookie when it seemed warranted. One of his favorite Hardee stories involved food.

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She was lecturing eating her granola bar…shaking her hands with the chalk, and she

started choking. The class was discussing and she was “harrumph.” Choking,

choking, she turned around and on the blackboard she wrote, “Continue discussion,

I am merely choking.” Isn’t that hilarious? It is so unique. No one thinks to do that”

(M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Hardee used food as a way to build community. Watermelons and other food items came from the farm. Moser could recall when watermelons came to the Stone Building. “A student would come by and she would hand them a watermelon and she would tell her to go find a few of her other students and share it with them” R. Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

When it came time to plan one’s dissertation defense, food was a major part of the equation. According to Turner, “It was almost more stressful to plan for what you were going to provide for the committee to eat than to plan for defending your dissertation. She always said you needed to provide food” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25,

2007). Leslie described the kind of environment she was trying to create for a defense.

I sat on a number of her doctoral committees. Dissertation defenses were always an

extravaganza. She wanted students’ families to be in the room. She welcomed

anybody who wanted to be there. Dissertation defenses have become sort of a very

routine, a behind the closed‐door thing. They were no longer what they used to be in

the old days where you stood up in an auditorium, and there was an audience and so

forth. Mel ran these in the old style way and she asked her students, demanded of

her students that they provide food and drink. There was always a big buffet table

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full of sweet rolls, and fruit, and muffins, and coffee, and juice and so forth. It had a

celebratory feel to it. (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

Relationship Boundaries

Study participants who were former Hardee students reported that their

relationship with Professor Hardee had clear boundaries. While one was a student in the

program one’s relationship with Hardee was cordial. Very few people reported having a

close personal relationship with Hardee while they were a student. After students

graduated, they reported that their relationship with Hardee seemed to become more

affable. Shelton commented on the distancing that occurred for him as a student.

Out of the 200 plus graduates, and that means probably 500 plus students that went

through that program, I think that probably very few would say they had a close

personal relationship, very few. I can name the ones that I know. It was a rare

blending moment, a coincidence that would cause that. I would say, though, that I

had a comfortable relationship. She was always “The Mentor” and I always was the

mentee. I always knew my place. She always knew her place. Occasionally, there

would be a little personal thing, a tease. Maybe just a little bitty thing but that was

not her personality until you graduated. Once you graduated, you moved over into a

different place and now the teasing and the joking was liberal, and wonderful, but

not as a student. (H. Shelton, personal correspondence, January 14, 2008)

Mann echoed this reserved congeniality.

Our relationship had a consistency to it. I was treated very well as a doctoral

student; many of us were particularly if we came in with a lot of experience. She did

not treat us like a master’s student or a young doctoral student. As long as you were

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following her timetable and meeting her expectations, she had a very good

relationship with the students. (B. Mann, personal correspondence, October 27,

2007)

Johnson described his student experience.

While I was in the master’s program, I did not consider myself having any particular

relationship with her that was any different from any average student professor

relationship. I honestly did not sense that she was like a special force in my life or

this major mentor. I did not sense that she was necessarily any more interested in

me than any other of the master’s students. She cared deeply about all of us as a

class. (R. Johnson, personal correspondence, March 21, 2008)

Their relationship shifted for him after graduation.

After I had left FSU, she shared that she had an affinity for me and was appreciative

of what I had done in the master’s program and what I had done beyond. The fact

that of all the “Magna Masters” she had that year, I was the one who was most

involved and most engaged in the profession. (R. Johnson, personal correspondence,

March 21, 2008)

Hardee asked some students to assist her with personal errands and the care of her house while she was away. It was perceived by their peers that these select students were indeed closer to her. Study participants who reported engaging in these helpful tasks described varying degrees of relationship with Hardee.

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A Directive Advisor

Hardee acknowledged the challenges inherent in the doctoral program and she let students know the process would test their strengths and weaknesses. Opper remembered her caution,

If you have a weakness, it will all come out in the doctoral process. If you

procrastinate, if you have any kind of unkind edge, whatever your flaw is, the stress

of the doctoral process will push it out. She was right. I think back on the number of

people I know who went through the process who are no longer married, quite a

few of them. She tried to take care of students. She tried to tell them upfront what

they were in for. She tried to help them from day one. She certainly did with our

group of five. She was not concerned that you would not get through the course

work because there was structure there, unless you could not write, or unless you

were adverse to mathematics. She would work on that but she knew that if you

made it through pre‐lims, if you got through the hoop, then without that structure

doctoral students do not typically finish dissertations, so she would provide that

structure. Some people viewed that as overbearing, and over involved and directive,

and she certainly was all of those things. At the same time, she would call me and

leave my name and address on a watermelon that she had brought back from the

farm. She was all those different people. (J. Opper, personal communication, October

26, 2007)

Hardee had a covenant with her advisees. She let you know if you did not hold up your end of the bargain. Opper spoke to her commitment.

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I think she was devoted to her students and she was pretty much a good example of

tough love. She would go to the ends of the earth for you. If you wanted a resource

or if you needed help trying to get something done, or if you told her, I would like to

finish the program by this day, then she would make a plan. She would say to you,

“You do your part and I will do my part.” (J. Opper, personal communication,

October 26, 2007)

Dawson was introduced to Hardee’s direct approach immediately. When they met to

plan his program, she revealed herself.

I assumed that she made a decision about me before I walked into the room based

on recommendations she had gotten. As I walked in the door it was either confirmed

or not because there was never any doubt. [At our first meeting] it was, “Okay we’ll

do this, and we’ll do this, this, and this. When you start, you’ll get a student

assistantship,” and so forth. It was just boom, boom, boom, and boom. (R. Dawson,

personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Similarly, Mann made a preliminary visit to campus to discuss the possibility of entering the FSU program.

I walked across campus from where the conference was and she asked a couple of

questions about what I had been doing. Then she told me what I was going to do.

“You will do this, this, this, and this, and you will come here next year and you will

take these courses. Then you will go back to your job and you will do your

dissertation research. Then you will write your dissertation and you will graduate in

June of 1980.” “Yes Ma’am.” [The message] was, I know what is best for you; I see

your road; I see how you can achieve what is best for what you want to do; and here

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is how to do it. I expect you to do it. At that point, there were very few women

higher education professors with whom to get a doctorate. I decided this is in the

days of the ERA, struggling for the ERA. I wanted to make a statement by having a

woman major professor. (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007)

Hardee’s motivation to get people in and out of the program quickly meant that someone had to keep things moving. If it were not the student, then it would be her. Moser understood that “Dr. Hardee really wanted to direct and maneuver people through really quickly. She wanted you to lock step, do what you needed to be done. She did not want anyone to leave the area before they were finished” (R. Moser, personal communication,

October 29, 2007).

At the time he was a student, Shelton observed Hardee motivate students through the program by publically tracking their progress.

Outside of her office, there was a piece of brown butcher paper that was probably

24 inches wide. It started at the top, it was taped with masking tape, and it draped to

the floor. Then next to it was another one because there were that many students. If

you were a student of hers, you were up there in one of two or three categories. One

of them was “New to the program,” another one was “Approaching comps,” another

one was “Dissertation in progress,” or something like that. The goal was to make the

list; not everybody made the list. Many people took classes to see whether they

wanted this and she had to see if she wanted them. With the butcher paper on the

wall, you did not live in fear that you were going to be scratched off the list, but

everybody knew that it happened. Not everybody saw it, but for her to walk out of

her office door with a magic marker in her hand and simply find your name and X

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through it, and turn around and go right back into her office and close the door, no

fanfare, no explanation. You know, it was graphic, visual termination (laugh) or

extermination. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008).

Turner was working full‐time on the FSU campus and she appreciated the direction and guidance.

She was very good in helping me to keep my focus on my program. She understood

the interests and strengths of each student. During the dissertation phase of the

program, she was constantly giving me feedback. I remember going to meetings

with her with two copies of the agenda in hand because we talked specifically about

what I had accomplished and what I needed to change. She was very good in guiding

me along the way. (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

In the midst of her doctoral work, Turner accepted a new position on campus and stopped making progress toward her degree.

I received a letter from Hardee one day telling me if I did not get busy and produce

something, I could just find another major professor. I wrote her back immediately

and pledged to her that I would like to continue with her. This did straighten me up

and I got back on track because I did not want to lose her. She was just too valuable.

(N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Meabon, who had come from a military background, responded well to Hardee’s

style.

I did not respond to her like a lot of others, she was just so forceful and direct; most

people just wilted into the woodwork. They would bounce back but it would take

them a month or two. A couple of these students had been at FSU for a couple of

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years and she would say that they did not have any backbone. She seemed to respect

backbone. (D. Meabon, personal communication, January 6, 2007)

Hardee got really directive as students began work on their dissertations. This was

true for Young.

When it was time to get your prospectus done, she would really hold your feet to the

fire. She would make you write down when you were going to do things. She

monitored how your plan meshed with the graduate school requirements. She just

wanted to be sure that you had all your bases covered. She could be very detailed, I

mean she was a global thinker, but she made you be very detailed getting you ready.

I appreciated that. (G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Zeigler spoke of the desire to study with her. Some people had to make it work.

If you did not get along with her, you did one of two things. You would try harder

and make her like you through your effort, or you would say, “To heck with it, I am

getting someone else. I cannot deal with her.” I do not know anyone who did that

but I heard that it did happen. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29,

2007)

When the Fit Was Not Good

Hardee’s directive advising was too much for some advisees. According to Mann,

“People who did not fit with her style, usually they found another major professor. If they did not feel like there was one that they wanted, they might leave the program, but very few people left the program” (B. Mann, personal correspondence, October 27, 2007).

Students who were more independent may have felt Dr. Hardee was overly involved in matters that were personal.

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The people who had real trouble with that would sometimes be people who did not

want anybody interfering with what they considered the personal aspects of their

lives. As much as doctoral students hate to admit it, some of them really did need

that kind of direction, guidance, and personal attention. (B. Mann, personal

correspondence, October 27, 2007)

Opper discussed how Hardee would draw the line with underperforming students to let them know she would not expend more effort with them until they started to perform to her expectations.

There were students that she cut off. I do not know how many that might have been.

There were those that would not produce and she would say I do not have time for

this. With those students as a last effort at trying to get them, she would be really

direct, and in some cases, they would get really angry with her. She did not enjoy it

but that is what she felt was her job. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26,

2007)

Moser knew of one person who was told to move on. “She was very direct. She told one of my colleagues he needed to get another major professor because he was not moving at the pace she wanted. He changed” (R. Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Meabon ended up in a mediator role for students that were not meeting her expectations.

She connected me with some students in the program and told them, “If you get out

of the program it is going to because of Dave. I am done.” She would leave me notes.

“Get to this one student and put the word you are subbing for me again. See my last

verbal blast to her.” “When she has a paper you think the committee will approve,

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have her Xerox it and I will read it when I get back. It is up to you.” Then in capital

letters, “She should have had this done weeks ago.” (D. Meabon, personal

communication, December 6, 2007)

Even though he was not her student, Rhatigan knew that Hardee meant business.

“The way to get on her bad side was to be a slough off. Mel did not really tolerate that” (J.

Rhatigan, personal communication, March 9, 2008).

She admired people who would assert themselves, who knew what they wanted, and who could assess the politics of a situation. Dawson shared a story of a student who took a long time to get his proposal approved by Hardee. After many revisions, he finally challenged his dissertation committee saying that they were just changing the same words that they had changed six months before. When he finally spoke up for himself, Hardee said something to the effect, “I have been waiting for you to stand up and defend yourself. Okay, your prospectus is approved” (R. Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Mentoring

Mentoring others was important to Hardee. She modeled this in her own behavior and expected it of her students. Mann said she took the role very seriously.

She felt that students needed positive adult role models and particularly the

younger students, undergraduates. That was part of her belief system and that

student affairs were these positive role models. She very much took that role with

the masters students. She would say they do not have any experience yet and they

needed guidance and she was very active guiding them. (B. Mann, personal

communication, October 27, 2007)

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Leslie thought that Hardee set her standards high and communicated them clearly to her students.

She was a world‐class mentor. She would pick and choose her students carefully. I

imagine that Mel and her students had at least an implicit bargain. The implicit

bargain was you are going to get through this program and you are going to have a

successful career but you are by God going to do it by my standards. (D. Leslie,

personal communication, February 15, 2008)

Hardee’s mentorship was different from what other doctoral advisors provided.

Shelton described why Dr. Hardee was able to advise many students at a time.

There was not a dependency; you didn’t snivel around her door. You went about

your work and when you needed her, you probably could get her for a short time. So

maybe what a lot of people thought of as a typical mentor/mentee relationship in

some other discipline leading to a doctorate where maybe a researcher has one

protégée. That was just not Dr. Hardee. I think we are back to the measure of her

success; putting the right people in the right places out there and letting them go.

Train them well and send them on their way. (H. Shelton, personal communication,

January 14, 2008)

Did she treat the master’s and doctoral students differently? Johnson would say no.

Substantively she did not treat the master’s and doctoral students differently. What

she did do was give the doctoral students a little bit more responsibility. In fact, she

considered herself, “The Mentor.” The doctoral students were the “mini‐mentors” to

the master’s students. Whether that was a deliberate or an accidental arrangement,

it worked well. In many instances when we could not get to Dr. Hardee or we just

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needed to bounce some things off someone else, we would talk to a mini‐mentor. (R.

Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

The Life Net

Graduates remained linked to the program through Hardee’s efforts. She was very

good at keeping in contact with her students and keeping them connected with each other.

Shelton recalled receiving a Hardee newsletter about twice a year. “Sometimes she would

write a note at the bottom, ‘Please update me on your family and your career and what is

going on.’ Well you always did that” (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14,

2008). O’Banion talked of the constant communication after graduation. “She kept her students connected through written material. We knew who the other students were and we knew the new students coming into the program” (T. O’Banion, personal communication,

February 20, 2008). Moser said, “People staying in touch as colleagues was very important to her. She would sprinkle her talks in class with references to other FSU graduates and what they were doing. She made sure that was a theme that continued throughout” (R.

Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007). If she had not heard from a former student in awhile she let you know. “She would send me envelopes that were pre‐stamped which said to me that she wanted me to be in touch. I am sure everybody who worked with her has letters and postcard remnants” (R. Moser, personal communication, October 29,

2007).

Professional Involvement

It was important to Hardee to get her students involved in professional associations and exposed to leaders in the field. Moser was a beneficiary of Hardee’s efforts to get students connected to professional organizations.

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When I was a doctoral student, she actually paid memberships for the American

Association for Higher Education for four of us: Smith, Mashburn, Satterfield, and

me. She paid and then she told us we needed to go to the conference. When she told

you that you needed to do something you pretty much did it, so the four of us took a

train from Jacksonville to Washington D.C. and went to the conference. That was the

kind of thing she did to encourage professional engagement. (R. Moser, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

Hardee supported Zeigler too.

She sent me to NASPA, paid for my meals when I went to conferences... She did

everything for me, out of her own pocket. She would write a personal check and it

would be like $75 dollars for meals at NASPA. What I soon found out, I was one of

hundreds. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

O’Banion’s dissertation put him in contact with COSPA members and other leaders in the field. This gave him entry into professional activities. (T. O’Banion, personal communication, February 20, 2008)

I was on the editorial board of the American College Personnel Association, I was on

the executive committee, I was chair of Commission 11, the community college

group, and I was ACPA’s representative to the APGA Council. Mel made all that

happen. She was grooming me to be the first community college person who was

going to be president of the American College Personnel Association. (T. O’Banion,

personal communication, February 20, 2008)

Some professional connections were more innocent. Opper spoke of a connection that

Hardee made for him immediately after the 1987 ACPA/NASPA presentation.

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I was just wandering around and she said, “Come with me.” She sat me down at the

table with some of the heavyweights of the profession. She sat me down next to

Gilbert Wrenn and Bob Shaffer. She introduced me to a couple other people. Gilbert

Wrenn was one of the original people on the [SPPV] committee. He and I had a

conversation about that time. It was just a fascinating experience for me. She used to

say the value of the conference was the 15‐minute conversations not so much the

presentations. Just to hear him say, “We had no idea we were writing a document

that would be what it is today.” (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26,

2007)

In addition to linking students to professional associations, Hardee connected her

students with job prospects. Young became the dean of students at Valdosta State because

of her connection to the institution’s president.

Valdosta State had a president named S. Walter Martin. He knew [Hardee] from

somewhere, I think from the Southern Regional Education Board from years earlier.

He called her when he decided to go to Valdosta and said he needed a dean of

students and it had to be one of hers. She recommended that I talk to him so my wife

and I went to Valdosta and we really hit it off. He offered me the job, and we took it. I

had to commute because I had not finished my doctorate at that point so for several

months I drove back and forth that 90 miles to do the job in Valdosta and finish my

Ph.D. at Florida State. Mel was instrumental in that. (G. Young, personal

communication, March 26, 2008)

Rhatigan had the need to fill a top administrative position.

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When you were seeking to fill a key role on your staff, you sought recommendations

from colleagues. Mel said, “I know exactly who it is. This IS the person.” (Theatrical,

you know.) “Hand in glove, Jim. This is God intervening.” This person was David

Meabon. (J. Rhatigan personal communication, March 9, 2008)

Zeigler insisted that Hardee was always connecting him with some new colleague.

She would pass me phone numbers in every class. “You need to call this person. He

will be a good friend to you, and a good colleague and I trust him and I hope that you

will do the same.” Sure enough, that would be someone that would become a

colleague. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Compassion and Care

Turner thought that Hardee genuinely cared for her students and responded to each individual.

She showed her care for students through the academic attention she gave to each

one. She also paid attention to the physical needs. It was not unusual for her to bring

food to the classroom, especially if the class hour was near a mealtime. She was

always doing things like that. She really encouraged her students to connect to

professional activities… to read The Chronicle, to participate in conferences, to

present, to do whatever one could do to become a stronger person and leader in the

field. She would help people who did not have the funding. She watched for ways to

help people get out there and be part of the profession. (N. Turner, personal

communication, October 25, 2007)

Hardee always acknowledged that spouses and families were part of her students support teams. Mann said she was particularly sensitive to this dynamic.

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She was very aware, particularly for married students, that the doctoral program

was a real source of stress, and that if a marriage was not on firm footing when

coming into a doctoral program that the very stress of getting a doctorate could

fracture a marriage. She was very aware of that and paid attention to it with some

people if she sensed that something was going on. (B. Mann, personal

communication, October 27, 2007)

Meabon appreciated Hardee’s inclusiveness.

My relationship with her was very personal, yet it was very professional. She was

always concerned about Nancy [my wife] and Mike, my son. I do not know many

faculty supervisors who take that kind of interest in their students, or provide that

kind of support. (D. Meabon, personal communication, December 6, 2007)

Her Time as a Woman in History

Shaffer likened Hardee’s professional experience to that of female colleagues Kate

Hevner Mueller at Indiana University, Betty Greenleaf and Christine Conaway at Ohio State

University, and Anna Rose Hawkes at Columbia.

They all had a hell of a battle because men coming back from the war just assumed

that women would step aside and let them take over the top jobs or the

directorships. Well, during the war the women had done great work, terrific work.

