Eastern Kentucky University - Milestone Yearbook (Richmond, KY)

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1970 1970: The beginning of the Age of Aquarius was hailed by the 1960 MILESTONE; a time when peace would guide our planet . . . with its dreams of social justice and understanding. And that all seemed possible as the nation put behind it the turbulence of the ' 60 ' s. But the Age of Aquarius was postponed at Eastern, and across the nation — a lot of dreams were shat- tered by that tragic day at Kent State. But despite the blot Kent State put on the year, 1 970 was still a year of promise at Eastern, for the campus was changing fast, expanding as the physical growth initiated by President Mar- tin in the 60 ' s peaked. The many half-finished buildings were a symbol of the future at Eastern Kentucky. J J ■ ' . U: 18 The Seventies

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The end of a year is a natural time to pause and remember, to relect upon the changes time has brought about, but when the end of a year also marks the passing of a decade one pauses longer. There is more to remember, the changes of ten years to relect upon. TEN YEARS! Despite what geologists, archaeologists and other ologists who work with centuries the way most people work with minutes will say, ten years is a long time. There is room for much change in ten years. Especially in the 70 ' s. Es- pecially at Eastern Kentucky University. The 70 ' s were years of tremendous growth here. They were the years in which President Robert Martin saw the maturation of his Vision of Greatness. And they were the years that J. C. Powell, succeeding Martin as president in 1976, took the physically mature University and began to expand it in another direction — quality programs. This is the story of the 70 ' s at Eastern. The Seventies 17

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1971-72 During the 1971-72 academic year construc- tion finished on the Meditation Chapel, and on the Powell and Wallace buildings, all three on the site of old Hanger Field. The completion of these buildings signaled the end of construction at the center of campus. Construction con- tinued on the fringes, but for the first time in almost a decade the campus proper was in finished form. With winter came the annual epidemic of basketball fever, and with the Colonels picked as pre-season favorites in the OVC, the disease was in especially virulent form at Eastern. But Coach Guy Strong ' s team had to survive a mur- derous conference battle and a playoff game with Murray before they could wear the con- ference crown and gain an NCAA tournament invitation. In the first round of that tournament, the Colonels drew the Florida State Seminoles, who had beaten them earlier in the season. But that game was in Tallahassee. On a neutral court the Colonels knew they could give the Seminoles a game. And they did, falling behind early but engineering a gutsy comeback that fell just a bit short. The Colonels lost it 83-81 to the eventual national runners-up. The Seventies 19