Reed College - Griffin Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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I61 STORY OF FIRST FOUR YEARS ITH an enrollment of only fifty students, and a fac- .. ulty of six, the Reed community during the first . year was more like a good-sized family than a real .I a .9 college. But in spite of this fact, many of the J present student activities had their beginnings in the crampt and inconvenient temporary quarters 1 on Jefferson street. Student government was organized, the a honor principle was adopted, and the beginnings of an athletic . system wer workt out. . It is tru that, for the first semester, athletics outside of tennis consisted, for the men, mainly of playing ttNigger Baby,y . I on the curb, and, for the women, of Walking around the block; but, when the Multnomah Club was opend to the Reed College . I students, more strenuug forms of exercise wer begun. Chapel servises wer held from the very first, but the matter of attendance soon constituted a problem. Tho chapel was never compulsory, a large part of the students went regularly. However, there wer occasions when the attendance outside the doors, which wer kept lockt during chapel time, was almost as large as that inside. A vote was taken among the students to discover whether or not, in their opinion, the servises should be continued. The result was a unanimus decision in favor of chapel, and a greatly increast attendance. The place of FIRST HOME OF REED COLLEGE

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Cg. - ,u- - '.h NBEED COLLEGE ANNUAL .;. 1915 I51 REED COLLEGE CHAPEL INTERIOR

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Ii .xxxi EREED COLLEGE ANNUAL 1915 l7l assembly was really nothing more than a poorly lighted store- room, bare and unlovely when compared with the present Chapel; but there was, in those first gatherings, a spirit of en- thusiasm and earnestness of purpose which made the partici- pants forget all about the unplesantness of their surroundings. Tho social life was stil in a state of primitiv simplicity ; several successful parties wer given during the year. Dancing was an art little known to a large number of the students, and, in spite of the efforts of a few, who tried to promote interest in it, was kept in the background at all social gatherings. The question of the social independence of woman was partially solvd by what was nown as tithe lottery system? The first hint of the feminist movement came with two speakers who tried with seemingly fruitless efforts to enroll the women of the college in the cause of equal suffrage. Towards the end of the second semester the first clas watcht with increasing interest the beginnings of operations on the permanent college bildings. The hrst breaking of ground and the laying of the cornerstones of the Arts Bilding and 0f the dormitory wer accompanied by ceremonies in which the students took a prominent part. All plans for the future wer Shared between faculty and students and both lookt forward with equal enthusiasm to the delights of being on a real campus the folloing year. THE SECOND YEAR With the fall of 1912, work in the new quarters began in earnest. The size of the group was doubled and several new faculty members wer added. The Chapel was completed and dedicated and work on the grounds and bildings continued, fre- quently t0 the interruption of lectures. Mud was one of the most prominent features of the campus. About the middle of the term the fever for organization began to be felt and numerus clubs sprang into existence, almost over night. Many of these hav survived, tho the functions of some hav been taken over by larger bodies, while others hav ontgmwn their usefulness and hav disappeard. Two matters wer much discnst, the question of whether or not the women should go to college functions without escorts and the question of grades. Both finally reacht a peaceful set- tlement. The college and the city came more and more into con- tact with each other. Several of the college men took activ parts in the political meetings which preceded the adoption of Portland's commission form of government and many new frends wer gaind for the institution by the Conference on the Conservation of Human Life, held on the campus in May. The corns which had been going thrn a rigid course of training, under Mr. Barlow. hnisht up the year in a burst of glory by the effectiv singing of Liza Lehmannls III a PM'sian Garden.