Eastern Kentucky University - Milestone Yearbook (Richmond, KY)

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.EM, M5G 3n jdemortam At nine o ' clock on the evening of March seventeenth, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-eight the Commonwealth of Kentucky lost one of its greatest educators, Thomas Jackson Coates, President of Eastern Teachers College. It is with pro- found regret that we realize he is no longer our leader. He has been carried to the land of immortality; he has ascended into eternity. He is one of the countless numbers who have answered to the call of not my will but Thy will be done. Mr. Coates clearly saw and grasped the rural educational problems of Kentucky. He appreciated the problems of the Commonwealth more than any other Kentuckian of his time. With this as a background he was selected as the leader of the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College eleven years ago. This enabled him to visualize the possibilities of making Eastern a great educational institution for those who intended entering the field of teaching in Kentucky. During his administration Eastern grew from a Normal School to a standard college with the privilege of granting bachelors ' de- grees. Through his efforts Eastern has been admitted to the State Association of Colleges, the National Association of Teachers Colleges, and will carry on athletics under the rules and regula- tions specified by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Two years ago he obtained an appropriation large enough to complete the building of Burnam Hall and to erect a new ad- ministration building. The last efforts of this great educator were accomplished when the recent General Assembly granted an appropriation that will provide for the building of a new gymna- sium and an auditorium. President Coates has given his life that Eastern should live. Eastern is living and thanks to his untiring work in her behalf it will continue to live. The memory of President Coates will re- main at Eastern. The beautiful buildings erected during his ad- ministration stand as a tribute to his memory.

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The MILESTONE 8 A 192,5 yj Published by the Senior College of the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College RICHMOND, KENTUCKY

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Thomas Jackson Coates