Indiana University - Arbutus Yearbook (Bloomington, IN)

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Proposed Girls ' Dormitory M. A., ' 08 ; Charles J. Sembower, ' 92 ; W. E. Showers, ' 02 ; H. Lester Smith, ' 98 ; Miss Agnes E. Wells, Michigan, ' 03, and James A. Woodburn, ' 76. Later addi- tions to the committee were Mrs. Walter S. Greenough, ' 11; Miss Etelka Rock- enbach, ' 06, and Mrs. Frank D. Hatfield, ' 13. By general agreement, it was decided that the initial effort of the campaign should be made on the campus. With that purpose in mind. Noble C. Butler, ' 22, of Indianapolis, and Elisabeth Johnston, ' 23, of Bloomington, were named by President Bryan, in December, 1921, as student directors for the opening phase of the movement. Following their appointment, the two student executives immediately began the planning of a movement to raise the initial offering of the entire project. Their first attention was directed toward perfecting an organization among the student body to effectively launch and carry such a campaign through to a suc- cessful completion. Many conferences were held and voluminous material was collected from other schools that had conducted similar enterprises. No day went by without something being done to speed up the machinery for the first student campaign. The organization consisted in the main of two large committees, a men ' s and a w ' omen ' s, large enough in their composition to canvass the entire student body. They were given titles of Women ' s All-Campus Committee and Men ' s All- Campus Committee. The personnel of these committees was announced Janu- ary 24, 1921. Early in the campaign, by unanimous endorsement of all workers, it was announced that positively no coercion would be used to force any student to give to the fund. Meetings of the Men ' s and Women ' s All-Campus committees were held from time to time for the purpose of instructing the members in the details and pur- poses of the movement and to acquaint them with the work before them. Vari- ous sub-committees such as publicity, ways and means, estimates, groups, non-or- [ Page 9 ]

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Proposed Union Building The Million T ollar Memorial T rhe THE movement to raise a Memorial Fund at Indiana University had its origin within the ranks of the alumni and former students. The Alumni Council, meeting June 7, 1921, adopted the following resolution that paved the way for the inception of the fund: Resolved, that a movement be immediately inaugurated among the grad- uates, former students and friends of Indiana University to raise by voluntary contributions a Memorial Fund of one million dollars as a gift to the University. The Council originally provided that this fund should be appropriated in the following way : For a Union Building $500,000 For an Athletic Stadium 250,000 For Women ' s Dormitories 250,000 The first step in the inauguration of the campaign was the appointment of a director or executive secretary. W. A. Alexander, ' 01, University librarian, and formerly dean at Swarthmore College, was named director October 18, 1921. He had held a similar position in a similar movement at Swarthmore College. From the moment of his appointment, Mr. Alexander assumed direct charge of all the diversified phases of the project. Soon after the appointment of Mr. Alexander, an executive committee was appointed for the movement. Its personnel included the following: William L. Bryan, ' 84, chairman; U. H. Smith, ' 93, treasurer; W. A. Alexander, ' 01, executive secretary; Mrs. James K. Beck, ' 76; Prof. Lillian G. Berry, ' 99; Noble C. Butler, ' 22; John W. Cravens, ' 97 ; James W. Fesler, ' 87 ; Wiley J. Huddle, ' 01 ; Elisabeth Johnston, ' 23; Isidor Kahn, ' 08; Frank H. Levell, ' 20; Uz McMurtrie, ' 08; Allen G. Mes- sick, ' 12; Dick Miller, ' 94; Charles M. Niezer, ' 99; Robert E. O ' Brien, U. S. [Page 8]

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Proposed Memorial Stadmm ganized, arts, benefits and convocations were formed from the membership of the two general committees. For purposes of solicitation the two large committees were subdivided into divisions, headed by a division leader, and teams, led by team captains. George H. Neff, ' 22, of Newcastle, was chosen by Mr. Butler to be assistant men ' s student director and to have complete charge of the men ' s team organization and management. Blanche Davidson, ' 22, was named to serve in the same capacity for the women by Miss Johnston. A campus goal of $400,000 was set as the mark for workers to shoot at in one of the first meet- ings of the two general committees. A five-year payment plan of pledges was approved, and made the standard for student pledges. Events moved at a fast and furious pace after the middle of February, 1921. The general publicity for the movement was accelerated and a campus-wide in- terest was aroused in the project. A signboard to depict the story of the Me- morial was erected on the corner across from the library and was the object of universal attention. By February 25 the fund had reached a total of $140,000 from unsolicited campus sources, chiefly faculty and organization donations. Tues- day, March 7, was set as the date for the opening of actual solicitation among the student body. Everything was in readiness for the firing of the opening gun. On the eve- ning of March 6 the Men ' s and Women ' s All-Campus committees met for dinner in the University cafeteria where the pledges of the members of the two commit- tees were taken. Their pledges totalled $42,775, an average of $197 for each so- licitor. With a record like that they could approach the prospective givers among the student body with an assurance of complete success. [Page 10]