They filled in a lot and they were not ready to just step aside. I would say the

educational organizational scene represented society as a whole. Women were

trying to retain the status and advances that they had gained during the war. In the

50s, this was a major theme. Many people, I and many other men, wish we had

adopted or went in with the women sooner. Many of us did try to do that. We put

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women in top spots. For example, when Betty Greenleaf was elected [to the head] of

ACPA and NAWDC, we had a major recognition event at Indiana to show what a

woman can do. Kate Hevner Mueller was part of that. I would say Mel was definitely

of that era. (R. Shaffer, personal communication, March 28, 2008)

An institutional response to this post‐War shift included the consolidation of dean of men and dean of women’s offices. Schwartz (1997) wrote about this phenomenon; Shaffer experienced it.

During this period Indiana, as well as other institutions, were shifting the student

affairs organization administratively by combining men’s and women’s functions

into one organizational structure. For about eight to 10 years, almost every

university that [made this change] appointed a man as the top person. I am not

saying it was right. In fact, I am saying it was wrong, but, in fact, it was what it was.

(R. Shaffer, personal communication, March 28, 2008)

Hardee managed an additional dynamic in this era. Florida State University was on the cusp of co‐education and she experienced the tension on the front end of this significant cultural shift. In the effort to claim a new identity, Turner suggested that the institution overcompensated by trying to infuse masculine characteristics and ignore the established strengths provided by the former Florida College of Women. Because Hardee’s served FSU for so many years she was present in the mid‐70s to witness a rebirth of appreciation for the institution’s historical roots and a recognition of the importance of women’s contributions to the institution.

FSU lived in the shadow of University of Florida (which had been the college for

men). For years, they called us the “girls’ school.” From 1947 to the 1970s, we were

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trying to show that we could compete athletically in football and the University

downplayed the fact that we had this woman’s college heritage. Then in the 70s, all

of a sudden there was a new awakening that the University enjoyed many strengths

because of this women’s college. We recalled that we enjoyed a base of very strong

liberal arts here at Florida State and we should be proud of it. Since the mid‐70s,

early 80s, there has been a big focus to go back and recapture our heritage and talk

about it a lot. (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007)

Confidence

Hardee displayed confidence in her abilities and did not allow discrimination directed toward professional women to alter her course. She was undaunted by societal messages that limited one’s choices or activities because of sex. She may have faced obstacles because she was a woman but none of the interview participants ever heard her complain about it. Two of her earliest dissertation advisees did not recall Hardee calling attention to her status as a rare, tenured, female faculty member. Young commented,

“Being a woman in the profession would come up just as a passing, casual reference. I do not remember that she made a big issue out of it” (G. Young, personal communication,

March 26, 2008). Terry O’Banion thought she possessed a high degree of confidence in her abilities.

I think she just assumed that she was as good as, if not better than the men were.

She just moved right on and got things done. I do not think that held her back at all. I

do not recall in ‘64, ‘65, and ‘66, that she made many remarks, or made it an issue.

She always appeared to me to be clearly the equal of any person on that faculty at

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Florida State and she acted that way. (T. O’Banion, personal communication,

February 20, 2008)

Professional colleague, Rhatigan, accepted Hardee as an accomplished professional. “Yes,

you could recognize she was a woman but that was the end of it. Now she probably had her

own personal pains, problems, and prejudices to face but I never heard about it. Her problems were always content‐based” (J. Rhatigan personal correspondence, March 9,

2008).

Keeping Good Company

Shelton echoed this observation of Hardee as confident and added that she was not overt with an agenda of social change. “It was not verbal. It was by example. It was never a question about did she belong in this incredibly elite circle. If there was a question it was did the others belong in her circle” (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14,

2008). Shelton was impressed by the FSU circle in which Hardee was a member. “I remember Wayne Minnick, the dean of arts and sciences, was one of her lunch buddies.

There were probably six or eight very significant faculty members; one was a Nobel Prize winner, Paul Dirac, in physics” (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008).

This circle also included Robert Van de Graaff, a physicist and biologist who invented the

Van de Graaff Accelerator.

[They were] the bright lights of the faculty, not flash in the pans. Those [men] were

the 30‐year scholars, world renown. It was just a wonderful mutuality of respect. I

cannot imagine anybody questioning her place as a female; it just was not an issue.

But, in 1969, it was always an issue somewhere. She just was so far above that. (H.

Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008)

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This strength of Hardee’s character and confidence played out in her other occupation, that of tree farmer. Master’s student, Johnson, asserted that Hardee was driven to achieve to the limits of her capabilities.

One of the ways she made a difference as a woman has very little to do with her

being a student affairs professional or a professor; Dr. Mel Hardee was also a farmer.

About a year or two before I started the master’s program, she was named “Farmer

of the Year” by some Georgia organization. She was the first woman to receive that

award. She jokingly said that she believed she received the award because she

entered under the name ‘Mel Hardee’ and that they probably thought it was a man.

She was a pioneer in that. She was a pioneer as far as breaking the glass ceiling. I

think that was just a part of who she was, not allowing traditional societal barriers

to stop her from what she wanted to do. She clearly communicated that to us, to her

students. (R. Johnson, personal communication, March 21, 2008)

Whether she was on the farm, on the campus, or in a professional setting, Rhatigan spoke to the force of her self‐belief and the effort that accompanied it.

Really, it was the breadth of her abilities that was the most outstanding. She could

do just about anything. She was a farmer, and not a gentleman farmer, she would

farm. She was very proud of that. She just rolled over people. If there were

limitations in her way she did not really overcome them, mostly she just ignored

them. [Her approach would be] ‘”I am not going to spend a lot of time rebutting, I am

not going to even to talk about it.” I liked her quality of determination. (J. Rhatigan

personal correspondence, March 9, 2008)

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Advocating For Women

Hardee was a strong advocate for women advancing into professional positions. She sought to build a network of support for women who aspired to leadership roles. Young thought this advocacy came from Hardee’s core being.

I just knew down deep that she really had a special place in her heart for women to

make it in student affairs administration in particular but in leadership positions in

general. She had some really good women go through that program over the years

that came to her because of the views she had and what she was trying to get done.

(G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Hardee’s positive encouragement extended beyond the boundaries of the Florida

State campus. As professional colleague Pruitt‐Logan reflected, she determined that Hardee

influenced her indirectly.

You are a product of your experiences and your relationships with people. When I

decided, while I was at Fisk University, to go back to Columbia and pursue the

doctorate, it had to be as a result of seeing people like Mel Hardee doing what she

did. Despite the fact that I cannot pinpoint an experience or an opportunity but it

had to be the relationship with a person like Mel that conveyed to me the fact that I

could do it too. (A. Pruitt‐Logan, personal communication, March 5, 2008)

One could observe Hardee’s priorities through her actions. She recruited women

into the program, connected them to professional women through practicum and

internship experiences, and worked to develop the Center for the Studies of Women in

Educational Management Systems to promote research in this area. For advisee Moser,

Hardee’s actions were empowering.

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Her behavior conveyed strong messages of support to women as much as anything.

She helped you feel like if you prepared yourself and you had the credentials and the

professional presence, that you could achieve and be successful. I do not recall her

sitting down and having a woman‐to‐woman chat, or anything like that. It was more

her leadership by behavior than anything else. (R. Moser, personal communication,

October 29, 2007)

Hardee was able to speak through her actions and not alienate people with an overtly feminist agenda. Many people, including Leslie, described her as a feminist but one that did not wear this label on her sleeve.

Mel was probably one of the original feminists, in the sense that she was committed

to the advancement of women. That was just very clear but I do not recall that she

ever made that an explicit part of her agenda. I always thought that a good part of

Mel’s professional identity was that she was a mentor, first to talented prospective

administrators, but a very close second that she was a woman, she had achieved

very substantial things as a professional, and she was committed to helping other

women overcome some of the barriers. (D. Leslie, personal communication,

February 15, 2008)

Shelton agreed that Hardee operated with an agenda of advancing women in higher education and that the feminist messages were subtle. Additionally, the way in which the messages were conveyed made it difficult for one to disagree.

Sometimes in a class, she would simply make you aware that the achievements of

women had not been well recognized. No opportunity was missed for that. At the

same time, you did not feel like you were in a Gloria Steinem class. You were in an

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educator’s class, a mentor’s class. That is something that, no matter how you felt

about it, you agreed with her. She was forceful that way. (H. Shelton, personal

communication, January 14, 2008)

Mann said Hardee sent a robust message to women students and that most of them were open to hearing it.

She would convey to her women students, you have to be not just as good, you had

to be better than your male colleagues were. Additionally, you had the obligation to

see that women advance and to bring women along, to identify new leaders and

bring them along. She put on people a heavy burden. Not everybody bought it but

for most of us, that is what we wanted ourselves. (B. Mann, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

High Expectations

Hardee had high expectations for women students enrolled in the higher education program because she knew they would be tested and need to prove themselves in the world of work. Many observers thought Hardee was noticeably harder on women than on the men. Leslie believed this emanated from Hardee’s own personal knowledge of needing to persist.

I think she was harder on women but it was in a benevolent way. She had been

through the fire, she wanted to be sure that the next generation of women were

tested and tempered and could stand the heat. I think it was in that spirit that she

was harder on women. (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

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Zeigler agreed.

It seemed like the women had a harder time even getting her attention, or, getting

positive feedback…than men did. I do not think it was anything personal although

some took it personally. I believe it was because she was preparing them for the

realities of higher education. She wanted them to be tough and to be able to take it. I

think she had had to take it and she knew that there were other realities that men

would deal with. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Dawson shared this observation directly with Dr. Hardee. She told him that men would have an easier time for most of their careers. Women were going to have a tough time in a male world. He recalled that she said, “They are going to have a hard time in my world, so that when they get out of here, they will be prepared to deal with your world” (R.

Dawson, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Moser went further to suggest that although Hardee advocated for women she was not overly close to women students.

I think she pushed the women harder because she thought we were going to need a

thick skin. Sometimes it seemed like the men were the ones that she really enjoyed,

or with whom she had more collegial relationships. At least that is how it looked

from where I sat. (R. Moser, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

At the same time Hardee advocated for women students, she developed strong relationships with men for whom she also advocated. Her egalitarian approach is reflected

in Leslie’s thought about the life‐changing mentoring that Hardee provided, “That was particularly true; well I was going to say that was particularly true of women, but that is not the case. It was true of everybody equally, men and women alike” (D. Leslie, personal

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communication, February 15, 2008). When the leadership of the Hardee Center identified

and named select students as “Hardee Scholars” and began to have exclusive activities for

these students, Hardee objected. Male or female, it did not matter; she did not want the

remaining graduate students to be excluded from any educational opportunity. Opper

attested to this, “She did not want to be exclusive; she wanted to include students” (J.

Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007). Ziegler made the observation that

Hardee gave students what she thought they needed to be successful professionals. “I

always felt that she was more nurturing to me and I always felt that she was tougher on

women. I think that is because she wanted the men to be more nurturing and she wanted

the women to be tougher” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007).

Guiding Principles

Interview participants discussed what they thought to be the principles that guided

Hardee’s life. Responses were grouped into the following categories: The Student Personnel

Point of View, the preeminence of the academic mission, moral guidance as an integral role for educators, equity and access to higher education, service to others, thriftiness, and the value of interdisciplinary learning.

The Student Personnel Point of View

Hardee’s professional approach was grounded in early student affairs philosophy and she was loyal to early practitioners. She was committed to the founding principles of the student affairs profession as defined by the 1937 Student Personnel Point of View. This

document was mentioned directly by at least half of the study participants. Moser remembered Hardee making regular references to it. “The Student Personnel Point of View from 1937 was something that she always used as a reference point for what we as

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practitioners should be about. I remember that particularly” (R. Moser, personal

communication, October 29, 2007). Mann also referred to its importance.

To her the embodiment of student affairs was in the 1937 document. She believed

that the essence of student affairs was in that document, that students are

individuals, the whole bit. She talked about that document and taught it every

chance she got. (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27, 2007)

Ragans recalled references to people who shaped Hardee’s professional philosophy. “She

identified with the old dogma in student affairs. She never gave up on Esther Lloyd‐Jones,

Edith McCollum, and Kate Mueller and they remained her guiding lights” (S. Ragans,

personal communication, October 28, 2007). O’Banion also mentioned the document and

Lloyd‐Jones as strong influences.

The guiding principles, I think they are pretty well reflected in the great 1937

statement Student Personnel Point of View and the revised statement later. She truly

believed in student personnel work as Esther Lloyd‐Jones wrote the book, Student

Personnel Work as Deeper Teaching [1938]. Mel really saw student personnel work

as one of the great key services in a college to help students grow and mature. I do

not know how to be particular about that except that she really did believe in

professional development, she believed in college student personnel work, and she

was interested in getting her students involved in those efforts. (T. O’Banion,

personal communication, February 20, 2008)

On the 50th anniversary of the SPPV, a revised statement entitled, A Perspective on

Student Affairs was shared with those in attendance at the joint ACPA/NASPA conference

(Sandeen, et al., 1987). A select group of practitioners had reviewed the 1937 document to

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update the perspectives and the language. Mann recalled discussing this updated version

with Hardee.

I remember when the [1987] statement came out. We were in conversation one day

and she said, “It doesn’t say anything that is any different from the 1937 statement.

It does clarify some things, some things that are implied in the 1937 statement. It

very clearly says students are individuals and should be treated as such. It very

clearly says that there is no place in education for discrimination. Those were all in

the 1937, the original statement. (B. Mann, personal communication, October 27,

2007)

Hardee appeared to struggle with the suggestion that the original 1937 document was

inadequate. Her long‐standing commitment to this document is underscored if one

considers that she used it as the basis of the final course she developed and taught. Opper

was her collaborator.

She and I talked about a class she wanted to teach and I actually worked with her on

it, “Student Affairs: A Profession in Focus.” She wanted to build a course around the

profession and she wanted to start with the Student Personnel Point of View as the

basis for that and have students examine where the profession came from and

where was it was going. It was a similar framework to her 1987 speech but we took

it further. (J. Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

The Preeminence of the Academic Mission

The abovementioned course combined two of Hardee’s passions; she had an enduring interest in the history of the student affairs profession and she was always

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interested in positioning the profession for the future. Opper highlighted one particular

Hardee belief about the proper place of student affairs.

We used to have very interesting conversations about where the profession was

going to go. Is it really a profession or, is it a subset of another profession? She

would get a paper from a student that would make a statement in the paper

something like, “Student affairs is the most important aspect of the university.” That

would just set her off; the two of us would get set off. Her point with students was

always, there is a trident: teaching, research, and service. Where do you fit? If you do

not fit into the trident then you are not a player. That was the point she was trying

to make. She wanted to teach this course and she wanted to have that conversation.

Where is the profession going to fit and what is the future going to be like? (J. Opper,

personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Moral Guidance

Hardee believed that educators had an obligation to mentor their students and to model responsible adult behaviors. This did not mean promote a single ideology or theology; for her it meant taking advantage of opportunities to teach lessons of personal character. This idea has been fleshed out in Chapter Three and her “hands on” advising style was discussed in a previous section of this chapter. Leslie thought Hardee conveyed a strong values message to her students.

I think she really lowered the hammer on people, not only on in terms of shaping

their professional values and their professional skills but she made very sure that

they had personal integrity and that they were in effect stand up citizens. Somebody

coming out of Mel’s tutelage was going to be a serious, upright, committed

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professional who behaved with the highest of standards. (D. Leslie, personal

communication, February 15, 2008)

Equity and Access to Higher Education

Hardee was a leader and role model at the time of integration. She led not from the

top of the soapbox, but with her behavior. She visited the topic of campus unrest in her

courses and used it as a platform to challenge students’ thinking about access to higher

education and students’ participation in campus governance.

She was very affected by the James Meredith incident at the University of

Mississippi. It must have had a personal impact on her as we visited that often in

classes and it was often part of presentations. She always taught in her classes about

how college students reacted to everything in the 60s. Martin Luther King was

somebody she admired greatly, and everything that he stood for. The Civil Rights

Movement had a tremendous impact on her. I think it did for all of us. When you sat

down to dinner, had the nightly news on, and saw fire hoses being turned on people

for simply marching peacefully for the right to vote. When you are a Northerner, it

was a particularly appalling thing to see. It had a tremendous impact on me,

personally and I know that it did on her, too. Why anyone would have to fight for

something that was guaranteed under the Constitution? I think her values, and

everything she believed in, were reflected in the things that were happening. [She

held] the belief that human beings had the right to be respected for just who they

were and they should not be denied their rights. You do not do that to students. You

treat students with respect. You treat humans with respect. (B. Mann, personal

correspondence, October 27, 2007)

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Ragans thought Hardee was very open to diversity and noted her inclusion of Black colleagues at a time when that practice was not readily accepted in the South.

She was a pioneer in reaching out to African Americans. I think the Southern College

Personnel Association was probably the first early‐integrated association. She

always knew Black professionals. She always reached out. I think that was a

contribution. She probably was not the only person but it was important. I had a

good friend who was Dean of Women at FAMU, Annie Cooper. She was always

speaking about Dr. Hardee in appreciation. I think she [Hardee] was a leader in that

arena at a time when that [perspective] was not very popular. (S. Ragans, personal

communication, October 28, 2007)

Zeigler spoke to several of Hardee’s points of pride, “She was proud about how we worked peacefully with historically Black institutions, how our culture was richer because of

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and the fact that she got Dr. Leach to come here” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007). Hardee is widely credited for the recruitment of FSU’s first African American for a top administrative leadership role.

Johnson was a master’s student while this occurred.

For the first time in Florida State’s history, an African American served as vice

president for student affairs, Dr. Bobby Leach. Dr. Hardee and Dr. Leach were in a

mutual admiration society. I mean she just thought the world of him and, as I

understand it, she was instrumental in making sure that he got that post at Florida

State. I know that she was very much a civil rights activist in many ways as it relates

to gender and as it relates to race. (R. Johnson, personal communication, March 21,

2008)

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Shelton had difficulty using such explicit language, as he did not recall Hardee being

a vocal advocate of civil rights. In his words, he asserted that Hardee strongly believed in

access to higher education.

Access and inclusiveness are the terms in 2008. I am going to have to go back and

think a little bit about the terms we were using then but the whole issue of the

American state university, the Thomas Jefferson notion that education was not an

elite process. The fact in her mind, that every person no matter where they are from

or what they do, benefits from education and needs and deserves to have it, and

needs not to be blocked by things like money or other issues. She was Thomas

Jefferson’s Thomas Jefferson. Things that you might expect to hear are harder

because she did not stand up and say, “I believe this.” I want to tell you that

inclusiveness was also racial, but I am not sure of that. One principle without

question was advancing the role of women in higher education. (H. Shelton,

personal communication, January 14, 2008)

Service to Others

According to her brother, Newt, Hardee valued people who worked for the betterment of their communities.

She always expressed somebody should be a public servant or doing something to

help people: my being county attorney, my being a judge, my sister being a teacher,

my brother going to all these other countries and helping. She admired that and

talked about it; all of us public servants. She would ask, “What are you doing for the

public? What are you doing for mankind?” Are you sitting home on your butt

watching TV or are you out there doing something? That was her thing. Not so much

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in religion or in politics, but serving the public. (N. Draheim, personal

communication, April 2, 2008)

Hardee’s reverence for public service is expressed in her unfaltering commitment to the

1937 Student Personnel Point of View, specifically its charge for higher education to prepare students to contribute to the betterment of society.

