Southern Illinois University - Obelisk Yearbook (Carbondale, IL)

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lish his own new ones. What ensued was a mass of confusion and disor- ganization that caused many faculty members to resign. Many linked his administration's problems with alleged misinformation about the faculty given to Lay before he took office. He was reportedly told that the faculty was rebellious and that he must be uncompromisingly firm with them to keep the university functioning. The turmoil brought on by Lay's uncompromising administra- tion of SIU and policy change forced his sudden resignation on Sept. 8, 1948. It was only two days later that Delyte Wesley Morris was appointed president. One of President Morris, first ac- tions was to reestablish the standard policies that were discarded by his predecessor. None of Morris, goals were new to the structure of SIU. He combined the goals of his predecessors and emphasized them with greater intensity. Morris realized the need to build on foundations that were already Parkinson, one of the original iifounding fathersh of the University is shown with his faculty. established without trying to change the direction the university was tak- ing. His goals for the university fo- cused on improving the life of people in Southern Illinois. He opened the door for learning to some of the na- tionis most neglected regions. One of his educational projects was the cre- ation of the Vocational-Technical In- stitution tVTD, now known as the School of Technical Careers. VTI was designed to retrain displaced miners and others for new employment. It is continued 13

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students and community as a stern, unsympathetic man who always had to have his own way. Many said that although Hull was unsurpassed in the art of arousing thought, he lacked the qualities of leadership that were es- sential to the upward movement of the young teacherls college. When John Peter Altgeld was elected governor of Illinois in 1893, Hull found it impossible to continue working at SINU. He refused to change his political beliefs to suit the new administration and abruptly, al- though not unexpectedly, accepted a position at River Falls, Wisconsin. Regent Harvey William Everest was chosen to replace Hull and served as regent from 1893 to 1897. During his four-year term, the col- lege prospered. Due to an increasing enrollment, a science building tnamed for Governor Altgeldl was built with state funds to provide more space for students. Everest was known as a deep thinker and a powerful orator. He always talked about the good aspects of SINU and tried, at every possible instance, to promote the school to as many people as possible. But Everest was unfortunately rumoured to have been given poor advice that helped bring about his demise. Historians note that Everest was given an in- correct report about the faculty- that they were rebellious and needed strict authoritative guidance-which caused an ever-widening rift in the school. Many also said that Everest lacked the ability to see the value of new, progressive ideas, and thus kept closely to the structure previously established by Allyn. Although Everest appeared cold and intellectually aloof to the students of SINU, many who knew him on a personal level realized that he was actually a very warm person. When he resigned because of declining health, he left many admirers. One of the original founding fa- thers of the university was selected as the next leader of SINU. Daniel Baldwin Parkinson, one of the original eight faculty members, took over as president in 1897 and served until 1913. During his 16-year presidency, SINU entered upon an expansive era of growth. Wheeler Li- brary, the Allyn building and An- thony Hall, a womenls dormitory 12 named for womenls rights crusader Susan B. Anthony, were built. Because of Parkinsonts nfounding father status, he seemed to know and use what worked in the previous administrations, but could also look objectively at new changes occurring within the system. Parkinson was known as a man who neither clung to the past nor grasped too quickly at changes. He is said to have been endowed with the power of patience, which proved to be an asset to the university as well as himself. Henry William Shryock succeeded Parkinson as president in 1913. Al- h Shryockis plans called for many improvements at SINU. These included revision of the curriculum and a larger, more highly rated faculty. h though Shryock had very deiinite ideas to advance the schools status, he did not rush into office and make drastic changes that could have upset the tranquility of the college. Shryockis plans called for many im- provements at SINU which included a revision of the outmoded school cur- riculum, better scholastic rating of the faculty members as measured by earned degrees, a larger faculty and staff, recognized status for collegiate athletics, maximized utilization of the resources available and enlarged, ef- fective service to the area. President Shryock placed a great deal of em- phasis on service to the southern Illi- nois region. Although World War I had an effect on the schooPs enrollment during Shryock's administration, it did not hinder the expansion of the campus. An auditorium-later named for Shry- ock-was opened in 1918. Also during his term as president, a new gymna- sium tnow known as Daviesl and a science building tnow Parkinson Lab- oratoryl were built. Shryock died at his desk on April 13, 1935. He had given 41 years Of his life serving SINU as an English teacher for 19 years and as president for the last 22 years. Shryock has been credited for his dedication and success in making SINU one of the best teacheris colleges in the country in the early 19th century. The sixth president of the college was Roscoe Pulliam. He was the first alumnus of SINU ever to be chosen as president. Pulliam was known as a daring leader whose tireless drive proved to be an effective weapon in changing the teachers college into a true uni- versity. Despite an extremely reduced enrollment tdown from 2180 to 850 during World War ID, Pulliam suc- ceeded in making SINU into SIU-a fully accredited university-in 1943. During his nine-year incumbency, Pulliam made some decidedly radical changes in terms of the authority structure of the university. He formed committees that were given the power to make important decisions, created a representative student council that was free from faculty domination and introduced an effective plan of pre- registration advisement. President Roscoe Pulliam died on March 27, 1944, during the height of his career at SIU. His death occurred at a time when the emerging univer- sity most needed courageous leader- ship. It took a search committee one year to select the next president because they realized that whomever they chose would have a major influence in shaping the destiny of the univer- sity. After a year of deliberation, they finally chose Chester Federick Lay, an accounting professor from the University of Texas. Lay was the first president to stress the importance of systematic scholarly research as a major goal of the school and initiated a policy of recruiting people qualified to research. Lay greatly influenced the true establish- ment of a university in more than just name. Instead of building on the policies already in existence, Lay disposed of all old procedures and tried to estab-

