Kenyon College - Reveille Yearbook (Gambier, OH)

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Rutherford B. Hayes is ono ol the most distinguished Kenyon Alumni without doubt. His name remains as a mark of achievement to all Kenyon men. Ho returned to the Hill for the commoncemont of 1870 right aftor his nomination and sovoral times afterwards. He loved Kenyon dearly. 10

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successful minister. The College was in serious financial straits when he began his term of office. Travelling to New York Mc- Ilvaine raised 28,500 dollars. The east and west wings were added to the building, not as the architect Bullfinch had designed it, but in a modified form. The Bishop built himself a beautiful mansion, Mcllviane Hall, which was the pride of the countryside. A period of expansion ensued, and Rosse Hall, begun by Chase, was redesigned and completed in the rough. A large red brick building was erected for a boy's school—Milnor Hall—one of the finest in the country. The isolation of Gambier was a little too overbearing for ambitious Mcllvaine, who acquired a residence in Cleveland in 1838. Mcllvaine was much like Chase, in that he was dictatorial and narrow in his handling of the faculty. He lost the backing of the board of trustees as Chase had, but fought staunchly and won them over. A resolution in 1840 of the board of trustees carried out the directions of the convention and “destroyed the old Kenyon College and its faculty. A whole new institution was formed with Mcllvaine's approval. A close friend of Bishop Mcllvaine, David Bates Douglass, a former officer at West Point, became the third President of the College after not a little pressure applied by the good Bishop. Being a civil engineer and a rigid disciplinarian, Douglass cleaned up the College buildings and the dilapidated state of the grounds. The reformation was clearly evident when rickety sheds and “Old Seventy-four were demolished and the gates and the Path were constructed. The rite of matriculation was instituted at this time. However, Douglass was not in reality President. Amid student “rebellions and an investigation pro- mulgated by his supposed friend, Bishop Mcllvaine, Douglass declared the presidency vacant. Reverend Sherlock Bronson, a member of the board of trustees, became President in 1845. Under Bronson the first five years, 1840-45, wore uneventful. The discipline of students was rather strict. If a pack of cards were found in the room or if the College bell v ere ringing after 10 p.m. the student was immediately dismissed from the College. The College again found itself over ten thousand dollars in debt. The salaries of professors v ere cut sharply, and great economies were practiced. Rosse Hall and Old Kenyon were in desperate need of repair. The only alternative was to sell the South Section. There was a bitter controversy over Chase's 9

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 sacred land. Bronson demonstrated the necessity. Criticised severely for his divorce from ethical reason, this sensitive man resigned in 1850. Lorin Andrews became President after a short term by Thomas Mather Smith. The students gave him a warm welcome by illuminating Old Kenyon. His term is marked by the expansion of the College to an enrollment of two hundred and thirty stu- dents. The subsequent construction of Ascension Hall and im- provements of Bexley, built in 1833, and Old Kenyon were neces- sitated by the overflow’ of students. The College began to specu- late its small surplus money into dream railways such as the Delaware and Cochocton, Springfield and Loudonville Railroad. The only prerequisite for help from Kenyon seemed to be a stop at Gambier, no matter where the road led. In December, 1855, there appeared the first issue of a unique publication, the Reveille, the third of its kind in the United States. It was a newspaper of four eighteen-by-ten inch pages with an editorial for freshmen “commending virtue and industry to their susceptible young souls. The Collegian appeared in 1856, its main purpose being literary. Greek letter fraternities were introduced to 19th century Kenyon. The Lambda chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon was established in 1852. Theta Delta Chi appeared in 1853 and disappeared in 1861. Alpha Delta Phi entered the life of the Hill in 1858, at the same time as the local chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Singing came into vogue in the fifties with the introduction of German university songs. Fraternities, in spirit of comradeship, developed their own sentimental ballads which rang out under the maples on Path generation after generation. The patriotism of the College community was clearly ex- pressed during the Civil War. President Andrews was the first in Ohio, reputedly, to offer his services as a soldier in the growing Union army. The southern contingent left the Hill for the Con- federate army quietly without perturbation or ill-feeling. Blankets and warm clothing were collected to keep the soldiers warm. Andrews returned to Gambier in 1861 to die. The term of James Kent Stone as President was marked by a theological outburst. The President, in strongly evangelical Gambier, leaned towards Tractarianism. He resigned after being made a fool of by the valedectorian at Commencement in 1867. 11