Thriftiness

Hardee was raised in a rural farming community where people did their best to get by. She also lived through the Great Depression and throughout her life, she displayed some of the lasting effects of that experience. From all accounts, Hardee was very practical and frugal with resources. Signature behaviors included the constant reusing of paper and envelopes, and she had a practice of using duct tape in situations where others would choose scotch tape. Opper explored these themes in his interview.

I asked her why she used duct tape and do you know what she said? “Cause it

always sticks.” She reused everything. People have said this may be a characteristic

of someone who went through the Depression, but it was rare for me to get a

pristine envelope from her. It was usually another envelope that she has reused or

repurposed for something else. She was a major recycler of everything. (J. Opper,

personal correspondence, October 26, 2007)

The Value of Interdisciplinary Learning

Several participants described Hardee as an avid reader and spoke to the fact that she looked to varied sources to inform her views. Opper said she borrowed ideas from different fields and applied them to her classroom teaching.

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She was a regular reader of the New York Times and all kinds of different periodicals.

She would come at ideas from all different places. Different than someone who sits

back and reads the ASHE journal and the ACPA Journal and is just ensconced in that

information. She would also be reading something like Nations Business, or the New

York Times. In class, she would apply something she read about an economic theory

to the interpretation of something else. She would bring in a different focus. (J.

Opper, personal communication, October 26, 2007)

Turner concurred, “She was so deep on so many subjects. I think that is what made her teaching and her presentations excellent because she called on so many fields to highlight her points. She was just very thorough, very studious” (N. Turner, personal communication,

October 25, 2007). Dawson recalled that her value of being broadly informed was also instilled in her students.

Almost every day she would hand me the New York Times. After she read it, she

would hand it to me. I asked, “Why are you doing this?” “You do not read enough.

You will never be able to write unless you read.” So, I learned to read the New York

Times in a half hour because she always had questions for me. (R. Dawson, personal

communication, October 29, 2007)

Opper also noted that if she found something she thought you might be interested in she would send it to you with suggestions.

She was like a sponge. She would read and note journals. She did not have that many

books because she would read them, mark all over them, and then she would send

them to people. She would rip a page out and she would send it and say, “This is

exactly the kind of dissertation question you should follow after you finish yours.”

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She would keep up with her doctoral students after they would finish their

dissertations. “You need to write, here is what you need to write, and this is what

this article says.” She would rip apart the journals and sent them out or mark on

them. She would give them to students all the time. (J. Opper, personal

communication, October 26, 2007)

Other Value Threads

Hardee brought her strong Midwestern work ethic to the South. Interview participants commented generously about her non‐stop work ethic and her boundless energy. Ragans spoke to a guiding principle, “I think excellence; giving it your all” (S.

Ragans, personal communication, October 28, 2007). There were a number of comments about Hardee’s honesty and integrity. Turner told a story about an IRS audit. Apparently, the IRS wanted documentation on her tree farm so she put together a scrapbook that showed the progress of the growth of these trees at every stage of their development. “I thought to myself, I’ll bet the IRS has never seen anything like this. It was incredible, but that was her” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2005). Rhatigan suggested that because Hardee was highly principled she was vulnerable to criticism.

She was highly principled; you would know that about her right away. To be highly

principled you have to do unpopular things. Therefore, not everybody liked Mel, not

everybody had the same adoration for her that others did. I would be in that camp. I

really adored her as a person. (J. Rhatigan personal communication, March 9, 2008)

Hardee’s Contribution to the Profession

Several themes emerged from the interviews in response to questions about

Hardee’s contributions to the student affairs profession and higher education. Participants

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spoke of the numerous people she trained, her influence in the development of higher education in the Southeast, the encouragement to work toward the establishment of professional standards, motivating others and building esteem in the student personnel profession and faculty advising.

Prosperous Progeny

Overwhelmingly, participants commented on her legacy of training a legion of student personnel professionals. Shaffer, a student affairs faculty colleague, was one of many to voice this opinion.

Her most outstanding contribution to the profession was through the students that

she worked with and helped to develop and achieve professional prominence. Her

people were just outstanding. They got it from her, they got the motivation from her,

she brought them to conventions and shepherded them and I would say it is through

the people she produced is her greatest contribution. (R. Shaffer, personal

correspondence, March 28, 2008)

Besides hearing students grumble that Hardee was tough, and that she wrote a lot of memos to her students, Shaffer only heard positive regard for “The Mentor.”

“I have observed the loyalty and respect that her students had for her. She had some very, very good students who also progressed up through all these association ranks” (R. Shaffer, personal correspondence, March 28, 2008).

Shelton described what he thought Hardee would consider as a mark of her success.

I think her strongest commitment was to the success of her students but that

success wouldn’t just be measured by a title later. It would be measured by those

students mostly agreeing, certainly understanding, the value in what they were

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doing, the value of students seeking educational goals, the struggles that students

have and how you can intercede and how you can assist and how you can facilitate.

That would have been success to her. That clearly was more important than things

like the well‐being of the profession, freshman aspirations and college residence

halls, or professional associations. Those things came later. The meat of Dr. Hardee

was the relationships and association with students on their way to doing

wonderful things for students. (H. Shelton, personal correspondence, January 14,

2008)

Rhatigan suggested Hardee’s influence continues even today.

Her legacy is the people she left behind. Her legacy is those people who influenced

her and those who were influenced by her. There are still many of them out there.

They in turn will disappear but they have influenced people and they will influence

others. This is what I call the invisible thread of history. Mel’s influence strings

down, and then their strings come down. Even though she is gone, Mel is still

connected to them. (J. Rhatigan personal correspondence, March 9, 2008)

Higher Education in the Southeast

Another significant contribution was her attention to strengthening higher

education institutions and systems in the Southeast.

Mel seriously wanted to honor the unique contributions that Florida State had

made, and it had made some unique contributions in the ‘50s and ‘60s when the

whole Southeast was still recovering from the Civil War in some ways. Higher

education had been devastated; higher education in the Southeast was not looked

on as anything very special. There were a few lighthouses like Duke, Chapel Hill,

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Virginia, Emory but it was a field that was desperately in need of catching up. Mel

contributed greatly to the training of professional people who helped the emerging

state system; the Florida system was still a system on paper even in the ‘60s with

new universities emerging. The whole Southeast really needed to catch up and Mel

was right on the front of that wave with the student affairs business. (D. Leslie,

personal correspondence, February 15, 2008)

Developing Professional Standards

Specifically, Hardee was influential in shaping the student affairs profession through her work with professional associations. Johnson knew Hardee wanted to make sure that the attributes of a true profession and professional organizations were pursued with diligence. (R. Johnson, personal correspondence, March 21, 2008) The message he heard was,

We need to take ourselves seriously. We are a group of professionals. Let us

understand what our roles are. Let us develop a set of standards. Let us develop

professional associations and make sure those professional associations are there to

help us grow in our own professional growth and development so that we do a

better job of serving our students. That was sort of her message that she pioneered

and moved forward. (R. Johnson, personal correspondence, March 21, 2008)

Johnson believed when Hardee spoke about professionalism that she was talking about the whole issue of “Research‐based knowledge: Doing research, doing your writing, contributing to the professional literature. We needed to have organizations with their professional standards, ways that we are supposed to operate as professionals” (R.

Johnson, personal correspondence, March 21, 2008).

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Motivation and Esteem Building

Hardee instilled a sense of self‐belief in others. She believed in the importance of the student personnel role on campuses and she wanted those with whom she had influence to believe it too. Zeigler spoke of the esteem she promoted.

I think knowing what we do, us on our own, is important to the life of the institution

and not relying on other people to feel important. She wanted you to know that

what you were doing was important from within. Not the fact that you would

receive recognition for it. I do not think recognition meant very much to her at all.

(M. Zeigler, personal correspondence, October 29, 2007)

Hardee indirectly mentored professional colleagues by trying to get her colleagues to think bigger and do more. Although not one of her students, Rhatigan considered Hardee a mentor. (J. Rhatigan personal correspondence, March 9, 2008)

She was a lot more of a scholar than I ever was. I would say well I am doing this and

she would say, “Well, you ought to read this.” She did not say go read this. She would

say you might find it interesting. I would not really ask her to critique my

scholarship because, to the day he died, Donald P. Hoyt did that for me. She did

instruct my reading. (J. Rhatigan personal correspondence, March 9, 2008)

Academic Advising

Ragans articulated that Hardee had contributed to improving academic advising

practices at FSU and around the country. “She had been very focused on faculty

involvement in academic advising. I am not sure the faculty members were as focused on it

as she was (laugh). Certainly an idea that we still labor to improve is that engagement,

faculty with students” (S. Ragans, personal correspondence, October 28, 2007).

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Remembering Hardee

Study participants were asked how they thought students and colleagues remembered Hardee.

Professional Colleagues

Shaffer remembered Hardee as an esteemed colleague.

[She was] very competent, a vivacious speaker, and a professionally knowledgeable

person. She was one who saw the field as a whole rather than a specialty. Mel was

not pigeonholed into vocational guidance or women’s affairs; she saw higher

education for what it was and what I think it is ‐ student development. (R. Shaffer,

personal communication, March 28, 2008)

Pruitt‐Logan remembered Hardee as, “Very positive. Extremely articulate. I was very much in awe of her as an energetic person. As a fighter for what we used to call the student personnel point of view” (A. Pruitt‐Logan, personal correspondence, March 5, 2008).

Rhatigan wrote a letter that was shared at Hardee’s memorial service on January 12, 1995.

In it, he tried to convey the reach of Hardee’s influence.

I am writing as a representative of the many colleagues of Dr. Melvene Draheim

Hardee who knew her, but were not part of her considerable student network. This

FSU professor was known in every corner of the United States by people who work

closely with students. And one can say without fear of rebuttal that there are few

who were her equal. My relationship with her spans thirty years and is underscored

by love and respect.

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Campus Colleagues

Among the Florida State University community, Hardee is remembered in mixed ways. Leslie observed Hardee at the end of her teaching career in a dramatically different environment than the campus she joined in 1948. She was well known and respected in her field but those who had observed her over time and those who had been closer to her were able to see her strengths and limitations. He did not remember Hardee as particularly close to any of her Florida State colleagues except for her students. (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

Students remember her, I would say, probably in polar ways. There will be those

who would say Mel Hardee was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, the

professor who had the most impact not only on my training but also on my life. You

get a reaction from other students of “Hey, I am running away from this as fast as I

can; there is too much personality. She is too controlling and this is not what I am

about. I am also more interested in research.” I do not think there was much of an

in‐between reaction on Hardee from the students. They either really resonated to

Mel and her style, or they really did not. D. Leslie, personal communication,

February 15, 2008)

Toward the end of her career, Leslie thought that the broader set of campus colleagues were reserved with their judgments about Hardee.

She was of the older generation. The emerging players on the Florida State faculty

and particularly those who were involved in this Graduate Policy Committee were

the younger generation and of a different value complex since they were headed in

the research direction. I think they clearly saw Mel as somebody from the older

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generation and somebody who was not playing the game the way the newer

generation wanted to play it. She probably did not have the prominence on campus

at the end of her career, when I was there, the kind of prominence that she had in

the profession. (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

On a personal level, Leslie described Hardee as unforgettable.

She was a force of nature in many ways. A person who was unforgettable; a

character in her own right. Both a highly visible presence in her profession and a

very private person almost to the point of invisibility in her private life. There were

some paradoxes in Mel. A person with great dramatic flair when called upon but a

person who would prefer to remain behind the scenes in many settings too. Just one

of the most unforgettable people I encountered in my 40 years in this business. (D.

Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008)

Students Remember

Hardee is remembered for her varied contributions to the profession including the number of administrators she trained. Moser caught Dr. Hardee in her last decade of teaching.

Frankly, she was very much viewed as a leader for production of students for higher

education and student personnel and, of course, having been a leader in professional

associations. Also, back in her era, it was acknowledged that she one of the earlier

women to have that kind of visibility. (R. Moser, personal communication, October

29, 2007)

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Hardee helped shape the character of her students. She prepared them for the profession and profoundly affected them on a personal level. Young credited Hardee for his success.

She was a giant during those years when she was active. She was highly sought after

as a speaker because she would give a stem‐winding sermon. You would leave

feeling really good about the profession, and working with students, and higher

education in general. I just think she was an outstanding leader and a terrific role

model for men and women. I miss her every now and then. I still think about some

of the influences she had in my life and the kind of things that made me successful.

(G. Young, personal communication, March 26, 2008)

Hardee’s effect on Turner went beyond her professional development. “She is remembered with great love because she was an important part of all of our lives. She really helped us to develop professionally and personally…Most students felt like they had a very special place with her” (N. Turner, personal communication, October 25, 2007).

Johnson and Shelton both used the word, “reverential” in their responses.

I think first of all she is remembered very fondly. To say in the context of student

affairs to call her the “Legendary Mel Hardee” would not be hyperbole. I think the

people who had the opportunity to study under her revered Dr. Hardee and what

she stood for. The people who did not study under her but perhaps worked

alongside her in the profession may have a similar kind of admiration for her. She is

remembered as someone that one must revere and respect. For NASPA to name its

“Dissertation of the Year” after her and for people to quote some of her most

profound statements even to this day is a representation of the kind of respect that

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people have developed for Dr. Hardee over the years. (R. Johnson, personal

communication, March 21, 2008)

Shelton had difficulty finding the right words to convey his remembrances of Hardee. “It is just hard to find the right words sometimes because it is way above what those words usually mean” (H. Shelton, personal communication, January 14, 2008).

An issue for me was not so much taking the class from Dr. Hardee. It was becoming

part of her world, becoming attached. You are just swept along and you cannot

imagine not being, and you are so fortunate; you know you are so fortunate to be in

the group that is being swept along. (H. Shelton, personal communication, January

14, 2008)

For Zeigler, Hardee’s advice and perspectives were inspired.

When you were with her, you just always got an infusion of energy. It was an

intellectual energy; it was a social energy. Everything she said should have been

written down on some Dead Sea Scroll because it was as if it was delivered from

God. (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007)

Impressions

Consider how painters Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Mary Cassatt brought natural scenes and people to life. Like the broken brushstrokes of impressionist art, the vivid recollections of those who knew Melvene Hardee blend to create a portrait of the person. Through the shared memories of the study participants, one can get a sense of what it was like to be in her presence, to be in her classroom, and to pursue a graduate degree under her tutelage. Through their shared stories, one encounters a woman who was not

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still, as are the lily pads on Monet’s pond. Instead, one gets a sense of the swirling motion of

van Gogh’s The Starry Night.

Hardee was a woman in motion who swept others along with her. Many went

willingly as they were captivated by her energy, intrigued by the unique way she

positioned words in a sentence, and stimulated by her insistence that they construct

meaning for themselves. Some found her to be too much; she saw their path in a different

way and expected them to follow her lead. Perhaps that is not how they envisioned

graduate education. Alternatively, perhaps she envisioned it a little off‐center. Hardee

provided structure and direction for her students, for others, and for herself. There were

important things to do, every day. Whether it was to tend to the wording of a prospectus, a

story in the New York Times, or to the seedlings on her farm, she was constantly stirring in mind and in body.

The voices that contributed to this chapter were sincere. Every one of them acknowledged Hardee’s strengths and her limitations. They explained why they loved her, and how at other times their beloved “Mentor” became “Tormentor.” In Hardee’s vernacular the gentle words, “Read in a quiet place” translated into, “Brace yourself.” A

seasoned professional returning for a doctorate might end up in the writing center seeking

remedial assistance. Former students described her as tough but fair. She may have been

small in stature but she was mighty in presence. Motivated by the charge of early student

personnel practitioners, Hardee sought to influence individual students toward meeting

their potential. Along with this point of view, she desired to cultivate graduates who would

provide service to others. This is the mantra she taught her students and professed to all

who would listen. Hardee did not allow societal barriers to deter her potential nor was she

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complacent about the barriers impeding others. Her influence was subtle but steady. She did not yell from the mountaintop. Instead, she set about loosening the boulders at the base of the mountain to compromise the customs of disadvantage.

In Chapter Six Hardee’s own words and those of others will be considered together in order to answer the questions set out at the beginning of this study.

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Photographs

Dr. Melvene Draheim Hardee, 1962. (Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers, MS 773, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Jerome Library, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio.)

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Annie Oakley and the James Brothers – Melvene Hardee with James Rhatigan (l) and James Appleton (r) at the 1977 NASPA national conference in Atlanta. (Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers, MS 773, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Jerome Library, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio.)

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Dr. Hardee in her farm truck. (Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers, MS 773, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Jerome Library, BGSU, Bowling Green, Ohio.)

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CHAPTER VI. HARDEE’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO STUDENT AFFAIRS

The National Student Affairs Archives located at Bowling Green State University and the Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher Education Collection at Florida

State University provided a rich resource for this study. Melvene Hardee left ample

evidence of a productive life in her papers and collected memorabilia. Alone, examination

of this material would have provided ample data for a study. Conjoining the archival

materials with the comments of those who knew Hardee personally has provided added

dimensions of understanding to the subject of study. In earlier chapters, the researcher

examined a semi‐chronological timeline of Hardee’s life, considered the themes of her

professional writing and speaking, and, in the preceding chapter, read the personal reminiscences of 17 people who knew her. In this concluding chapter, the philosophical underpinnings of the student affairs profession will be presented and inferences will be drawn about Hardee’s contribution to the development of the profession’s purpose and identity. Beyond philosophical considerations, principles of good practice will be shared and compared with descriptions of Hardee’s behaviors.

A Review

Melvene Draheim Hardee, the confident and well‐spoken daughter of Clarion, Iowa developed an impressive portfolio of accomplishments and a strong sense of self because of her upbringing and the opportunities that were afforded to her. A product of a rural

Midwest farming community, she learned to appreciate the land and the hard work required to keep it productive. This work ethic was modeled at home by her father who ran a small business and her suffragist mother who managed the home, her own small

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business, and contributed to the betterment of the community through extensive volunteer

work. She and her three siblings were infused with the value of education, whether formal

or informal. They were products of curious‐minded, independent learners who pursued

knowledge for enrichment and enjoyment. Melvene’s grandparents and parents did not

have the opportunity to participate in formal schooling much beyond high school, if that.

Hardee, a college woman of the 1930s, started on a traditional educational path. She

attended a normal school with the intention of teaching upon graduation. Along the way,

she encountered two student personnel workers, one a dean of women, the other a student

counselor. This was her introduction to a profession that would become her life’s work.

This connection eventually led to her attending Teachers College and exposure to people who were shaping the student personnel profession through research, teaching, and professional involvement. She did not complete the student personnel master’s program at

Teachers College; instead, she pursued her degree in speech education because it seemed the more practical route. After teaching in public schools for several years, Hardee returned to the college setting in a faculty role that melded speech communication and

advising. She enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Chicago and wrote her

dissertation on program evaluation for the occupational guidance department of Stephens

College. Dr. Hardee’s next professional position was that of coordinator of counseling at the

new Florida State University. It was her responsibility to coordinate academic, guidance,

and personal counseling services.

En route to Tallahassee, Melvene spent a summer teaching in Mississippi and there

she met and married Tom Hardee. During their 14‐year marriage, the two lived in separate

locations to accommodate both of their careers. This dynamic provided Melvene with some

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flexibility and freedom to commit to her career without the day‐to‐day demands that may have been present in a more traditional marriage.

