Emily Chilton, Assistant Editor
When the snow and ice set in Friday,
most regular restaurants wouid have
shut down, sent their workers home
- but not BDH. The Dining Hall went
to Emergency preparedness mode
and worked with housing and campus
police to secure rooms should they
be needed. Campus Dining posted a
picture Friday afternoon on their Insta-
gram account Meredith_Dining of their
staff receiving blankets, pillows, and
other essentials before their dinner
shift, so that they could stay overnight
and continue serving the students
without driving on dangerous roads or
leaving students with an empty stom
ach.
Ms. Lahoma Smith wasn’t working
Friday, but she stayed Saturday night
to Sunday and said that if she had
been working Friday, she would have
stayed then too. “I’ve been with Mer
edith for 13 years and stayed for five
snowstorms,’’ said Smith. “If my kids
were in college, I’d want someone to
take care of my babies just like your
parents want someone to take care of
you. Here, we got a lot of love, con
cern, passion, and great food.” She
worked the omelet station Sunday at
lunch, replying to student questions
about what she did yesterday with “I
worked, and then I went straight to
Poteat and went to sleep.”
According to Del Crudup, Belk’s
hourly supervisor, who’s worked for
Meredith 15 years and stayed for snow
twice, the men stayed on the ground
floor of Poteat while the women stayed
on first floor. The two managers coor
dinated and transported employees
to and from work when it was safe to
do so, picking people up for work and
also taking them home after their shift
if they couldn’t stay overnight.
The student response to the staff’s
efforts was immediate; the Instagram
post got over 150 likes and 45-r com
ments with thank-yous and praise,
even some from parents. After seeing
some of the comments, staff mem
ber Rodney Freeman said gratefully
“That’ll make you want to come to
work, right there.”
The Meredith College Alumnae page
also received over 1300-r likes and
a ton of comments. Alumnae Jordan
Stewart said “This shows that ALL
things about this college are what
make it so special and sets Meredith
apart from the rest.”
Did you know that Meredith staff
with Oak Leaf catering also catered a
wedding this weekend in Pinehurst for
staff member Stephen McAdams? But
that’s a whole other story for another
time.
So, as students have been remind
ing each other all weekend, stop and
say thank you to a BDH worker this
week!
In the time since this article was
written, Ms. Lahoma Smith’s house
was lost to a fire, A GoFundMe page
has been created to help support her
and can be found on Facebook or at
https://www.gofundme.com/7377khtq
. Although the dollar amount has ex
ceeded the “goal" on the page, contri
butions are still welcome. In addition,
a collection box is set up in BDH to
help replace Ms. Lahoma and her hus
band’s belongings: women’s clothes
size 16 and shoes size 9; men’s
clothes size 3XL and shoe size 11.5.
The Sack Arrived, but the Leggings Shall Stay
Brooke Mayo, Sfaff Wrifer
In lieu of our special anniversary
year, The Herald staff has decided
to dust off the old newspapers of our
college’s past and bring to light what
former Meredith women have written.
This is the first of a series of excerpts
from long-forgotten MC newspapers,
and we hope that the Meredith com
munity enjoys a blast from our very
own past as much as we have enjoyed
gathering this information for you.
An excerpt from “The Sack Arrives”
by Sue Matzner, originally published
on March 14, 1958.
“[A] desirable feature is the fact that
girls who wear sack dresses can eat
so much more when they go out on a
dinner date. They won’t have to wait
until they get in and get their tight belts
or skirts off to let their dinner place
itself more proportionally in their sys
tems.
Think of the comfort that these girls
will have at ball games and movies
while their more tightly laced sisters
sit on the edge of their seats striving
for. oxygen. Imagine being able to en
joy the plush roominess of the Village
Theater instead of envying your date’s
relaxed positions. ’’
For those who do not know, sack
dresses look what they sound like:
they’re straight, roomy dresses that
leave much to the imagination - espe
cially just how big or small a woman’s
waistline is. Even in the late 1950’s,
women of Meredith College were con
scious about their body types but they
also desired comfort, so sack dresses
were a revolutionary trend because it
was comfortable, acceptable, and yet
still fashionable.
In today’s Meredith College culture,
we have strayed from the need to
make fashion statements. In fact, the
majority of us do not make too much
of an effort in our appearances when
it comes to our campus activities. Why
is that?
Well, for one thing, we care more
about comfort than fashion. Excluding
a few given exceptions of our trendy
fashionistas, the majority of Meredith
women may be seen wearing leggings
and/or yoga pants at least once a week
- if not every day. Many women do not
see the point of wearing anything that
isn’t completely comfortable just to sit
in classes or attend club meetings,
and these clothes are something that
women of ail sizes tend to wear. Plus,
we are surrounded by women, many
of whom are wearing similar clothing,
so it isn’t considered a big deal.
A good reason that many modern
Meredith women - and collegiate
women all over the nation, for that
matter - wear leggings and yoga
pants is because, well, we can. Back
in the 1950’s, there was a strict un
derstanding about what women could
and could not wear - especially at
our then-Baptist all women’s college.
Nearly sixty years later, the times
have definitely changed. Women have
more freedom when it comes to what
we wish to wear, and we have decided
ourselves what we consider appropri
ate.
While stretchy pants are generally
acceptable, many women still refuse
to wear pajama pants to class because
it seems disrespectful. Similarly, the
controversy about wearing leggings
only when the buttocks are covered by
a shirt is another fashion dispute that
varies depending on whom is asked,
as well as if these types of pants ought
to be worn by women above a certain
size.
No matter how one feels about leg
gings or yoga pants, they’re here to
stay in our Meredith community. It’s in
teresting to compare our lives now to
how Meredith women once lived, and
it’s a powerful thing realizing that we
aren’t as different as we often think.
Just like their excitement for sack
dresses, we understand the need and
desire of being comfortable during our
day-to-day lives. Plus, we have bigger
things to worry about.
The original article about the sack
dresses may be found at our Herald
website at meredithherald.wordpress.
com. Access to this article has been
made courtesy of the MC Archives.
STAFF
Rachel Pratl, Editor in Chief. Emily Chilton, Assistant / A&E Editor. Laura Douglass, News Editor. Savanna Matthews, Layout Designer.
Olivia McElvaney, Online Editor. Sarah Haseeb, Website Designer.
Staff Writers; Katrina Thomas, Brooke Mayo, Caroline Garrett, Niki Bell, Kat Bonner, Kayla Kushner, Alexa lanuale, Sarah Kiser, M’Beyanna Robinson
The Meredith Herald is produced by the students of the College throughout the academic year and is published bi-monthly by Hinton Press. The paper is funded by the College.
The opinions expressed in the editorial columns do not necessarily reflect those of the the college administration, faculty, or student body. The policy of this paper requires
that submissions be made by 5:00 p.m. the Sunday before publication and that contributors sign all submissions and provide necessary contact information.
The editors and staff always welcome submissions from the Meredith community.