Beth Rietveld Oral History Interview

Interviewee: Beth Rietveld
Interviewer: Janice Dilg
Interview Date: June 11, 2014
Location: Rietveld residence, Corvallis, Oregon
Duration: 1:44:44
 

In the interview, Rietveld discusses her upbringing in a conservative household, her development as an independent thinker, and her collegiate experience at the University of Illinois. From there she notes her first professional job at Southern Illinois University, her active participation in the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association, and the experiences of sexual harassment that she encountered as a member of that group.

Rietveld then shares the circumstances of her move to Oregon State University, the status of the recreational sports program at the time, the role that she played as Assistant Director - with particular attention paid to the expanded training curriculum that she developed for student staff - and her doctoral studies in College Students Services Administration.

The majority of the session focuses on Rietveld's association with the OSU Women's Center and the culture of activism that the center helped to foment across the university. In this, Rietveld recounts the crucial importance of the Faculty Womens Network in providing an early platform for women to discuss issues of importance. She also describes the Womens Center's efforts to combat its own history of homophobia and the collection of radical feminist groups that later emerged in response to issues of gender marginalization and sexual assault. Rietveld likewise recalls the efforts of the membership of the President's Commission on the Status of Women to address a whole host of issues including salary equity, campus climate for faculty of color, work-life balance, childcare, and personal leave.

The interview concludes with a discussion of Rietveld's involvement in professional organizations, including the National Women's Studies Association, which presented her with a Lifetime Achievement award. She also notes her interests in retirement, especially quilting, her desire to write a history of the Women's Center, and her encouragement to students of today that they find and express their own voices on issues that are important to them.

Dublin Core

Title

Beth Rietveld Oral History Interview

Description

In the interview, Rietveld discusses her upbringing in a conservative household, her development as an independent thinker, and her collegiate experience at the University of Illinois. From there she notes her first professional job at Southern Illinois University, her active participation in the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association, and the experiences of sexual harassment that she encountered as a member of that group.

Rietveld then shares the circumstances of her move to Oregon State University, the status of the recreational sports program at the time, the role that she played as Assistant Director - with particular attention paid to the expanded training curriculum that she developed for student staff - and her doctoral studies in College Students Services Administration.

The majority of the session focuses on Rietveld's association with the OSU Women's Center and the culture of activism that the center helped to foment across the university. In this, Rietveld recounts the crucial importance of the Faculty Womens Network in providing an early platform for women to discuss issues of importance. She also describes the Womens Center's efforts to combat its own history of homophobia and the collection of radical feminist groups that later emerged in response to issues of gender marginalization and sexual assault. Rietveld likewise recalls the efforts of the membership of the President's Commission on the Status of Women to address a whole host of issues including salary equity, campus climate for faculty of color, work-life balance, childcare, and personal leave.

The interview concludes with a discussion of Rietveld's involvement in professional organizations, including the National Women's Studies Association, which presented her with a Lifetime Achievement award. She also notes her interests in retirement, especially quilting, her desire to write a history of the Women's Center, and her encouragement to students of today that they find and express their own voices on issues that are important to them.

Creator

Beth Rietveld

Source

Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection

Publisher

Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries

Date

June 11, 2014

Contributor

Janice Dilg

Format

Born Digital

Language

English

Type

Oral History

Identifier

oh26-rietveld-beth-20140611

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Janice Dilg

Interviewee

Beth Rietveld

Location

Rietveld residence, Corvallis, Oregon

Original Format

Born Digital

Duration

1:44:44

OHMS Object

Interview Format

video