After ten years at FSU, Hardee joined two other faculty members to create a department of higher education. She taught in that program for 31 years before retiring to become a full‐time tree farmer. During the course of her professional career, Hardee was deeply involved in the development of the FSU higher education program. She recruited students, taught stimulating courses, advised 120 doctoral students, initiated a center for the study of women in educational management systems, and worked diligently to maintain a connection to program graduates. External to FSU, Hardee served in significant leadership roles in student personnel and higher education professional associations.

This research study sought to examine her life and career and to articulate ways in which she contributed to the profession’s philosophical and practical development. To do this, it is important to consider the current philosophical climate and discuss best practices.

Philosophical Themes

Learning Reconsidered: A Campus­wide Focus on the Student Experience (2004) is a recent philosophical treatise proposed by student affairs professionals and higher education faculty. Intended to stimulate dialogue beyond the student affairs circle, its authors argued for “the integrated use of all of higher education's resources in the education and preparation of the whole student" (p. 3) and they advocated “student affairs as a partner in the broader campus curriculum” (Keeling, 2006, p. vii). The creators of

Learning Reconsidered challenged the profession and other educational partners to reframe the bifurcated system that splits academic affairs and student affairs and instead to consider each entity’s joint contribution to the learning enterprise. This document honored

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concepts that have been with the student affairs profession since the 1937 statement; it also incorporated statements that have emerged since then.

In the epilogue of Learning Reconsidered (2004), the authors shared six recurring philosophical themes that have appeared over the life of student personnel, now the student affairs profession. These are:

• The importance of the “whole” student – the need to consider affective as well as

cognitive processes in the development of learning strategies.

• Respect for differences and the need to treat each student as an individual.

• Providing students with opportunities to increase self‐awareness and self‐

direction.

• Considering the impact of the environment on student learning and accounting

for context when developing programs and interventions designed to enhance

learning.

• Collaborating closely with other institutional agents, particularly faculty and

academic administrators, to achieve learning outcomes.

• Playing a key role in the development of citizens for our democracy. (p. 31)

If these enduring values represent the key ideas of the profession, then it would seem appropriate to work from this basis to evaluate the ways in which Dr. Hardee contributed to the profession’s status. What threads of the profession’s fabric belong to or were strengthened by her? This is the primary question this study seeks to address: How did Melvene Draheim Hardee’s work as a teacher, scholar, and leader in the student personnel field help to shape and develop the philosophy and practices of student personnel work?

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A Progressive Agenda

Hardee was a product of her time. Her early schooling is likely to have been

influenced by the progressive education movement that emerged in the United States in the

late 19th century. It is difficult to know the degree to which her primary and secondary

education were inclined toward progressivism but it is likely she got a good dose of it while attending Columbia Teachers College and the University of Chicago where disciples of John

Dewey were a major force (Garrett, n.d.). Schetlin (1969) suggested that as progressive practices developed in schools and colleges the ideas contributed to the development of guidance and student personnel work. She also suggested the underpinnings of the student personnel profession’s beloved foundational document the SPPV were co‐opted, “Without reference to progressive education, The Student Personnel Point of View aligned student personnel work with, and claimed as its special province, the major streams of thought in educational progressivism” (p. 60). Some of the major concepts of the progressive educational tradition included phrases such as “‘whole person,’ ‘individual differences,’

‘learning through experience,’ ‘social and emotional growth,’ ‘the needs of learners,’ and the

‘individualization of education’” (p. 60). The language of Learning Reconsidered (2004) reflects a continuation of the progressive educational agenda. Consciously or not, Hardee used her teaching, writing, and speaking platforms to maintain momentum for these concepts.

The Basic Premise

Hardee spoke to the importance of the coordination of educational efforts as early as 1959 in a presentation to the American Personnel and Guidance Association. In a speech entitled, The Whole University and the Whole Student, she made an analogy to biological

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systems where cells are specialized but communicating with each other. Campuses she

observed were fragmented and worked without this symbiosis. She asserted that the artificial divide between instruction and student personnel could be bridged with good communication and an acknowledgement that students were more than intellectual beings.

Their needs extended to the physical, spiritual, economic, vocational, social, and emotional aspects of their beings. She concluded her remarks saying that the concept of wholeness was possible with the marshalling of institutional resources. Members of the campus community needed to share a common vision and work together to accomplish the goals of the institution. A few years later, Hardee’s professional writing suggested that faculty involvement in advising was a way to bridge the divide between academic and student personnel services and instructional programs (1961, Faculty Advising in Contemporary

Higher Education). In a 1962 presentation, she asked, “From where did the division between student personnel work and academic work come? There are no road signs that prohibit [intersection]” (High Noon, p. 4). In several instances, she suggested that it was the student personnel practitioner who needed to expand his or her concern beyond student life and adopt a concern for the activities of the whole university. In a 1961 journal article, among other questions of the reader, she asked, “How well do you know your campus?

How sophisticated are you about the budget of the institution, its income, and outgo?

(1961, Personnel Services). In the same article, she reminded student personnel practitioners that they could influence the climate of learning but they would remain on the periphery if they did not pay attention to, “the main business of the campus, which is learning” (p. 125). As shared in a prior chapter, Hardee coached her students on the realities of institutional priorities, “There is a trident: teaching, research, and service.

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Where do you fit? If you do not fit into the trident then you are not a player” (J. Opper,

personal communication, October 26, 2007). Into the 1970s, Hardee recalled the American

Council on Education document, Future Needs in Student Personnel Work (1950), and its

charge for the field “to achieve a higher degree of integration between student personnel

services and instructional programs (Hardee, 1970, Student Personnel Work, p. 4). These

examples support the notion that Hardee owned this philosophical premise and promoted

it to others long before Learning Reconsidered went to press. Not to say that it belonged to

her, or that she was the originator, she was just one of many over the years to articulate it.

The Importance of the “Whole” Student

Hardee had an enduring commitment to the Student Personnel Point of View that likely began with her ties to Teachers College. Evident in her writing and speaking, and present in the recollections of her students, she consistently reminded others of the two sacred goals articulated in the document: to assist individual students in meeting their potential and to prepare students to serve society. Moreover, the SPPV was diligent in its

“whole‐person” language as was Hardee in her dedication to her students’ affective development in addition to their cognitive development. To connect students emotionally to the course content, she utilized current events in the classroom, reenacted events and inserted students into role‐plays, and she challenged students to take what they had learned and design an ideal college. In Hardee’s dramatic, inclusive, and other‐centered teaching style, we observe a clear overlap with underpinnings of progressivism.

Progressivism by its nature is about change; it is forward thinking. Hardee was

constantly trying to anticipate the future so that her students would be prepared for the

challenges ahead. In her professional leadership roles, she was part of the chorus of those

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concerned about the preparation of future practitioners. She often asked, “What can we

anticipate about the future so students can be better prepared for it?” This concern led to her participation in the construction of standards for professional preparation programs.

During her tenure on the executive board of COSPA, Hardee provided input to the

Commission on Professional Development led by Tom Emmet. In 1964, after about two

years of study, this group produced a “Proposal for Professional Preparation in College

Student Personnel Work” (1964). In these, and in many other ways, Hardee trumpeted the

whole person mantra and the agenda of progressive education.

Respect for Differences and the Need to Treat Each Student as an Individual

Hardee’s early training in counseling would have contributed to the approach of

meeting students where they were (psychologically, socially, and intellectually),

understanding their different strengths and abilities, and then placing students in settings

that would stimulate their learning. Former students described having the distinct sense

that they were being “sized up.” For those who lacked assertiveness, she presented them

opportunities to become more so. For those who did not write well, her feedback directed

them to appropriate campus resources. For Mark Zeigler who thought he should get

feedback that was more critical on his papers, she told him, “I think you are where you

need to be” (M. Zeigler, personal communication, October 29, 2007). She recognized Bob

Dawson’s interest and talents with multi‐media in presentations and tapped into this

expertise long after he departed FSU. For married students, she extended herself to

spouses and included them in her circle. Hardee was keenly aware of the inequities of the

workplace for women and consequently promoted research on women in management in

order to challenge the institutional systems that reflected male characteristics. To draw

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attention to women’s status, she often recognized women’s unique qualities and strengths

and encouraged both men and women to employ them for the betterment of society.

Providing Students with Opportunities to Increase Self­awareness and Self­direction

One of the major avenues Hardee pursued to increase others’ self‐awareness was through extensive and immediate feedback. Quite often written feedback was provided in magic marker but it was also shared behind the shield of the “Communidoor.” Feedback came from Hardee and it came from one’s peers. Rita Moser recalled a 360˚feedback exercise that involved other students in the program.

One thing she did for our doctoral group was called a “behavioral six‐pack.” Each of

us was given a sheet with certain questions and we were to answer them about our

fellow students. [We gave the comments] to her, she put it together, and we got the

collective feedback on how we were perceived by our peers in class. It was feedback,

not just from her but also from others. (R. Moser, personal communication, October

29, 2007)

Hardee’s interest in prompting introspection was a predominant feature in her classroom. Her former students spoke of coming to class prepared and ready to participate in whatever she had in store for the day. Instead of knowledge‐based exams, Hardee relied heavily on writing as an evaluative tool. Writing one’s thoughts and explaining the construction of one’s meaning making requires much more introspection than the memorization of facts and theories. She wanted to know, “What did you think?” Hardee’s inclusion of a variety of creative teaching methods relied heavily on art, drama, music, poetry, and literature. These human expressions helped students develop empathy and understanding for the other but would also have aided one in gaining self‐understanding.

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Creative activities penetrated her classroom instruction and were woven into her

professional presentations. Passive others sitting in the audience of a Hardee presentation

might find her rhetorical questions challenging their deeper thinking on the issues of the day.

The self can be discovered in relationship with another. Hardee built an intentional

community among her students and this extended beyond the years of direct affiliation

with the Florida State University program. Once one joined the FSU community, one

became part of the “Life Net,” a powerful web of support and a deep pool of resources.

Hardee’s mentoring message was clear: You were to find a mentor and you were to be a

mentor, always. She reinforced the need for students to be involved with others through

professional associations and would support those who could not afford to do so.

Considering the Impact of the Environment on Student Learning

In her early scholarly writing Hardee took up the topic of the campus climate for

learning. Using the emerging research of Pepinsky (1959), Pace (1961), and Clark and

Trow (1960), and the American Council on Education’s document “Future Needs in Student

Personnel Work” (1950) as a foundation, Hardee encouraged student personnel practitioners to consider their ability to shape a climate conducive to learning. Her first reference to this topic was the 1961 journal article, “Personnel Services for Improving the

Campus Climate for Learning.”

In class and in convention hall auditoriums Hardee often asked this environmental scan question, “What was happening economically, culturally, and politically to influence

events in America…?” She used a similar set of words in 1987 when she led the profession

in a dissection of the Student Personnel Point of View. For her, this query emphasized the

importance of context.

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Collaborating Closely with Other Institutional Agents

Hardee’s mission was to prepare administrators for leadership in higher education.

She used current events to bring issues to life in the classroom but she also valued the hands‐on learning that came with practicum and assistantship experiences. After his initial introductory tour of Florida State University, David Meabon noted that Hardee was well

connected. It was his impression that she had built strategic partnerships around campus

for the benefit of her students and that she sought to provide them with intensive learning

experiences to complement their graduate studies. Because FSU is situated in the state

capitol, Hardee’s bridge building extended into government and educational agencies and

included other institutions of higher learning. This relationship building was evident in the

early years of the Center for the Studies of Women. Hardee connected with administrative

women in the region and formulated mentoring relationships and internship opportunities

for her students. She maintained relationships across campus with presidents, deans, and

influential faculty in order to monitor the pulse of campus.

Playing a Key Role in the Development of Citizens

David Leslie suggested Hardee’s role models were the faculty members she encountered along her educational path. These women and men approached their roles with an agenda of character building and Hardee was deeply influenced by them. Coupled with the specific charge from the SPPV, Hardee set about shaping the character of her students. In Chapter Five former students and colleagues spoke to her honesty and integrity and that she exhibited leadership by example. Leslie stated that Hardee’s students were very clear about her expectations of them. While she served FSU as the coordinator of counseling, Hardee wrote about the obligation of faculty advisors to embrace moral

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guidance and the development of the character of their charges (1953, 1958). This in no

means was meant to convey a predetermined moral code but she did convey a list of

universal values one might promote (e.g. honesty, personal responsibility, sharing, and clear communication). After the legal age of majority changed to 18 years of age, Hardee wrote again about citizenship and the importance of providing political education; she asserted that campus residence halls provided a laboratory for political education (1974,

Politics, Pluralities and the Student Development Perspective). In the intervening years,

Hardee explored with her students the lessons of democratic participation learned during the 1960s when campuses were under the siege of political unrest.

Principles of Good Practice in Teaching

Chickering and Gamson (1987) introduced the concept of “principles of good practice” as they considered what 50 years of research about teaching and learning conveyed about effective teaching. Undergraduate teaching was the focus of their work but the principles are equally relevant to graduate teaching. There is some overlap between this list and the philosophical themes provided in Learning Reconsidered. The principles are more practical in nature. The words here are also reminiscent of descriptors of the progressive education movement. The following seven descriptors emerged as indicators of good teaching:

• Encourages student‐faculty contact

• Encourages cooperation among students

• Encourages active learning

• Gives prompt feedback

• Emphasizes time on task

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• Communicates high expectations

• Respects diverse talents and ways of learning

Hardee’s students uniformly said she was an extraordinary teacher. She kept their attention by giving them access to people who were living the events of the day. She made history come alive by giving them access to people who experienced key historical events.

She was inclusive of other points of view; students were introduced to events like the

Orangeburg Massacre that had somehow slid behind the headlines of other incidents of campus unrest. She asked her students, “Why do you think that is so?” She set up scenarios for her administrators‐to‐be and asked them to respond at the moment to a parent phone call or a student protest, this so they knew what it felt like to be on the spot.

Hardee’s syllabi were thorough; she spelled out what would be covered over the term and what she expected of students. She preached self‐responsibility; there was no spoon‐feeding in her classroom. One needed to exert effort, read broadly, and inform oneself. To prompt students to develop their own thinking and their own philosophies, she required written responses to reflective questions. One knew where one stood with

Professor Hardee. Her feedback was abundant and clear. She consulted with her advisees at regularly scheduled intervals to review progress and plan for the future.

When one compares her behaviors to what is said to be good teaching practice, the outcome becomes even clearer. Descriptions of Hardee’s progressive teaching equate to what we now consider exemplary teaching.

The Power of Numbers

Like an automobile engine, the more pistons in motion, the more powerful the output. Hardee operated on all six of the Learning Reconsidered philosophical cylinders and

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performed all seven of the Principles of Good Practice. Consequently, the power of her teaching, scholarship, and professional leadership accelerated. Hardee influenced higher education and student affairs if one considers the sheer number of students who populated her classroom between 1948 and 1989. Add to the equation the scores of professional colleagues who admired her ability to motivate through message in an auditorium, and the many she touched while serving in leadership roles with ACPA, APGA, AAHE, SACSA, and

COSPA, and her influence grows exponentially. Of particular note, Hardee often held the job of secretary or recorder, or when she served as a president she initiated communications with her association. The strategy of controlling communication insured that her messages got out in the manner she desired. Even when she attended the United Nations educational summit in the Philippines, she assumed the recording role of the “rappoteur.” Given her skills and interest in writing, it was a natural role for her but it also provided some strategic advantage as well.

One hundred and sixteen of Hardee’s written products, including her speech scripts, were identified and examined. As a practitioner in counseling and vocational guidance,

Hardee produced scholarly works for refereed journals and they spanned a wide range of topics. After she left the coordinator of counseling role and moved further into university teaching, the nature of her writing changed to the point of not being acceptable as

“scholarly” according to the standards of an emerging research university. This is converse to the direction one might expect of a full‐time, tenured faculty member. In the Florida

State University setting, Hardee’s peers were being judged by their research and publications. Decisions about faculty promotion often hinge on getting articles published in highly regarded journals. Her products were not empirically based; they were

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philosophical, not theoretical. In the final 15 years of teaching she became an essayist who

provided commentary and stimulated thinking; she became a conscience for the profession

by prompting practitioners to consider, “Are we where we want to be?” Evident in each of

the following quotations is a message she wanted the reader/listener to consider.

• Regarding one’s campus environment she asked, “Test your climate. Is it chilly or

receptive?” (Hardee, 1985, Students and Their Environment, p. 15).

• She reminded others that our professional future lies in the hands of our

students and the quality of those relationships matter. “There is a legion of

young, both male and female, with talents and visions which sparkle, and with

whom we must communicate if we are to seek and find each other” (Hardee,

1980, ACUHO, p. 19).

• She reminded us that there are different perspectives to be heard. “The future of

student personnel training programs had better contain, “a conscious dream, a

set of imaginative hypotheses groping toward whatever vivid utopias lie at the

heart of our consciousness… But that’s really Warren Bennis, not me. My say is

actually much shorter. It is: If there is a PROPHET among us, let HER step forth!

[signed] Mel Hardee, in search of revelation” (Hardee, 1975, Student Personnel

Training Programs, p. 2).

Hardee signed off as dissertation Advisor for 120 doctoral students. She influenced

their choice of topics that are categorized into six general headings: administrative‐

managerial; women in higher education; student development; curriculum; student and faculty rights and freedoms; and historical and developmental studies of professional programs. The breadth of these topics indicates that Hardee was not a single‐issue

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professor. Her personal scholarship may have waned by the 1970s but she was active in research and writing through the scholarship of her students.

Her Contributions

Hardee influenced the profession’s thinking and practice through her own works and through the works of those who emerged from the student personnel track at Florida

State University from 1958‐1989. The stature and reputation of the student affairs program she constructed reverberates still. Her students spanned three pivotal decades in the history of U. S. higher education; they continue to carry the Hardee banner forward.

Because of her early involvement in shaping the professional standards for student personnel graduate programs, Hardee’s influence extended even beyond her own graduate program.

Hardee contoured the institutional function we now call “academic advising.” Her push was to provide faculty with the necessary tools and understandings so that they could interact with undergraduates in meaningful ways. She promoted the idea that many university counseling functions overlapped and, to serve students well, they needed to be coordinated. Crookston (1977) noted her writing on academic advising as an example of

“bridge‐building” between the academic and student personnel schism. She provided early practitioners with a philosophical base and she offered practical ideas regarding advising delivery systems. This influence endures and is reflected in the web pages of the National

Academic Advising Association (NACADA) where Hardee’s early writings are referenced on numerous resource pages.

Hardee made significant contributions to several student personnel professional organizations. Most notably, as president‐elect and president of ACPA, she introduced the

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commission model that allowed members to affiliate with others who shared similar interests and job functions. At the same time, through the larger entity, they stayed informed about the umbrella issues influencing the profession and higher education. This organizational model continues today and the number of commissions has expanded.

Additionally, she was on the ground floor of the Southern College Personnel Association.

This association emerged to address the specific challenges faced by student personnel workers on Southern campuses, specifically the looming prospect of integration. From the beginning, SCPA included women and people of color in its membership and leadership and it is likely Hardee was a key proponent of this inclusion. As one study participant attested, we know she reached out to Black colleagues and invited them to join. As SCPA president,

Hardee insisted that the annual conference meet in a facility that would house all members together. In 1957, all of the SCPA conferees were accommodated at the Delano Hotel in

Miami. Hardee was involved in COSPA, the coordinating group that facilitated communication and cooperation among the majority of the student personnel associations.

