Butler University - Carillon / Drift Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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finally the Library which was built in memory of a Butler graduate, — Bona Thompson — by her parents when she died in Europe. Miss Kath- erine Merrill, who was first connected with the college at North Western, seems to have been the center about which the early student life revolved. Combining spirituality with a strong sense of fun, she meant a great deal to the young people about her. Although dignified, and undeniably superior, she was easily approached, and through her ability to gain the confidence of the big gawky boys in her English classes, she could inject into them her own scorn of anything that approached unmanly behavior. She always set an example of high, noble conduct. At the old Downey home where she lived, now the Hibben home, Miss Merrill gave the occa- sional teas and salons that were then a feature of the college social life. The amusements of those days could not possibly be called strenuous, and were more or less confined to spelling matches and literary society meet- ings. For these occasions, there was no casual hailing of the girl friend by May I have a date Friday night? Indeed no! Even after the boy and girl had known each other some time, formal little notes were sent as invitations, beginning on his side: My dear Miss Blank, May I have the pleasure of your company at the meeting of the Philokurian Society next Friday evening? And from the girl, even if she were all eagerness, only a precise : My dear Mr ...., I wish to accept with pleasure your kind invitation for next Friday evening. . . . As there were no walks at school the first year the college spent in Irvington, dating during rainy weather was difficult. Planks were thrown across lots to the railroad tracks and woe be to the one who slipped off the straight and narrow. One of the chief outdoor sports was seeing if you could balance yourself on no space at all in order to walk beside your girl on a board that was built just for one. One note-worthy case is on record where a fraternity man with a date was offered an umbrella by a rival Greek who was dateless. His astonishment was great for fra- ternity hostility in those days was so intense that it was patently expressed on all occasions. Fraternity Row Now that fraternity life has broadened out with seven national and two local men ' s fraternities on the campus and with twelve women ' s fra- Lcft — Old Downey Home Right — ' dating ' during rainy weather was difficult. wm Page Seven

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ft -ii -ft- A-ji -m-ft -ji -ft - ii-m-ii on his students was great, particularly in the field of etiquette, for in a day when suave manners were the exception, his were polished. To this same worthy assemblage of North Western University belongs William Thrasher, a great mathematician. Professor R. T. Brown, a distant relative of our Mr. Hilton U. Brown, president of the Board of Directors, represented the type of pro- fessor who becomes absorbed in the technicalities of his subject to the exclusion of all else. It is said that one drowsy summer afternoon at North Western Christian University, all of his students slipped out of the window one by one, and left him droning chemistry into his long white beard; not until the end of the hour did he become conscious that his only audience was a long row of empty chairs. Another one of these pre- Irvington faculty was W. F. Black, president from 1870- ' 73. Dr. David Slarr Jordan Among the outstanding professors of that first year in Irvington, beginning September, 1875, was Dr. David Starr Jordan, now of Stanford University. At that time he was teaching Botany, and many are the tales told about him. It seems that a snake was as much at home in his pocket as a wild-flower, and that often while he was lecturing, one of these would stick out its head inquiringly, much to the alarm of the co-eds, and perhaps this in whispers, of course), of the eds as well! Himself a man of great physical strength, he thought nothing of taking his classes on ten mile botany hikes; on such journeys, Maywood was a favorite objective. In that day, the faculty often joined the students in a game of ball when no other opposing team was to be had, and Dr. Jordan was often seen enjoying this sport. The Early Irvington Campus It is this Butler of early Irvington days that offers the greatest con- trast with the Butler of today in every custom and tradition of collegiate life. Many traditions have survived, and many more have become a part of the student life; now they are to be moved to Fairview as part of the institution. The Administration building was for some time the only structure on the Irvington campus. This was followed in succession by the College Residence, Science Hall, the Gymnasium, the Engine House, and Left — one drowsy summer af ternoon ... all his student: slipped out — Right — a snake was as much at home in his pocket —

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■ ternities, the situation is somewhat changed. Many of these organiza- tions are planning to build new homes in and about the campus at Fair- view. The minimum cost for such homes is to be twenty thousand dollars, and the maximum about sixty thousand. Men ' s fraternities which have bought building lots on the campus include Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi, Delta Tau Delta, and Sigma Nu. The women ' s organizations with similar plans are : Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Zeta Tau Alpha, Alpha Delta Theta, Delta Zeta, Alpha Chi Omega, and Delta Gamma. Several organizations, among them Lambda Chi Alpha and Chi Rho Zeta, have bought lots away from the campus on which they expect to build their fraternity houses. Such fraternity houses will follow Collegiate Gothic architecture as to general plan, but they will show whatever individuality small variations may exact. The university architect, Mr. Thomas Hibben, visited Oxford and Cambridge to study the college buildings there as well as many campuses in this country. Jordan Memorial Hall, of English Gothic Architecture, is the first of the new academic structures to be erected; it will constitute three recitation halls in one, to be connected with towers. Close to Jordan Hall, and near the Boulevard, will be the Men ' s and Women ' s Dormi- tories, each housing one hundred and forty students. They are expected to be ready for occupancy by the beginning of the 1928 fall semester. Opposite Jordan Hall will be the three other buildings which will be used doubtlessly for the Chapel, the Library, and the College of Religions. Between these two sets of buildings, and facing Forty-sixth street will be the Administration building. In keeping with the English-Gothic style of architecture, the building materials are of Salisbury Granite, (imported from England) and of Indiana Limestone. Even the proposed engine house will conform architecturally with the other structures. The Campus Site Mr. George Kessler, who before his recent death selected the sites for the new buildings, stated: I believe Butler has the most beautiful site for a campus of any University. It is fitting that the ground selected should be typically Hoosier in its topography; its sloping hills, its Left — Butler Home Right — A Fraternity House C n | - -?-: . § Tage Eight