South Dakota State College - Jack Rabbit Yearbook (Brookings, SD)

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was set aside as an endowment for the South Dakota Agricultural College. No school land can be sold for less than S10 per acre, so that when the lands are all sold, the endowment will reach about il43,000,000. The land has all been se- lected but little sold. The College re- ceives rent for it, however. The Nlorrill Act, passed by Congress in 1890, provided for the College a yearly appropriation of 515,000 for the first year, 316,000 for the second, etc., until the amount reached 5S25,000, where it remains. A Congressional Act, passed in 1907, provided 555,000 for the years 1907-08, the amount to be in- creased 335,000 each year until it reached 525,000 annually. A part of this money may be used to provide for the training of instructors in agriculture and mechanic arts. The College, therefore, now receives 550,000 annually from the National Government for instructional purposes. The State also gives aid to the College, making biennial appropri- ations for maintenance and buildings. The Hatch Act of Congress, in estab- lishing Agricultural Experiment Sta- tions, provides 515,000 annually, from the National Government. The Adams Act increased the amount to 530,000 per year. The Smith-Lever Act provides 510,000 from the National Government for agricultural extension work to be done by the College and additional money each year up to the amount of 566.176, on the condition that an equal amount is provided by the State. For the year 1924-25 this amount is 556,176.30 furnished by the State. There have been frequent changes in the administration of the College. The following is a list of her presidents in chronological order together with their years of service: George Lilley, 1884.- 1886g Lewis lVIcLouth, 1887-18965 J, W. Heston, 1896-1903, James Chal- mers, 1903-1905, Robert L. Slagle, IQO5-1914, Ellwood Chapell Perisho, 1914.-19183 VVillis E. Johnson, 1919- 1923, and Charles VV. Pugsley, IQ23-. As has already been stated, the oldest building is the Central Building which was soon followed by the North Build- i11g and the present Extension Building. Other buildings have been gradually added until at the present time there are seventeen, together with a number of barns and other structures. Near the campus are the college farms. Part of the land is used for experimental work and the remainder for a model stock and dairy farm. The house, now occu- pied by the President, was formerly used as a girls' dormitory and was known as the Girls' Cottage. Militaryf training has bee11 offered by the College since its beginning. The Reserve Officers' Training CO1'pS CR. O. T. CJ, which was provided for by a law passed in 1914, was discontin- ued for a time during the World Wa1', to be replaced by the Students' Army Training Corps QS. A. T. CJ. Under the latter organization, students be- tween the ages of eighteen and twenty- one who so desired could enlist in the army and in the meantime carry on their regular college work until called into service. These men, 220 in number, constituted Section A, while the drafted men who were being trained here be- fore being sent to camp, made up Sec- tion B. During this time, the college was virtually an army post and the

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ment could be organized. The other rooms when ready were used for dormi- tory purposes. When school opened, September 24. 1884, the total number of students enrolled was fifty, twenty- five men and twenty-five women. By the end of the fall term the enrollment had reached sixty-one, all that could be accommodated. On the opening day of the year 1885-6, the faculty and students were called together by an old-fashioned school bell rung by Professor Kerr. To get to the assembly room, all had to creep under the staging used by the plasterers. A dining room was started in what is now the Central Building to accom- modate the sixty students living there Qboys on the third floor, girls on the second floorl. Since only twenty-four could he seated in the room at one time, the relay method was used, those who ate first being dismissed from class at eleven-thirty. At first. the number of departments was naturally small. The President taught Rflathematics and Engineering, C. A. Kelsey was Professor of Natural Sciences, and W. H. Phillips, Professor of English Literature and Science of Language, these men constituted the en- tire faculty during the first year. The next year Robert F. Kerr, I. H. Orcutt, Luther Foster, and S. P. Sap- ham, were added to the faculty, giving instruction in biilitary Science, Political Economy, Agricultural and Horticul- tural subjects, and lVIusic. ln 1885, the Central Building was completed. The ladies' dormitory, now occupied by the Extension Staff, was completed the same year. Previous to 1898 the school year had been divided into quarters of ten weeks with vacations each of five weeks, one in June and July, the other in Decem- ber and January. At this time, the col- lege year was divided into three terms as at the present time. The first college paper, College Sheaves, was published about 1885. According to Professor Kerr, this was a very respectable paper with a variety of news and selections. Among the early students of the Col- lege were the following members of the present college staff: H. H. Hoy, H. C. Solberg, A. S. Harding, and H. B. lVIathews. In 1892, a dispute arose between the Board of Regents, who were in charge of all institutions, and the Board of Trustees for this institution. The Trustees resigned in a body and the Regents took charge. They dismissed eight members of the faculty, filling the places with persons of their own choice. The students, dissatisfied with the changes in faculty, issued a manifesto. The ringleaders were suspended, where- upon the students demanded their rein- statement. This demand was refused and over one hundred students left the college. This affair set the institution back several years in its growth. On the admission of North and South Dakota into the Union, the Dakota Ag- ricultural College became the South Da- kota Agricultural College, and a similar college was established at Fargo, North Dakota. The College was known as the South Dakota Agricultural Col- lege until as late as 1907, when the name was changed by the legislature to the South Dakota State Collegefl By the act under which South Dakota became a state, 160,000 acres of land

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lVomen's dormitory and the north wing of the Administration Building were used as barracks for the soldiers. A beautiful grove on the campus has been dedicated to the College students who lost their lives in the World War. A boulder bearing a tablet with the names of the boys will always bring to mind those dead. Each year since the dedication of the grove, the College has held services in their memory. After the War, the State Legislature appropriated money for a dormitory to be used by wounded soldiers and sailors who came here for Rehabilitation work. Now, however, the work is almost con- cluded and the dormitory will be used for Freshmen men students. ln 1924, upon the recommendation of President Pugsley, the Board of Regents created five new divisions in the Col- lege, each headed by a dean. These di- visions are as follows: Agriculture, with C. Larsen as dean, Engineering, with H. B. lVIathews as dean, Home Eco- nomics, with Edith Pierson as dean, General Science, with G. L. Brown as dean, and Pharmacy, with E. R. Serles as dean. The appropriations for the College, made by the Legislature of 1925, are of special interest to friends of the College. A special bill provides 583,500 for init provements on the campus: 530,000 for the completion of the Stock Pavilion, 512,000 for a new horse barng 525,000 for a tunnel for heating mains and their renewal, 59,000 for the improvement of the electric light plant, 352,000 for a storage cellar, 52,000 for a farm water J system, and 553,500 for new farm fences. An increase of approximately twelve per cent in maintenance and salary funds makes reasonable provision for the growth of the institution. The tuition has just been increased from S20 to S40 per year. The addi- tional money resulting from this increase will also be spent for salary and main- tenance. Another bill provides for the payment by the State of tuition of eighth grade graduates who attend agricultural schools. The law providing for a tax on ciga- rettes will talce effect July I, 1925. The Regents with the consent of the Govern- or are to determine which institution will have the first building. The Board of Regents, whose personnel has since been changed, voted unanimously in 1924 that of the needs of all State Education- al Institutions, the most urgent is a Library Building for State College. At the present time, President Pugs- ley is using his splendid administrative ability in formulating a campus plan which will provide for a systematic ar- rangement of the College buildings as they are erected during the coming years. By adopting such a building pro- gram for the future, the campus will not only be made more beautiful but will also be made more efficient. Many important factors, as Hobo Day, which play a large part in the life of the student, are omitted intentionally since other parts of the Jack Rabbit deal with them. :?rs?::9es?zf9w9f:'?e9v42f9r54ff9z