She also served in short and long term capacities with broader higher education groups including the American Council on Education, American Association of Higher Education, and Southern Regional Educational Board.

Hardee was an early proponent of research on women and management, specifically in higher education. She successfully established the Center for the Studies of Women in

Educational Management at Florida State University. This became a hub for research studies and a launching pad for women seeking higher education leadership roles. Through these efforts, Hardee connected with regional and national entities attempting to move forward on the same issues.

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Major Influences

One ancillary question of this study asked, “What student affairs ideas and concepts influenced Dr. Hardee’s professional practice?” The researcher would posit the following four areas as significant influences:

1. As shaped by the ideas of the progressive education movement, the seminal student affairs document, the Student Personnel Point of View (1937) was the guiding influence in Hardee’s professional work. Layered within that document are the ideas of equal access to higher education, acknowledging individual differences, assisting all students to maximize their potential, the importance of service to society, and the charge that student personnel practitioners provide support and guidance, including moral guidance, to those in their charge.

2. An additional pivotal document of influence was the Joint Statement of Student

Rights and Freedoms (1967) that emerged out of the turbulence of the 1960s. She participated in its construction, she monitored its application, and she asked her students to contemplate how they might operationalize its charge. In Student Personnel Work: A

Profession Ground to a Halt (1970), Hardee affirmed her value of this document.

So important do I believe this document to be for the decades ahead, that I have,

with some funding from our division of Instructional Research and Services, re‐

organized the content of a course in the Department of Higher Education, the focus

now being the Joint Statement on the Rights and Freedoms of Students. (p.5)

Given the climate of campus unrest, practitioners and college presidents were anxious about articulating students’ rights. For Hardee this document provided her students an

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opportunity to reflect on their role in the university. It required them to think through the question, “Whom do you serve?”

3. Hardee was intrigued by the management concept of coordination. She saw the role of student personnel as one of coordinating services for efficient use of resources but also as a means to serve the student in the best possible way. Coordinating the myriad of counseling services was at one time her major concern but she also saw that coordination efforts helped a student affairs division fulfill its mission, and that coordination was critical at the institutional level as well. Administrative and management skills were imperative to the ability to coordinate.

4. The environment where learning takes place is a critical component to the success of learning activities. Hardee asserted that the climate of learning needed attention, it can be shaped, and student personnel workers are partners in institutional climate assessment and design. Significant research and writing has surrounded these themes since they were first introduced for consideration (Strange & Banning, 2001).

Fundamental Statements

Another ancillary question asked in this study included, “What philosophies and strategies did she employ in her work, and what ideas did she promote to those she mentored and to her professional colleagues?” The simple answer to this question is that she furthered the ideas and practices that were significant to her, those that are listed in the preceding paragraphs. In an attempt to avoid redundancy with the previous section, here are plain spoken remarks that Hardee made in writing, in speaking, and through the voices of participants in this study that convey her values and priorities.

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• Everyone stands to benefit from an education. It is our responsibility to provide

access to educational opportunities for all who seek them.

• Higher education is a field worthy of study.

• Student affairs functions are legitimate and important within institutions of

higher education.

• Practitioners need to know and respect the history of the profession. They also

need to know about how the whole institution works. Working in silos does not

benefit anyone.

• Academic affairs and student affairs need to work collaboratively to achieve the

mission of the institution, which above all else is learning.

• The enterprise of learning should be engaging, involving, and consequently,

memorable.

• Always look to the future, and always look and listen to students to inform your

practice.

• Try out ideas and give them a fair run before changing. Do not discard ideas too

quickly.

• Stand on firm soil – let your values guide your choices. Moreover, do not be

afraid if you are the only one standing.

• Reach out and mentor others. Everyone needs a guide.

These are ideas Hardee promoted and taught and she did so in a way that is reflected in current principles of good practice.

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Domesticity v. Professionalism

The final study question to address involves a consideration of how Hardee, a

professional woman, negotiated the two seemingly oppositional stances of domesticity and

professionalism. As a female growing up in the early part of the 20th century, Hardee would have encountered the pressure to marry and have children with these commitments serving as the focal point of her life. Melvene’s female role models seemed to have conveyed an unconventional message.

As the result of a tragic accident, Melvene’s grandmother singly raised her three daughters. Hazle, her mother, took on significant responsibilities as a young teen in the wake of the tragedy and then, despite marrying and having children of her own, exhibited some non‐traditional behaviors for a rural woman living in the 1930s. Hazle ran a typewriter business in her home and was involved with suffragist, Carrie Chapman Catt. As a young girl, Melvene received encouragement from her mother to pursue her interests and talents. The message Melvene and her siblings received was “Get an education” but even more specific, “Get an education before you settle into a marriage.”

In addition to having a mother sympathetic to the suffrage movement, another

possible influence at play for Hardee may have come from her close association with the

immigrant experience of her family. Graham (1975) suggested that daughters of immigrant families might have been less accepting of the secondary status of American women.

She may be less likely, in particular, to believe that the appropriate role for the

American woman is to remain in a socially subsidiary position in the home. This is

not to suggest that the appropriate roles for women in the society from which the

immigrants came or in America are very different; probably they are not. Rather, the

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experience of transit from one society to another may give one the opportunity to

relativize cultural norms. (p. 424).

Hardee was removed from the immigration experience by a generation but it is possible that the women from whom she descended shared stories and encouragement and created an environment that allowed Hardee to imagine the possibilities of her life’s path.

At the age of 35, Melvene Draheim met and married Tom Hardee. Melvene had just completed her Ph.D., was teaching in Mississippi for the summer, and may have already been selected for her position at Florida State. Hearing nothing about the budding relationship, her marriage to Tom came as a surprise to her family. In the letter to her spouse referenced in an earlier chapter, Melvene laid out a detailed plan for their marriage, what the couple might do, how they would be involved in their community, and even, what they might name their four children. Melvene’s youngest brother was skeptical about this stated intention to have children as he had observed a sister who was not keen about caring for him, a baby when Melvene was 12 years old. Regardless of her intentions, there were no children for Tom and Melvene.

The Hardees modeled a non‐traditional marriage that accommodated her work at

Florida State University, his teaching and coaching in several distant locations, and their joint farming venture near Valdosta, Georgia. In the first 10 years of their marriage, she held an administrative position that would have kept her in Tallahassee year round. Upon moving to her faculty position, personnel records indicated she taught in the summers. The time they spent together would have been on weekends during the academic year and in the summers (to the degree Tom was off from teaching). This non‐traditional arrangement allowed Melvene time to engage in her professional activities without the distractions of

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domestic responsibilities. The need to negotiate between work and home may have been

negligible. A majority of the time she would have only been responsible for herself.

Conflicting Interpretations and Contradictions

Melvene Draheim was driven to achieve; she spoke her mind and was seemingly fearless. There were moments when her confidence faltered. A sister‐in‐law accompanied her on her trip to Mississippi to get her settled for a summer of teaching. Her brother spoke of two incidences when he lived with Melvene for short periods. “Every time she started a new place she’d like to have somebody from home with her because she’d get homesick”

(N. Draheim, personal communication, April 2, 2008). Once Melvene got her bearings, however, her confidence returned.

An interesting contradiction in Hardee’s life was the directive posture she assumed with her students despite her counseling and guidance background. She was not trained as a psychotherapist but still there would have been some overlap in philosophy and approach.

While in attendance at the University of Chicago, Hardee had some contact with Carl Rogers, the pioneer of client‐centered, non‐directive counseling methods. A practitioner employing

Rogers’ concepts would seek to provide unconditional positive regard and acceptance toward a client. A hallmark of this method is accepting people where they are in the moment and letting them lead the direction of counseling. This in no way mirrors the descriptions of what it was like to be advised by Professor Hardee. Quite the contrary, Hardee was direct and persuasive in convincing people where they ought to go. An assessment of one’s route through the program was heavily influenced by what she learned about one in advance of meeting, and if one did not go in the prescribed direction or at the prescribed speed, Hardee could be confrontational.

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In a similar vein, Hardee expressed contempt for autocratic leaders whose one‐way communication style involved telling others what to do. This came up in conversation with

Sandy Westfall whose sole interaction with Hardee was through a conference presentation introduction; their interaction was memorable. Westfall described Hardee as “a 24‐hour friend whose influence is still with me, almost 30 years later” (S. Westfall, personal communication,

September 29, 2008). In the time they spent together in 1980, the two discussed current campus leaders.

We discussed leadership quite a lot. She detested autocratic leadership and cited

Cecil Mackey as a good current example at the time. In 1979, he became the tough,

controversial President of Michigan State University. I think she probably knew Dr.

Mackey from when he was the president of the University of South Florida. In any

event, the word, “disdain,” comes to mind. (S. Westfall, personal communication,

September 29, 2008)

Hardee did not appreciate a “telling” style yet in her advising she engaged in telling behaviors (Hersey & Blanchard, 2008).

Hardee addressed the importance of scholarship with her students. Her ACPA

Generativity interview ended with a statement about the value of the title of “scholar.” Her apprentices heard her speak to the value of student affairs practitioner’s engagement in knowledge acquisition, writing, and sharing what is learned in professional literature. She sent students through rigorous paces when it came to their dissertation studies but concerning her own scholarship, especially later in her career, it was judged less than rigorous based on accepted scholarly practices. Much of her writing was historical, philosophical, or leaned toward practical application. In her own scholarly projects, she

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relied heavily on survey research, descriptive statistics, and content analysis. It is not that these activities are illegitimate forms of scholarship; they were just not as palatable to her faculty peers who focused on empirical research.

For the professor who was future‐oriented and wanted to be on the cutting edge of the profession, there is no evidence that Hardee acknowledged the student development reform movement that came into vogue in the early 1970s. Human development theories formed the basis of this movement. This approach proposed that institutions could purposefully shape environments and provide programs that would move students forward along theoretical benchmarks toward more advanced thinking and relating.

According to Leslie, Hardee had strong views about the profession. “She saw it as an administrative kind of work. I tried to get her to infuse the emerging literature on student development theory into her courses and she just dismissed the whole idea” (D. Leslie, personal communication, February 15, 2008). Much later, others (Bloland, Stamatakos, &

Rogers, 1991) would critique the student development movement. It is not known whether

Hardee disagreed with the premises of student development, as did later critics, or whether she was comfortable with her courses the way they were designed and taught. If she truly believed she was preparing administrators, then she may have believed that skills and experie nces may have been more important to emphasize in the classroom.

As a final observation, it is curious that Hardee took on the issue of women’s underrepresentation in higher education leadership positions, developed a center for research on women in management, and focused much of her energy on recruiting and mentoring women through her program, but she did not have an affiliation with NAWDC, the women’s student affairs professional association. Hardee had numerous experiences

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with single sex groups to include collegiate clubs. It was not as if affiliating with a women‐

only organization would have been a foreign concept.

Rhatigan hinted that Hardee might not have been involved in NAWDC because she

did not like the idea that there needed be a separate women’s organization (J. Rhatigan,

personal correspondence, March 9, 2008). Freedman (1979) addressed separatism as a conscious strategy employed by women in the late 19th century. Women formed their own

groups, clubs, and organizations in order to pursue their interests but also because they were generally excluded from existing institutions established in the public domain.

Freedman asserted that this strategy began to dissipate after women won the right to vote and began to integrate into the public spheres of work and politics. The precursor to

NAWDC, the National Association of Deans of Women (NADW), was founded in 1916 when separatism as a strategy was in full play.

Hardee was comfortable in the company of men. She had an approachable father, competitive male siblings, and non‐traditional female role models. She was a top student throughout her early schooling competing against boys in the classroom. Later, she proved herself as a capable student in the coeducational collegiate environment. Her dissertation committee was comprised of three heavyweight male intellectuals. Confident of her

abilities, Hardee was not intimidated in a mixed setting. At the age of 35, her impressive set

of credentials and experiences led her to the coordinator of counseling role at Florida State

Univers ity, an administrative position that could have easily been awarded to a male.

It is understandable that Hardee’s first professional affiliations would have related

to the functions of her counseling and guidance position. Her primary early affiliation was

with ACPA, which addressed her relevant professional issues. NAWD started as an

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association for deans. It broadened its scope to include other functional roles in 1957 when

it added counselors to its official name (Gangone, 2008). It is possible that Hardee did not

affiliate with NAWDC because she never held the title “dean” and by the time the women’s

organization expanded its membership, her plate of commitments was already full.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

In a handwritten letter to the National Student Affairs Archivist, Ann Bowers,

Hardee stated her hope that any research emanating from her papers would make her

“look like and sound like a human entity – not a dead voice” (Hardee, 1993, Letter to A.

Bowers, p. 6). Similarly, one of the interview participants hoped that Hardee’s personality

would be sufficiently captured in this study. A rendering of judgment on these concerns,

now lies with the reader. After reviewing the pages of this dissertation, do you have a good sense o f her?

In Chapter Two, the idea of layers of subjectivity was discussed as an inevitable part of writing about another person. Dr. Hardee, in this case, filtered her life’s work and left us clues to her thinking and doing. The archivists filtered her materials, determined what was worth keeping, and then organized the material in a way that made sense to them. Enter the researcher who then culled the data and organized it in a way that made sense to her.

Another researcher would have made other selections and highlighted other aspects of

Hardee’s life. Finally, the reader will absorb what is written and add a final layer of subjectivity to the mix. Fried (2006) spoke to the nature of constructivism and acknowledged, “Individual perspective and life experience shape each person’s interpretation of information” (p. 4). For those who seek a definitive truth about Melvene

Hardee’s contributions to the student affairs profession they will not find it here. Each

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reader will likely see something different and will create a unique version of Melvene

Hardee.

The list of Hardee’s speeches and presentations is certainly not complete. Included in Appendix B are materials that were available in archival holdings and materials referenced elsewhere. The list of Hardee’s writings (Appendix C) may not be complete but it is a good representation of her contribution to the professional literature. Another possible limitation involves the number of Hardee dissertation advisees. Based on available records and thorough checking, only 120 doctoral advisees could be confirmed. This is contrary to the well‐publicized number of 123.

Interview participants spanned a good portion of her teaching at Florida State

University but few people could inform the study about observations of her time as coordinator of counseling. The study would also have benefitted from additional input from faculty with whom Hardee taught. Barbara Mann was a student and then a faculty colleague in Hardee’s final year of teaching. David Leslie was the department head as Hardee went into a phased retirement. Louis Bender’s comments were available from Hardee’s

Memorial service (but what one says at a service and what one might have said in an interview could be quite distinct). Overall, the inclusion of additional faculty colleague participants would have added a dimension to the study that is currently limited.

Data were collected from three people who grew up in Clarion, Iowa and knew

Melvene and her family. This information was not directly referenced in the study as each of them chose a qualified participation. Had the researcher met with these people in person she may have been able to allay any fears or concerns about participation in this study.

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This particular study took advantage of the primary sources of a creator who was

incredibly expressive and revealing. Additionally, because so many people were available

to inform the research, what is shared in this dissertation includes everyday concerns as

well as professional activities. Because the scope was broader than the professional sphere

of her life, the reader has experienced a more holistic view of this particular subject of

inquiry than what is available in prior studies of women pioneers. Biographical works of

men seldom include details about marriage, family, and activities outside the sphere of work. This approach may be too personal for some but it does convey a panoramic picture of her humanity.

Further Research

It was Dr. Hardee’s desire to capture the impact of the Florida State University higher education program on the Southeast region. This came too late for her to supervise although she attempted to set it in motion with the construction of the “Committee of Five.”

It was Hardee’s assertion that Midwesterners who migrated to the South helped provide impetus for the development of higher education systems in the region.

An in‐depth study of her early writing involving academic advising might be

interesting for current professionals working in that specialty. Finally, due to Hardee’s

involvement in COSPA, this researcher encountered the COSPA collection in the National

Student Affairs Archives. This early inter‐association group attempted to communicate

among a number of affiliated professional organizations and coordinate activities to the

degree possible. In the midst of the current debate about whether the two major

professional organizations, ACPA and NASPA, should meld into one comprehensive

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organization, a study of the life of the COSPA may help to bring perspective to this conversation.

Implications

Hardee held a prominent place in student affairs and higher education at a time when there were few role models. She garnered attention early in her career through her professional involvements and she remained a significant player up until her retirement. In recognition of her years of service, she was often asked to convey the historical significance of many events and products of the profession. Hardee had been there, she had participated, and she knew the players.

This study provides a description of her life and her experiences for the benefit of future researchers who might like to compare and contrast her story with others. It provides individuals with a role model. According to Graham (1975), studies such as this are instructive.

We also need to look for elements of commonality in the lives of the very few

women who have become prominent in higher education in order not only to

understand them better but also to recognize ways in which they have surmounted

the hurdles that have blocked their female (or male) colleagues. (p. 428)

This study joins others that have portrayed the lives of women student affairs pioneers

(Anderson, 1989; Antler, 1987, 1992; Bretschneider, 1998; Coomes, Whitt, & Kuh, 1987;

Fley, 1978, 1979, 1980; Fley & Jaramillo, 1980; Gilroy, 1987; Gerda, 2004; Herdlein, 2004;

Hunter & Kuh, 1989; Kramer, 1996; Nidiffer, 1994; Smith, 1976; Solomon, 1980; Tuttle,

1996); it adds a layer of understanding to the sedimentary process of understanding past conditions and environments. Lessons of history can inform our present day circumstances

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and dilemmas. For over 40 years, Hardee experienced significant changes in the landscape of higher education. We can learn from her future focus and her orientation to changing conditions and expectations.

Dramatic Measure

Another measure of Hardee, our music maker and dreamer of dreams, could be borrowed from the Broadway musical, Rent. In the song, Seasons of Love, the question is asked, “How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?” As the song informs, there are five hundred twenty‐five thousand six hundred minutes in a year. Hardee’s 81 years provided her over 42,573,600 minutes. Participants in this study would say she employed her Midwest work ethic and made the absolute most of her minutes. She might agree, for she did say that the work ethic was, “the ethic I hum best” (Hardee, 1972, High Noon, p. 1).

From seeds planted early in her life grew a dynamic force of nature. Melvene

Draheim Hardee is remembered for her dramatic style and a waft of Shakespeare in her parlance. She shared her thoughts abundantly and often with the flair of a bold, black marker. She looked one square in the eyes and asked penetrating questions. She orchestrated, facilitated, coached, and mentored in all settings to include the classroom, auditoriums, and even on her 877‐acre farm. She loved Tom Hardee and lost him all too soon. In her professional life, Hardee championed many of the ideas upon which the student affairs profession is grounded. Hers is one of many voices yet hers is a foundational voice. Hardee joins others we consider touchstones of the student personnel/student affairs profession. There are many lessons for the reader to discern from the study of her life and career.

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Student Personnel, 4, 42‐44.

Hardee, M. D. (1962, April). Of porpoises and personnel workers. An address to the twelve

commissions of the American College Personnel Association, Chicago, IL. Bowling

Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National

Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1.

Hardee, M. D. (1962, May 21). Top drawer talk. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, ACPA

MS‐319.

Hardee, M. D. (1962, July 26). Letter to Art & Hazel Draheim. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling

Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs

Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 8.

Hardee, M. D. (1962, November 11). Letter to G. Sweet. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

ACPA MS‐319, ACPA 1.10.1.

