Archival Minute November 2017

A Morey Hall Tradition

With Students at Wayne State College, like students at most all college’s across the country, have held dances and for various occasions throughout the years. Campus-wide there were the Homecoming and Queen of Hearts (Valentine’s Day) dances and each dormitory held formal dances and Christmas parties. Freshmen held a dance where they crowned the Queen of the Green.

Focusing on the 1960s, in addition to the above, Anderson Hall had an annual all-school (apparently with a Western theme). Berry Hall had an annual Zombie Jamboree party (yes, there were zombies back then, too). Terrace had a Mardi Gras party. In what appear to be one-time-only events, Neihardt had a Flintstone Fling (The Flintstones was a popular TV series then), Pile had a Roman toga party and the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity held a 007 dance (evidently inspired by James Bond).

Then there was Morey Hall. As noted in the 1964 Spizz, “Morey Hall always has been known as a lively establishment, guaranteed to produce excellent floats and displays in Homecoming and to put on a peppy Playboy Party.” Yes, that’s right. I’m not making it up. For 14 years starting in 1959, the men of Morey Hall sponsored an annual Playboy Party.

I came across this fact several years ago while looking through the yearbooks. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. A Playboy party is not something I would ever have expected to happen on the Wayne State campus. I’m sure many reading this are equally surprised or puzzled—even shocked, appalled or embarrassed--that there was such an event on campus (although, granted, there may be some, too, who think “no big deal”). But, whatever our reaction, the fact remains that for 14 years there was an annual Playboy Party on campus.

I was curious about how this event ever came to be. Who came up with the idea? How did the administration and faculty view it? Was it universally popular among students or were there some who were offended by it? However, I never took the time to research the event. Over the years since

Wayne State College - U.S. Conn Library Marcus Schlichter, Archivist 402-375-7266 P a g e 2 Archival Minute

I discovered this I wondered about how to present this piece of Wayne State history (or if I should present it at all) because of its controversial nature. With the recent death of Hugh Hefner, founder and publisher of Playboy magazine, I thought perhaps this would be the time finally to delve into the history of the event and write about it if I were to ever write about it at all.

Before continuing, let me issue a disclaimer: this Archival Minute is not meant as a tribute to Hugh Hefner; nor is it an endorsement or celebration of the Playboy philosophy and the lifestyle he promoted. Let me also add that I’m in no way judging the men of Morey or any of those who participated. This simply the recounting a story that is part of Wayne State student life in the 1960s. Although it made use of the Playboy name and imagery (controversial as that was and continues to be), it was nonetheless an event in the history of Wayne State College.

There’s no record of how the men of Morey (it was an all-male dorm at the time) came up with the idea of a Playboy Party. A search on Newspapers.com turned up stories of students at colleges in Florida, Tennessee and Wisconsin also holding Playboy parties at that time, so Wayne State was not alone. Playboy, in part, reflected (and some might argue helped to ignite) the sexual revolution and, more broadly, the cultural changes of the 1960s. Certainly this had an appeal to many college students—mostly men—at that time.

Furthermore, the Wayne Stater of December 1, 1961, reported that “Playboy Magazine makes available to Morey each year a number of party items used in decoration and as favors, plus several of the ever popular fold out selections. (Few of which e