Eastern Kentucky University - Milestone Yearbook (Richmond, KY)

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1977-78 Telford Hall was the scene of a near disaster in January of 1977 when a fire that began in a tenth floor room started spreading. Smoke billowed out of the dorm making an eerie scene in the glare of streetlights, while fire trucks sat useless, their ladders unable to reach high enough to fight the blaze. But the fire seemed to bring out the best in the students: the women of Telford evacuated calmly, and once outside they found many helping hands. Female stu- dents offered extra clothes and rooms for the nights, while men set up mattresses in Alumni coliseum for those unable to find shelter. In- juries and damages in the fire were minor, thanks to quick thinking by those involved. The 1977-78 basketball season brought the revival of one of the most exciting aspects of the game — the dunk. And the Colonels showed they could dunk with anyone, stuffing an average of five times a game .... . . . and in the 1978-79 season the dunk was a weapon in the Colonels ' championship ar- senal ....

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1976-77 J. C. Powell took office as Eastern ' s seventh president on October 1, 1976. He inherited the reality of Robert Martin ' s vision, and pledged to keep it a reality: Eastern ' s position as a nationally recognized public university is one which I would jealously guard and seek to enhance, he said at his inauguration. But Powell asked people not to expect a carbon copy or Robert Martin, and to realize that he would operate with his own style. The football Colonels recaptured the OVC crown, which had been lost to Western in 1975. With their 6-1 conference record, Eastern ear- ned the right to host the first round of the Divi- sion II play-offs. The home advantage didn ' t help though; the Colonels fell to North Dakota State 10-7. The Seventies 27

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1978-79 The basketball Colonels brought the OVC ti- tle back to Richmond for the first time since 1972, finishing the season with a 9-3 conference slate. Two of these losses were to arch-rival Western, but they were avenged in a thrilling (and controversial) OVC championship, which the Colonels won on two free-throws by Dave Tierney. Eastern then went on to lose to a tough Tennessee team in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The football Colonels gained a milestone for Head Coach Roy Kidd, winning their 100th football game under his direction. An 8-2 record earned the team the number eight rank- ing in the final Division 1— AA poll. And the women were not to be outdone; the women ' s gymnastic team, made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores finished with an 11- 3 record, and finished 15th in the nation as they represented the university at the AIAW National Championships at Penn State. The Seventies 29