Kent State University - Chestnut Burr Yearbook (Kent, OH)

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liiliiiiyiHi ,, Memorial gym is dedicated in 1950 to the memory of 113 Kent State students and alumni who died in World War II. Work on Johnson hall for men begins in 1955. It adjoins Stopher hall as the second unit in a projected quadrangle. A tractor paves the way for Van Deusen hall, an arts building, in 1950. The Goodrich lease is one of the last im- portant actions of the Leebrick administration, for President Leebrick is to become Major Leebrick in the army speciahzed reserve. Tak- ing Leebrick ' s place is acting president Dr. Ray- mond M. Clark, who for 17 years has been a member of the education and psychology de- partments. Clark will remain in office from May, 1943, till the present administration takes over in July, 1944. By May, 1945, the German armies begin sur- rendering and an unconditional surrender is signed May 7; three months later Japan sur- renders, but only after the first atomic bombs ever used in war are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With World War II at an end, returning veterans will raise enrollment at Kent State more than 5,000 in the next five years. You can easily see, Laird, President Bow- man says, why a plan for rapid expansion is mandatory. Buildings and equipment have be- co2Tie dilapidated. And only two buildings have been built in the last 20 years, Engleman and McGilvrey halls. The first step toward expansion, he explains, is to convert Army barracks built during the war for military housing into classrooms to alle- viate the crowded lecture classes. Then, in 1949, three buildings are erected, including a fully-equipped 40-bed student Health center, the Kent State union and Stopher hall, the first of four men ' s residence halls. A year later Memorial gymnasium. Memorial stadium and Van Deusen Arts building are built. With the Korean war intervening, Ter- race hall opens in 1954. Terrace is a three-story fireproof brick structure capable of housing 750. In 1956 Verder hall and Johnson hall are built, while, in 1958, a $1,331,000 addition to the library increases the total library size three times. Finally, two residence halls costing $2.5 million and housing 375 students each open in 1959. These are Prentice hall, named after the first woman faculty member, and Dunbar hall, 20

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Japan surrenders. Enrollment at KSU jumps from 1,279 in 1945 to 4,763 in 1946. On March 30, 1943, the 336th College Train- ing Detachment arrives at Kent. The campus has been selected as the training site for 500 air crewmen, and, in the next 18 months, more than 2,000 enlisted men will complete the program at Kent. Dormitories are converted into barracks and cafeterias become mess halls, while even the 197-acre airport landing field at Stow is pur- chased to facilitate training. Meanwhile, civilian students are being in- troduced to new courses, including morse code, fire-fighting and map-making. Some students, most of them chemistry majors, are assisting in experiments on the top floor of McGilvrey hall. There, the B. F. Goodrich company is conduct- ing research in the development of synthetic rubber. Experiments will lead to the develop- ment of GRS-10, helping to solve one of the most critical shortages of the war: rubber. Student union moves trom a War II army barrack to a new $900,000 building in 1949. Stopher hall, the first of four men ' s residence halls is built in 1949. It honors Emmet C. Stopher, former registrar and superintendent of the training school. ±£■1

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Ten-ace hall opens in 1954 and is capable of housing 750 coeds. President Truman orders American troops into Korea June 27, 1950. Here we go again, says Dean Manchester.