Beyond the Rules: Exploring Student Life Through Drexel’s Handbooks

When a new class of students first arrives on campus, they look to their university for guidance and information to help them navigate academics, their new community and their newfound independence. Today, that information is mainly found via university websites. But before the internet, providing details of this magnitude proved to be a daunting task. For much of the 20th century, Drexel found a way around this problem in the form of a pocket-sized student handbook, better known as the “D-Book.. While at first glance these handbooks may seem like straightforward lists of rules and regulations, a closer look reveals something far richer: lively depictions of campus culture, practical advice on adjusting to college life and meaningful glimpses of humor and creativity.

This fall, the Drexel University Archives invites the community to discover life at Drexel through its latest exhibit, Beyond the Rules: The Hidden Life within Student Handbooks, on display now through December 2025 outside the Reading Room on the lower level of the W. W. Hagerty Library. Featuring handbooks published between 1944 and 2005, the exhibit explores the surprising ways these unique publications reflect the evolving identity of the University and the lives of its students.

The exhibition was researched and curated by Erin White, the University Archives’ spring/summer 2025 co-op student, and a fourth-year history major. Charged with creating an exhibit that featured the Archives’ collection of D-Books, White discovered that the handbooks did far more than establish standards of conduct. They preserved snapshots of student life, campus traditions and even social expectations across the decades.

“As a history major, one of the things I enjoy most is seeing how society has evolved over time,” White explained. “While going through the student handbooks for the exhibition, I got an interesting perspective on how both the University and society have changed over the years.”

Among the most striking discoveries was a handbook published in 1944 titled the Campus Compass Guide for Women Undergraduates. Framed as advice for the “ideal college girl,” it provides a glimpse into the gendered expectations of the mid-20th century. Sections outline what young women should wear on specific occasions (e.g. the “top, middle, below, and whatnots”), the types of extracurricular activities they should pursue, and the manners that would mark them as reserved, sincere, courteous, and thoughtful. While today such guidance is outdated, the handbook is a reminder of how cultural norms shaped student life and how those norms have evolved.

Other handbooks on display in the exhibit highlight Drexel’s traditions and quirks. A 1970s handbook outlines the survival skills needed to adjust to college life, cleverly written as though preparing students for the wilderness. A later edition from 2003-2004 lists popular campus dining spots, including cafés and restaurants that no longer exist but remain fond memories for alumni.

Even humor found its way into the pages: one handbook produced by The Triangle, Drexel’s student newspaper, included a dartboard on its back cover featuring caricatures of administrators who had performed in a campus production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The handbooks also reflect Drexel’s deep ties to athletics and school spirit. Though today Drexel is best known for its basketball teams, earlier handbooks recall the University’s football program, which ran intermittently from the late 19th century until its final season in 1973. Fight songs — some still familiar to current students and alumni — appear alongside stories of undefeated seasons and wartime suspensions of play. These pages remind us that even as sports programs changed, the drive for community and pride in the Dragon identity has endured. "As an avid sports fan, especially of football, learning about Drexel’s former football team — and the fact that we still use the same fight songs — really brings out my school spirit,” White noted.

Through these examples and many more, the exhibit demonstrates how student handbooks functioned as cultural artifacts as much as rulebooks. They documented the rhythms of daily life, the anxieties and hopes of students, and the traditions that gave Drexel its unique character. By presenting the unusual, the entertaining, and the insightful elements hidden within the D-Books, the University Archives offers both a nostalgic journey for alumni and an illuminating history lesson for current students.

Beyond the Rules: The Hidden Life within Student Handbooks is part of the University Archives’ ongoing effort to showcase the history of Drexel University and will be on display through December 2025. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Visit the exhibit page for more information on visitor hours and policies.