St. Norbert College and Fr De Peaux, The Student
Father De Peaux started at St. Norbert College in 1944. At this time, the student population was very low. Fr. De Peaux didn’t mind however because between schoolwork and practicing priesthood, he didn’t have much free time. While attending St. Norbert College, Fr. De Peaux’s favorite classes taught were the foreign language ones. As a student, he always saw himself as a traveler and new he would be in Europe for a portion of his life. He became fluent in French and after school took some time to live on and off in Paris for eight years. He likes foreign language because it helps him delve into new cultures.
From today’s perspective, it’s hard to look back and wonder what students did sixty to seventy years ago at school. There were no such things as laptops, iPods, and even cell phones for people to communicate. The library was just one small room and people didn’t have access to any other sources. So what was there to do? What did students do for fun? Because Fr. De Peaux was studying to become a priest, he was not allowed to be on any sports teams. That’s one thing he would have really liked to do but with his conflicting schedules, it just would not have worked out. He did however play intramural sports such as basketball and football. At the time, the football team at St. Norbert College was undefeated so when they played intramurals and everyone got involved, it became pretty physical. There were also Fraternities and Sororities on campus for people to join and socialize. In that aspect, De Peaux claims that the student atmosphere has not changed much at all and that it’s still all about having a good time and socializing with your friends. In the basement of the Union, there was actually a hangout spot called “Knightclub” which, until the drinking changed from 18 to 21, served alcohol to everyone of age. You could also go to a wide variety (similar to today) of off campus bars to socialize with friends.
One thing that has changed over the years is the discipline. Until the 1960’s, all the dorms had to have their lights out at 10:30. Study hours were mostly in the student’s dorms and were from 7:30-10 every school night. Women had to be out at 10pm on weekdays and 11 on weekends. They also had to have their beds made and rooms cleaned by 11 every morning. DePeaux says it was a lot stricter, however, it was accepted and that’s how everything was back then. There was also a fairly strict dress code. For example, dinner at the café, men had to wear dress pants and sport coats. Women had to wear a skirt with a nice, non-revealing top. This was easy for De Peaux however, who claims he loved to dress up and did it whenever he could. For class, the dress code was not as strict, in fact, De Peaux states that the only two rules were no jeans and you could only wear shorts/skirts if the weather was nice.
In 1948, three years after World War II ended and when Fr. De Peaux graduated, many soldiers came back to campus. This provided the spark for St. Norbert to grow. In 1952, the college was made co-ed however; there were still no women’s dorms. There was one house on campus that provided a living space for the 12 girls that attended the first year. After the first year, a lot more women started coming but many were commuters from home. In 1955, Sensenbrenner was built for the expansion of students. It was primarily a men’s dorm but with the female population growing exponentially on campus, it was switched over to a women’s dorm. By 1974, Burke, Sensenbrenner, Mary Minahan McCormick Hall, Victor McCormick, and Bergstrom were all fully operating. To make room for new female students, Victor McCormick was turned into the first on campus co-ed dorm, which was closely followed by Mary Minaham McCormick. Now, St. Norbert College has eleven different places to live (not including off campus housing and international housing), and all but two, are co-ed.