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

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cause of the $155,000 bond issue for the new athletic stadium and improvements necessary for mainte- nance, increased from $224,446 to $587,335. Because of dissatisfaction with the S. M. U. system of account- ing, the General Board of Education had deferred payment of the $333,333.33. Dr. Selecman ' s adminis- tration needed to raise the rest of the sum, which then stood at $489,820.08. The amount was raised and the educational board paid its pledge. Fire rendered the Chemistry and Journalism Departments, which are now located in the west end of Atkins Hall, homeless in 1930. On March 25 of 1931, the Board of Trustees created the Advisory Committee. The next year witnessed the birth of Field and Laboratory, a semi-annual science magazine. In 1934 the quadrangle was beautified, the University Council was created, the Arnold Foundation Studies, a political science publication, was established, and the Institute of Public Affairs, an annual conference devoted to the discussion of economic and political trends, was inaugurated. May, 1935, found the Campus in a festive mood. It was Twentieth Anniversary time. A special edition of The Rotunda under the editorship of O. V. Cecil, caught the spirit of twenty years of scholastic endeavor. December of the next school session found Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Fondren of Houston presenting another gift — $400,000 for the erection of the Fondren Library. That fall also brought another Southwest Conference football championship to the Mustangs. This time the crown was accompanied by an invitation to represent the East in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena on New Year ' s Day. The football team and the Mustang Band combined to spread further the name of Southern Methodist University across the na- tion. That championship was not the only one of the session, for the spring brought a basketball crown to the school. The $75,000 Hoblitzelle annuity was announced; the School of Theology became accredited with The American Association of Schools of Theology, and Studies in Sociology, a semi-annual publication, was first issued. In 1937, the University Press, devoted to academic publications, was founded. The $75,000 Noyes Scholarships were bestowed. Dallas College was elected to m.ember- ship in the National University Extension Association. Theatrical highlights of the year included the Glee and Choral Clubs ' most lavish production to date, The Snow Maid- en, and Script and Score ' s successful dive into the big-time musical comedy field with Take It Easy. The Arden Club was embroiled in a stew over its production of High Tor. Dr. John O. Beaty of the English Department hit the ten best lists with the publication of his Swords in the Dawn. Censor trouble struck The Semi-Weekly Campus, but the editor, Frances Hallam, smoothed things over gracefully. During this session Finis Crutchfield was President of the student body, James Collins was Vice- President, and Charles Max Cole edited The Ro-

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byftroughagioi aleston counties, ' snextUnivereity yMinSeptem. ' ' oblishmentofthe hich specializes in ' fte United States, •U ' Ctquiredirom litorium, for which ■ventheUniveisity el was constructed Mings then on the 3n extended to ser- he gas, water, and men to stand. To- )0,500, Spring saw .ool of Engineering iedicationoifirby stone exercises for sting 1st of articles ipal Church, South, wewoftheliniyer- = of the Southwist he Auditorium; a opyofT ieMs ny; place cards of velope containing ;ed prior to 1920 is resignation, which , Little was done, , Professor of Phys- bear his name, he theground-breoi- jnel. jsion was greeted had been erected .the Engineering (j] early in 1®, It was during rved as editor of lU.wasadmit- ,llegiate Schools jious Education Association. The first floor of the Administration Building (later to become Perkins Hall) was built that fall and put into use by the first of January, 1926. Fire again took its toll when North, South, and Rankin Halls were destroyed on February 11. A movement was immediately started to raise $250,000 for a wom- en ' s dormitory in order that the building then occu- pied by them might be given to the use of the homeless students. As a nucleus, the University had the insur- ance, $79,500, collected on the destroyed buildings and something more than $7,000 raised over a period by Mrs. Virginia K. Johnson to erect a dormitory as a Mothers ' Memorial. This scheme was abandoned in favor of two smaller buildings, one to be named Virginia Hall in honor of Mrs. Johnson, the other to be named Snider Hall in honor of Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Snider of Wichita Falls, who gave $150,000 for the erection of the building. Both these buildings were begun in the spring of 1926 and were com- pleted that fall. The dedication of McFarlin Memorial Auditorium made history, March 24. This Auditorium, built and paid for by Mr. McFarlin and turned over to the Univer- sity when completed, is the school ' s most expensive edifice, costing over $486,000, and is numbered as one of the United States ' finest college auditoriums. In addition a $25,000 pipe organ was installed as the gift of Mrs. McFarlin. March also saw the be- ginning of the Jordan Ownby Stadium. To erect this structure, the University borrowed $175,000 from the Missouri Valley Trust Company of St. Louis. J. C. Ownby and father donated $10,000 for the beautification of the grounds around the Stadium. The Stadium, with a total seating capacity of over 18,000, an eighth of a mile of running track, dressing rooms for both the Varsity and the visiting teams, and a laun- dry to provide clean equipment every other day, was ready for use when the next session opened. This fall also brought the opening of the A. V. Lane Museum. This museum houses the valuable relics which had previously been kept in the library class rooms, and storage. Besides collections of objects gathered from the ruins of Biblical lands, there is numbered among the relics an Egyptian mummy. During this session the Dads ' Club was organized and the Lehman Professorship of Christian Doc- trine was endowed for $84,559. During the 1927-1928 session the Department of Edu- cation was accorded the rank of a separate school and Dr. A. D. Schuessler was made supervisor of planting. Under his direction the beautification of the Campus has pro- ceeded steadily. Today the University has its own greenhouse for nursing plants. 1929 brought three rewards to S. M. U.: admittance to the American Association of University Women, and to the Association of Amer- ican Law Schools, and a place on the approved list of the Association of American Universities. With the amount of building on the Campus at this time, it is not surprising that the value of buildings, grounds, and equipment increased over a six-year period from August 31, 1923, to August 31, 1929, from $1,479,643 to $3,235,000; the endowment over the same period was raised from $833,335 to $2,290,515. The school debt, be-

