Capital University - Capitalian Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

Page 29 text:

I lie most collegiate cloisters of Capital Univer- sity are found across College Avenue in the group of red brick buildings officially called Schenk Divinity 1 lall and unofficially dubbed Saints' Castle. Schenk Divinity 1 lall is the home of the seminarians and those pre-sems fortunate enough to have rooms there. Built in 1923, Capital's Divinity 1 lall was made possible by a generous gift of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Schenk and by an additional grant from the Church. Its small chapel, used by the seminarians lor their daily chapel program and other special services, is one of the most beautiful edifices on the campus. In this same unit are seminary class- rooms as well as the busy office of Dean Edward Fcndt. An additional classroom unit is the home of the speech department and a reception room is used not only by seminarians but also by various college organizations as a meeting place. The re- maining two wings of Divinity I ball are dormitories which provide comfortable living quarters for Cap's ministerial students. I bus 1). 11. embraces the whole range of Cap- ital student life: in the dormitory wings, there prevails that spirit of warm congeniality which exists among comrades united in a common cause; the courtyard is the scene of many minor athletic attempts climaxed each fall by the famed seminary homecoming; and in the lovely little chapel one finds that worshipful silence which seems to ema- nate from the dark-beamed ceiling, the polished altar and the brilliant stained glass windows. — 23

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RUDOLPH LIBRARY One of the most photogenic buildings on campus is the Rudolph Memorial Library, whose vaulted reading rooms are seldom empty from morning till night—especially around term paper time. 1 he library, built originally in 1914 and remodeled in 1938, serves Cap scholars well. I he reading rooms are well-known to every Cap stcr. especially the much-thumbed periodical section in the corner of the main room; and on the other side are the formidable shelves of the reference books which every freshman English student duly leafs through at the beginning of his college career. I he old green sofa that sits in the bay window is almost as familiar a campus landmark as the Big Elm, and many a student has found it l lovely place to puzzle ovci a particularly heavy pas- sage of Virgil or general psych. Miss Conrad, the guiding saint of the Rudolph Library, has her oflice behind the Seminary reading room on the south side, while across the hall assis- tants Vincent and I leubner struggle violently to keep up with the incoming flow of new volumes. Upstairs are the private domains of Chaplain Owens, Social Activities Director Bowers, and Mr. Metz’s education oflice; among the three of them they keep the narrow hall nearly always occupied by goings of student teachers, social chairmen, and other impatients awaiting admission. In the basement one finds the art room. Here Miss Ebinger's I itians, Picassos, and other such people hold forth in various media, from Ivory Soap to oils and clay. Behind two ornate doors sparkling in colored glass windows, Capital artists give expression to their artistic impulses with much enthusiasm and varying degrees of success; their efforts have even overflowed onto brightly designed murals pasted around the basement halls, showing forth all sorts of queer creatures. Down here, also. Dr. Ebert discourses to his philosophers daily and Dean Smith entertains his Greeks. It is in the library that most students are first initiated into the serious side of college life during the voluminous entrance tests; and from those first days on, this lovely brick building plays an im- portant role in the academic life of each member of the Cap family. — 22 —

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MEES HALL Mees 11 all and C Conservatory are names used interchangeably to refer to the great square build- ing dominating the view of Capital s campus as one enters the front gate. For ivied Mees Hall is the home of Capital s musicians: every day these trades- men of the strings, the brass, the woodwinds, and the percussion play their crafts singly and in groups in its rooms, and students in near-by Leonard Hall arc treated every hour of the day to a various chorus of sounds streaming across the intervening lawn. Mees Hall was built in 1927 and is still one of Capital's points of pride. From its Gothic-arched entrance ways to the lofty auditorium, it has an air of dignity worthy of an art which is so highly cherished at Capital. In it there are a number of individual practice rooms, studios, olfices of mem- bers of the teaching and administrative staff, the auditorium, and Recital 1 fall. 1 Ierc it is that the music students have their classes and private les- sons, here they meet in groups such as the Chapel Choir, the Men’s Glee Club, the Curls’ Chorus, and the band and orchestra to enjoy their art and to make possible its enjoyment by all the members of the campus; here those musicians of tomorrow (or perhaps today) pound out their scales, blow their trills, and otherwise provide for that ever- lasting Mees Hall medley so familiar to passers-by. All day long, one can see Capsters bustling through the halls dragging stacks of music or sitting on the big chairs on the lobby feverishly working out a day’s grind of solfegg(io) or beginning harmony; and about three o’clock in the afternoon begins a steady trickle of little people from the city’s schools coming with black violin and horn cases to visit with our professors. Once a day the musicians release their exclusive right to Mees Hall when at 11 o’clock Capsters troop in for chapel services, to enjoy a brief period of meditation as well as to catch up on the latest campus news thoughtfully edited by Chaplain Owens. 1 bus Mees is a much-frequented part of the Capital campus and continues not only to sene but also to adorn. -24-