Merrimack College - Merrimackan Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

Page 17 text:

In the fall of 1948 and continuing for nine months a mammoth million dollar drive was conducted throughout the communities of northeastern Massachu- setts. The efforts of the campaign committee were channeled among six major groups: the ninety-five parishes of the Merrimack Valley, the industries, the professional and mercantile organizations, the philan- thropies, the social clubs, and the association of Merri- mack College, an organization of students’ parents and friends. The work of these volunteer committees is being carried on today by a corp of devoted friends and businessmen known as the Men of Merrimack. The success of the solicitations was quickly mirrored in the expansion of Merrimack’s physical plant. A Science and a Liberal Arts building, both in red-brick classic colonial style, were erected as the first limits of the campus quadrangle. The admission of seven girls in 1949 marked the commencement of Merrimack’s co-educational program. The first graduation at Merrimack in 1951 provided a landmark, a chance to pause and check bearings, to chart anew the course. This graduation was concrete evidence of accomplishment; the work of the planners and the priests, of the businessmen and the builders, of the volunteers and the housewives, each in its own manner had contributed to the realization of a dream . . .” m

Page 16 text:

THE FIRST Faculty House. A SPRING-POSE of the gymnasium. September 29, 1947 witnessed an unpretentious be- ginning — one cinder-block building, thirteen faculty members, one hundred and sixty-five students. Aca- demic life began to an overture of sawing and ham- mering. When the year drew to a close, however, the basic academic and extracurricular patterns had been set, a chapel dedicated to Our Mother of Good Coun- sel, and funds for the construction of a gymnasium realized through a gigantic Penny Social at the Law- rence Memorial Stadium. The pioneer stage had been weathered. It was to be followed by a period of rapid expansion and development. AN AUTUMN-VIEW of Merrimack’s first building.

Page 18 text:

The autumn of 1952 witnessed the completion of our third permanent building, the three-story faculty house, and the laying down of broad, paved roadways pre- paratory to dedication. On September 29, Archbishop Cushing formally dedicated the three structures. The Science Building became Cushing Hall, in honor of the Archbishop whose support made possible the col- lege’s phenomenal growth; the Arts Building was named Sullivan Hall in memory of the late Very Rev- erend Mortimer A. Sullivan, O.S.A., Provincial and founder of Merrimack; the faculty building was dub- bed Austin Hall, Austin being a traditional contraction for Augustinian. But a college is much more than just a collection of imposing buildings. It should be an active organ- ization of teachers and students, professional men and trainees. Not all the knowledge desirable for college graduates can be acquired in the classroom; for to learn is not enough; one must also acquire the tech- nique of translating knowledge into social skills and services. Thus, the intellectual discipline of the class- room and laboratory is enhanced and enlarged by ac- tivities utilizing this academic training. Extracurricular activities play a vital role in the development of per- sonality in the students. •ara