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

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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.

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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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Provincial Final Examinations Several subjects in the provincial finals were written by our first co-eds only, around 1929. Beginning with 1940, these annual Grade XII examinations became obligatory for all students. The first results were a cause for rejoicing: our students passed 84% of those subjects in which they were examined and thus obtained a high school diploma. In 1943 the results placed Concordia second highest among all high schools of Alberta, and this pace continued for a number of years. Our chief competitor was the University High School; we had no success in surpassing them. And Westglen High in Edmonton was another thorn in the flesh! Inspections Inspectors of the Department of Education visited us occasionally in the early years, for instance in 1924, ' 27, and ' 30; and since 1939 every year. We were grateful for their cour¬ teous and constructive criticism, and for their words of recognition. In addition to Concordia ' s thorough work, the inspectors commended the absence of boorish behavior in the classroom and the students ' neat appearance. This neat appearance impressed also our synodical inspectors. In fact, they suggested at times that we had set the stage for their visit. But such was not the case. The members of our faculty appreci¬ ated humor and laughter in the classroom, but monkeyshining was taboo. In the classroom the chapel, and in the dining room all students were to be properly dressed. If such men as lawyers and doctors always appear publicly in proper apparel, there was no reason why future physicians of souls should appear as beatniks. It must be admitted that we received encouragement for this rule from the following quotation concerning the North-West Mounted Police in southern Alberta. I found it in the twenties, and it remained under the glass top of the desk until I vacated the office in 1954: Fort Macleod, 1876 The Assistant-Commissioner directs that the dress and appearance as well as the demeanor of the men of the Force should on all occasions and in all situations be such as to create respect for the Corps they belong to, and he would like to see the men - if possible - properly dressed when they go beyond the precincts of the Fort. - Daily Orders Our New Gymnasium-Auditorium 1953 Today a well-equipped gymnasium is an essential part of every educational institution. It was not always thus. At Concordia Seminary in St. Louis with its 200 to 300 students we had a room in the basement large enough for two handball courts; and a number of us used the parallel and horizontal bars in the attic. Consider what the immortal J. Percy Page (now our venerable Lieutenant-Governor) did with his world-famous girls basketball team, the Edmonton Grads. From 1915 to 1940 the Grads played 522 games, won 502, lost 20; they whipped all comers on the continents of North America and Europe, played 29 games in four different Olympics and won them all. All their training these girls received in a room at the Edmonton McDougall Commercial Hi gh School, in floor area not as large as Concordia ' s is today. The truth of the matter was that in the early years of our existence most public schools had no gymnasium, much less our Concordia. There were some at our synodical institutions, but those were erected with funds gathered in the local community. Synod ' s policy up to the 1940s was: as a Synod we do not build gymnasiums; this must be done by the local constituents. The best we could do in our new buildings was to offer our student body (which in various years numbered more than 100) a room 25 x 37, north of the dining hall. This was used for handball, ping-pong, and social activities. There were no facilities for physical education and gymnastics, musical activities, audio-visual instruction, and larger social gatherings. Our chapel was an all-purpose room used for daily devotions, and in addition for classes, meetings, dramatic rehearsals, choir practices, and public gatherings. After a pep talk at the beginning of the school-year, a half dozen or more students would seek piano teachers, only to be told after a number of weeks by these same teachers to quit because they were not practicing enough. How could they? They had no suitable place to practice. With the passing of years conditions became more desperate, almost intolerable. Well do we remember January and February 1949. That year we had 123 students, of which 90 boys filled the dormitory to the rafters. Before Christmas they found recreation on the skating rink and the ski hills. But after New Year we had an uninterrupted cold spell lasting 46 days. The greater part of this time the mercury was between 30 and 40 below. Occasionally some bolder spirits ventured out, but came in with frozen feet, necessitating an enforced vacation in bed. Recurrently, student leaders came into the office with the doleful plea: What CAN we do for recreation?