Southern Illinois University - Obelisk Yearbook (Carbondale, IL)

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Defliculion ln any large-scale proiecT oT expansion, There are cerTain indi- viduals, who Take The iniTiaTive and provide The energy and TalenT Tor The accomplishmenT oT The ol:niecTive. One OT The TorernosT per- sonaliTies in direcTing The growfh of SouThern To a recognized univer- siTy OT real rneriT is Dr. Willis G. SwarTz. OriginaTing The DeparTmenT oT GovernrnenT in l93O, and since Then esTalolishing iT as one oT The beTTer courses oT sTudy on The campus, Dr. SwarTz has been largely insTrumenTal also, in The worlc oT seTTing up The graduaTe schools oT The UniversiTy, having served as chairman OT The GraoluaTe Council since I943. The eTTiciency, courTesy, ancl populariTy oT Dr. SwarTz easily oleTcrrnined The dedicaTion of The I949 OBELISK. 8

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ProTessor H. W. Shryock, as did PresidenT Parkinson, came To The presi- dency Trom The ranks oT The TaculTy, having served as an inspiring Teacher oT English and as regisTrar and vice-presidenT. One oT The chieT aims oT his adminisTraTion as a sTaTesman-builder, was To make SouThern more ade- guaTely serve iTs area, especially in The improvemenT oT rural schools. He gave college aThleTics a recognized, imporTanT sTaTus1 he achieved The rec- ogniTion oT SouThern as a Tully accrediTed, degree-granTing insTiTuTion. To aTTain These ends, The TirsT rural Teacher Training program, under The direcTion of W. O. Brown, was insTiTuTed aT SouTherng and William lvlcAndrew began To make aThleTic hisTory. The greaT increase in TaculTy required Tor The rap- idly growing school, gave opporTuniTy Tor raising The scholasTic level oT The sTaTT, and ouTsTanding men and women oT high specializaTion added sTrengTh To SouThern. Under The Civil AdminisTraTive Code oT The Governor Lowden admin- isTraTion, SouThern was broughT under The conTrol oT a uniT board, headed by The governor's direcTor oT RegisTraTion and EducaTion, in l9I7. This loss oT auTonomy, which prevailed under The old local board oT TrusTees, has noT always been aTTended wiTh happy resulTs. Among oTher handicaps, iTs build- ing program has been governed noT by acTual needs, buT by a sysTem oT 'gl I-'935 roTaTi-on oT allocaTion among The Tive Teachers colleges under The boards conrfol. PresidenT Henry W. Shryock On The sudden deaTh oT PresidenT Shryock in April, I935, Dean George D. Wham served as acTing presidenT in The Tow monThs inTerim, unTil The --W elecTion of Mr. Roscoe Pulliam, who came To The presidency oT SouThern Trom The superinTendency oT Harrisburg schools. PresidenT Pulliam's policy was To carry Torward The unTinished work of his predecessor wiTh The same general aims. He was a dynamic leader who, wiTh a sTrong TaculTy, made SouThern widely known locally and ThroughouT The naTion as one oT The highesT ranking Teachers colleges. SouThern's par- TicipaTion as a co-operaTing insTiTuTion and oTher leading colleges and univer- siTies in a naTion-wide sTudy oT Teacher educaTion under The direcTion oT The American Council on EducaTion, won Tor her an enviable sTaTus. A democra- Tizing OT college adminisTraTion, wiTh large parTicipaTion by boTh TaculTy and sTudenTs, was a disTincTive TeaTure oT Mr. Pulliam's policy. His greaTesT achievemenT was To win Tor SouThern iTs universiTy sTaTus by an acT oT The lllinois LegislaTure in June, l943. l PresidenT Pulliam's deaTh in March, I944, aT a criTical period oT SouTh- ern's new and ill-deTined sTaTus, was mosT unTorTunaTe. ProTessor Bruce W. Merwin oT The college TaculTy was permiTTed, as acTing presidenT Tor a Tew monThs, To do liTTle more Than carry on The rouTine maTTers oT adminisTraTion. Then Dr. ChesTer F. Lay was broughT To The presidency Trom The UniversiTy oT Texas in January, I945. The posT- war period of unresT, The rapid growing pains oT a new SouThern, These and many oTher TacTors conTribuTed To make iT an unhappy period oT uncerTainTy and unresT. A noTable vicTory was achieved, however, in The passage by The LegislaTure in I947, oT The bill which gave SouThern iTs legiTimaTe name, SouThern lllinois UniversiTy. AnoTher oT Dr. Lay's conTribuTions which deserves noTe was The esTablishmenT of The De- parTmenT oT Biological Science and Research, wiTh Dr. 'Carl C. Lindegren as The TirsT chairman oT The deparTmenT. The reTrospecT oT sevenTy-Tive years of SouThern's hisTory is besT under- sTood in Terms OT The insTiTuTion's inTluence in shaping The lives and desTinies of The many Thousands oT iTs sons and daughTers who have spenT happy, TruiTTul years wiThin iTs walls. Trained leaders have gone ouT To win disTinc- Tion in all Tields oT worThy endeavor. SouThern is proud oT iTs children. PresidenT Roscoe Pulliam l935-I944 PresidenT ChesTer F. Lay I945-I948 7

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Southern University