Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst) is highly opinionated and outspokenly conservative like her mother, who is also the head of the Alumnae Association. Betty doesn't understand why Katherine is not married and insists that there is a universal standard for good art. She writes editorials for the college paper, one that exposes campus nurse Amanda Armstrong (Juliet Stevenson) as a supplier of contraception, which results in the nurse being fired; Betty writes a second editorial attacking Katherine for advocating that women should seek a career instead of just being wives and mothers as intended. Betty can't wait to marry Spencer (Jordan Bridges) as their parents have arranged and expects to get the traditional exemptions from attending class because she is married, but Katherine insists she will be marked on merit, resulting in a growing conflict between the two.