Miami University - Recensio Yearbook (Oxford, OH)

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A Heritage Of ExceHence s: And this spirit and interest in athletics is growing, growing perceptibly and decidely, and is the most hopeful sign of the glorious athletic future that lies before Miami, if the student body but desires such a future and sets itself about securing it? Recensio - 1908 Seminary of the Associate Re- formed Synod of the West tPresbyterianl also appeared in Oxford, in a building which is still called the Seminary on a street still appropriately named Church. Though the Theological Seminary as an in- stitution of higher learning was closed before the Civil War, the Presbyterian influ- ence on Miami remained. Un- deed, Miamiis first seven presidents were all ordained Presbyterian ministersn . t was the Owl War which put little Miami tits highest pre-war enrollment was only 250l to its severest test. From 1861 to 1865, Miami faculty, students and former students fought in uniforms of blue as well as gray, Miamians served in the cabinets of both Abra- YorWMurstein Alumni Center 0 59 :4 U- o 39 0 1: :5 0 U o H o .C Q. ham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. Five Miamians served as governors of Ohio, Michi- gan, Indiana and Illinois during the war years, while ten others served as Union generals and three as Confederate. Two former Miami students served as admirals of the Union Navy, while Oxfordis own Lottie Moon served the cause of the South as one of the Southis principal spies. The Civil War so drained the human and financial resources of Miami that the University was forced to close its doors in 1873, not to reopen until 1885 when annual state oper- ating appropriations were finally assured. The period from 1809 to 1873 is still referred to as iiOld Miami. The period since 1885 is called New Miamiii. Old Miamiii has been a school for men only. With the admission of Ella McSurely in 1889, iiNew Miamii, be- came coeducational. With the coming of coeducation the principal reason for the sepa- rate existence of the indepen- dent womensi colleges was gone. The Oxford Female Insti- tute and the Oxford Female College merged in the 18805 to become the Oxford Col- lege for Women, which in turn was absorbed by Miami Uni- versity in 1928. Finally, in 1974, the last remaining pri- vate womensi college in Ox- ford, the Western College, be- came part of Miami. A town of colleges had become a col- lege town. Left: Miami baseball at the turn of the century. Uniforms, people and equipment had changed but the same winning traditions condnued. Upper Left: The Ladies' basketball team of 1907 played a very untiring schedule of two games. Against Oxford College the women were victorious 9-5 but against Wilmington College they were not so fortunate, losing 1 5-1 0. 7 ' 175th AnniverSaIy i 19 '

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Right: Pole Rush used to be an institution at Miami during Scrap Day which was an annual competition between the freshman and sophomore classes. President Guy Potter Benton organized the first Pole Rush in 1903 to replace the perilous Tower Rush of years past. Photo courtesy of Kaye YorWMurstein Alumni Center 1 8 175th Anniversany

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Below: A walk through campus 25 years ago differed little from the same scene in 1984. Bikes were still the favorite mode of transportation and the walk from Spring Street via Upham to High Street was just as popular. 20 175th Anniversary iami today is a univer- sity of eighteen thousand students, nearly a thousand faculty and fifteen hundred staff, a vastly differ- ent instituticn from the tiny frontier school of three faculty lincluding the presidentl and twenty students on hand when its doors first opened. Though Oxford is still its principal campus, it has other campuses in Middletown and Hamilton, which opened in 1966 and 1968 respectively, and an overseas European Center in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in place since 1968. Yet a common thread running through all of its 175 years, from its beginning to this present day, on all of its campuses, is its dedication to the development of its human resources, its students, to the realization of their fullest potential. The record of the first 175 years is complete. It is an im- pressive record. It reflects a heritage of excellence. And it presages even brighter years ahead. Phillip R. Shriver Photo courtesy of Kaye YorWMurstein Alumni Center