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' e new athletic ■fy for ffloint, 587.335. Because astern of account- fen had defeired ' Iscman ' sadminis- s sum, which then ™s raised and the -the Board of i the birth of fieW lwascreatea,the itabhshed,andthe issionol economic ffiipus in a festive IE Rotunda under holastic endeavor. ' ondren of Houston Libr ary, That fall : to the Mustangs. !nt the East in the the Mustang Band sity across the na- ! spring brought a s announced; the ition of Schools of first issued. TO founded. The lededtoffiember- hlightsoftheyear The Snow Maid- comedy field with as embroiled in a •or. d!.lo snO. ut the ten best s in the Dawn. ithed things over Crutchfieldwas :;ollinswasVice- =dited The Ro- TUNDA. S. M. U. branched into the national radio field with student talent helping to spread the fame of the University on a one-time N. B. C. broadcast. rm .i v . rf During the 1937-1938 session, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Perkins donated funds for the completion of the Ad- ministration Building, which was to bear their name. Other new buildings on the Campus included two fraternity houses, which, added to the five already on Fraternity Row, made the landscape more complete. The Mustang Corral, a recreation room, was opened in the basement of McFarlin Memorial Auditorium, largely through the efforts of the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. It was here that the first campus movies of students in hilltop action were shown. Mock mourning of 1938 lay in the passing of Pikers ' Day, the annual last-fling of the seniors. The student political field was notable for the complete sweep of all major offices by the Progressive Party slate. Early in 1938, President Selecman had been made a Bishop of the Methodist Church with the result that a new leader was sought for the University. In November of the ensumg session. Dr. Umphrey Lee was announced as succes- sor to Dr. Selecman. During the interim, Eugene B. Hawk, Dean of the School of The- ology, acted as President. Sorrow of the students was caused by the deaths of Elzy Dee Jennings, long-time Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and of R. E. L. Saner, donor of annual oratory prizes on the Campus. The independent students were for- mally organized into their first permanent group, known as the Independent Students ' Association. Mortar Board stepped into the sponsorial field when the twelve senior girls presented Gladys Swarthout in recital . . . and showed a profit on the engage- ment. Perkins Hall, which was formally opened in February, was the cause of many oohs and ahs from townspeople seeing the completed structure for the first time. Other spring events of interest were the second consecutive sweep of major offices by the formidable Progressive Party; the proposed exchange of students with South Amer- ican imiversities, postponed at the outbreak of war; on the lighter side, the publication by the active chapter of Sigma Delta Chi on April Fool ' s Day of Mein Kampfus, a satirical four-page newspaper poking fun at dictators, war, and censorship; and on the musical side, the production of the light opera, Robin Hood, as Thomas S. Wil- liams ' initial bow at S. M. U. as producer. The fall semester of 1939 brought with it the festive twenty-fifth celebration of the founding of S. M. U. Dr. Lee was inaugurated, November 6, as the fourth President of the institution, presaging many important changes in Hilltop life. The weekly chapel hours were made non-compulsory. Rumor of a dance on the Campus began circulating in December and be- came a fact in January, 1940, which marked the first legitimate all-school dance ever held in these envi- 2 i efsiJM, W