Purdue University - Debris Yearbook (West Lafayette, IN)

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: L- The Purdue Union Thomas F. Moran, Chairman Union Committee THE all-absorbing topic of interest on the campus this year has been the campaign for the Union building. Under the able leadership of Stanley S. Greene, ' 18, all members of the great Purdue family united enthusiastically in the common cause. In spite of many obstacles the campaign has progressed in a most gratifying way, and at the present writing pledges to the amount of $780,000 have been received. I consider the Purdue Union movement the most important single project ever launched at the University. Its importance far transcends that of the proposed Union building. The building will be simply the concrete embodiment of an idea. It will be the clearing-house for a large number of Purdue activities. It will be the main physical agency by means of which the Union organization will function and make itself effective. In a word, the Purdue Union is, or will be, an organization com- posed of all Purdue men and women — students and former students. Faculty, Alumni and Trustees — for the improvement of the individual and the betterment of the University as a whole. It is essentially a get- together movement. It is an attempt to make members of the Purdue family better acquainted with one another and with the purposes, ideals and needs of the University, and to unite them in a common cause. It First County Meetings, May 20, 1920 I ' ugr Twelve

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-c- WINTHROP ELLSWORTH STONE President of Purdue University a Page Eleven

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h: E;I3T TvS- m k Mtmorial Cfremonj-, XovcmbiT 11, 10-0 is an attempt to gain efficiency through organization. It aims to broaden and otherwise improve the individual and at the same time to fit him into an organization whose purpose is the promotion of the general welfare and the efficiency of the University along all lines. There is an important element in college education not found in text-books or class rooms. One important human element is found in social intercourse with other members of the University community. Incidental contact, observation and exchange of views have a modifying, broadening, and humanizing effect. The educational value of whole- some recreation is not to be ignored. An organization of this kind is necessary to bring about and to main- tain an effective solidarity in the University. The institution now has 3,000 students and will undoubtedly be larger in the near future. The natural tendency is to divide up into schools, classes and other minor subdivisions. It is a scattering process. When 450 students met in the old Chapel or about the Dormitory there was a more intense and effec- tive college spirit than now exists with a larger student body. Purdue sentiment should be concentrated in order to become effective, and should be focalized on those things which are most worth while. The Purdue family now has a membership of more than 17,000. We need an esprit de corps. Our forces should be mobilized. It is high time that we developed a Purdue consciousness. There is no place provided at the present time, either on or off the campus, for wholesome recreation and University activities. I V . - tkV= ' Page Thirteen