Southeast Missouri State University - Sagamore Yearbook (Cape Girardeau, MO)

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Thou unrelenting Past! Strong are the barriers round thy dark domain, and fetters sure and fast, Hold all that enter thy unbreathing reign. The Centennial year: a unique time of remem- branceg a century to review, to cast a long wistful look backward, over the span of a hun- dred years, but all the while, the year itself moves forward. From Normal School to State Teachers' College to State College to Univer- sity-all this, a steady procession and transi- tion from era to era. Homecoming christened the yearg Homecoming-where graduates through the years, the wealth of the institution, heed the call to relive a portion of their lives. Former foreign exchange student Leta Quilfeldt and husband Thou hast my better yearsg Thou had my earlier friends, the good, the kind, Yielded to thee with tears- The venerable form, the exalted mind. Alumni: They return, retracing the wayward steps in their life's journey back to an oasis, their alma mater. The summons so compelling that Leta Quilfeldt trouped to the throng of her classmates from her home in Oslo, Norway. Why this retreat to one small niche in the far-flung and limitless expense of space and time? The alumni become migrants, wending their way along a path of remnants, with visions of the people and of the college, both as vivid in their minds as in the time within which they livedg native pilgrims that return to kindle dormant affections and loyalties among themselves, and to revive a sense of pride and honor for the institution that served as the nucleus of their attention for one segment of their existence. Yet, the renewed warmth inspires them to press onward once more against the realities of a volatile world. SEMO president Walter W. Parker 1933-1956 2 Ce tennial 55 xlz'-5:2113 'ft 1?5s.-:L 1 .: ' .w A' v ,. 3Atv33A.'f?s, ' 7-' f- QM: ' Y?-fsf 9,443 'l tibia- 2'

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High on a hill in Cape Girardeau SEMO has risen as a landmark of the city and of Missouri public education. In 1875 Mark Twain caught sight of the school's administration building pic- turesquely and peculiarly towered and pin- nacled. That Gothic structure burned in 1902, but on its site the present dome-topped building was erected. For one hundred years students have climbed the high hill to be recorded on SEMO's rolls. l First President, Lucius H. Cheney, 1873-1876 Southeast Missouri State Teachers College in 1925 Through the decades some educational values have been constant, but basically SEMO's identity has been an ever-changing one. Each year of the completed century the school's regenerative powers have refashioned the curriculum, the physical plant and extra-curricular offerings. This Centennial year is no exception. Though it will be remembered for its festivities commemorating the past, the year will also be characterized by distinctive changes and also some firsts. Through a slide presentation SEMO's anniversary year was announced at the State Fair in August. The fall semester marked an all-time high for enrollment. Soon after school began, contracts were let for construction of a new student union for the growing population. In late September the Centennial Mural dedication un- veiled a one-of-a-kind wall that continues to draw appreciative viewers. Early October brought the energy crisis home to SEMO, and various energy-saving steps began. This year six weeks grade notices gave students better news than just D's and F's as a policy was initiated for informing all students of all course grades. Missouri's open meeting law allowed the public access to local Board of Regents' meetings beginning in November. In early January SEMO and twenty other tax-supported colleges and un- iversities approved an in-state credit transfer system. For the first time University Theater opened its tryouts to community actors as well as to students. The Artist-Lecture Series and departmental programs introduced SEMO and national figures to each other. Cars on campus outnumbered parking spaces by several hundred, first semester finals were snowed out for some, others were flu- bound early in the second semester but recovered to support marathon dancing. These were some SEMO highlights that took their places in the larger scheme of the year's events: Watergate, the fuel crisis, the truck strike, the ERA amendment, UFO's and the comet Kohoutek. This Sagamore re-creates the setting, records the participants and reviews the actions, values and vibrations of a year unlike any other before it or to come.

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Fifty-year-graduates reunited at Homecoming Alumni luncheon My spirit yearns to bring The lost ones back--yearns with desire in- tense, and struggles hard to wring Thy bolts apart, and pluck thy captives thence. Change: the constancy of change. Where the end and where the beginning? Evolution of the individual accompanied by the simultaneous transformation of the tangible and ethereal worlds. Neither the college nor its alumni con- form to the multitude of idyllic, sacred memories. Once after the attachments of devo- tion have been severed, change comes through artistic fingers that mold and shape an instant of time into memorability. Then, does change exist as a force, or is it only perceived through a host of discolored eyes? If Q, M, s ,, ' Y H -if W Xxx 'Z' f, fs' ,, MSVLQ- ,Q W writ 793145 f 7' fl , f T' 'K ' ' ' fill 3 4 -5 .- '1' if in ., lt ,, T ssls fi c iftla' AU if I M I g sg '-'aaa qrf.4g,5f,,,,f,y - 1' ,, y. fs .wf'.'-H - i. Q 9. A - 1 . - 45, fww 'Y , ' 'tc . ff.-?:f ,,,f 1112 .- q -- f l ,ff-fl if if - ,Li 4 'll Wilt' flw if l c ffwff, weft-f T' ffl- to f s f aff frm . s - ff -. , . vw , , .. - fm. 1. 1 ,t Elk, if , ,st K A 5' ff'-'Q 71' ,ff it fl . T ef, , 2 'f ' qw ix 'ww .. f 52-:fini v - --nm V lhzaw. 4 . .V A 4- ,- sm 1 :fig fm , gl I X r -- is r- Mix 14 .g - VI I e 1 N Ja T l we? s i Q T s-ffl at , u M51 - ,, rf ' .sl I, ' tg, , i nf, 4, L tp iw,-I ff i 2 4 - 1, . . ,qi ff ,wi,,, , W , , , ,Q qi, in A dx ,VX ig, . 9 My my . 5 ,',w gs 3 j I 5 V, 1, ' . Centennial 3