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said that Morris wanted to give Southern Illinoisans the highest qual- ity education at the lowest possible cost. Morris served as president for 22 years 0948-19701 He piloted the uni- versity through a period of remarkable growth that lead to SIU being ranked among the larger institutions in the country. During this time many new buildings were added to the SIU campus, and a new branch of SIU was opened at Edwardsville. From 1948-1970 the student enrollment jumped from 3,013 to 31,000 between the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses. At SIU-C, the Agriculture Building, Student Center, six dorms and the dining hall on Thompson Point, a new library tnow known as Morris Libraryt and others were built. Morrisi critics often called him an empire builder, but it was his ambi- tious educational projects that brought SIU from the ranks of a small teachers colleges to one of Illinois' largest pub- lic universities. In 1970 rioting on the SIU campus forced the school to close on May 5, only a few days before the end of the quarter. The riots stemmed from 14 strong anti-Viet Nam war sentiments among the student body and was touched off by the May 4th Kent State killings, where four students were killed and other students wounded during a clash with the National Guard. President Morris resigned It was during Dergeis administration that the national- level scandal, Watergate, touched Southern Illinois University. E shortly after the riots. It was in August of 1970 that Robert G. Layer accepted the position of temporary chancellor of SIU. Layer said he accepted the position so that the board of trustees could find a permanent person, but would just as soon not be a university presi- dent on a full time basis. He was the chairman of the Economics Depart- ment before becoming temporary chancellor and felt he could not keep up with the field of economics, which he loved, and be chancellor at the same time. When the new president, David R. Derge, was finally hired in 1972, Layer said he did not regret his time spent as the head of the university. 31 look at it with a few regrets, a little humor, and some pride in what I have accomplished? he said at the time. It was during Derge's term in office that the national-level scandal, Water- gate, touched the SIU campus. Dergeis name appeared on a list that the Washington Post called ttstrange payments to strange people.,' The Post contended that Derge was paid $171,989 from the Kalmbach trust fund-a fund set up with money from Nixon campaign contributions- for unknown services rendered. Derge, whose background is in political sci- ence, said he was actually paid a much higher sum of $382,000 for doing