Southern Methodist University - Rotunda Yearbook (University Park, TX)

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■p In addition to Dallas Hall, the trail-blazers were greeted by Atkins Hall, North Hall, South Hall, and Rankin Hall. Under Vice-President Boaz, The 1912 Endowment Fund, amounting to $279,178, had been raised, and by June 30, 1913, President Hyer had re- ported the successful completion of the campaign for the first million for buildings and other equipment. May 20, 1914, had marked the endorsement of the University by the General Conference of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, South. As of April 30, 1915, the net assets were $2,521,767 in land, buildings, and notes. Such was the optimistic situation in which the initial stu- dent and faculty bodies discovered S. M. U. During this first year Alpha Omicron Pi was founded as the first Greek social organization on the Campus. Harvard Red and Yale Blue were selected by Dr. Hyer as the school colors. The hilltop Library grew to contain 7,000 books. On January 18, the faculty voted for the establishment of the University Church, which was later to become Highland Park Methodist Church. Alpha Theta Phi, the first honorary scholar- ship fraternity, was organized at a faculty meeting, March 18. Annual Senior Recog- nition Day was inaugurated. May 8; the first faculty and senior baseball game ended in an overwhelming victory for the seniors; and the yearly Commencement Play by the Arden Club was initiated by the pr oduction of As You Like It in Arden Forest during Commencement Week. These traditions are still observed each year. At the first commencement exercises on June 13, twenty-three B. A. degrees and seven M. A. degrees were conferred. Composed of the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Theol- ogy, and the School of Music, S. M. U. had already taken an important step in academ- ic development and its reward was membership in the association of Texas Colleges. S. M. U. started on its way to athletic fame during the 1916-1917 semesters when the University became a member of the Southwest Conference and the title Mustangs was chosen for all S. M. U. athletic teams. In the fall, T. A. Abbott became President of the student body, and Kenneth Foree, Jr., looking forward to the day when he would be one of the Editors of The Dallas Morning News, began editing The Campus. The faculty support to the Students ' Self-Governing Association in its efforts to abolish hazing even to the extent of expulsion of the offending student eventually resulted in banishing the practice from the Campus, although there were a few instances which received prompt and severe punishment. In November the first rule for compulsory church attendance was adopted. On November 27, disaster struck in the form of a fire which destroyed South Hall, one of the men ' s residence halls. The World War added the United States to its list of victims on April 5, and on May 7, a resolution was adopted by the S. M. U. faculty in favor of compul- sory military training for all male students for next year. The minutes of May 16 record the first expul- sion of a student for improper conduct. This expulsion Itiaa 1 It ■«i OiMi kfe: pbcEH oiftitni Uinov •esqaia • J

