Southwestern College - Moundbuilder Yearbook (Winfield, KS)

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'wg- Southwestern anxiety and expectancy. Subscrip- tions poured in all day, people came and went, bulletins were posted from time to time, and at last, about tour o'clocl4, the goal was reached. Then about ten o'clocl4, R. A. Dadisman, Super- intendent ol the Pratt district, came in with an old satchel containing subscriptions lor 550,000 that no one l4new anything about. The total raised was fE678,000, South- western could now ranlc as an accredited college. It was ad- mitted to the North Central Asso- ciation in 1917. ln 1917 the war spirit invaded the campus. President lVlossman was authorized to otler the services of Southwestern to the nation. Enlistments began at once. Coach Willis Bates went to Camp Sherman and tool4 special training lor the S. A. T. C. Association l-lall and l'lolland, with a mess hall behind it, were turned into military bar- racks. Students prepared For war and toolc college worlc. Many nearly perished in the Flu epidemic. Three hundred and seventy-Five men entered the service. All branches were represented. Qne hundred and twenty attained to olficerls ranlc, 8 died in camp, 5 were lcilled in action, 3 died of diseases contracted in the A, E. F. The students at home organized a l.oy- alty League to raise funds for enter- prises connected with the war. personal letters were written to all Southwesterners in the service. Purple cartons with S. C. pen- nants were sent Filled with candy, other Ueatsf' boolcs, magazines, and 'always with the message, Return and we will Fill again. ln 'l9'l8 Dr. Mossman left to become president of his alma mater, Page Il

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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

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Morningside College. l-le had made South- western a real college, provided an en- dowment, and secured its recognition as an accredited institution. Dr. William l. Ward was made acting president and served till the end of the year. As presi- dents came and went, one personality remained constant for more than thirty yearseeprofessor John l:. Phillips, as stu- dent, teacher, registrar, dean, business manager, and vice-president. l le died at the close of his last year's service in 1925, and his funeral in Stewart Gym on the afternoon of commencement day was a great tribute to a great man. Dr. Albert E. Kirk became president January 1, 1919. Attendance grew from 300 to 1,346 faculty and facilities be- came inadequate. Expansion became im- perative. Dr. Kirk was adequate to this task. ln 1924 Stewart Gymnasium and The Story of Library was completed, one of the finest college structures in Kansas. President Kirk then turned to the problem of endow- ment and the fortieth Anniversay Campaign was launched. lts goal was a million and a third, but actually over f51,520,000, including SB144,000 that had been pledged on Stewart Gymnasium, was subscribed for endowment, debt payment, and educa- tional needs. Dr. Kirk was assisted in this campaign by R. A. Dadisman, William l. Ward, W. lf. Bigler, W. V. Burns and many others. faculty and students sub- scribed s5o,ooo, Winfield alone sub- scribed fl32Q0,000, Dr. Kirk raised educational standards, modernized the curriculum, increased the offerings of departments. lo him chiefly must go credit for the growth of the School of fine Arts. l-le brought into its faculty such outstanding personalities as Earl Stout, l-l. l-lugh Altvater, afterwards dean of the school, who secured for it membership in the National Asso- ciation of Schools of Music, the lrioramontis, C. Q. Brown, Cora Conn-Moorhead, I-l. S. Dyer, founder of the A Cappella Choir, l-lenry S. Loudenback, and many others. ln 1926 Dr, Kirk united the School of fine Arts and the Winfield College of Music. president Kirk stood for aca- demic freedom. Always an in- transigent foe of obscurantism, he opposed the movement to abolish the scientific teaching of biology in the college. l-lis eHorts cul- minated in a memorable five-hour debate at Great Bend in which the laymenfs conference wisely upheld the right of the college to teach the truth of God as revealed in nature. A historic episode was the Hpacifist fightf' Dr. Kirk, an ardent advocate of international peace, was at General Conference in Springfield, Massachusetts, A Ptzgv IZ