If I were a college student at Penn State in the early '70s, you can bet I'd drag around my own portable soapbox.

It simply boggles my mind how unequal society used to be - and how much it has changed in the past few decades.

I would've had to flier the campus. I would have had to carry a bullhorn. I would have probably had to get arrested to prove just how serious I was about equality.

Maybe I've just listened to Destiny's Child's Survivor album one too many times, but it never ceases to amaze me how much societal norms toward women have changed since our mothers were raised -- since they dealt with the stuffy traditions that have slowly faded from campus life.

The independent women of today have our predecessors to thank.

Fewer than 35 years ago, women were not allowed to live off campus, but men were.

And if a woman wanted to visit a man's residence, she needed written permission if she was under 21.

Crazy.

My roommate told me that her mom, who graduated from Penn State in 1974, said women used to attend football games as if they were dated functions -- women didn't go unless a man asked them. And they wore dresses.

Thirty years later, that scene seems to be isolated to the black and white photographs in history books.

It would be absurd to consider a loud, drunken, Penn State tailgate football fest as a date nowadays.

My roommate's mom also said when she was on the women's basketball team as a freshman, the whole team wore dresses as uniforms. And women and men couldn't share a gym - the White Building was exclusively for women.

While I was astonished by these changes and feeling pretty good about the way things are swinging for us girls, my friend, a feminist to the core, assured me that although things have changed in past years, they still aren't right.

"Men still control every aspect of this country," she asserted, a hint of fury in her voice. She said it is still a patriarchal society. She said salaries are still unequal.

She said things still need to be changed and we shouldn't settle.

Still, I can't help but think about how far we've come, and how the strides taken by the women before us have changed each of our college experiences.

During this month -- Women's History Month -- it is important to remember and thank the handful of eager women who were the first to enroll in Penn State, and others who, across the pages of history, have spoken up and caused change.

After all, the track record has been set -- imagine what change will happen in the next 35 years.