Concordia University Chicago - Pillars Yearbook (River Forest, IL)

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Kohn. Faulty wiring was thought to be the cause. The building was rebuilt and dedicated October 11, 1914. New buildings continued to indicate growth at Concordia Teachers College. Dorms C andl D CKohn and Brohml, a third floor annex to the music building, and the gymnasium had been built by 1927, faculty homes were going up gradually on Monroe and Bonnie Brae. Grace Congregation built its church on Concordia's campus in 1930 and their parish house be- came the site of the training school. By this time four campus orga- nizations were prominent in stu- dent life. The College Band, led by R. T. Rohlfing CProf. Harold pointed by the school's administration. His io-b was to maintain contact between the students and food services. Each floo-r in the dorm was headed by a floorbuck who was bo-th an administrator and counselor, in addition, each room had a roombuck. Rohlfing's fatherj and the Chorus were thriving organiz- ations. The Spectator had been printing student and faculty opinions since 1925. Planning the social functions for the student body was the Extracurricular Committee. Student government existed at this time. The president, or Sembuck Cbuck was a nickname for boy, sembuck was the boy who was head of the seminaryj led the student body. The vice-president was the music building buck in charge of order and cleanliness in the music building. A third administrative officer was the Food Administrator, ap- Geography and Natural History Lecture Room s Wynne ,jg,ff-f'

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5 lr El!! October 12, 1913, Founders Day, brought ap- proximately 45,000 people to River Forest for a full day of dedicatory festivities which included six sermons. Facilities dedicated that day were the Administration building, Dorms A and B CLin- demann and Kraussl, the Music Building Know the Student Union buildingl and the Commons ldining hallj. President Brohm resigned in 1913 and the Reverend William C. Kohn, president of the North- ern lllinois District, was elected president of the newly located college. On February 28, 1914, the Administration building burned, destroying both the student and faculty libraries, Professor Eifrig's museum, and irreplaceable records. The fire, which caused about 575,000 damage, was discovered by President

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12 Music has always played a prominenf role in Concordia's hisfory. AT Addison The older sTudenTs insTrucTed The young- er in ruolimenfary piano. There was also a hand-pump or- gan on which The young men learned To play The bass. The faculTy library was a flourishing co-llecfion of books, buT The sTudenT library was meager unTil The profiTs from The Book Concern CbooksTorel were used To buy books. SporTswise Concordia was Then as she is now, baskefball crazy, alfhough aT firsT baseball was imporTanT. Before The gym was builT, The inTramural Teams played oufside. Games wiTh oTher schools were usually runaways wiTh Concordia winning by large margins. Fo-oTball sTarTed in 1924 wiTh gre-aT exciTemenT, buT inTeresT faded rapidly, parTly because The Teams were noT Too successful. Since 1924, Track, Ten- nis, and baseball have also shared The sporTs spoTlighT. ln 1933, The sTudenT body selecfed Cougars as The Team name. In The summer of 1933, Concordia became a hoTel. Lu- Theran visiTors To The VVorld's Fair in Chicago were housed in The dorms and served breakfasT in The dining hall for a very nominal fee. The 1930's were The years for academic change and ad- vancemenT. In 1932, The firsT summer session was held- a one-week seminar. Also in 1932 for The firsT Time, pro- moTion was by course raTher Than by class. A Third Normal year was inauguraTed in 1933 To Take care of Those wiThouT calls due To The depression. The Curriculum for The Third year was To be sTricT- ly conTenT-cenTered and The sTudenTs were To be Treafed as graduaTe sTudenTs. The quarTer sysfem was adopTed in 1935. ExTension and correspond- ence courses were offered in 1936 To The many Teachers in The field who wished To conTinue Their sfudies. In 1938, Concordia became coeducafion- al, The girls lived in faculTy homes and in The area which is now The infirmary. Synod sTipulaTed -ThaT The number of women should never exceed SOCZT of The sTudenT body. A fourfh Normal year was offered Cby Synodical decisionj in SepTember, 1939, buT iT was noT compulsory. Throughouf This Time, The school was becoming more concerned abouT accrediTaTion wiTh The prop- er auThoriTies. To achieve full accrediTaTion, The faculTy, many of Them quiTe old, wenT back' To school To obTain advanced degrees. The Univer- siTy of Illinois granTed accrediTaTion To The firsT