298

Hardee, M. D. (1962, November 18). Letter to J. Hunter. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

ACPA MS‐319, 1.10.1.

Hardee, M. D. (1963). Perception and perfection. Journal of College Student Personnel, 4,

194‐204.

Hardee, M. D. (1963). Warning. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center

for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee

Papers MS‐773, Memorabilia Folder.

Hardee, M. D. (1963). Platform pledge and petition. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, ACPA

MS‐319, ACPA Handbook for Exec Council, 4/25/1962.

Hardee, M. D. (1963, October). The global woman: Her mission and her might. An address to

the annual convention of the American Banking Women, Bal Harbour , FL. Bowling

Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National

Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1.

Hardee, M. D. (1963, November 5). Report on the IACC. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

ACPA MS‐319, ACPA, 1.14.9 Origins, Organization and Purpose.

Hardee, M. D. (1964, February 4). COSPA commentaries. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

ACPA MS‐319, ACPA, 1.14.211, COSPA Commentaries; MS‐319, ACPA, 1.14.9 Origins,

Organization and Purpose.

299

Hardee, M. D. (1964, December 18). Memo to COSPA. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

ACPA MS‐319, 1:14.4o1 Professional Development.

Hardee, M. D. (1967, November). Role and control: The widow's might. An address to the

Conference for Widows and Divorcees, Tallahassee, FL. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling

Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs

Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1.

Hardee, M. D. (1967, June). The learning environment: Its effect on students. Proceedings of

the Conference on New Dimensions of Student Personnel Work in a Changing

Society. Washington, D.C.: Howard University. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10.

Hardee, M. D. (1968). Psychedelic sorrow. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 4, Folder 6.

Hardee, M. D. (1969). Out of Eden, into Canaan. An address to the annual meeting of the

National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, Atlanta, GA. Bowling Green,

OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National

Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1.

Hardee, M. D. (1969). Freedom and campus crusades: Governance in Camelot, Series I.

Tallahassee: Florida State University. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 2.

300

Hardee, M. D. (~1970). The student personnel professional and the visible and invisible

publics. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival

Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1970, October). From here to maturity: What we (I) have learned. An address

to the meeting of the Council of Student Personnel Associations, St. Louis, MO.

Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections,

National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3,

Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1970). Student personnel work: A profession ground to a halt. In M. D.

Hardee (Ed.), The American college student: Impacts and compacts, Series II (pp. 1‐8).

Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 5.

Hardee, M. D. (1971). Untitled. An address to the annual meeting of the Southern College

Personnel Association, St. Petersburg, FL. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1971, March). The quality of mercy is being strained. An address to the

National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, St. Louis, MO. Bowling Green,

OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National

Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2.

301

Hardee, M. D. (1971, March). Dreams, visions, and hallucinations: A surveillance of the future

of student personnel programs. An address to the Jesuit Student Personnel

Association, St. Louis, MO. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University,

Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim

Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1971). College students: Their impact on college administration 1964‐68. In

M. D. Hardee (Ed.), The American college student: Impacts and compacts, Series II (pp.

1‐9). Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 5.

Hardee, M. D. (1972, April). A community construct for student personnel work: Camelot or

circus lot? An address to the 54th annual conference of the National Association of

Student Personnel Administrators, Denver, CO. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1972, July). High Noon: An account taken of the student personnel

professional. An address to the Jesuit Student Personnel Association, Denver, CO.

Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections,

National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3,

Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1973, October). Reward and punishment. An address to unknown group and

location. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival

302

Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐

773 Box 3, Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1974). Politics, pluralities, and the student development perspective. In D.

DeCoster & P. Mable (Eds.), Student development and education in college residence

halls (pp. 255‐266). Washington, D.C.: American College Personnel Association.

Hardee, M. D. (1974, October). The philosophical rationale for student personnel involvement

in adjudication processes, Proceedings of the American College Personnel

Association Commission XV, Conference on Judicial Affairs. Athens: University of

Georgia. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival

Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1974, October). And four to go. An address to the Ohio Association of Student

Personnel Administrators, Salt Fork Lodge. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1974, November). The American studies symposium. Bowling Green, OH:

Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student

Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1975, November). Personal orientation to the educational enterprise.

Presentation for the Educational Futures, International Colloquium, Kent State

University, OH, November 14‐16. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 3.

303

Hardee, M. D. (1976). Communiqué. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University,

Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, NASPA MS‐391,

NASPA Award Files, 1975‐1976.

Hardee, M. D. (1977). Applicant for Women’s Educational Equity Act Program. Bowling

Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National

Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 5, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1977, May). Links to life: The magnolia chain. Commencement address for

the Mississippi University for Women, Columbus. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling

Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs

Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1979). Justification. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University,

Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim

Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 5, Folder 2.

Hardee, M. D. (1979, January). The wonderful wizards of Oz. An address to the Florida

College Personnel Association, St. Petersburg, FL. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green

State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1980). A report of the Center for the Studies of Women. Bowling Green, OH:

Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student

Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 5, Folder 1.

Hardee, M. D. (1980, November). Gonzaga University address. Spokane, WA. Bowling Green,

OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National

Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 4.

304

Hardee, M. D. (1981, February 1). Introducing my mother. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling

Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs

Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4.

Hardee, M. D. (1981, October). Wiz of Oz. An address to the meeting of the Kansas State

Personnel Professionals, Lawrence, KS. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers M S‐773, Box 3, Folder 4.

Hardee, M. D. (1982, February). Mentoring. An address to the Southeast Regional

Conference for Women Administrators in Higher Education, Williamsburg, VA.

Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections,

National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3,

Folder 1.

Hardee, M. D. (1982). Dare to dream of higher learning. An address to the National

Association of Student Personnel Administrators annual meeting, Boston, MA.

Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections,

National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3,

Folder 4.

Hardee, M. D. (1983). The locator. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Libraries,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher Education Collection, Special

Collections MSS 200403, Box 8, Folder 6.

Hardee, M. D. (~1984). Résumé. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center

for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee

Papers MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10.

305

Hardee, M. D. (1984). SPPOV survey. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Libraries,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher Education Collection, Special

Collections MSS 200403, Box 5, Folder 1, 50th Anniversary of Goals of SPPOV.

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the 25th Anniversary Colloquium. Tallahassee: Florida State University Institute for

Studies in Higher Education. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University,

Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim

Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 4, Folder 9.

Hardee, M. D. (1984, May). Untitled. An address at the dedication of University Center at the

University of Alabama, Birmingham. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 4.

Hardee, M. D. (1985). Board of regents review 1984­1985. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling

Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs

Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4.

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Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim

Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 5.

Hardee, M. D. (1985, August). Students and their environment (1980s). An address to Edison

Community College, Ft. Myers, FL. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 4.

306

Hardee, M. D. (1986). Accountability report of the 37th annual conference of the Southern

Association for College Student Affairs. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State

University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs Archives,

Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 6, Folder 3.

Hardee, M. D. (1987). Additional doctoral students­(Hardee) 1983­1987. Bowling Green, OH:

Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student

Affairs Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10.

Hardee, M. D. (1987). The American college student syllabus. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling

Green State University, Center for Archival Collections, National Student Affairs

Archives, Melvene Draheim Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 4, Folder 9.

Hardee, M. D. (1987). Louisville, 1987. [Multi‐media]. Keynote address to the 38th annual

meeting of the Southern Association of College Student Affairs, Louisville, KY.

Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections,

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Hardee, M. D. (1987, March). The 1937 student personnel point of view: The birth of a

charter. [Multi‐media]. Keynote address to the joint meeting of the American College

Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel

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Hardee Papers MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4.

307

Hardee, M. D. (1987, March 19). Letter to Robert Dawson. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State

University Libraries, Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher

Education Collection, Special Collections MSS 200403, Box 4, Folder 12.

Hardee, M. D. (1988). Thoughts about retirement [audio tape]. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State

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Education Collection, Special Collections MSS 200403, Box 3, #15.

Hardee, M. D. (1990, October 9). Letter to Mary Pankowski. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State

University Libraries, Melvene Draheim Hardee Center for Women in Higher

Education Collection, Special Collections MSS 200403, Box 11, Folder 7.

Hardee, M. D. (1990). The campus in endless re­invention of itself. Unpublished manuscript.

Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University, Center for Archival Collections,

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APPENDIX A. AUTHORIAL INTENT

My first cognizance of the student affairs profession occurred during a November visit to North Dakota. After receiving my undergraduate degree, my first job was to be a traveling consultant for a national fraternity and it involved visiting Greek chapters throughout the country. By the time I reached North Dakota I would have completed around 15 campus visits at a variety of institutions. During each campus visit I would make a contact with the administrator responsible for supervising the Greek system. While speaking with this particular Greek Advisor it occurred to me that he was doing the same job that I was doing, only instead of packing up every five days, he stayed in one place. This epiphany caused me to ask questions about how one came to these types of jobs and in short time I had learned about the breadth of student affairs work and master’s degree preparation programs. During the subsequent holiday break I investigated degree programs, tried to discern how I would take the GRE while traveling about the country, and

I visited the program nearest to my home to determine if this might be a good fit for me. It turned out that it was a good fit and I enrolled the following year. Now, over twenty‐five years later as a student affairs professional, I have been privileged to work with college students in a variety of capacities at seven distinct institutions.

When the opportunity to pursue a doctorate presented itself I assumed a role as a research assistant and began reading about the beginnings of the student affairs profession.

Through this process I encountered stories about remarkable women and men, many now long gone, who sifted through ambiguity to define significant campus leadership roles and craft a profession that advocated for the well‐being of college students. The major assignment for my assistantship in the first two years was to develop a web site to assist in

316

the historical investigation of the profession by giving researchers starting points and

background information. By and by, this novice researcher got hooked on history.

This dissertation topic emanates from a second ephiphany. While perusing the collection in the National Student Affairs Archives (conveniently located at my graduate institution), among the professional association papers I encountered the Melvene Draheim

Hardee Collection. This was a familiar name to me as one of my former vice presidents,

Harris Shelton, had been one of her students. When we would have our regular one‐on‐one meetings he would often entertain me with stories about his mentor, a woman I now know as “The Mentor.” Through the telling of these stories, it was obvious the great impact Dr.

Hardee had on his life. In another instance I mentioned this possible dissertation topic to a consultant visiting Bowling Green State University and he responded with enthusiasm and began ticking off people who could be tapped as informants. When I shared this developing dissertation idea with Jim Rhatigan, the former historian for NASPA Student Affairs

Administrators in Higher Education, he insisted that with this topic I might be one of the few people that would truly enjoy writing a dissertation. It did not take long to connect all the dots to realize that my dissertation topic had chosen me.

An additional attraction to Melvene Hardee’s life was her place on the student affairs time line and the challenges that must have existed for her as a woman. I wanted to explore how she persisted at a time when the messages about a woman’s place strongly contradicted one’s professional drive. This dissonance between desire and opportunity existed for early women pioneers in our profession, it existed for Dr. Hardee, and the numbers indicate that women continue to be underrepresented in academic leadership positions today. Given this dynamic, stories of inspiration are always appreciated.

317

My undergraduate academic background is in communications, specifically,

broadcast journalism. I will forever be grateful for the background and training from this

major. News writing is tight and to the point, especially for radio or television. A news

writer must catch the listener’s attention and tell the story, often in 30 seconds or less.

Throughout my masters and doctoral studies I have been exposed to the history and

foundations of higher education and student affairs, the specifics of planning, budgeting,

assessment, and program evaluation, motivation and leadership theories, and of course,

research methods. An admission I must make is that I have not been schooled in historical research and writing. Much of my approach is influenced by qualitative research methods and an attraction to a constructivist paradigm. I assume a relativist ontology (Guba &

Lincoln, 1989) which presumes that realities are socially constructed and, in the consideration of any phenomenon or person, multiple realities exist. I do not seek to find

“the” truth about the subject of this research. Instead I recognize there are multiple truths

about Melvene Hardee that are held by the various people who knew her. The goal of this

research will be to capture the essense of her personality and character and relate those

qualities to the contributions she had made to the student affairs profession. The product

of this effort will be my subjective construction of reality and because key actors will be

involved, it will result in a co‐construction of their realities.

I begin this research project fully expecting to be entertained along the way. That is consistent with the Melvene Hardee I already know. Additionally, I trust I will be surprised, disappointed, enlightened, and inspired by her and by those whose lives she touched. I am conscious of the responsibility inherent in this task and have established a plan that will provide generous amounts of data to consider and analyze.

318

APPENDIX B. PRESENTATIONS BY MELVENE HARDEE

Items noted with [ ] indicate where item was referenced or found.

MS indicates located in the National Student Affairs Archives, Jerome Library

Bowling Green State Unive rsity, Bowling Green, OH.

Hardee, M. D. (1954, September). Counseling in general education. Panel presentation for

Division 17, American Psychological Association, New York. [Cited in Faculty in

College Counseling, 1959, McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D. (1955, March). Studies in behavior in human relations education. Panel

presentation for the American College Personnel Association, Chicago. [Cited in

Faculty in College Counseling, 1959, McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D. (1956, December). Of them I read. Presidential address to the seventh annual

convention of the Southern College Personnel Association, University of Kentucky,

Lexington. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1958). The development of character and personality: A shared

responsibility. Address to the Georgia Association of Women Deans and Counselors,

October 18‐19, 1957, University of Georgia. [Journal of NAWDAC, 21(2), 68‐73]

Hardee, M. D. (1959, March). The whole university and the whole student. Presentation to

American College Personnel Association, Cincinnati, OH. [MS‐319, Mel Hardee

Handbook for Executive Council, April 25, 1962]

Hardee, M. D. (1960, May). How do you say what you mean? Address to the 42nd convention

of the American Nurses' Association, Miami Beach, FL. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

319

Hardee, M. D. (~1960). Untitled. Respondent to address of Professor B. F. Skinner.

American Personnel and Guidance Association, Chicago, IL. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder

10, Résumé p. 13 and Box 3, Folder 5]

Hardee, M. D. (1961, August). Faculty advisement as creative teaching. Presentation to the

second faculty conference of the Junior College of Broward County, Fort Lauderdale,

FL. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1961). Research on college students: A student personnel worker’s view. An

address to the Swannanoa Conference on Institutional Research on College

Students, Warren Wilson College, NC. [MS‐319, File 1.12.18]

Hardee, M. D. (1962, April). Of porpoises and personnel workers. An address to the twelve

commissions of the American College Personnel Association, Chicago, IL. [MS‐773,

Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1963, April). Perception and perfection. Presidential address to the annual

convention of the American of College Personnel Association, Boston, MA. [MS‐773,

Box 3, Folder 1)

Hardee, M. D. (1963, October). The global woman: Her mission and her might. An address to

the annual convention of the American Banking Women, Bal Harbour , FL. [MS‐773,

Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M.D. (1966). Women: The indelicate commodity. An address to the Women’s Day

Celebration, State College of Iowa (University of Northern Iowa), April 30. Retrieved

November 19, 2008 from:

http://www.library.uni.edu/indexuni/pager2.php?url=http://www.library.uni.edu

/ni/1965/00000309.jpg

320

Hardee, M. D. (1967, June). The learning environment: Its effect on students. An address to

the Division of Student Affairs for the Howard University Centennial Conference,

Washington, D.C. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1967, November). Role and control: The widow's might. An address to the

Conference for Widows and Divorcees, Tallahassee, FL. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1967, July). Challenge from overseas. Student personnel and the foreign

student: The university meets the challenge. Keynote address to the annual assembly

of the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors, Minneapolis, MN. [MS‐773

Box 1, Folder 10, Résumé pp. 9, 16 and Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1968, January). The integration of learning. A presentation to the National

Defense Education Act Institute Regional Workshop ‐ College Student Personnel

Administrators: Their Obligations in Teaching and Learning, Tallahassee, FL. [MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1968). College students: Their impact on college administration 1964‐68. An

address for the Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia Athens.

Hardee, M. D. (1969). College students: Their impact on college administration 1964‐68. An

address to the Southern Regional Education Board, Atlanta, GA. [MS‐773, Box 1,

Folder 10, Résumé pp. 7, 16]

Hardee, M. D. (1969). Out of Eden, into Canaan. An address to the annual meeting of the

National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, Atlanta, GA. [MS‐773 Box 3,

Folder 1]

321

Hardee, M. D. (1970, February). Talent and the turnstiles: Financial aid officers in the

greatest show on earth. An address to the Southern Association of Student Financial

Aid Administrators, Atlanta, GA. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1970, July). Student personnel work: A profession ground to a halt. An address

to the Association of College and University Housing Officers, Muncie, IN. [MS‐773,

Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1970, October). From here to maturity: What we (I) have learned. An address

to the meeting of the Council of Student Personnel Associations, St. Louis, MO. [MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1970). Higher education: The greatest show on earth in the 70s. An address

to the 1970‐71 Visiting Scholars Program, University Center, Richmond, VA. [MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1971, March). The quality of mercy is being strained. An address to the

National Association of Women Deans and Counselors, St. Louis, MO. [MS‐773, Box

3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1971, March). Dreams, visions, and hallucinations: A surveillance of the future

of student personnel programs. An address to the Jesuit Student Personnel

Association, St. Louis, MO. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1971). Untitled. An address to the annual meeting of the Southern College

Personnel Association, St. Petersburg, FL. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2].

Hardee, M. D. (1972, April). A community construct for student personnel work: Camelot or

circus lot? An address to the 54th annual conference of the National Association of

Student Personnel Administrators, Denver, CO. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2]

322

Hardee, M. D. (1972, July). High Noon: An account taken of the student personnel

professional. An address to the Jesuit Student Personnel Association, Denver, CO.

[MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2].

Hardee, M. D. (1973, October). Reward and punishment. An address to an unknown group

and location. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1974). Educational management systems: To bring about change. An address

to the Indiana University Summer Institute, Bloomington. [MS 773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1974, October). And four to go. An address to the Ohio Association of Student

Personnel Administrators, Salt Fork Lodge. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1974, October). The philosophical rationale for student personnel involvement

in adjudication processes, An address to the American College Personnel Association

Commission XV, University of Georgia, Athens. [MS 773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1974, November 15). The American studies symposium. [MS‐773 Box 3,

Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1974, November). The national scene: What does it mean? An address to the

annual meeting of the Southern College Personnel Association. [MS‐773 Box 3,

Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1975, May). A presentation for the 5th memorial service. Kent State University,

OH. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1975, November). The college­university student in his relationships. An

address to the Educational Futures, International Colloquium, Kent State University,

OH. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 3]

323

Hardee, M. D. (1975). Administrative skills for women in education. An address to junior‐

college teachers and administrators, Fort Worth, TX. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10,

Résumé, p. 8]

Hardee, M. D. (1976). The University of Southern Mississippi in the third century. Inaugural

address for the induction of President Aubrey Lucas, University of Southern

Mississippi, Hattiesburg. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D., Appleton, J., & Rhatigan, J. (1977, April). Student affairs: The old west, west

world, and future world. (a.k.a. Annie Oakley and the James Boys). [Multi‐media]. An

address to the 59th annual conference of the National Association of Student

Personnel Administrators, Atlanta, GA. [MS‐391 NASPA Convention Files]

Hardee, M. D. (1977, May). Links to life: The magnolia chain. Commencement address for the

Mississippi University for Women, Columbus. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1979, January). The wonderful wizards of Oz. An address to the Florida

College Personnel Association, St. Petersburg, FL. [MS 773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1979). An interpretation of Levinson and Tiger’s discussion on male bonding.

