As a student at Northwestern University, Claudine Van Cleave (Mason) became a member of the Xi Chapter of Chi Omega. She served as president of both the sophomore class and her Chi Omega chapter. In addition, she was a member of the student council, Y.W.C.A. and Shi Ai, the honorary society for female junior students, and she had a part in the Junior Class play Within the Law.
She graduated in 1921 and on June 26, 1922, she married Frank M. Mason, from Northwestern’s Class of 1920. The couple, who would become parents to two daughters, lived in Indianapolis and St. Louis before returning to Evanston in the early 1930s. Mason became involved with the Xi Chapter and spent 16 years as adviser on personnel.
In 1948, she was hired by Northwestern as Counselor to Women. Four years later, the title changed back to its original one, Dean of Women. During her tenure at Northwestern, she was an advocate for the female students. In 1954, Syllabus yearbook, was dedicated to her. Northwestern honored her with service and merit awards.
Grosse Pointe News, April 9, 1953
She retired in 1960. Mason “integrated student housing at Northwestern. There wasn’t any (housing) for black students before she did that,” according to her daughter’s quote in Mason’s obituary.
Mason served as a National Alumnae Officer for Chi Omega. The North Shore Chi Omega Alumnae established a scholarship in her name and awarded it to a collegiate member of Xi Chapter of Chi Omega at a tea in her honor every spring for a number of years. Kelly Brest van Kempen, a member of Xi Chapter House Corporation Board, said:
Claudine V. Mason was a fabulous woman and always came to the tea in her honor for as long as her health permitted. It was lovely seeing Claudine perched in a wing chair and chatting with the collegians sitting on the floor at her feet. After her death, her daughter, Wynn, a Xi special initiate, took her mother’s place at the tea.
She also was active in the Evanston community including the Women’s Club of Evanston, the University Guild, the Evanston Women’s Board of Northwestern University Settlement, Bryant Circle and the North End Mothers Club. Mason died on December 22, 1993.
