Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

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Southwestern warrants long past due and decided to celebrate. So, after long argu- ment, they bought a saclc oi peanuts and wallced a mile and a halt to save street-car iarel Only two oi our present Faculty survive from nineteenth-century days, one a stu- dent then, lfleanore l-layes, and the other an instructor, professor Robert B. Dunleyy, What tales they could tell, and how they must smile when present hardships are complained oil Cn a stair-landing of Qld North was a tanl4 For tire-protection. It was the custom to dip new students into this head-First, just to mal4e sure they were properly imbued with the Southwestern Spirit. But Elijah pilgrim Giger, colored stu- dent preacher, was too wary to be caught near this tanl4. So a bucl4et oi water was placed on the campus and, when least expecting it, he got his ducldng in the usual form, ii not in the usual place. Perhaps he got an extra dose be- cause oi the extra trouble his initiation had involved. ln any case, as he came up spluttering, he said, Hl'se been baptized by water and by the l'-loly Ghost, but dis is de lust time lise ever been baptized by de Deyilli' William l-l. Rose was acting president in 1899-1900. ln T900 to 1903, Frederick C Demerest was president. The hard times still held on and not much progress could be made. ln 1903 Pro- fessor George F. Cook became president. The merchants oi Win- tield in this year began to tal4e a vital interest in the college and promised to raise fiSQ5,000 it the trustees would raise 3375,- 000, Chaplain lVlcCabe, aiterwards Pauli' 9

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ln 1892-1893 the enrollment rose to 613, the largest among the church colleges of Kansas, a position Southwestern holds to this day. Classrooms and halls at Qld North were crammed with students. Traffic regulations were imperative, and so orig- inated that vveird system known as Hfaculty regulations, which reached its culmina- tion in the Upurple Book of 1933. The first rule adopted vvas, HKeep to the rightln-athe only rule of discipline in force at that time, although there were some more or less vague understandings about what came to be called closed nightsf, Many vvere the discouragements of the earlier days. Gften there vvere no funds. Money vvasnft easy to borrovv. Teachers' salaries Went unpaid. More than once creditors levied on the furniture, which was then sold at auction at the corner of Ninth and Main, bought up by some friend 4 K ,,...Q.L The Story of of the institution and carted back to the college. Qnce a dray had been loaded with chairs, tables, and apparatus to be sold for debt, when W. C. Robinson ap- peared, paid the bills, and classes vvere resumed. At one time, the greater part of the campus vvas turned over to him and he vvas the ovvner of a collegel Qnce Professor Phillips mortgaged his home to keep the school alive. The professors had to take their pay in slides, preserved frogs, and geological specimens. The panic of 1893 almost closed the college and nearly chilled the enthusiasm of those early build- ers-but not quitel Students could not pay tuition, and no one thought of keeping them out for such a reason, so they signed notesl Drought and grasshoppers added their contributionsmas other contributions ceasedl ln 1894, President phillips re- signed, and William N. Rice took up the vvork. l-le resigned in 1894 and Granville Lowther acted as president in 1895. Chester A, place vvas presi- dent from 1895 to 1899. ln 1896 it appeared the school would have to close-'no funds and prospects slender. ln this emergency, the faculty leased the school and for tvvo years operated the institution Without deficit-the pro- fessors took the tuition that came in and somehow lived on that. Salaries as lovv as thirty dollars a month for a six-hour-a-day teaching schedulel Tui- tion ten dollars a term, often paid in labor or commodities, and in one in- stance, at least, in tovvn lotsl Room- rent a dollar a month, board a dollar ten a Week. Une of the instructors, speaking to the Conference, said, U-lhe aim of education is to make this Chold- ing up a chunk of coalD look like this Cproducing from his pocket a bright silver dollarf' -lhen he said, 'fplease don't ask me vvhere l got it. l bor- rovved it from my roommate. lt's a keepsake of his. -lvvo Ph. Dfs, by accepting a discount, got some cash on Page 8

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bishop, took part in this campaign. Presi- dent Cook, saying he was unsuited for money-raising, resigned and Frank E. Moss- man vvas elected president in 1905. The naming of our college caused a lot of trouble. Conference, trustees, pres- idents, and friends--all took a hand at it. Finally, the students themselves named their ovvn school. l-lerefs the vvay it came about. The Conference of 1884 decreed that it should be called the 'Southwest Kansas College. The trustees in the first charter called it The South West Kansas Conference Collegef' Think of working that into a yelll Dr. Earp in the first advertisements sent out gave it tvvo names, HSouth West Kansas College and Hgouth- ern Kansas Normal School and Business College. Qther names suggested vvere Ucokesburyn and Hlfpvvorthn College. So the dispute Went on for tvventy-five years. The trustees, in a discussion lasting i, lil -- V--.ww The Story of all day and until tvvo the next morning, reduced the name to South Western Collegen and seemed to fix the matter forever by erecting over the entrance of Richardson the letters US. W. C. Stu- dent riots broke out against the offending middle letter. l-laving read about the Boston -lea Party, four daring souls, with faces blacked and heads tied up in ban- danas, got ropes, ladders,-and planks, constructed a svving, and cut the from the building. President Nlossman and Professor Phillips had a hurried con- ference the next morning. UWhat now? M-l'here's only one thing to do: grin and say nothingln Finally, the trustees had the charter changed and the S. C. standsl l3rexy's Barn, a vvooden structure standing where the sunken rose garden is novv, vvas the first building erected by Dr. lVlossman, vvho got six men to con- tribute one hundred dollars each. It vvas dedicated February 10, 1908. There vvas a boxing match, Doc l'lin- shavv's band of tvventy pieces, soloists, speeches, a tug-of-vvar, and a basket ball game betvveen St. Johns and Southwestern. ln this little gym, tvvo state championship teams and one na- tional championship team vvere trained. ln 1908 the Conference met in Winfield. A tent vvas erected on the campus and a banquet, supervised by Mrs. Mossman, served to a thousand people. Bishop Warren and others spoke. 543,000 was raised. A little later James Richardson gave 530,000 and the building that bears his name vvas erected on the lVloundbuilder's biggest mound, Sunset I-iill, from 1914 until 1916 the first great financial campaign vvas vvaged, for HS600,000, under the invincible leadership of Dr. Mossman, assisted bv C lvl. Gray and a score of others. Winfield raised fE78,000, the alumni 525,000 November Q9, 1916, vvas set as the last day. It vvas a day of Pug-' 10