Miami University - Recensio Yearbook (Oxford, OH)

Page 12 text:

Music has always been popular at Miami. This band represents the continuance of that tradition in the early twentieth century. Women entered the Miami sports scene in 1907 with their own bas- ketball team. Cap Stone was their coach. FORE RU N N E ORGANIZATIONS

Page 11 text:

periods, the men continued their studies through the day until even- ing prayers. Classes were sum- moned by trumpet, since a bell was thought to be an extravagance at this early stage in Miami's histo- ry. Meals could either be bought at the University Inn -- a dining room within Southeast Hall - or the students could buy food and prepare it in their rooms. Some- times the men bought supplies col- lectively; corn meal and potatoes could be had for 12V2QE per bushel, and meat was priced at 11kg: per pound. Rules for living became much stricter during the 1840's. George Junkin, an unpopular president at this time, initiated several regula- tions for the Miami men: written evidence of good moral character was made mandatory at the time of application; a pledge to obey all the rules of the university was taken by all enrolled students; the faculty designated the amount of time to be spent in study and reci- tation; all students were forbidden to attend any ball, dancing school, theatrical exhibition, or horse race. The 1850's saw a relaxation of these regulations, and as a result, the students became more careless with their living areas. The condi- tion of the rooms became so bad that a dorm ledger was kept, de- The May Pole Dance was a tradi- tionally festive event held in front of Hepburn Hall. The program was discontinued in the late 1930's. scribing the initial appearance of the room. Rent for the rooms was charged - $5 a semester. In Old Main, one student was given free room in exchange for ringing the newly acquired college bell. Besides serving as sleeping quar- ters, the dormitory rooms were used as meeting places for campus organizations - including early Greek societies. Several fraternities were founded in dorm rooms, and then met regularly to discuss plans. In addition, the powerful literary societies of Old Miami often used dorm rooms for impromptu gather- ings. Dorm life expanded beyond the limits of prayer meetings and Sun- day worship to include new ac- tivities. As the age of Old Miami came to a close, team sports such as cricket and baseball broadened the social atmosphere of dorm life, and served as a prophesy 0f resi- dential life of the New Miami to- day. - Brad McConnell At the turn of the century, Miami men relaxed by playing cards be- tween study periods. On the roof of a home on Spring Street, two co-eds frolicked in the first snow of 1922.

Page 13 text:

This derbied group represents the Miami bicycle club, which was popular during the 1890's. Now that there are 4,000 bikes on cam- pus, there is no club. The STUDENT office was housed in Irvin Hall during the 1950's. The STUDENT moved to its present office when the Univer- sity Center opened in 1957. The Women's Recreation Associa- tion Lodge was built in 1936 on a 22 acre site off Oxford-Milford Road. The building is at present used by university organizations for workshops and seminars. The most important organiza- tions of Old Miami were the liter- ary societies. Founded in 1825, one year after the arrival of Miami's first students, The Erodelphian and the Union Literary Societies pre- dominated the extrawcurricular ac- tivities of the campus. Origionally, the members of these organiza- tions were men interested in ca- reers of law, teaching, or religion. The societies rounded out their course of preparation by develop- ing skills in debate and critical analysis. President Bishop aided the liter-a ary societies in their formative period by providing quarters in Old Miami. These rooms served as debate halls and meeting places for the groups. Each year, the societies accepted new members from among the student population, and invited well-known politicians and other important persons to accept membership in the organization. The Erodelphians, for example, were able to boost the memberw ship of Washington Irving, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson. Great rivalry existed between the two groups. Not only did they Vie for student membership, but the societies also competed for greatest university recognition and favor. In order to advance their standing in this latter, the Union Literary Society commissioned Horace Harding to produce a portrait of President Bishop, which hung above the doorway totheir quar- ters. Consequently, the Erodeln phians were in a great quandery as to a course of action which would allow them to out do their rival so- ciety. They arranged for the mold- ing of a bust of the President, and thus managed to hold an equally favorable place with Bishop. During the first president's turn of office, the literary societies ob- tained a permit to become separate from the administration and the state. This action was not found to be desirable by several of: the fac- ulty members, and was the first time that the groups faced any major campus dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, the literary societies continued to hold a strong place in the lives of the Old Miami students. Discussions were held on the relevence and significance of classical literature, and devate of current affairs was a favorite soci- ety occurance. Each year, the Union and a Erodelphian groups sponsored exhibitions, at which time speakers from other parts of the country were invited. to spend time with the members. One major disagreement be- tween the societies and the admin- istration involved the scheduling of anniversary speakers. The uni- versity had had a regulation which stated that all Visiting guests to the campus were required to be ap- proved by the administration. Be- cause of the literary societies' in- dependence from Miami, they re fused to comply with the regula- tion, and therefore set the stage for a shaky rapport With the universi- ty. When, after three years of re fusal to submit to the newly emerg- ing Greek letter fraternities. Certainly, though, the literary societies had a great deal of influ- ence in the formation of present Miami organizations, most notably the fraternities. Like their Greek successors, the literary societies re- villed in secrecy, in pride for their group, and in the utilization of symbols, in this case roses,for the identification of the societies. When New Miami opened, the literary socieites had, for most purposes, lost their former stand- ing, and had been supplanted by the now-dominat fraternity sys- tem. However, the influence of these literary societies has been greatly felt by other campus groups. - Brad McConnell