Marion University - Marionette Yearbook (Marion, IN)

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William F. McConn, President 1932-1960 The 7405: . Decade of djustment The Forties were filled with the uncertainties of war, but Dr. McConn successfully guided Marion College through those years of uncertainty. Marion College and the War Years In the days before Pearl Harbor, Marion College earnestly prayed that war would never come, but when it en ulfed our country the college immediately set out to give the best preparation to our boys who would be called in by the draft. Marion College first participated in the armed services programs of Enlisted Reserves, approved by the Arm , Navy, Air Corps, and Marines. Wllen the men began to return, Marion College qualified for ap- proval under the United States G.I. Bill of Rights. This provided that a serviceman honorably discharged from any branch of the service may receive one year of schooling for his first ninety days of service and a month for each additional month of active duty, with the government underwrit- ing the cost. Dr. McConn says Our boys have given to their country some of the best years of their lives and Marion College proposes to do everything within her power to afford them an educational opportunity comparable to the one they missed when called into the service.

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Marion College Survives Depression In 1932 when I came to Marion College, the depression of the 30's was about at its worst. These were days when banks were closing, mercantile houses were liquidating and even colleges were going into bankruptcy. The Business Manager and the President wondered how Marion College could live, for we could get no money either. How we could keep Marion College in operation was something we had to find out and we did not immediately know the answer, but in the Providence of God, Marion was permitted to keep her doors open. -Dr. Wm. F. McConn College Church s When the college was first opened, the congregation, then known as the South Marion Wesleyan Church, sold their building, moved to the Chapel, and became the College Church. In 1937, a building program was launched which resulted in the construction of a beautiful College Church in 1938, situated on the corner of Fortieth and Washington Streets.

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Overcrowded Administration Building Administration offices, classrooms, and laboratories are but a few of the uses imple- mented in the administration building. In 1944 the foresight of the G.l. Bulge and increase in enrollment was indicated by the launching of a building fund drive. In 1947 the college purchased some buildings from the government. They were moved to our campus, remodeled and brick veneered: The library tour present Student Centeri pro- vided a library and seven classrooms, the P.E. building housed P.E. classes and recreation room on the second floor with the bookstore and snack shop in the basement. The.College Faculty which taught courses in liberal arts, fine arts, teacher training and theology. ll floor ofthe A class in Zoology, meeting in an upper Administration if Building. Vx IS' -SQ fl t LL I.. 444, , . pl F. , ff - A 4. M 'lx'flsH.' if 557' 4611 .. A vi - M lui: mi 5 Mp' Gill? ,314 2 qi .. ,Q ,yt -t s ?,,ig-et. ,. 4 A Students were expected to ' -1 ': 'll fnrff - ' attend the spiritually re- f Xl 'H 'Q I .K ,tl freshingdaiIyChapel. -V, , '-f ,XX 7- '-1 . Wi f -i t 2 isa it 412 . 4-1 The President's Former Library Now Student Center ---1 wu t J l 4 y T ' 1 'L . uns... Kea Students doing carefully supervised work in one of the chemistry laboratories. Office was a center of activit y on the