Women and education have always been a prevalent issue in advancing society. Eleanor Tupper, former President and co-founder of Endicott College, had a vision of conditioning the minds of women with the knowledge and skills to be important assets to the workforce. Women’s restrictions in American culture in the mid-20th century were strongly represented on the campus.
Eleanor Tupper was one of the founders of Endicott College alongside her husband, George Bierkoe. Bierkoe assumed the role as President of the college, while Tupper took on the position of Dean. In 1971, Tupper took over as Endicott’s President. According to the Endicott official website, Eleanor Tupper graduated from Brown University in 1926, and went on to achieve her doctorate in philosophy from Clark University in 1929. Tupper documented her plans for Endicott’s future in a book titled “Endicott and I”. The book listed many details about Endicott’s beginning, expansion and forthcoming.
Nearly every one of Tupper and Bierkoe’s decisions affected how this school would be perceived. The location of Endicott was strategically arranged, a short distance from Boston, while also being along the water, and in one of the most prestigious commons on the North Shore, Prides Crossing. The campus started small, with only a couple buildings, including Tupper Manner, now an event hall, Winthrop Hall, and Reynolds Hall which was added shortly after their opening.
A former student from the 50’s, Jeanne Allen, who asked to be called Nana, was privileged enough to live alongside Tupper in Winthrop Hall. There were a certain set of expectations required from the students. Binding contracts to stay on campus, importing boys from other schools, no clothing falling off your butts, or drinking, sex, and smoking were only some of those expectations. Picture this: very few buildings owned by the college, and women dressed in long skirts on a daily basis. Women could not wear jeans because it symbolized rebellion.
Nana was an education major, who babysat for Dean Tupper and her husband. Nana noted that Tupper and Bierkoe were often accessible around campus similar to the ways of current President, Doctor Richard Wiley. Nana is curious to know whether or not Wiley has modelled his precedence after Tupper because of the similarities. Tupper thought it pertinent that internships be a school requirement in order for students to prepare for the workforce. The internships were one of the many reasons Nana loved Endicott.
“I knew that teacher training was exactly what I wanted to go into,” she told us after she had completed her second internship.
Tupper had completed an internship in the past, and found it a perfect addition to the curriculum.
“I liked the internship program. It’s a wonderful thing they do, so you can find out if you really want to be in the program that you’re in,” said Nana.
Gareth Benshoff, a current Van Loan School student, and recent Endicott Undergraduate, says she decided to continue her education into the MBA graduate program because of one of her internships.
“Just being able to get into the industry straight from freshman year is something that not a lot of schools do, so internships are definitely the biggest part.” said Benshoff.
Just like Nana, one of Benshoff’s internships helped paved the way for deciding her career path, hotel management.
Nana and Benshoff both expressed how much they enjoyed the opportunities outside of academics that are available at Endicott. For Nana, she spent a great deal of time at the beach. She said that sometimes her and her friends would skip class to hang out on the beach.
“We liked to say that we majored in tanning.” said Nana.
Their classmates knew that if Nana and her two best friends were nowhere to be seen, you could find them at the beach. Nana didn’t mention any club activities available during her time at Endicott, but the academic expansion outside of the normal class time curriculum, as well as athletics and arts programs is what has kept students like Benshoff intrigued, and their time well spent.
Benshoff was a member of the Equestrian team through her junior year, and it has brought many great memories and people into her life.
“I loved that, my best friends are from the team, my roommate who I still live with now…”said Benshoff.
Benshoff’s experiences can be transferred into numerous fellow students who can say they’ve enjoyed their Endicott education. If you can pick a student at random, and they can tell you all of the great things about this place, then the school must be doing something right.
Endicott has become a family school over time. Not only do the students become part of a loving community that they call a family, but Alumni have gotten their family members to become students here at Endicott. Benshoff also loves Endicott so much that she has convinced her brother to come here, and he enjoys it as well.
“Endicott has definitely become a family thing for me.” said Benshoff.
After Nana’s experience at Endicott it was her dream to have one of her family members attend the school.
Nana’s granddaughter, Kylie Orszulak, a freshman in the class of 2020, is following in her footsteps majoring in the Elementary Education program. Orszulak loves what she has been able to experience in her short time here so far. She takes part in multiple clubs, including the Ed club. Orszulak loves children and one day hopes to be able to work with children with disabilities.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” said Nana, praising Orszulak’s career path choice.
Even though Orszulak hasn’t been at Endicott for a full year yet, she believes that Eleanor’s vision for Endicott has carried through the years and has been achieved through the year’s hard work and dedication of the students.
“I’m interning in a second grade classroom, actually where I went to elementary school, with my favorite teacher...I’m really excited about it.” said Orzulak, who is looking forward to her first internship as the winter intersession approaches.
Eleanor Tupper’s vision has been fulfilled through the opportunities and experiences of the past and present students here at Endicott. From the internship program, to the academics, to the extracurricular activities, Eleanor would be proud of the professional development of this campus and the well-educated and fully prepared students that it is releasing into the work industry. Endicott continues to strive for improvement anywhere that they can. As the campus continues to develop, the community continues to evolve, but keep in mind Eleanor’s unique ideal for her beloved campus and everything that has gone into making it excellent.