[Multi‐media]. Tallahassee: Florida State University. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10,

Résumé, pp. 8, 17]

Hardee, M. D. (1979). Untitled. Served as panelist and speaker for Images: A focus on

women conference, Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10,

Résumé, p. 8]

Hardee, M. D. (1980, July). ACUHO opening session. [Multi‐media]. An address to the 32nd

Annual Association of College and University Housing Officers, Toronto, Canada.

324

[MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4; with pp. 10 ‐ 29 in Box 3, Folder 5; MS‐487, 32nd Annual

Conference, York University, 1980 ]

Hardee, M. D. (1980, November). Untitled. An address to the faculty of Gonzaga University,

Spokane, WA. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1981, October). Wiz of Oz. An address to the meeting of the Kansas State

Personnel Professiona ls, Lawrence, KS. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1981). Untitled. An address to the Student Affairs Development Work

Conference, University of Kansas, Lawrence. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4, Board of

Regents Review 1984‐1985, p. 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1982, February). Mentoring. An address to the Southeast Regional

Conference for Women Administrators in Higher Education, Williamsburg, VA. [MS‐

773 Box 3, Folder 1 and Board of Regents Review, Box 3, Folder 4, p. 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1982). Dare to dream of higher learning. An address to the National

Association of Student Personnel Administrators annual meeting, Boston, MA. [MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 4, Board of Regents Review 1984‐1985, p. 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1983). Making our voices heard in networking. An address to the Florida

State University Conference of the Florida Women Deans and Counselors,

Tallahassee. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10, Résumé, p. 8]

Hardee, M. D. (1983). An address to the Student Affairs Development Work Conference,

Iowa Personnel Association. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4, Board of Regents Review

1984‐1985, p. 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1984, May). Untitled. An address at the dedication of University Center at the

University of Alabama, Birmingham. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 4]

325

Hardee, M. D. (1984). An address to the Student Affairs Development Work Conference,

Maryland College Personnel Association. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4, Board of Regents

Review 1984‐1985, p. 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1985, August). Students and their environment (1980s). An address to Edison

Community College, Ft. Myers, FL. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1986, February). What every woman knows. An address for the Vinzant

Lectures in Human Relations, Tift College, Forsyth, GA. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1987, March). The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View: The birth of a

charter. [Multi‐media]. Keynote address to the joint meeting of the American College

Personnel Association and the National Association of Student Personnel

Administrators, Chicago, IL. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1987). Louisville, 1987. [Multi‐media]. Keynote address to the 38th annual

meeting of the Southern Association of College Student Affairs, Louisville, KY. [MS‐

773, Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1993). The management of trucks. Presentation for an undetermined

meeting in Valdosta, GA. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 5]

326

APPENDIX C. PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED WRITING

Items noted with [ ] indicate where item was referenced or found.

MS indicates located in the National Student Affairs Archives, Jerome Library

Bowling Green State Unive rsity, Bowling Green, OH.

Draheim, M. M. (1948). A method of evaluation for programs of occupational guidance.

Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago. Retrieved from ProQuest. (AAT T‐

00108)

Hardee, M. D., & Bernauer, M. (1948). A method of evaluating group discussion.

Occupations, 27, 90‐94. [Cited in Faculty in College Counseling, 1959, McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D., & Pollock, D. (1948). A process of investigation for occupational interests,

Junior College Journal, 19, 177‐184. [Cited in Faculty in College Counseling, 1959,

McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D. (Ed.) (1950). A manual for education counselors. Tallahassee: Florida State

University. [MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1950). A program of in‐service training for teacher‐counselors. Junior

College Journal, 20, 453‐459. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1951). General education and general education counseling. School and

Society, 74, 3‐6. [Cited in Faculty in College Counseling, 1959, McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D. (1951). When your client goes to college. Rehabilitation, 17, 10‐13, 23.

Hardee, M. D. (1952). The coordinator of counseling: His role in administration of student

personnel services. Occupations, 30, 396­399. Reprinted by the National Vocational

Guidance Association, Washington D.C. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

327

Hardee, M. D. (1953). Moral guidance ‐ our responsibility. Personnel and Guidance Journal,

31, 220‐223. Reprinted by the American Personnel and Guidance Association,

Washington D. C. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1953). Stimulating professional publication. Personnel and Guidance Journal,

32, 219‐220. [Cited in Faculty in College Counseling, 1959, McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D. (Ed.). (1955). Counseling and guidance in general education. Yonkers, NY:

World Book. [MS‐773, Box 1, F 10, Résumé, p. 10]

Hardee, M. D. (1955). Counseling as an integrating factor in general education. In M. D.

Hardee (Ed.), Counseling and guidance in general education. Yonkers, NY: World

Book. [Cited in Faculty in College Counseling, 1959, McGraw‐Hill]

Hardee, M. D. (1958). The development of character and personality: A shared

responsibility. NAWDC, 21(2), 68‐73.

Hardee, M. D. (Ed.). (1959). The faculty in college counseling. New York: McGraw‐Hill.

Hardee, M. D. (1959). Productive inquiry: Solving the unsolved. In M. D. Hardee (Ed.) The

faculty in college counseling (pp. 266‐284). New York: McGraw‐Hill.

Hardee, M. D. (1959). The mission of the yearbook. In N. B. Henry (Ed.), Personnel services

in education (pp. 1‐11). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Hardee, M. D. (1960). How do you say what you mean? Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses

Association. [MS‐773, Box 1, F 10, Résumé, p. 17]

Hardee, M. D. (1960). Student records and reports: College and university. In C. W. Harris, &

M. R. Liba (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational research (3rd ed., pp. 1433‐1437). New

York: Macmillan.

328

Hardee, M. D. (1960). A comprehensive counseling program for higher education.

Unpublished manuscript. [MS‐773 Box 4, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D., & Powell, O. B. (1960). Courses in personal and social adjustment: A review

of status. In H. T. Morse & P. Dressel (Eds.), General education for personal maturity

(pp. 73‐79). Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown. [MS‐773, Box 4, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1961). Faculty advising in contemporary higher education. Educational

Record, 42, 112‐116. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1961). The art of budget preparation. College and University Business, 31(4),

64‐67. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1961, August). The relationship of the president's wife to the women faculty

members of the college. In Leadership opportunities and the beginning junior college

president. Proceedings of the Southeastern Regional Junior College Leadership

Program, Boone, NC. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10, Résumé, p. 16.]

Hardee, M. D. (1961). Personnel services for improving the campus climate of learning.

NAWDC, 24(3), 122‐127.

Hardee, M. D. (1961). Counseling and advising in the new junior college. Junior College

Journal, 31, 370‐377.

Hardee, M. D. (1962). Research on college students: The student personnel worker's view.

Educational Record, 43, 132‐138. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1, Résumé, p. 16.]

Hardee, M. D. (1962). High tide or low? A.C.P.A. president’s message. Journal of College

Student Personnel, 4(1), 42‐44.

Hardee, M. D. (1962). Keynote caring and keystone comedy. A.C.P.A. president’s message.

Journal of College Student Personnel, 4(2), 105‐108.

329

Hardee, M. D. (1963). Trademark, hallmark, or marking time: ACPA president's message.

Journal of College Student Personnel, 4(3) 177‐180.

Hardee, M. D. (1963). Perception and perfection. Journal of College Student Personnel, 4(4),

194‐204.

Hardee, M. D. (1963). Counseling women students. Junior College Journal, 34, 16‐20.

Hardee, M. D. (1965). The residence hall: A locus for learning. In Report of the residence

conference on social science methods and student residence. Ann Arbor: University of

Michigan. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10, Résumé, p. 16]

Hardee, M. D. (1966, March). Less of chance and more of choice. In the report of the Roles of

Women in Today’s World Conference. Sponsored by Florida State University,

University of South Florida, and the U.S. Department of Labor. [MS‐773, Box 1,

Folder 10, Résumé, p. 16]

Hardee, M. D. (1967). Challenge from overseas. Student personnel and the foreign student.

NASPA, 5(1), 3‐8. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10, Résumé, pp. 9, 16 and Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1967, June). The learning environment: Its effect on students. Proceedings of the

Conference on New Dimensions of Student Personnel Work in a Changing Society.

Washington, D.C.: Howard University. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10, Résumé, p. 16]

Hardee, M. D. (1967, June). The counseling and advising process: Its many facets and

applications in the liberal arts college. Wheeling, WV: Wheeling College.

Hardee, M. D. (1968). College administration and student relationships. In B. Feltner (Ed.),

The administrative team: Relationships to internal and external groups. Athens:

Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10,

Résumé, pp. 16‐17]

330

Hardee, M. D. (1969). Education of women. In R. L. Ebel, V. H. Noll, & R. M. Bauer (Eds.),

Encyclopedia of educational research, (4th ed., pp. 360‐365). London: Macmillan.

[MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 1]

Hardee, M. D. (1969). Freedom and campus crusades: Governance in Camelot, Series I.

Tallahassee: Florida State University. [MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (~ 1970). The Student personnel professional and the visible and invisible

publics. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 2]

Hardee, M. D. (1970, February). Talent and turnstiles. Proceedings of the Southern

Association of Student Financial Aid Administration. [MS‐773, Box 1, Folder 10]

Hardee, M. D. (1970). Faculty advising in colleges and universities. Student Personnel Series,

No. 9. Washington, D. C.: American Personnel and Guidance Association. [MS‐773,

Box 1, Folder 10]

Hardee, M. D. (1970). Student personnel work: A profession ground to a halt. In M. D.

Hardee (Ed.), The American college student: Impacts and compacts, Series II (pp. 1‐8).

Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University. [MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 5]

Hardee, M. D. (1971). The impact of statements on student rights: The quality of mercy is

being strained. NAWDC, 35(1), 32‐39. [MS‐773 Box 3, Folder 2; MS‐773, Box 1,

Folder 10]

Hardee, M. D. (Ed.). (1971). The American college student: Impacts and compacts. Series II.

Tallahassee, FL: Seminole Press. [MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 5]

Hardee, M. D. (1971). College students: Their impact on college administration 1964‐68. In

M. D. Hardee (Ed.), The American college student: Impacts and compacts, Series II (pp.

1‐9). Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University. [MS‐773, Box 2, folder 5]

331

Hardee, M. D. (Ed.). (1972). Content analysis as a research tool for higher education.

Tallahassee: Florida State University. [MS‐773, Box 2, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1974). Politics, pluralities, and the student development perspective. In D.

DeCoster & P. Mable (Eds.), Student development and education in college residence

halls (pp. 255‐266). Washington, D.C.: American College Personnel Association.

Hardee, M. D. (1974, October). The philosophical rationale for student personnel involvement

in adjudication processes, Proceedings of the American College Personnel

Association Commission XV, Conference on Judicial Affairs. Athens: University of

Georgia. [MS 773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1975, January). Student personnel training programs: From here to

maturity. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1975, February 15). "The mark on the field": An analysis of permanence.

Position paper. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1975, November 14‐16). The educational enterprise and its orientation to

students. In The student as a person (pp. 15­23). Kent, OH: Educational Futures,

International Colloquium. [MS‐773 Box, 2, Folder 6]

Hardee, M. D. (Ed.). (1984). 1984­2008: Predictions for higher education. Proceedings from

the 25th Anniversary Colloquium. Tallahassee: Florida State University Institute for

Studies in Higher Education. [MS‐773, Box 4, Folder 9]

Hardee, M. D. (1987). Untitled essay. (Evaluation of 1987 Institute). [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4]

Hardee, M. D. (1990). The campus in endless re­invention of itself. Unpublished manuscript.

[MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4]

332

Hardee, M.D. (~1990). The encounter with diversity: Confrontation or community?

Unpublished manuscript. [MS‐773, Box 4, Folder 3]

Hardee, M. D. (1992). A transcendent idea: The Student Personnel Point of View. Unpublished

manuscript. [MS‐773, Box 3, Folder 4]

333

APPENDIX D. MEDIA INVOLVING MELVENE HARDEE

Bower, B., Lucas, A., Lucas, F. (Speakers). (2002). Celebration of the 25th anniversary of the

Hardee Center. (Video Recording). Tallahassee, FL: Melvene Draheim Hardee Center

for Women in Higher Education Collection, Florida State University, MSS 2004‐03.

Hardee, M. D. (Facilitator). (1975). Dialog with Melvene Hardee at Kent State University, May

3, 1975. (Video Recording). Tallahassee, FL: John Opper.

Hardee, M. D., Appleton, J., & Rhatigan, J. (Speakers). (1977, April). Student Affairs: The old

west, west world, and future world. (a.k.a. Annie Oakley and the James Boys). (Cassette

Recording). Wichita, KS: James Rhatigan.

Hardee, M. D. (Speaker). (1982). Untitled keynote address to the National Association of

Student Personnel Administrators, Boston, MA. (Cassette Recording). Bowling

Green, OH: National Student Affairs Archives, MS‐773.

Hardee, M. D. (Speaker). (~1984). Reflections on the beginning of the FSU program of higher

education. (Cassette Recording). Tallahassee, FL: John Opper.

Hardee, M. D. (Speaker). (1987). The 1937 Student Personnel Point of View: The birth of a

charter. (Audio Recording). Tallahassee, FL: John Opper.

Hardee, M. D. (Speaker). (1988). Thoughts about retirement recorded for northern Iowa.

(Audio Recording). Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University. [MSS 2004‐03, Box 3,

#15]

Hardee, M. D. & Mashburn, R. (Speakers). (1990). An interview with Dr. Melvene Draheim

Hardee on student affairs past, present, and future. (Video Recording). Washington

D.C.: Generativity Committee, American College Personnel Association. [MS‐773,

Oversized box]

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National University Teleconference Network. (1987). A historical perspective and a view of

the future. (Video Recording). Stillwater, OK: Oklahoma State University.

Young, G. & others. (Speakers). (1994). Memorial celebration of the life and career of Dr.

Melvene Draheim Hardee. (Video Recording). Tallahassee, FL: Florida State

University. [MSS 2004‐03, Box 5]

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APPENDIX E. QUESTIONS FOR FORMER STUDENTS AND COLLEAGUES

1. Please describe your career path to date with specific details regarding your time at

Florida State University.

2. Comment on how you first became aware of Dr. Hardee.

3. If you recall it, describe your first meeting.

4. How would you characterize your relationship with Dr. Hardee?

5. What would you say are the guiding principles to which Dr. Hardee was committed in her professional life? ‐or‐ If she stood for certain ideals or principles in her professional life, what were they?

6. The typical roles of faculty members often include teacher, mentor, and scholar. Please speak to each one and describe how Dr. Hardee approached the role.

7. Dr. Hardee held a faculty position at a time when many women were underrepresented in professions. What messages did she convey about being a woman in this environment?

8. How would you characterize how Dr. Hardee is remembered by colleagues and students?

9. What are the lasting impressions you have of Dr. Hardee?

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APPENDIX F. QUESTIONS FOR CLARION FRIENDS

Brief biographical data: • Date of birth • Place of birth • Name of high school attended and year attended • College(s) attended and degrees earned • Year of retirement • Job title at retirement

Remembering Clarion: • Briefly describe what it was like to live in Clarion. • How would you describe the community in which you attended high school? • What kinds of things did you do to entertain yourself? • How did teenagers interact socially in the late 1920s and early 30s? • What messages did you get while growing up about the kind of career you might pursue and the kind of life you should lead? • In high school, what kinds of concerns did you have about your future?

Remembering Melvene: • How would you describe the Draheim family and their contributions to the Clarion community? • Please share one or two significant memories about attending high school with Melvene Draheim. • If you shared classes with her, what do you recall about her as a student? • If you participated in extra curricular activities with her, or observed her out‐of‐ class, what kinds of activities were they? • As a young woman, what did you think were her personal strengths and talents?

• In 1967 she spoke to a group of widows about surviving widowhood. In these remarks she described herself as being a rebel. “I remember as an early day rebel in my high school, refusal to enroll for the required course in home economics because at 13, the economies of home presented in the garish homemaking magazines left me cold. Those skills were not relevant for me.” And later, “At the age of 13, I had announced I would never marry.” (pp. 2‐3).

How do these self‐reflections mesh with the young woman that you knew in high school?

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Remembering College • How did the Depression affect you and other students attending college? • What kinds of contacts did you have with Melvene while attending Iowa State Teachers College? • What changes, if any, did you observe in those years regarding her personality, character, personal aspirations, and goals? • She reflects in her writing about college that she was a non‐conformist. There were things about college she didn’t like, for instance, the rigid humanities curriculum that did not allow her to graze in other academic places, she wasn’t fond of sororities, she didn’t like puppet student governments, and she was against many of the rules and regulations.

How do these self‐reflections mesh with the young woman that you knew in college?

General • Dr. Hardee went on to complete a masters and doctorate. She became a full professor at a major research university. She was active in her profession throughout her career. She did all this at a time when many women were underrepresented in professions.

In your opinion, what personal qualities or characteristics contributed to her ability to persist and succeed in an environment that did not include many women?

• What are the lasting impressions that you have of Melvene Draheim Hardee?

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APPENDIX G. INTERVIEW PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES

Robert C. Dawson was a 1975 graduate of the Florida State University educational

leadership doctoral program and a Hardee advisee. He earned his undergraduate degree

from FSU and a master’s degree from Florida Atlantic University. Early on in his career he

worked for private residence hall management companies and later he worked in student affairs and academic affairs where he served as a vice president and assistant to the president. Institutions served include the University of South Florida, Western Carolina

University, the University of Central Arkansas, Slippery Rock State University, the

University of Florida, the University of South Florida, and Eastern New Mexico University.

He served in institutional advancement for Wake Forrest University’s Medical School and

returned in 2001 to FSU to raise funds for the new medical school. At times in his career, he

has served as a private consultant. He is currently retired but teaches courses in

Institutional Advancement at FSU and consults in healthcare fundraising.

Arthur “Newt” Draheim was the fourth child of Arthur and Hazle Draheim of Clarion,

Iowa. He and his oldest sister, Melvene, were born 12 years apart. Newt completed high

school in Clarion and then enlisted in the Army Air Corps Cadets in 1943. He received

intelligence training at Ft. Worth Army Air Field in Texas and then was assigned to

Hamilton Field in California. Upon his discharge in 1946, he utilized the GI Bill to attend

Iowa State Teacher’s College. He attended law school at Drake University in Des Moines.

His first position out of law school was to be a referee for the State Compensation

Commission. He was elected Wright County attorney and worked proactively on juvenile

issues. In 1946, he joined a top law firm in the Clarion community. In 1970, he was

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appointed a district court judge and became one of the youngest district court judges in

Iowa. From 1980 to 1988, he served as the chief judge of the district. He continues to be involved in mediation, arbitration, and counseling trial lawyers. The Iowa State Bar association honored Draheim for bringing in computers and law clerks to the district courts.

After finishing on bench, he moved into the one‐bedroom house his great grandfather built in 1874. In 1991, Draheim and his wife, Rose Marie began taking an annual trek to Florida. Since 1985, he has served as a lay minister for the United Church of

Christ – Congregational. He writes biographical articles of WWII veterans, “making heroes out of ordinary people,” and is currently working on a book incorporating all of those articles.

Ralph Johnson attended the University of Alabama as an undergraduate and majored in speech and language pathology. As an active student leader, he was encouraged to look at a career in student affairs. After completing his bachelor’s degree in 1981, he entered Florida

State and completed his master’s degree in August of 1982. He took several courses from

Dr. Hardee.

