Miami University - Recensio Yearbook (Oxford, OH)

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Weave a sfory of Thy glory, The spiriT OT Miami UniversiTy is our spiriT. ThaT spiriT grew ouT of The wilderness of a Township inTo The moderness of a college campus. WiTh ThaT spiriT and moderness came The knowledge wiTh which To Think and live. ThaT Thinking and ThaT living have reigned Through The years of Old Miami and Through The years of New Miami. A combinaTion of hard work and genuine inTeresT mUlTiplied by men like RoberT Bishop, Alfred H. Upham and Wallace P. Roudebush has given Us The prodUcT OT a college life-of Miami's liTe. Her life began wiTh a Tew globes, books, and money donaTions in l809. From a log chain aT The presenT siTe of Brice Hall To The building OT Old Main where Harrison Hall once sTood, Miami grew in size and TradiTion. There was no SlanT Walk, no BeTa Bells, and no Thobe's ToUnTain in The early days oT Old Miami. lnsTead, a very unslanTing mud paTh was worn Through The bareness of The college grounds, a TrumpeT was blown To summon classes, and an old well was used To dip The daily waTer. lT was The days of lndian mounds and baked clay. BUT The clean whiTe-washed Tence againsT The ToresT Trees de- TracTed from The mudiness and gave simpliciTy and freshness To The bare campus. OUT of ThaT Treshness and simpliciTy Miami and her sTudenT body grew. lnsTead oT bowling and TUTTying Their money away, These sTudenTs lived on ThirTy-Two cenTs a week. They Tound Tun and relaxaTion in philosophical argumenTs aT The LiTer- ary Halls where They read composiTions and dec- lamaTions. Their Torm of Thank goodness, iT's Friday was expressed in evening debaTes on Top- ics such as slavery and Shakespeare. These de- baTes broughT abouT The birTh of Two socieTies-- The Erodelphian LiTerary SocieTy and The Union LiTerary SocieTy. OUT of an UnculTUral environmenT, culTural ideas and culTural sTudenTs grew. And, alThough These sTudenTs enioyed inTellecT- ual maTTers, Their love OT a good Time and Their TrivoliTy added To Their college days. PUTTing caTTle and hay in The classrooms and blocking The chapel door in The Snow Rebellion will long be re- membered among Their sTudenTish pranks. BUT, This love of a good Time never seemed To deTracT from Their sense of good iUdgmenT and sound reasoning. From The loTTy plaTTorm roof of Old Main, The campus bell summoned sTudenTs To chapel and To class for over one hundred years. The surrounding village was TradiTionally noTified of each Miami TooTball vicTory by The clang of This bell rung by freshmen. I6

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ln his Elliott l-lall study, English Professor l-lepburn mingled ments and daily chapel devotions before retiring in l908. Each spring, for over thirty years, Harry S. Thobe, a local brick-layer and football enthusiast, would repair the fountain he began by adding a fevv more stones. Days of old and days fo be. i A Brice Hall physics laboratory of l908 was a giant stride from Old Egypt where Professor Stoddard gave his charming lectures during Miami's early years. rnany hours of writing poetry with preparing class assign-

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CommencemenT, 1905, was held on The wooded knoll where The Befa TheTa Pi Campanile now sTands. ThaT sound reasoning, coupled wiTh The love of a good 'Time ThaT The sTudenTs porfrayed, led To The founding of fraTerniTies and sororiTies. As men began To share common ideals, morals and secreTs, They consolidaTed These principles, and began To sTarT an inTeIlecTual and social group called a fra- Ternify. OuT of The basic human need To belong, The firsT fraTerniTy wesT of The Alleghenies came To Miami. IT was in I835 ThaT a chapTer of Alpha DelTa Phi was esfablished on The college campus, resulTing in fricTion and unfriendliness wiThin The liTerary socieTies. BuT, ThaT unfriendliness soon disappeared as Miami, The moTher of fraTerniTies, ushered in new fraTerniTies in The years following. BeTa TheTa Pi, The firsT of The Miami Triad, origi- naTed here in I839 wiTh a sense of broTherhood and common inTeresT. Phi Delfa TheTa in i848 formed The second of The Triad, The Dekes in T852 ioined The oThers afTer some members from Yale came To open a chapTer of Twelve members aT Mi- ami. OT These Twelve, six members broke away in i855 To form Sigma Chi. The Miami Triad was complefe. IT was noT unTil The TwenTieTh cenTury ThaT coeducaTion came To Miami bringing wiTh iT The founding of sororiTies and The moTher chapTer of Delfa ZeTa in I902. FraTerniTies flourished ThroughouT Those young years. VViTh Them came an emphasis on academic life and exTra-curricular acTiviTies on The campus. Their TradiTion will long be remembered in The years To come. The BeTa Bells, The Phi Delfa TheTa Roberf Morrison Seminar Room and The Sigma Chi Memorial Scholarship Fund are symbols of The Greek Tradifion, The group idenTiTy and The love for Miami Universify. Love for Miami UniversiTy-iT could be seen in The classroom and on The aThleTic field, iT could be seen on The faces of The men having To leave Their academic life To ioin Their counfry in The Civil War. ThaT spiriT never lefT Those faces, buT Those faces had To leave Miami in l873. The Civil War caused The loss of many sTudenTs from The Soufh- ern sTaTes and The posTwar inflafion had shrunk The real income from The Universify land righTs. There was a loss of public benefacfors and wiTh ThaT loss came The closing of Miami. IT was noT unTil Twelve years laTer ThaT The Trusfees reclaimed The Miami buildings and adverTised The reopening of The Universify-The reopening of a New Miami. Buildings, founfains, and bells sprung up-iT was The New Miami-The modern Miami ThaT was growing in size and presTige. Dogs, squirrels, and green grass Took The place of caTTle, hay, and whiTewashed fences. New Miami had differenT faces and differenT sounds. The sound of a bull- dozer dug The foundation for a library wiTh The help of The money donaTed by Andrew Carnegie. VViTh ThaT library and an enrichmenf of knowledge came The erecfion of Brice Hall, adding a scienfific emphasis To The curriculum. These sTurdy TwenTieTh cenTury buildings replaced The provincial clay- baked sTrucTures of Old Miami. I7