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

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K-State counts marching band. And despite the speech department ' s refuge under the old stadium, their forensic team was third in the nation. But K-State has never been considered a catalyst for change. The opinion of the Wildcat University has been one of being unprogressive, closed to change. In the changing forces of the sixties, when campuses across the nation were being wracked by student protest, K-State was a nonparticipant in the limelight. Quietly stepping in its own path, K-State made changes when it counted, slowly and surely. The reason for this was possibly because of the then-President James McCain who was cited in the May 27, 1967 Saturday Review as one Oh Horrors- The return of the Rocky Horror Picture Show brought out the crazies Halloween night In the Union main ballroom No Nukes- A protest against nuclear power and Salt II took place outside McCain Auditorium during Walter Mandate ' s visit. A-2 Only- Forms to fill, lines to wait in, lees to pay, brought the annual semester headaches in August. 2 Openlog

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I When it counts, K-State is there in a valley, encased by the Flint Hills, where the Blue and Kansas rivers greet each other, K-State continues in its own individual direction. Labeled Cowboy University, Silo Tech and Dairy on the Prairie, K-State has been considered as redneck, conservative and backward in attitude. Yet, when it is important K-State Sunrise-The morning sun casts a healthy glow on the K-State campus. counts. Not only leading in agriculture, the University houses one of the top veterinarian colleges in the nation. Strong, positive reputations have also been earned in the areas of engineering, architecture and home economics. The small music department has the internationally recognized jazz band and the Queen of England ' s choice of entertainment for the world championship Wembley Cup soccer game, the Pride of Wildcat Land June, 1909. the Kansas Board of Regents proposed the beading of a new gym-armory to be named niter E.R. Nichols. president of the college A year liter, a solid slab of reinforced concrete was lad as the gym floor, a building innovation for the time. And in 1911. Nichols Gym opened. The Junior class was given permission to host 4 banquet for seniors. (No dancing was allowed) In 1915, swimming pools and a society room were added and in 1965, the music department moved to Nichols after the auditorium was destroyed fire. The spirit of college basketball reigned in Nichols for 39 years, students had to stand in line for hours, much like today, to got tickets for good seats. As enrollment increased. access to games decreased. Two sections of tickets were sold. This meant that half the student ticket holders would see half the games while the other holders would see the other hall. Ilngutted-Nichols in a before look that many students on campus have never seen, the entrance isn ' t boarded up and glass is in the windows. 191K) Royal Pantile Kansas State University Volume 71 Manhattan, Kansas

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The popularity of the basketball games and difficulty of attending t he games generated student protest and demands for an adequately.gred fieldhouse In desperation, students hung from the ratters at the games and once someone threw a dummy down from the rafters to demonstrate to kgisfators attending the game K-State ' s need for a fieldhouse. Students finally got their wish when the Mike Ahearn held House opened on December 9. 1950. Nichols ' claim to fame, though. Is not the basketball games, the reinforced concrete, or student antics. Nichols ' claim is that it has the longest and most debated-over history of any building on the K-Slate campus. Controversy began when an arsonist ' s lire gutted the building in 1968. amId a general national air of protest against the Vietnam war, civil rights and bureaucracy launched by the nation ' s youth. Though the fire destroyed the building, the swimming pools remained in use until Raft Hanging•Overcrowded games had students viewing the basketball games from the rafters. Dna 14.1. Opening 3