Carroll College - Hilltopper Yearbook (Helena, MT)

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BREAKING GROUND FOR NEW GYMNASIUM the Great War militated somewhat against a much larger student body. The pre-professional courses were a success, and from their beginnings to the present have been ever growing. The fall of 1918 was significant in the growth of the institution. At that time the United States established with us a unit of the Students Army Training Corps. Major George W. Edgington, U. S. A., assisted by Lieutenants Marvin B. Robinson, Claude E. Ncihart, and Arthur Raymond and Sergeant Reavis of the United States Army, were in charge of the Unit. Quarters in the residence sections of the building were not sufficient to care for the enlisted men, and for that reason, the Great Northern Railway generously permitted the use of their station for dormitory quarters. The end of the War announced the end of the Students Army Training Corps, and in December, 1918, the Unit was discharged. Captain Clarence McDonald, who had come to the College in the fall of 1918, had prepared the way for the establishment of the S. A. T. C. so that the work of organization was well under way at the time of the arrival of the regular army officers. After the discharge of the regular Army unit. Captain McDonald took charge of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a unit of which had been approved by the War Department on January 15, 1919. Captain McDonald conducted the Unit until the arrival of Captain Harry K. Adams, U. S. A., who was in charge of Mili- Pagc thirty-four

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A twenty-five per cent increase in the enrollment marked the opening of the College in September, 1914. During this year there was inaugurated the first of the courses in philosophy, under the direction of Father Norbert C. Hoff. On September 23, on the occasion of the silver jubilee of the priesthood of Bishop Carroll, the Bishop paid the note for the last of the debt on the new institution, a sum of over $22,000. On November 16, Mr. James J. Hill redeemed his pledge by presenting his check for fifty thousand dollars to the endowment Fund, a gift he had promised on the condition that a like amount would be raised through other sources for the same purpose. The year, 1914, too marks the first football team of note in the College history, under the direction of Mr. Walter S. Yund. Of the athletics of the College, however, an account is given in another section of “The Pioneer.” The next scholastic year, 1915-1916 showed an increased student body and Faculty. At this time Mr. John D. Ryan of Butte made a donation of five thousand dollars to the Endowment Fund, the second gift he had made to this splendid cause. The usual activities were carried on. and traditions were becoming more firmly entrenched. In the spring of that year, was graduated our first College graduate, Mr. Patrick F. McVeigh, with the first degree conferred by the College. During the next year, 1916-1917, Father McMullen was succeeded by the Reverend Peter F. Macdonald as president of the College. The “Legion of Honor” was organized this year by the Reverend Patrick Casey. Devoted to honor of the Blessed Sacrament, the members were enthusiastic in their work and to the cause for which the organization was formed. The first quarterly issue of “The Prospector,” the successor to the “Scholastic,” appeared in November, 1916. under the direction of the Reverend John J. Tracy. On June 13, 1917, ground was broken for the new gymnasium and science building to be constructed during the summer months. It followed in the Gothic architectural lines and was constructed at right angles to the north of the main building. The ever-increasing numbers in the science classes made the new science faculties imperative. The new building was in course of construction during the next scholastic year and was ready for occupancy in the fall of 1918. September, 1917, marked the inauguration of the pre-professional courses to the college curricula. The great number of Montana boys who were preparing themselves for professional work made such courses a necessity if the College were to fulfill its purpose. The courses were immediately popular and accounted in some measure for the increased enrollment of that year. However, the entrance of the United States into Page lltirf u-three

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tary Science and Tactics until the discontinuance of the Unit in June, 1920. The contribution of Mount St. Charles to the Great War is not measured alone by the establishment of the S. A. T. C. Young as was the College at the outbreak of the war, it numbered among its alumni commissioned and non-commissioned officers who deserved well the promotions that came later to them all. A host of our former students responded to the call for volunteers, and served in all branches of the service. The first Montana soldier to fall in battle. Private Ray Brent, and the first Montana officer to give his life in France, Lieutenant Harold Joyce, were both former students of Mount St. Charles. September, 1919, marked the appointment of the Reverend John J. Tracy, Ph.D., as president of the College to succeed the Reverend Peter F. Macdonald, who was transferred to parish work. In January, 1920, the Reverend John J. O’Kennedy was placed at the head of the drive for funds with which to erect the new college building, the need of which had become imperative to accommodate the growing numbers of students of the College. The citizens of Helena responded in a generous manner, and the princely gift of fifty thousand dollars given by Senator T. C. Power in the name of the members of the Power family enabled the College to proceed further with its plans. Ground was broken for the new building to the south of the main building in the spring of 1920. The R. 0. T. C. was discontinued with the close of the College in June, 1920. Classes were again resumed, but without the military in September, 1920. At the conclusion of the program on the eve of the Christmas vacation in that year, the announcement was made of the appointment of the Reverend X. C. Hoff to succeed the Reverend John J. Tracy as president of the College. The next few years of the college life were uneventful, being marked only by the gradual growth in student enrollment and constant application to the improvement of the courses. In September, 1923, the department of education was added to those already existing, and immediately became popular with a number who anticipated teaching as a life’s career. On Sunday, May 20. 1923, the cornerstone of the new library and Residence Hall to the north of the main building was laid in the presence of a number of friends of the College. The dedication of the new building took place on June 1, 1921, and the building was opened in September, 1924. Almost immediately all its facilities were utilized. Storming the tide of trial of youth and early expansion, Mount St. Charles is now finishing its twentieth year, has assumed a leading place Page thirty-five