Johnson took a position as Greek Advisor at the University of Arkansas working for

Hardee advisee, Dr. Suzanne Gordon. Three years later, he took a position at the University of South Carolina as Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Minority Student Affairs.

During his ten‐year service to USC, Johnson completed a Ph.D. in higher education and was the recipient of the Southern Association of College Student Affairs (SACSA) Dissertation of the Year Award. In October 1994, he went to Johns Hopkins initially as the Director of

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Multicultural Student Affairs. Since then he has become the Associate Dean of Students. Dr.

Johnson served as 1995‐1996 president of SACSA.

David Leslie arrived at Florida State University in 1984 to become department head of the

Department of Educational Leadership. His service coincided with Dr. Hardee’s final five years on the FSU faculty. Dr. Leslie served as department head for four years but the final year he split with an appointment in the statehouse with Betty Castor, Florida’s

Commissioner of Education. In 1990, he returned to full‐time faculty work at FSU up until

1996 when he became Chancellor Professor of the School of Education at the College of

William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Leslie did undergraduate work at Drew University; he earned a master’s degree in school psychology from Boston University and his doctorate in higher education from Penn

State in 1971.

Barbara Mann received her Ph.D. in 1980 from Florida State University; Dr. Hardee was her major Advisor. Her undergraduate degree was from Bowling Green State University and she earned a master’s degree in counseling at Wayne State University.

Her extensive student affairs experience includes residence life positions at

Bucknell University, Ball State University, and Frostburg State College (now University).

She served as the dean of student development at Western Carolina University and as the associate vice president for student services and special programs at the North Carolina state university system office in Chapel Hill.

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In 1988, Mann returned to Florida State University to teach in the educational leadership program. She worked side‐by‐side with Dr. Hardee in her final year of teaching and then assumed the responsibility for the FSU master’s degree program upon Hardee’s retirement. Dr. Mann retired in 2001. She is an accomplished woodcarver and travels extensively to teach this skill to others.

David Meabon completed his Ph.D. at Florida State University in 1973; Dr. Melvene Hardee was his major Advisor. He earned an undergraduate degree from West Virginia State

University and a master’s from the University of South Carolina (USC).

Prior to entering his FSU doctoral program, Meabon was assistant director of admissions at USC. He has held faculty positions at USC, Wichita State University,

Washington State University, and the University of Toledo. Interspersed in those years,

Meabon was dean of students and associate vice president for academic affairs at

Washington State University. He also was the Vice President of Student Affairs at the

Univers ity of Toledo prior to moving to the faculty, a position he currently holds.

Meabon has been active in the National Association for Student Personnel

Administrators (NASPA) having served on the board of directors for a number of years; he chaired the 1988 conference in St. Louis.

Rita Moser became the Director of Housing at Florida State University in the fall of 1988, a position she continues to hold. She completed her doctoral degree in higher education from

FSU in 1983 with Dr. Hardee as her Advisor. Afterward, she went to the University of

Georgia as Assistant Director of Housing.

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Her undergraduate degree was in English education from Michigan State University, her master’s was in counseling from Western Michigan University. She had a brief stint in housing at Northern Illinois University before she started at FSU as a residence hall coordinator.

Terry O’Banion earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Florida in 1958 and his master’s degree in counseling two years later through involvement in a yearlong

National Education Defense Act Institute. A dyed‐in‐wool Gator, he returned to UF to begin a

Ph.D. program in psychotherapy. Concurrently he took a position with President Joseph W.

Fordyce as dean of students at Central Florida Community College. Upon completion of his doctoral coursework, and now with the experience as a student personnel administrator,

O’Banion switched gears and entered the higher education doctoral program at Florida State

University where he was awarded a Kellogg Fellowship and a University Fellowship. He completed his Ph.D. at Florida State University in 1966; Melvene Hardee was his major professor.

After FSU, he joined President Fordyce to lead the student affairs department at

Santa Fe Community College. From 1967‐1974 he served on the faculty at the University of

Illinois preparing community college student personnel workers. While serving as a visiting professor at Berkeley in 1973, he fell in love with California. In 1975, he became president for the League for Innovation in the Community College and moved to Los Angeles. After five years, O’Banion became the Vice Chancellor of the Dallas Community College District but returned to the League in the early 80s and remained with that organization until his retirement in 1999. He continues his connection with the League but has assumed the

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directorship of the online Walden University Community College Leadership Program.

O’Banion has written extensively and consulted at about 1000 universities and colleges around the country.

John Opper came to the Florida State University higher education program in 1986 through the Life Net and into the initial care of Melvene Hardee who was nearing the end of her teaching career. He completed his doctorate in 1992; Allan Tucker was his major

Advisor. His undergraduate degree was in criminal justice from Armstrong State College and his master’s was in student personnel from the University of Georgia.

Opper worked for the Florida Postsecondary Education Planning Commission while

enrolled at FSU up until 2000 when he became the director of the Florida Distance

Learning Consortium where he continues to serve. Work prior to FSU included a position in

judicial programs and later Greek affairs at the University of Georgia.

Opper and his wife, Nancy, assisted Dr. Hardee as she transitioned from 31 years of

teaching to full‐time farming. Over a period of several years, they helped her cull her

materials and disseminate writings, audio and video tapes, student dissertations, and other accumulated treasures to the right person or place.

Anne Pruitt­Logan credits her professional colleague, Melvene Hardee, for introducing her to the Southern College Personnel Association (SCPA) and the American College Personnel

Association (ACPA), an organization of which she eventually became president in 1976.

Pruitt‐Logan’s undergraduate degree from Howard University in 1949 immediately

preceded a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Teachers College, Columbia

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where Ruth Strang advised her. She has served in student affairs positions at Howard

University, Albany State College (later University), Fisk University and in a high school

setting before returning to Teachers College to earn a doctorate with Advisor, Max Wise, in

1964. Desiring to join a student affairs faculty, she became assistant professor at Western

Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve) where she reached the rank of full

professor.

Pruitt‐Logan sought experience as an academic administrator in order to infuse it

with student personnel point of view. She accomplished this at The Ohio State University as

professor of educational policy and leadership and associate dean of the graduate school;

later she became an associate provost and then director of the Center for Teaching

Excellence.

Her notable publications include Student Services for the Changing Graduate Student

Population that she co‐ edited with Paul Isaac. She held a fellowship in academic

administration from the American Council on Education and served as Dean in Residence

and Scholar in Residence at Council of Graduate Schools where she was co‐director of the

national Preparing Future Faculty initiative. She is now retired and writing the biography

of Lucy Diggs Slowe who, in 1922, was appointed the first dean of women at Howard

University.

Sherrill Williams Ragans retired from student affairs at Florida State University in 2003 after forty‐four years of service to the institution. She began as a hall director, eventually

moved up to director of housing, and capped off her career as associate vice president for

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student affairs. Shortly after her retirement, FSU named a residence hall in her honor. She knew Dr. Hardee as a professional colleague, and teacher.

Ragans has a master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Upon arrival at FSU, she audited several courses taught by Dr. Hardee one of which was the

American College Student. She supported the Woman Administrator course by speaking when requested and served on the Board of Governors for the Hardee Center for Women in

Higher Education.

James Rhatigan was Dr. Hardee’s professional colleague. They presented at national and regional conferences together, served in professional organizations, and consulted with each other on personnel decisions. Rhatigan began his collegiate career as an undergraduate at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He earned a master’s degree in American History from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in 1969 from the University of Iowa. From Iowa he moved to Wichita State University as the

Dean of Students where he held that title from 1965‐1968 and then became Vice

President and Dean of Students until he retired from student affairs in 1996.

Rhatigan continued to serve as the assistant to the president until 2002 and now works in a part‐time capacity for the Wichita State University Foundation.

Rhatigan’s main professional affiliation has been with the National Association of

Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). He served as regional vice president of IV‐W from 1970‐1972 and as national president of that organization in 1975. His interest in history, particularly in the history of the student affairs profession, led him to serve as

NASPA’s Historian from 1977 – 2005. He was the co‐editor of the landmark book, Pieces of

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Eight: The Rites, Roles, and Styles of the Dean by Eight Who Have Been There, and he has been a prolific author in the NASPA Journal and other publications. Rhatigan served five, five‐year terms as a consultant for the North Central Association Commission on

Accreditation and School Improvement.

Robert “Bob” Shaffer, long‐time member of the Indiana University (IU) academic community, began his professional career in the national office of the Boy Scouts of

America. During that time in New York, he earned a master’s degree from Teachers College in 1939 and a doctorate at New York University under the advisement of Robert Hoppock.

He mailed his dissertation in 1943 on the day he began service with the U.S. Army. It was defended and completed in 1945. Shaffer started at IU in 1941 as a guidance counselor in the School of Business and then after the war he assumed the leadership role in the

Veterans Guidance Office. He was assistant dean of students from 1946‐1955, and held the dean of students title from 1955 ‐1969. Concurrently, he was professor of education and business. In 1969, he and Assistant Dean, Betty Greenleaf, moved from student personnel administration to assume the leadership of the student personnel administration program when Kate Hevner Mueller retired.

Shaffer’s involvement in professional organizations began in 1948 when Gilbert

Wrenn asked him to fill a vacancy as secretary of the American College Personnel

Association. He held this position for several years. In 1951, he served as the first president

of this APGA, the American Personnel and Guidance Association after being involved in

antecedent groups. Additionally, he chaired ACPA’s Committee on Organization and

Administration of Student Affairs at the time Melvene Hardee served as president of that

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organization. Shaffer served on the board of the Occupations Personnel and Guidance

Journal and as the editor of the NASPA Journal.

Harris Shelton was a 1971 graduate of the Florida State University doctoral program in

educational leadership. His major professor was Maurice Litton; Dr. Hardee served as a

member of his doctoral committee. He came to FSU on a W. K. Kellogg Grant in order to

prepare for work in community colleges. Upon completing his Ph.D. Harris exchanged his

Bermuda shorts for a parka when he assumed the position of assistant dean of students

and director of residence life at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Over the next 22 years,

he moved to dean of students and in 1985, he became the vice chancellor for Student

Affairs until his retirement in 1993. In 1999, he assumed the vice president for student

affairs position at Eastern Oregon University upon the premature death of his friend and former UAF and FSU colleague, Dr. Richard “Dick” Stenard. After four years, he decided to retire for good and now spends his time traveling between Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, La

Grande, Oregon, and Fairbanks, Alaska.

Nancy A. Turner graduated in 1961 with her bachelor’s degree from Florida State

University in elementary education and proceeded to teach elementary school. Five years later, she sought a master’s degree in counseling through a National Defense Education Act institute held at Ohio University. Turner returned to Tallahassee to take a position as associate director of the Baptist Student Union at Florida State in 1968.

In 1971, Turner resigned her position in campus ministry and was encouraged to enter the FSU higher education doctoral program. As ‐she worked full‐time in the Office of

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the Vice President for Student Affairs Office as the Public Affairs Coordinator she proceeded through the doctoral program on a part‐time basis. ‐ ‐. In 1974, she was transferred to the student union to serve as Associate Director. After six months, she was moved into the position of Director of the Oglesby Union ‐ a role she held until her retirement in ‐2003. Turner completed her doctorate in 1977; Melvene Hardee was her major professor.

George Young, a native of Ft. Lauderdale, attended Florida State University as an undergraduate and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1959. John L. Blackburn was a residence hall director and recruited him to serve as a house fellow (RA); that was his introduction to student personnel work. While in pursuit of his Ph.D. in experimental psychology, Young switched his focus to higher education administration and selected

Melvene Hardee as his major professor. Before leaving FSU, he served as the director of the

Counseling Center from 1964‐1966. This role was followed by a position as dean of students at Valdosta State College in Georgia from 1966‐1969.

In 1969, Young accepted the dean of students position at a Broward Community

College in his hometown of Ft. Lauderdale. He remained in that role until he retired in

1997. During that time, the institution expanded to four campuses and the enrollment grew exponentially TO 65,000. Dr. Young was elected president of National Association of

Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) in 1979‐1980. His achievements were recognized by that group in 1994 when he was given the Fred Turner Award. He was active in the Florida Council on Student Affairs and he was a leader in the American Association of

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Community and Junior Colleges. Young served as the chair of the Florida Governor’s

Commission on Community Service.

Mark Zeigler was among the last of Dr. Hardee’s students before she fully retired from teaching at Florida State University. He enrolled in the educational leadership master’s program beginning in the fall of 1987 through the spring of 1989. Upon degree completion, he became the assistant dean for the FSU College of Communication. He has directed their summer London program twice. Currently, he is an Associate in Communication faculty member. Additionally he is a public speaker whose topics include the importance of communication in our daily lives, the importance in education, the importance with our families, and grief counseling. He often uses Dr. Hardee stories in his presentations to provide inspiration and humor.

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APPENDIX H. HUMAN SUBJECTS REVIEW BOARD

October 2007

You are invited to participate in a qualitative research project. As part of my doctoral study in higher education administration, I am conducting archival research and interviews to examine the contributions of Melvene Draheim Hardee to the student affairs profession.

I am asking to conduct at least one in‐person interview with you that may last up to 90 minutes. We may have ongoing contact either by phone, in person, or by e‐mail for follow up questions. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to review themes and issues that emerge from my research. I expect this process will occur over the next 12 months. The anticipated risks to you are no greater than those normally encountered in daily life. You stand to benefit from participation as recounting memories and experiences from your past may improve your understanding of your values and life choices.

For this project, as the researcher, I will be audio recording the interview as well as taking handwritten notes during our conversation. Following the interview, I will be using the information I have gathered, including direct quotes from the interview, to develop a case report with the purpose of interpreting how Melvene Draheim Hardee’s work as a teacher, scholar, and leader in the student personnel field helped to shape and develop the philosophy and practices of student personnel work.

Your signature below indicates you have been informed of the following: • You remain in control of you contributions. During the interview if you would like to strike any comment, you may do so by informing me. You will receive a written case study depicting the themes of our conversation and you will be asked for your feedback. You will be able to withdraw or modify statements at that time. • Your name, brief biographical information, and current position may be used in the text of my dissertation. • If you would like to speak in confidence no identifying information will accompany your comments. If this is your preference you have checked the appropriate box and initialed this form on the next page. • Interviews will be audio taped. Upon completion of this study the recording and transcripts will be offered to the National Student Affairs Archives at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, for inclusion in the Melvene Draheim Hardee Collection. This collection is open to the public and the transcripts may be employed in future research. Information shared in confidence will be exempt from this stipulation. Confidential information shared with the researcher will remain with the researcher until she deems it prudent to destroy. • You may refrain from answering any or all questions without penalty or explanation.

330 Education Building Phone 419-372-7382 Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 Fax 419-372-9382

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Page 2 of 2

As your participation is voluntary, you are free to withdraw your participation at any time without penalty or prejudice. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at 419‐575‐5618 (cell) or [email protected]. You may also contact my advisor, Dr. Michael Coomes at 419‐372‐7157 or [email protected].

I hope you will enjoy this opportunity to share your experiences and viewpoints with me. Thank you very much for your participation.

Sincerely,

Sally E. Click ______Graduate Student, Higher Education and Administration Date

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

I, have read the information presented to me above and hereby give consent to participate in this project.

QUALIFIED PARTICIPATION:

If the box is checked, it is my desire to have my contributions kept in confidence and I request that no identifying information be included in the products of this research. Please initial here ______.

______Signature of Participant Date

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APPENDIX I. HARDEE DISSERTATION ADVISEES BY YEAR OF COMPLETION

(* indicates study participant)

1964 1970 Jack Kimball Fred Badders Norman Nunn Annette Gibbs Richard Hoover 1965 Al Lombana Robert Burns Patricia Stephenson

1966 1971 Aubrey Lucas Madeline Allen Terry O'Banion* Phyllis Appelgate Gary Widmar Doris Cantey George Young* Gerard Fowler Karl Ijams 1967 Michael LaBouve Eugene Simmons 1972 1968 Ernest (Joe) Buchanan, III J. Stuart Devlin Katherine (Kitty) Hunter Paul Fidler Ronald Lackey Robert Gowdy Jack Nolen George Kaludis James Pullar Ronald Narel Ervin Rouson Thomas Richardson E. Jean Walker Schulken 1973 Elizabeth Glover Shafer David Meabon* Glenn Stillion Hilda Owens Thomas Tiller Lucille Saylor Benjamin W hitfield Regina "Jean" Shearn

1969 1974 John Blackburn Lynda Lotz Brown Mary Green Robert Kimmel Lester Goldman Martin McGirt David Pierce Thomas Sheeder

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1975 1979 James Carr Cynthia Davis‐Palcic Robert Dawson* Richard Federinko Linda Dye Bennett Suzanne Gordon Ann Eppert Joseph Luppert K.E. "Pete" Fisher James Palcic J. Phillip Halstead David Persky Willis Ham Barbara Riley Sr. Elizabeth Harkins Georgia Sims Ed Hewlett Terry Williams Judith Lopez Solano William Mendenhall 1980 Mardel Miller Carole Harrison Margaret Nuckols Roberts Tom Krieger Richard Stenard Barbara Mann* Sandra Sullivan Patricia Simm ons Miller Eva Wanton 1976 Carl C. Andersen 1981 Perry "Ed" Anthony Michael Armstrong Thomas L. Bowling Fred Bosarge Larry Gracie Georgianna Bryant Wilsie Jenkins Thomas Burke Wilbern "Elbie" Conard 1977 Cynthia Greer Louise Baker Arthur Hartzog Joe Kaplan Michael Miller Robert Nettles Linda Owens Nancy Turner* Paul Rifkin Myra "Jeanie" Stokes 1978 Judith "Gayle" Wolfe Daniel E. Beeman Chris Plyler 1982 Harry Richards Thomas Calnan Carol Spring Felice Dublon Nancy Kane

1983 Sam Byrts Glenda Earwood‐Smith Nathaniel Heggs Rita Moser* Evelyn Ploumis‐Devick

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1984 Dianne Brown Richard Mashburn, Jr. Jan Wencel Sharon Yeager

1985 Denise Hill

1986 Michael Lawrence Louise Moss

1987 Edward Bayens John Clower Eugene Dial

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APPENDIX J. HARDEE AS DISSERTATION COMMITTEE MEMBER

By Year of Completion (* indicates study participant)

1961 1971 Eldene Moulton Owen Elder Dorothy Carrington Homer Jopling John Cummer Claudius Pritchard Kenneth Gutsch Harris Shelton* Thomas Stafford 1962 Calvin Mercer 1972 Norman Jackson 1963 Orrin Bert Powell 1973 Jeremiah Ashcroft 1964 Alford Ottley James Rogers William Williams

1965 1974 Archie Johnston Robert Knowles Keith Hudson Charles L apradd 1975 John Flanders Ronald Godwin George Huxel 1966 Eliot Miller Norris Mabry James Olliver Richard Schinoff 1968 Howard Simmons Frances Farthing Ronald Stone Bob Lawrence Franklin Edwin Thorpe Robert Barefield 1976 1969 Alfred Hoo ker Bruce Stender 1977 1970 William Proctor Albert Lowe

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1978 Donald Reed Richard Robinson

1979 Paul Ozier

1980 Katie McLeod Bettie Hatcher

1981 Thelma Benton

1987 Lana Norman