Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

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■Ng UHtuuH 5 M ' 3 Dr. W. J. KERR Dr.Willidm Jasper Kerr For 24 years Dr. William Jasper Kerr has ad- ministrated the affairs of Oregon State college. When he came to Corvallis in 1907, the only buildings on the campus were the administra- tion building, the chemistry building, the old gymnasium, and a wooden dormitory where the dairy building now stands. The appearance of the campus today is ample proof of his untiring efforts to make the institution one of greater significance in the educational world. He has built the college from a school of little importance to one now recognized as among the three best agricul- tural colleges in the United States. It was he who visualized the plans for the new build- ings and their locations, and saw to it that his vision was made an actuality through legisla- tive enactment. In addition to his services to the state of Oregon he has received nation wide recognition for his activities as president of the Land Grant College association, vice- president of the National Council of Educa- tion and a member of the national board of the y. M. C. A. A few years ago he was awarded the degree of doctor of science by the University of Idaho. President Kerr s Message The traditions of the Old Oregon trail are among the most heroic in North America. Two motives actuated the immigrants to Ore- gon — the lure of the Willamette Valley as an El Dorado for the homeseeker, and the patri- otic purpose of settling the Oregon country for the United States. Between the old home land of the pioneers and their new dream land bordering the Pacific, lay a virtual wilder- ness — vast, uninhabited, unexplored. Their struggles and privations in breaking a trail across these barriers of prairie, desert, and mountain, tell a story almost unparalleled in picturesqueness and grandeur. After a cen- tury we begin to get a full perspective on the significance of their great migrations. They developed, in fact, a region so fortunate in climate and natural resources that a distin- guished authority. Dr. J. Russell Smith, of Columbia, predicts that here, in time, Ameri- can civilization will reach its maximum. In this Northwest, continues Dr. Smith, I antici- pate that, man for man, Americans will eventu- ally realize their achievements — in science, literature, and arts. A splendid destiny. But it will not come of itself. Only the courageous leadership of the rising generation, ins pired by the example of the pioneers, will bring the Oregon country into its magnificent heritage. WILLIAM JASPER KERR President Kerr, in Study rl8.

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W » P w % 2 « 0 ] Burch Colt Pease Irvine Callister Slarr Wauek State Board of Higher Education OFFICERS Hon. C. L. Starr Dr. E. E. Lindsay Hon. B. F. Irvine EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Hon. C. L. Starr Hon. E. C. Sammons Hon. C.C.Colt MEMBERS Mrs. Cornelia Marvin Pierce Hon. Herman Oliver, John Day Hon. C. C. Colt, Portland Hon. B. F. Irvine, Portland Hon. C. L. Starr, Portland Hon. E. C. Sammons, Portland Hon. Albert Burch, Medford Hon. E. C. Pease, The Dalles Hon. F. E. Callister, Albany President Executive Secretary Treasurer Term Expires 1 940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 The state board of higher education, estab- lished by act of the legislature in 1929, re- placed the former board of regents as the governing body for each of the state institu- tions of higher learning in Oregon. The board, composed of nine members, includes one alumnus of the state university, one of the state normal schools, and one of the state college. They are appointed by the governor with the approval of the state senate, a new member being appointed each year for a nine-year term. The board has full authority to reorganize the work of the institutions under its control so as to eliminate unnecessary duplication of equipment, courses, departments, schools, summer sessions, extension activities, offices, laboratories and publications. «17.

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;ageamiB!aB ? :.ani|,j{;. i ■ Dean of Men ' s Message Difficulties were challenges to the men and women who blazed the unbroken path later known as the Oregon Trail. The prospect of hardships, suffering and even death, made the project only more commanding to those whose objective was not only a bigger, freer, more wholesome life opportunity for themselves, but also the establishment of a great oppor- tunity for a nation and a civilization. They did not pose as heroes. They did only what real men of their time naturally did. They felt the call in the opportunity and in the need. Why should they give heed to difficulties, hard- ships and dangers? We are the benefactors. We live in com- parative ease and luxur y, and yet if the civiliza- tion they made possible is to come to full fru- ition, possibly even to endure, great prob- lems must be faced and solved. Magnificent frontiers — social, economic and spiritual — must be opened. Does the thrilling example of the Oregon Trail pathfinders intrigue us? Are our spirits attuned to hear the call of oppor- tunity and need? If the call comes, will our equipment and courage be equal to the demands? Dean U. G. Duback Dr. U. G. DUBACH Dr. KATE W. JAMESON Dean of Women ' s Message When we read the story of the Oregon Trail, we are inclined to think that the frontier has passed and the days of pioneering are over. This may be true in the physical realm, but not in the realm of education. Every woman who has enjoyed the training for practical living, for homemaking, for child care, given by this school is actually a pioneer in a new field of education. Let her go fearlessly on teaching by word of mouth, by conduct, and by quiet influence, the value of such training. She too will meet any difficulties and be misunder- stood, but of her we can truly say with the poet: Because the road was steep and long. And through a dark and lonely land, God set upon her lips a song And put a lantern in her hand. As a pioneer of today, she will in a sense then complete the great work begun by her forbears of the Oregon Trail. (Mrs.) K. W. Jameson 19.