Buena Vista University - Log Yearbook (Storm Lake, IA)

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J. M. Linn, recalled ThaT aT The Time The people of STorm Lake would have underfaken anyfhing. To Them, Buena VisTa College would become The Yale of The Midwesf. When PresidenT Linn was inauguraTed, carloads of people came from as far as Des Moines. The crowds marched Through The sfreefs wiTh Their ban- ners fiying and Then pushed inTo The ChauTauaua Building unTil There was no sTanding room. A special Train arrived from Des Moines aT The Time of The formal dedicaTion of Old Main. The col- lege coroneT band led a group of faculTy and olTi- cers of The school, high school Teachers and sTudenTs, and cifizens of The communiTy in Their carriages. Al- Though addresses aT ThaT Time lasTed Two hours, The STorm Lake Tribune noTed ThaT The audience gen- erously remained unTil The close. The college communiTy was genuinely proud of The new building. ln facT, The caTalog wenT so far as To say ThaT There is no more beaufiful, nor ap- propriaTe college building in This sfafe, Though many are larger. Sixfy-four years laTer, on Sepfember 27, l956, a fire of undefermined origin desTroyed The build- ing. The fire, which began abouT l0:30 aT nighT, blazed for more Than Three hours before iT could be broughT under confrol. AT ThaT Time The building housed all The adminisTraTive ofTices, TheaTer, band room, book sTore, and almosf all classes. Brick and sTone from ThaT proud building were fashioned inTo The VicTory Arch aT The souTheasT corner of The campus. ln Cumberland's words, IT was The 'spiriT of Old Main' ThaT helped To build The presenT. The book included informaTion on The develop- menT of The school paper and annual, as well as whaT Cumberland called The usual silly college yells. Originally The school colors were salmon and black, buf This was changed when The fooTball sweafers could noT be obfained in salmon. Senior Tree Day was esfablished in l906. AT This Time a Tree surrounded byla seaT was dedicaTed. Each class wore a special aTTire. The seniors, of course, wore Their caps and gowns, The- iuniors wore Togas, The sophomores carried a banner and adorned Them- selves wiTh rose chains, and The freshmen showed up as miners, complefe wiTh picks and shovels. The Tree Day remained a revered cusTom unTil l960. AnoTher Tradirion, The smoking of The peace pipe, began in l9l0 as a formal reconciliafion of The dif- ferences beTween Two classes. The Senior Swing-OUT, which was esrablished in i909, was apparenfly one of The casualfies of The depression, as was The nam- ing of The classes, which resulTed in The freshmen of The class of l9l9 pursuing Their college life wiTh The label The Bolsheviks . Phi Alpha Pi was The firsT sororiTy To be esTab- lished. lTs beginning in i906 was followed a few years laTer by The founding of DelTa Phi BeTa sororiTy, which in iTs firsT year had five members. DelTa Phi Rho fraTerniTy was founded in The l920's, while Gamma Sigma Phi and Kappa Tau DelTa were of more recenT origin. When MaTher House was removed To make way for The new Ballou Library, a landmark disappeared from The Buena VisTa campus. The building had been owned by The college since l903, and during ThaT Time iT had served as a men's dormiTory, a music conservaTory, and a Temporary dwelling place for faculTy members. AT one Time iT was known as Lad ies' CoTTage. MaTher House wa-s replaced by The L. E. Ballou Library, which was complefed in The fall of 1965 aT a cosT of ?p400,000. lT was builT in The Georgian Colonial sTyle, wiTh many modern conveniences. There was room for 60,000 books, and 225 sTudenTs could be seafed aT once. Some of iTs feaTures were carpefing, air condifioning, an elevafor, individual sTudy carrels, seminar rooms, Typing rooms, polar- ized glare-free lighTing, and faculTy carrels. ln l965, in connecfion wiTh The celebraTion of iTs sevenTy-fifTh anniversary, The college launched a drive To move From Goodness To Greafnessf' As a parT of This drive a need of 51,925,000 was sTaTed To provide for greafer Teachers, more books, a pipe organ for Schaller Memorial Chapel, a new field house, a new science cenfer, siTe acquisiTions, and scholarships and endowmenTs for sTudenTs. AT The opening of This drive, Presidenf Halverson renewed The commiTmenT of Buena VisTa To The greaT TradiTions of The church-relaTed liberal arTs college. OUT of The ashes of Old Main, The college has risen To provide beTTer EducaTion for Service. -VVriTTen by Barbara J. UiTTenbogaard

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buildings worth 525,000 Trustees were elected by the company and by the Fort Dodge and Sioux City presbyteries. The new name Buena Vista Col- lege, was selected as a tribute to the generous aid and support given to the new school by the people of Buena Vista County. Dr. Cumberland's research has uncovered the fact that President Hays not only worked to set up the curriculum, hire teachers, and supervise building, but he also taught courses in Mental and Moral Sci- ence. Included were such courses as psychology, logic, ethics, Christian science, and political economy. The curriculum was mainly classical, but there was ci scientific course which led to a B.S. degree. Salaries were not high in those days. Rev. George Frocker, professor of ancient languages, received S800 a year. Dr. J. C. Hutchinson, professor of phys- ics and mathematics, was paid twenty-five dollars a month plus railroad fare, and C. R. Aurner, ap- pointed principal of the Normal Department, re- ceived sixty-five dollars a month for nine months. Other members of the original faculty included C. W. Coelln, professor of mathematics, P.B.S. Peters, and N. H. Tyson of the Commercial Department, Miss J. L. Bennett, drawing, and lvliss lda Sisson and lvliss Mabel Marshall, music. Tuition varied from term to term. In the collegiate department, the fall term cost fourteen dollars, the winter term twelve, and the spring term ten. Board and room cost two or three dollars a week. However, the cost of education was still high to parents who worked for the going wage ofa dollar ci day. Fewer students were attracted to Buena Vista than to the Fort Dodge school. At a meeting in October the trustees were faced with the lack of financial backing. They were forced to order a reduction in the faculty and a pay cut for those who remained. E. R. Sisson was appointed to the post of financial agent. His salary was to be ten per cent of all funds he raised plus one dollar for each student he se- cured, The depression of the 1890's hindered his work, however, and many times the salaries of the teachers and staff were not paid at all. The dedica- tion of these people, said Cumberland, was the factor which kept the young college on its feet. After the completion of Old Main in 1892, the town and the school were even more determined to have ci liberal arts college. The new president, A fire destroyed the building on September 27, 1956, it classes, the brick and stone later were fashioned into the housed all the administrative omces, theater, and almost all victory arch.

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