La Salle University - Explorer Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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Faculty House and Sacred Heart Shrine succeeded to the presidency of the college, and the Honorable J. Burrwocd Daly, eventually succeeded in securing the property. On February twenty-ninth, 1928, Brother Dorotheus, accompanied by the faculty, several members of the alumni, and the entire student body, turned the first spadeful of earth as a signal to begin operations in the construction of the present new La Salle College. By June, 1929, the college and faculty buildings were completed, and the following September they were occupied. Shortly after the opening of this semester, the college gymnasium and the Preparatory School were completed, and they toti were occup ied during this school year. The task of completing this huge building program had fallen, in the meantime, on the able shoulders of Brother E. Alfred, now president of La Salle. It was during Brother Alfred ' s presidency that the college and high school received official recognition by the Middle Atlantic States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The erection of the new buildings proved to be the stimulus for an even greater period of expansion, rather than the culmination of the college ' s progress. A huge program of landscaping was the next undertaking. This project was begun under Brother Alfred. The campus and quadrangle were completed; then the ground surrounding the school on every side had to be leveled. Brother E. Anselm, present president of the college, succeeded Brother Alfred, and under his direction the expansion of the school progressed even more rapidly than before. During the summer of 1937, the East, and West wings of McCarthy stadium were erected, providing seating accommodations for more than ten thousand spectators. The erection of the stadium was due, to a great extent, to the inspiration, business ability, and generosity of John A. McCarthy, K.C.S.G., and many loyal alumni and friends of the college. The Diamond Jubilee of La Salle College was celebrated in 1938. Just seventy-five years earlier, the college had been incorporated under a charter

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dispensation, an exception had been made for La Salle College. In 1899, come word that this privilege had been withdrawn. At least one-third of the student body then left La Salle to attend other institutions where the study of the classics was offered. Not until 1924 were the Latin and Greek classics returned to the curriculum. In 1904, the college chapel was entirely renovated. An onyx altar rail was erected, and two beautiful stained-glass windows and a handsome sanctuary lamp were installed. These renovations and improvements in the chapel were the gift of the late Senator and Mrs. James P. McNichol. The windows and the altar rail have since been moved to the chapel in the present college building. In 1917, the Golden Jubilee Commencement of La Salle was celebrated with becoming dignity and appropriate splendor. At the close of the com- mencement the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon three distinguished alumni: Right Reverend Philip R. McDevitt, D.D., Right Reverend John J. McCort, D.D., and Right Reverend James P. McCloskey, D.D. In the fall of 1922, the spring of 1923, and the summer of 1926, the college suffered an irretrievable loss through the deaths of Brother Isadore, Brother Eliphus, and Brother Aloysius. These three learned but humble religious had labored together for more than forty years in the interests of La Salle, and it is, in no small measure, due to them that the school enjoys the reputation it has today. When Brother Allais Charles, the Superior General of the Christian Brothers, visited La Salle in the summer of 1925, he recognized the necessity of moving the college to better surroundings as soon as possible. In pursuance of the Superior ' s wishes. Brother G. Lucian, then in charge of the college, left nothing undone in order to secure a fitting location for the proposed buildings. Finally, after viewing many sites and considering their present and possible future conveniences and advantages, he decided that the plot at the corner of Twentieth Street and Olney Avenue would be ideal. However, it was more easily selected than acquired. It was only after two years of negotiations that Brother Dorotheus Lewis, who had now P

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obtained largely through the efforts of Bishop Wood. The celebration of this anniversary of the founding of the college was begun with a special Mass celebrated at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul by His Eminence, D. Cardinal Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia. The Diamond Jubilee Year of the college was featured by a campaign which was initiated to secure funds with which to purchase the ten acres of ground adjoining the college on the east. A committee consisting of outstanding Catholic laymen in Phila- delphia was in charge of this campaign. A special committee visited every church in the city. As a result of the Diamond Jubilee Drive, the Brothers were able to purchase the ground which was so urgently needed, and thus to expand further the college campus. While the college was thus progressing, the preparatory school likewise enjoyed a great increase in attendance after moving to its new site. So great, in fact, did the increase in enrollment become, that it was necessary, in the fall of 1939, to reopen the old Bouvier Mansion as the La Salle College Central High School. This year, another important step in the progress and growth of La Salle has been taken. Early in the spring, work was begun on John McShain Hall. This latest addition to La Salle College will be a residence building for faculty and students. Except for a fund of $10,000 raised by the alumni and friends of the college, credit for planning, constructing, and paying for this building must go to Mr. John McShain. It was due primarily to the efforts of Brother Francis Patrick, Brother F. John, and Brother E. Anselm that the construction of the building was begun. Among the prominent graduates of La Salle College may be found four Bishops, more than twenty Monsignori, a host of pastors, and innumerable priests, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and leaders in every branch of human endeavor. The most recent instance of the elevation of an alumnus to the rank of Bishop took place in the spring of this year, when Joseph M. Corrigan, D.D., LL.D., Rector of the Catholic University of America, was raised to the episcopacy. Thus has La Salle College risen on the academic sky-line of Philadelphia — an eloquent tribute to the work of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Arts and Science Buildings