Concordia College - Corona Borealis Yearbook (Edmonton, Alberta Canada)

Page 10 text:

It came, therefore, as a rude shock in 1930 when, after the residences had been completed, our Board received notice from this same assessor that these houses had been placed on the list of taxable property. Our complaints and arguments resulted in the decision of the city ' s legal department to place the matter before the Supreme Court of Alberta in the form of a test case. The trial judge decided in our favor; we won. The city appealed to the Appellate Division of Alberta; we lost. We submitted the case to the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, where on February 6, 1934, we lost, three judges against us and two in our favor. Since then our residences have been taxable. FACULTY ROW: The four professors ' residences are shown to the right. On the left is the president ' s home. Co-education Introduced in 1925 On August 11, 1925, our Board was confronted with the request to enroll a Lutheran girl who wanted to become a Christian day school teacher. The request was granted. This action was sanctioned by Synod in 1926 with the resolution to approve the work which is now carried on, and the continuation thereof ... That Synod permit also the institution in Edmonton to enroll girls in the same way for the purpose of educating them as teachers for our parish schools, but that also in this case the number of female students must not exceed 20% of the total enrollment. Proceedings 1926, 76. 77) The girls found lodging in the homes of our teachers from 1925-28. Two old houses, bought with the property in 1924, were then joined, west of the administration building, and converted by our teachers into a girls ' dormitory. The girls lived here from 1928-31. Miss Melanie Lange of Claresholm, Alberta, served as matron from 1928-30. When the co-ed enrollment had dropped from 12 to only 4, in 1930, Mrs. Schwermann took over the supervision. It had become evident that girls preparing for the teaching profession did not receive adequate training in a school in which the curriculum had been designed for ministerial students only; and a limited staff did not permit the introduction of a number of courses re¬ quired as prerequisite for normal training. Co-education was dropped in 1931. More Co-eds in 1941 After the introduction of the provincial high school courses, co-eds enrolled again. Five appeared in the fall of 1941; and then their number grew to 13 in 1942, 15 in ' 43, 22 in ' 44, and 28 in ' 45. They received their meals in the college dining room and lodging in homes near the college. During the year 1945-46 eighteen had residence in the homes of our pro¬ fessors, where they paid $7. 50 per month for room rent.

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Dedication, January 10, 1926 Then came the day of days - January 10, 1926 - the day on which our first Concordia in Canada was dedicated to the service of the Triune God. The weather had hitherto been un¬ usually favorable for building operations. Would it hold? Saturday night it began to rain, and on this basis it was safe to predict - in an Alberta January - snow and sub-zero temperature for the following day. But on Sunday morning the sun arose in all its splendor and in a cloud¬ less sky graciously smiled on us till dusk. Forty-three above zero was the maximum for the day, one that the Lord had made. Since the chapel provided for only 200 people, accommodation was found for more than 800 other guests in all available rooms of both the Administration Building and the boys ' dormi¬ tory. Here the visitors were amazed to find a public address system - quite a novelty for those days. Joy was added to the dedication by the presence of some seventy pastors and several teachers of the four western provinces, who held a pastoral conference in the college from Thursday to Monday. On the following night pastors and students assembled in the chapel for an academic celebration in which (according to an old custom in Synod) only the Latin language was used for the address as well as for the hymns and prayers. Prof. W. A. Baepler had chosen as his theme, The Importance of a Knowledge of Classical Languages for a Minister of the Gospel. Whether all those present understood the professor ' s address need not be dis¬ cussed here! The total cost of our new college plant, including real estate and some remodeling, was $146,873. Concordia was now 5 years old, and during these years our gracious God had been kind to us. This was the Lord ' s doing; it was marvellous in our eyes! New Residences and the Tax Case in 1930 In 1929 a building committee composed of Rev. E. Eberhardt, Prof. M. W. Riedel, and Mr. John Armbruster, authorized by Synod ' s Board of Directors, began to plan new resi¬ dences for our teachers, who has till now lived in rented homes. Preparatory to the construction of these homes, arrangements were made with the city land department to exchange, on even terms, the eleven lots at the north end of our property (along 112th Avenue) for eleven more serviceable lots along Ada Boulevard, across Seventy-first Street. That was a profitable trade for both parties. Our lots, which in those days were worth some $200 to $500 each, are valued today at many thousands of dollars. The Edmonton Charter exempted the following lands from municipal and school taxes: The land not exceeding four acres of and attached to or otherwise bona-fide used in con¬ nection with and for the purpose of any university, college, high school, public or separate school, seminary of learning or hospital owned by a corporation .... so long as such land is actually used and occupied by such institution but not if otherwise occupied. Before proceeding with any plans for new residences, Mr. Hy. Horst and our Board were determined to find out whether our residences would be exempt from taxation. In other words: are teachers ' residences considered to be buildings used in connection with and for the use of colleges and therefore exempt? In a written communication the city assessor said that they would be. (Cp. Yearbook 1946, p. 13)

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Under the administration of President Walter Wangerin our most serviceable girls ' dormitory, known as Eberhardt Hall, was dedicated on April 29, 1956. It has accommodation for about 40 co-eds plus a suite of rooms for the dean of women. Its total cost was $113, 500. EBERHARDT HALL For the accommodation of more girls, the president ' s home, erected in 1957, was added as an annex to the girls ' dormitory in 1963. At that time President Frantz moved out and took possession of the home which up to then had been occupied by the Schwermann family on Ada Blvd. and 71st Street. THE ANNEX Concordia ' s Courses of Study At its founding in 1921, Concordia ' s policy was to have a course of studies similar to the one used in our American synodical colleges, and it was to conform as much as possible to the one used in Alberta ' s high schools. This meant to serve two masters. Over the years this twofold aim has caused difficulties since it has not always been easy to keep these two in harmony. Already in the early thirties the faculty gave serious study to accreditation. However, since Synod was contemplating a reorganization of its educational system and the provincial Department of Education had in mind to make extensive changes in the high school courses, no action was taken until the later part of the thirties. Encouragement to seek such accreditation was given by the fact that some of our min¬ isterial graduates were refused admission to universities because they had not received their training in an accredited school, and also by the fact that the synodical Board for Higher Education had suggested in 1937 that each institution should meet the state or region¬ al requirements for graduation from high school. Accordingly, the provincial course of studies as prescribed for the high schools of Alberta was introduced in 1939. To conform to this course, grade nine was eliminated from Concordia. The freshman college class was added in 1926; the sophomore class in ' 27.