Names

Those students who were not on campus during the spring term returned to find two organizations billed under new names: Women-at-Dartmouth had become Dartmouth Women's Alliance (DWA) and Cameron-Burleigh (CB) had become Amicae. Intrigued by the coincidence that these two women's groups had changed their names at the same time, we decided to find out why.

"Our decision to change the name of Women-at-Dartmouth came out of a request on the part of five women at our last week's meeting," DWA explained in a letter to The Dartmouth. "They believed that our name implied that we spoke for all women at Dartmouth and that we consequently alienated many women on campus who, though perhaps sympathetic to our causes, were angered with the idea of being involuntarily spoken for." The group chose the word "alliance" because it "implies a bonding together, a cooperative spirit, power and strength."

DWA defines itself as a political organization of feminists dedicated to providing support for women of the Dartmouth community 'and to effecting changes within the community. "It's important to us not to alienate women," said member Melinda Fine '80. She admitted that the group felt attached to the old name, especially because it had received national publicity. "We're still trying to get used to the name DWA," she added.

Open to all women and men, Dartmouth Women's Alliance sponsors Rabbit's Luck, a coffee house run on Friday nights; Older and Wiser, a program pairing incoming freshwomen with upperclasswomen; and Open Forum, a publication that comes out once a term.

Amicae, the new name selected by Cameron-Burleigh, means "female friends" in Latin. A social organization open to all women on campus, Amicae works on community-service projects and, in the past, has made donations to freshman trips and women's athletic clubs. "We liked the name CB," said Laura Prescott '80. "We just had problems explaining what it was."

Cameron-Burleigh is also the name of an all-male dormitory located on West Wheelock Street. Until the College acquired the building a few years ago, it was the house of Phoenix fraternity, and before that it was the Phi Gamma Delta house. Cameron-Burleigh, the dormitory, was named for the late Donald Cameron '35 and the late Nathaniel Burleigh '11, long- time advisers to Phi Gamma Delta. The residence now additionally serves as a meeting place for the International Students Association. In the summer of 1977, it was the meeting place of the women who founded the Cameron-Burleigh social organization, hence the name and hence the confusion, which was, according to Laura Prescott, "One of those little things that kept irritating us."

Although Prescott said Amicae (formerly Cameron-Burleigh) members "liked their new name very much," she confessed that they sometimes mispronounce it.