Dr. Gertrude Braun (interview); Creator: Braun, Dr. Gertrude; Interviewer(s): Libbi Intemann and Jen Manna; Interview location: Braun's home; Running time: 63 min., Apr 16, 1991

Coverage: 194-1991
Topics discussed : (side A): Career at WestConn; Growth of WestConn; decision to keep campus on White Street was a bad one; they shouldn't have bought Danbury High (White Hall); it impeded the Westside process; Buildings; Higgins first building built after she arrived, followed by Berkshire; the expansion limited space (Student Union, White Hall, Library) delayed building on Westside; Westside; she helped open classroom building in 1982 (year she retired); the building was never named; she was responsible for office assignments and department moves; Competition from other schools; biggest limitation was the dorms space available for students; rents in Danbury were extremely high for poor quality of apartments; roads and public transportation were poor; curriculum also limited interest; Administration; Dr. Haas was very active in pushing curriculum; she was a member CT Council of Higher Ed; Progress; Dr. Haas saw college expanding to offer more than just teacher training; State Board of Education; posed greatest opposition for teacher training schools transition to liberal arts colleges; they wanted them to stay teacher training only; Curriculum; teacher training to liberal arts; later offered business courses; Curriculum Committee; she served as chairman of the group; "Nature of Man"; faculty and administration always interested in the students needs and open to new ideas; still primarily a teacher education school at time program established, which worked in the favor of the program; family atmosphere working together to establish it; the different disciplines contributed to making it; "The Chimney"; the nick name for "Nature of Man"; it was a required course that went through all four years; students opposed it at time, but later saw benefit; when it stopped, split into the various departments; "Monuments of Culture"; preceded "Nature of Man"; just for freshman and sophomore students; the best of this program was instituted into "Nature of Man"; Stagnation of curriculum; the routine of the programs makes them disinteresting; fresh ideas that start off great, ends up less; "Nature of Man" basically became own department from the idea of it being a combination of all the departments; Transfer students; as more came in, they had to make up the missed courses in the "Nature of Man" program, which was difficult; Student screening; moving from first 2 years into the teacher education major; some cases the students were denied the transition; Post; War period; a lot of the changes at the college just happened; Loco Parentis Role; institution taking place of the parent; many were in dorms and the dorms had "house mothers"; it is a "state of mind"; Dr. Haas before president; began as the Dean of Woman and supervisor of the dorm (Fairfield Hall); felt she needed to take care of the girls as if she were their mother; Girls and parents attitudes; many felt as if Dr. Haas was a mother; 1960s; Dr. Haas did what she could to prevent them from coming on campus; Confrontations w/ Dr. Haas; always showed up for confrontations the students wanted to have w/ her; Safety issues; physical safety was a major concern; leaving the dorms and walking around was a risk Dr. Haas was concerned about; many girls wanted no check; in time for dorms, rather have keys; they wanted to come and go as they pleased; 1945; Dr. Haas had been living in dorm as housemother; she was having a house built for her mother; Dr. Jenkins, who was president, died and she became the new president (side B): Dr. Haas and Fairfield Hall; when she left, the rules remained in place; it wasn't until the 1960s that these rules became an issue; Emergency Certification; a program that began in 1949; a lot of people were interested in this program; it came about because of the immediate need for teachers; most of those who got involved were mothers and house wives; took about 3; 4 years to complete; took summer courses and did student teaching during school year; it moved to graduate (MAT); Darien program; expansion of the program; students took course and lab experiments there; search for faculty and evaluation process of the teachers for the program; they were in competition w/ other schools for faculty; eventually had to dismiss them because of the economy; Bad faculty members; it is very difficult to get rid of a bad one because of the process; unions get involved and make it highly difficult; Concluding thoughts; would like to be remembered as being accessible; often agreed to disagree w/ people, she was fair; hated to say no to people