Gale Alexander (interview); Creator: Alexander, Gale; Interviewer(s): Jeannine Popovic, Heidi Shaw, and Ursula Gleissner; Interview location: Student Center; Running time: 60 min., May 11, 1992

Coverage: 1968-1992
Topics discussed : (tape 1;side A): Coming to WestConn; was director of a youth center in Manhasset, Long Island from 1959; 68; wanted a change; went to Association of College Unions International in Chicago in 1968 specifically to get a new job (it was time of the riots); met Dr. Harold Burke there; Dr. Burke; initially wondered if he was a woman because of his first name; interviewed Alexander there; Getting the job at Western; called Burke about job in May; came to Western and was interviewed by Dr. Haas and Dr. Burke; was hired afterwards; Dress code; women couldn't wear shorts in the student center; Student center; dress code, no smoking or alcohol allowed; Fine arts lounge; became known later as Hartford lounge; filled w/ furniture; New student orientation; all the administration was there; spent several days afterwards at home recovering from poison ivy; Listening room; was an important aspect to student center; Furniture in the student center; moving from different rooms; piano in CT lounge, originally in Hartford Lounge in order for it to get use; Problems between 1968; 72; many people tried to come into building and live there; they had to review their policy and rules to try avoid such things; listening room was popular for use of alcohol and marijuana; SGA and Echo; they had offices next to each other at one time; Echo shifted its office several times as did the SGA; Dances; all were held in cafeteria when he first came; later students wanted to use CT lounge; dances in cafeteria caused dust and dirt to settle on food; Semester schedules; breaks came after Christmas break; staff invited to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at WestConn; students were closer together because holidays allowed them to do so; holiday parties held by students organizations; Smoking and alcohol; he got smoking allowed in student center; while he didn't smoke, knew many students did (tape 1;side B): Smoking (cont.); weren't allowed to smoke in certain areas; Alcohol; push to get alcohol on campus after age was lowered; ran many programs that had alcohol; the Halloween parties started in student center, but size of the parties pushed them to the Elks Club in Downtown Danbury; Pub Nights; tried to organize a permanent pub on campus; Central and Southern were able to, they weren't; glad they weren't able to; TGIF parties; CT lounge held them, but alcohol consumption brought party other places; alcohol soon became a problem; International students; Bookstore and food service; both were run by the college when he first came; hired their own managers to run them; problem that brought change was state began to require several forms to be filled out; contracting w/ outside companies became less a hassle; Design problems of the building; access to corridors was terrible (fire traps) eventually redesigned the Hartford lounge to fit accommodations; elevator came about 19; 20 years after he first asked; Male students in dorms; first came in 1974; didn't have effect on student center; it was always busy although this year (1992) not as active; Activity of students; hasn't notice any variation but suspects there has been decline; usually looks at game room at student activity; has noticed activity in game room has declined (attributes it to video games); Presidents at Western; no specific feeling about switches; Dr. Haas; great woman, but it was time for her to step down when she did; Dr. Bersi and Dr. Feldman; no personal feelings towards either; both probably did their best job; Campus plans; original idea was to expand midtown campus, but that didn't work; college bought the land for Westside campus; Getting plans for a new student center; he along w/ Dr. Burke and Dr. Geddes visited other student centers at other colleges/universities; visited about 10 of them in NY State; Westside student center; plans were to have it in middle w/ everything connected to it; students would never have to go outside other than to go to their cars; Ancell School; only building ever put on Westside; Campus plans; was supposed to move entire campus to Westside by mid 1980s; nothing was done to main campus because of these initial plans; current campus began to come back up, but sees it slipping again; Student center needs to have work and a director for it as well; Student center; wants to see more student staff involved in running it (tape 2;side A): Student Center (cont.); continuity of student workers/staff; change over from year; some have passion while other don't; not sure where plans are going for it now; Presidents' effects on tone of the student center; doesn't think they have; it is a student operation and has and should have its own autonomy; the presidents have basically stayed out of the business of student center; only time any involvement was when they asked for a speaker to come in that Dr. Haas had some objection to; she was concerned because at time he was a radical and feared for security of the campus; Hell's Angels; caused a stir when they appeared on campus in 1970s; Campus now and then; much more quieter now than it was when he first came; didn't agree w/ the "Hippie" philosophy, but they were fun; doesn't agree w/ the whole "Me Generation" and the "Yuppie" ideas; Rob Minford; one man show on Edgar Allen Poe; first big program in fall 1968 the board of governors did; put it in Berkshire Hall; it was a success; Circus; was a huge flop; not sure about year, but it happened in May; wanted to have it on Osborne Field; Circus told them to make plans to have a place indoors just in case, but Dr. Robertson didn't want the gym to be used; sunny clear day, but it was cold; Chinese acrobats; Had the Ramones perform on campus; was a success; Sue Ashman; was his first assistant director; she organized the Ramones coming to WestConn; Board of directors; split into student directors board and Programs Activity Council (PAC)