University of Iowa - Hawkeye Yearbook (Iowa City, IA)

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The Dean of Women ADELAIDE L. BDRQE Dean of Women THE office of Dean of Women was established at the State University of Iowa in the fall of 1900. With the increased enrollment it had become dif- ficult to maintain the close contact between faculty and students which had existed in an earlier day. The office of Dean of Women was created to meet this need. The Dean of Women advises young women in the se- lection of their courses of study until the time that the major is chosen. She endeavors to assist them in main- taining satisfactory scholarship, taking into considera- tion the problems of health, finances, and outside work. She also aids in providing for them healthful, approved living quarters. Currier Hall, the main dormitory for women, was built in 1913, and it was then looked upon as sufficiently large for the needs of the women on the campus. In only a few years, however, several small houses were added as Annexes to this main building in order that more young women might have dormitory privileges. In the city, private homes approve by the office of the Dean of Women and the various group houses in which the members live accommodate hundreds of young women. In addition to help with school work and everyday living, the Dean of Women co-operates in extra-curricular activities by conference and close association with Staff and Circle, senior honorary society, and all other women ' s organizations. There are broader and greater problems with which the Dean of Women copes. She analyzes the varied influences which affect the lives of young women and guides their energies into avenues of true worth with the skill born of Knowledge and Sympathy. It is the hope of the administration that this office may be increasingly efficient in the important task of counselling young women so that the parents of Iowa may be assured that on this campus their daughters will have the watchful care given them at home. Adelaide Lesheck Burge, Dean of Women, has held this post since 1921. She has come to be the beloved advisor and the understanding counsellor of the young women of the University and is regarded with the highest esteem by all who know her or come in contact with her. 27

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The Dean of Men T ROBERT E. BIENOW Dean of Men HE office of Dean of Men, although it has existed at the University of Iowa for fourteen years, is still comparatively recent as an administrative branch of the school. It was founded in 1913 by Prof. Ensign, who was Registrar at that time, when it was found that the duties of the office, and the functions performed were enough to employ the entire time of one man. Later Dean Rienow took the office and is still in that capacity. At the time it was founded, there were few similar offices in the larger universities. Originally it was a disciplinary center where all students were sent to check up on absences, misconduct, and acted as a check upon the student body as a whole. This is still its function in most of the universities and colleges. Modern develop- ments, however, have tended toward student government and as a result many of its functions are lost. This is the situation at Iowa. Here, where the Student Council, and Interfraternity Conference play the greater part in making the rules and regulations, the Dean of Men ' s office merely acts as an agent of these governing bodies. As a result Dean Rienow has given his position a new function which few of the students are aware of. In the dean ' s own words, he has intended to make it the service station of the Uni- versity. All problems which arise in the mind of the student, concerning finance, studies, or any other situations which may demand the reasoning of some older person are all taken care of through the office of the Dean of Men. This function of service is comparatively recent, and is not as yet appreci- ated by the greater portion of the student body. It is the desire of the admin- istration to have the student regard the office of the Dean of Men as a sort of hospital where troubles are mended, rather than as a county jail where mis- judgments are unsympathetically punished. However, the extent to which the advantages of this office have been utilized may be realized when we see that there are now four assistants to Dean Rienow, including Mr. Morrow, the assist- ant Dean of Men. rr orn 26 r [ -

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The College of Liberal Arts GEORGE F. KAY Dean College of Liberal Arts may be likened to the constitution of a nation. It is fundamental in that it is the foundation from which the re- mainder of the University has developed. It is the old- est educational branch of the University of Iowa, the first class being held in the Mechanic ' s Academy in 1855. The Collegiate Department, as the college was then called, excluded women from entering the regular classes for instruction, but shortly after this decree of the Board of Trustees, the State Board of Education passed an act requiring a co-educational system. The present Liberal Arts building was constructed and opened for classes in 1902. Up until that time, and for the following several years, the enrollment never reached the 1,000 mark for any one year. In 1910 the goal was exceeded by one hundred and ever since the enrollment has been steadily on the increase. The enormity of the growth can be realized when we see that the first session of the college had only 19 students and 3 instructors. Now the total enrollment is between 5,000 and 6,000 students, coupled with a faculty numbering more than 250 instructors. Amos N. Currier was the first Dean of the liberal Arts College, taking his position in 1888 and holding the office until his death in 1907. Laenas G. Gif- ford Weld, his successor, resigned in 1909. Professor William C. Wilcox then assumed the duties of Dean of the college until 1917. After his death, Professor George P. Kay of the Department of Geology and State Geologist of Iowa, suc- ceeded him in the position. Dean Kay has studied in Toronto University, Uni- versity of Chicago, and was professor of geology at the University of Kansas. He came to Iowa in 1907, serving ten years in the Geology Department, and the last nine as Dean of the Liberal Arts College. Though in this era of specialization the College of Liberal Arts may seem of less importance than the professional colleges, this assumption is somewhat un- founded. It is the college of preparation for every line of study. Its versatility will continue to make it an invaluable branch of education in the University. ALLEN W. PAKIN PAUL E. SMITH NICHOLAS A. KUTSCH RONALD I?. MORRISON 28