Olivet Nazarene University - Aurora Yearbook (Bourbonnais, IL)

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iftt iJIemnrtam have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge, shall give me that day.

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Prologue On the following pages, you will be introduced to Olivet Nazarene College — a college which believes wholeheartedly in its motto, Education with a Christian Purpose . Ours is a college which traces its beginning to Georgetown, Illinois, where in 1907 a group of dedicated Christian laymen determined to establish a school where children could be not only educated but presented with the eternal truths of Christianity and Holiness. The year following its beginning it was expanded and moved three miles south to the site of what is now the town, Olivet, Illinois. Shortly thereafter, the initial founders, including two brothers named Nesbitt, whose sister Mary became the first teacher, were forced through financial pressure to give up the enterprise or go bankrupt. Searching for a group to carry on their established purpose, these men were pleased to offer their school to the relatively young Naza- rene Pentecostal Church. The Church continued the building program which had recently been instituted. By 1939, the plant consisted of five brick structures and several frame buildings on a fourteen acre campus. In that year, the college was again threatened with annihilation, this time by fire. The administration building which had housed classrooms, the library, laboratories, offices and the chapel was destroyed. Once again, though, the leaders of our college trusted in the promise. . . . all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Under the leading of divine inspiration, they were made aware of the possibility and necessity for expansion which would be most difficult in that location. Ninety miles to the north in Bourbonnais, Illinois St. Viator ' s College was also undergoing financial difficulties. With little more than faith in their God, the adminis- tration contracted to buy St. Viator ' s. The problems facing Olivet since 1940 when that purchase was made have been no less complex than they were in Olivet ' s earlier years. Financial difficulties have arisen. The need for immediate expansion had to be met. The problem of a student body too large for its facilities, has plagued Olivet from the first. Finally, in the spring of 1963, a devastating tornado struck our campus, damaging Burke Administration Building, Walker Hall, Greer Greenhouse, the smokestack, the Health Center, Miller Dining Hall, Birchard Field House, and almost completely demolishing Trailerville. A million dollars in school property, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal property was destroyed in less than thirty seconds. Yet, Olivet remains strong and true to the principles upon which it was founded. Established to provide its student body with an education in a distinctively Christian atmosphere, it remains dedicated to its motto, Education with a Christian Purpose.

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Presenting a Panorama of .