Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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Tlif students liked tlie change. It brought them new instructors and a co-operative book store and dining iiail. Townspeople bitterly opposed it, how- ever, and fought the new president and his movonieiit step by step. In 1899 the Populist wave subsided mid Will was puslied out with it. Ernest R. .Nichols. |ii [iul,ii physics professor, advanced to the executive posiimii as acting president. A year later he became jiresi- dent of the college by action of the board of regents. Nichols, a scientist and educator rather than a politician, kept the college out of politics and -limu- lated building and internal growth. Social and class groups rose to new leM ' ls ol prominence. Class feuds interspersed with love feasts , became traditional as class colors and numerals were hung and torn down amid nocturnal conflicts. Pranks of every sort were pulled on rival student groups and on faculty members, to be recorded in class yearbooks which began regular publication. Rise of Fraternities Fraternities first appeared at Kansas Slate in 1901 with the almost simultaneous founding of two local organizations, Tau Omega Sigma and Kappa Delta Pi. The first successful sorority, orig- inally named the Witches , was organized in 1901 and formally chartered under the name Lambda Lambda Theta two years later. Another local so- rority. Phi Kappa Phi, also started in 1901. These early Greek social organizations were op- posed by faculty members and frowned on 1) tiiost uf the students. They were even denied space in I lie annual until 1909, when the yearbook adopted the [icr- manent name of the Royal Purple. History w 0,lt-c. II. ' ! in 1909 wlien Topcka IcfiiNlulors were guests of the ire shown leaving the auditorium after the final meeting defeat of measures which would have tlirottled the .liege. That same year the Men ' s Panhellenic was formed, a third fraternity. Phi Alpha Theta, joining with the two early fraternities. In 1910 the sororities followed suit with Phi Kappa Phi, Lambda Lambda Theta, and Eta Reta Pi, forming the nucleus of the Women ' s Panhellenic. Dramatics received organized sponsorship in 1908 hen the first Kansas State dramatic club was created. The club changed its name from Dramatic Club to I ' nrple Masque Manhattan Theat 1915. It 1928. kas succeeded bs Ih- In the good old days the campus talcen at tlie turn of the century giv smart walk from the city of Manhattan. This picture iew across the site of Aggieville from the east. Student Council Created Students first obtained a Miicf in scl 1 goNcrnnienl in l ' M|i) when pre ious IViclidn the student body resulted in the creation of the student council. In its original form the council was composed of one faculty member and 1 1 students. In this same year an at- tcinpl was made by action of the stale legislature to reduce the college to an experiment station or a subsidiary of the state university. The student council called a mass i ting of both students mid JHcnltv during which was jilannrd and financed, in a few short iiours, a master stroke of salesman- ship which saved Kansas State from legislative restriction. This meeting arranged the transportation of the entire legislative body from Topeka to the campus, chartering a special train and paying for it bv volunlarv contributions.

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Senior numerals perched ubovc the sinokusUilv n . ,ill . feud in which the juniors came out second best. Iron rods fully forged, provide the almost invisible perch. Chapel in Anderson Hall nas part of the dail program for many classes of Kansas Staters. Recreation center and art department rooms now fill the place where stage sets used to be. cultural Collcfif, I lie nation ' s pioneer agricultural school. Fairdiild continued the Anderson precedent and the college grew like a healthy youngster. Physical and educational growth stimulated the development of an even more potent force - sclioul spirit. As the students increased from a total of 207 in 1879 to 734 in 1897. class groups and other organiza- tions increased in size and influence. Two more literary societies were formed, the Hamilton and I lie Ionian, in 1884 and 1887 respectively. TheY.M.C . and (he Y. W. C.A. became permanent organizations in 188. ' ). Competition between classes became keen and conihals frequent and sometimes bloody. ' Ihi ' cliicf delight of the underclassmen was lo huniiliale I heir more ad- vanced rivals, before, during or after I he lal lei ' s closely guarded meetings. Organize Athletic Association . tldelics received their first real support in 1897 with the organization of the Athletic Association, Haseball. football, and later basketball began to take their place in student life. The first student newspaper, the Students Herald, began publication January 8, 1896, to answer the increasing demand for student expression on the campus. Two years later a student song contest gave Ihr .ujlege ilie lnia Malrr. II. V. Jones was the aulhor of h,,lh words and nuisic. Political tides swept the campus in 1897 with the sudden vav(! of Populism. It dominated tlie whole slate |)(ilitical pict ure and swept President Fairchild and scNcrai of his conscrvalive faculty co-workers from I lie campus. I ' airchild was replaced by Thomas K. Will, head ,.f Ihe (Irparlnieiil of |»,liliVal .■e.moniy. Lovers ' lane framed many a romantic moment as couples lingered down its shady aisle. Now denude of sheltering trees and shrub- bery, it lacks its former charm of quiet seclusion. nmm Rainbow dances weaved fantastic patterns in front of ivy-covered walls. Literary societies presented many forms of entertainment before the davs of commercialized recreation.

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Rebuilding Ahearn Field was a volunteer j()l( done |py 2,500 workers. Townspeople helped too. Barracks mushroomed on Kansas SiaU ' s campus diu ' ing the war-fevered days of ' Hi. Several of them are still standin;;. mechanics received special instruc- tion as the college cooperated with the war department. Deserted wooden stands in the hackfrround testify to the impro ed accommodations (illrrcd lis till ' risiii;; stailiiini. Fans began to use the stadium almost before the scaffolding from the lirsl section. When the lawmakers arrived lliey were escorted about tlie campus, entertained by miHtary maneuvers, and finally after being banqueted by the domestic science girls were asked to express their opinions of the college. Then they were returned to Topeka, all free of charge. They were thoroughly sold on the merits of the college and promptly squelched the measure, so Kansas State College continued to grow unhampered into a great prairie instil iitinn devoted l agriculture, science, and engineering. Also ill l ' ' (W, Presidcnl Nichols resigned and Henry J. Waters quietly assumed tlu cxcciiliM ' position. s the college grew and ciirrictila became more diverse, class organiza- lidiis weakened. The eight lilerarv societies, Mlieiiiaii. Ionian. Hamilton, lliirodelphiaii. Alpha Beta, Browning, Franklin, and Webster had a large number of the students on their combined membership rolls and exercised irlual control over school poliliis. (Jreek organizations gained recognition and grew steadily between l ' )12 and l )lfi. Local groups gave way to chapters afTilialed with national organizalions. Athletics gained proniinenc.- rapidly after 1900. Mehols (Jymnasium was built ill IMI I and two years later Kansas State entered .Mis.souri Valley Conference coin|)etilion. Miearii field, christened in 1912, was completely drained and rebiiill some lime later by 2.o()0 volimlary student and faculty laborers. The Stddeiils Herald ciiani. ' ed its name in I ' )i:5 to Kansas Aggie and I hen changed again t lie Inilow ing ear hiheconu ' the Kansas Stale Collegian. The Hoyal Purple iiisli d its c.i-ed |.(i|)iilaril and beauty contests in If ar Affects College Then all progress stopped. The whole college swung into the martial rhythm of 1918; other objectives were forgotten. The regular military organization was replaced by the Student Army Training Corps and five barracks were flung together on the campus and a unit of S. . T. C. The (III epidemic hit the college so .severely that twice in the fall of I ' M 8 school was discontinued entirely for intervals of nearly a month and six fralernily houses were pressed into use as emergency hospitals. fler the war, the college resumed its normal aetivities under William M. .lardine who had assumed the presidency in 1918.