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t which had worked so untiringly on this proposition, hastily sought Mr. W. W. Caruth and induced him to make another offer of one-half interest in an addi- tional 640 acres adjoining the land already offered. This proposal was presented to the commission while it was actually in session, but it was really unneces- sary, for Dallas had already been chosen as the site of the new University. The total offer accepted by the Educational Commission was conservatively esti- mated at $1,000,000. At the next session, begun in April, 191 1, the Commission elected Dr. R. S. Hyer as president; Dr. H. A. Boaz, vice-president; Dr. A. V. Lane, treasurer; and Frank Reedy as bursar. After Texas Wesleyan had first been chosen as the name of the new institution, a motion to reconsider carried and resulted in the selection of the name Southern Methodist University. Administrative offices were set up in the Methodist Publishing House, and by the last of June, plans for Dallas Hall — to be built with the $300,000 cash gift of the citizens of Dallas — were completed. In October, 1911, the State Fair Grounds was the scene of a Methodist rally resulting in subscriptions and pledges equivalent to $1 10,000. The General Board of Education wired from New York City, offering to give $200,000 providing Texas Methodism would raise $500,000 by July 31, 1913. The response was highly gratifying and work on Dallas Hall was begun. The laying of the comer-stone was set for November 16, 1912, but was post- poned to November 28 because of rains. The ceremony was very elaborate and at- tracted a large crowd and extensive publicity. Contrary to the newspaper de- scription of the stone, it does not bear the date November 28, but only Dallas Hall, 1912. Before the year 1912 closed, contracts for two dormitories (one of which was never built) had been let; a charter had been obtained; a seal selected; a board of trustees chosen; and buildings started. September 22, 1915, was a day of great triumph for Dallas and Texas Methodists, for with the official opening the dream was a reality. Arrangements had been made for 300 students, but enrollment day brought 706, a number never . . . equalled, so far as I can learn, by any other institution in its first year, the president ' s report says. Quick adjustments were necessary and the faculty was increased from twenty to thirty- six. Writing of registration day, Goldie Capers Smith said ten years later in the Ex- Students ' Magazine, I was a member of that first freshman class, which put to shame the acres of Johnson grass for very verdancy. That first registration . . . shall I ever forget! The faculty lined up behind a long table, the students sneaking in as if they were being tried for murder; each fresh- man trying to get all the ' crip ' courses possible . . . the girls trying to shirk ' math ' in favor of French and Education. The upperclassmen, with their transfer credits, however, seem to have created the biggest problem.

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resulted in the student ' s applying for an injunction, but the court upheld the University. Afterwards, the penalty was changed from expulsion to permanent suspension. At the last faculty meeting of the Uni- versity ' s second year, on June 5, the roll of fifty candi- dates for bachelor of arts degrees and fourteen for master of arts degrees was approved. The nation-wide influenza epidemic was so prev- alent when the 1918-1919 session opened that a committee of three was appointed at the first faculty meeting to aid in combating the epidemic. January 15 brought the authorization of the annual memorial services for the student war-dead to be held each November 11 at the hour of eleven. Spring brought Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Fondren ' s donation of $10,000 to found the Fondren Lecture series. The last faculty meeting of the session was marked by the approval of President Hyer ' s suggestion that the Uni- versity provide ten scholarships to be given to men incapacitated by war service. Before the session closed, the gymnasium, the first building erected after the opening of the University, containing a swimming pool, basketball court, bowling alley, and other gymnastic equipment, was completed. In the fall of 1919, Dr. Albert S. Pegues replaced John H. Keen as Dean of the Uni- versity and Miss Mary B. Murphey was made Dean of Women. The first Rhodes Schol- arships awarded to S. M. U. students were received by Jack Doty and George Thomas in November. Disciplinary problems in the 1919-1920 semesters were evidenced by inauguration of the requirement that each student sign an anti-hazing pledge; by the record, found in the December 2 minutes, of the suspension of five students and punish- ment of eight others for hazing; and by the March 4 report of the chairman of the disci- pline committee, that a live wire leading to the gymnasium was cut during the party of the preceding Friday night. Sorrow struck the Campus on February 14 in the form of the death, the first among the faculty members, of Professor Frank Seay. The un- satisfactory financial conditions of the University caused great uneasiness in the minds of the trustees. The debt, which had been reduced to $304,000 at the beginning of 1919, had increased to $358,000 at the end of the year and was steadily rising. To give the trustees fuller sway and to spend more time teaching. President Hyer tendered his resignation on February 8, 1920, pointing out in his letter of resignation that in spite of the brilliant achievements of the young school, it was necessary to go to the friends of the University and tell them that if the bright prospects of the school were to be real- ized, or even if it were to be kept alive, it would be necessary to have more money. Dr. Robert Stewart Hyer may well be regarded as the outstanding figure that gave the institution academic standing from the first. At a time when the world was at war, with the resultant financial confu- sion, he stepped into his position confidently, with every hope for success. His duties included the ap- proval of architectural plans, the selection of a fac- ulty, the development of a curriculum, the acquisition