Tennessee State University - Tennessean Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

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Ifthese actions satisfied the requirements of the law during the early-fonies, they did not produce :tequallzatli? between Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial State College and the Universny of Tennessee that persmtedl. Aetlfl'atl-f1 the state of equalization was not achieved. However, in the process, the reorgamzmg and strengthemng o e academic structure and program was commenced. l r. r - mi;imameM-LgyE-mtwm p: r- ' ' ' re with which TheAcademfc Organizational Srructure and Program after 1943. e The academlc organ gatigngiitgghu Offered three President Davis started included seven divisions with fourteen departments. The Gra ua - - ' ' ' their depan' degrees - Master of Arts, Master of Science, and Master of Educatton. The 51x undergraduate d1v151ons and ments which awarded Bachelor of Science degrees were: tn Division of Agriculture Department of Farmer Education Department of Agriculture Qt Division of Business Administration and Education Department of Business Education Department of Business Administration OJ Division of Education Department of Education fan Division of Engineering Department ofGeneral Engineering Department oflndustrial Education at Division ofHorne Economics Department ofHome Economics t6t Division of Liberal Arts Department ofEnglish Department of Romance Languages Department of History Department of Mathematics Department of Science Department of Social Studies . . . . . . - ' rsit From the tune of the inauguratlon of Pregldent Dams 1n 1943 to the tune ofthe CICVaIICIfI ofthe College to Untgfeur Y status in I95! the number of divisions was increased L0 ten and the number ofdepartments was Increased to forty- O -

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Practice School Dr. Davis had called for improvements 1 the Orgamzational structure of the college, improvements learning process. .derOpmem 0f WhOIBSOme student-teacher relationships, and membership in the Southern Assoctatton 0f CClleges and Secondary Schools. Two important factors PTOVidCd the stimulus that accelerated the forward movement toward achieving these goals. One was the foresight and drive that seemed to hays beeh Characteristic of President Davis. The other was the effort of the State Department of Educatlan 10 Implement the 1941 action of the Tennessee General Assembly which authorized and directed equahzatton thigher education for black citizens. The Board action consisted of forming committees COmposed 0f representatives from the Board and from the University of Tennessee to identlfy changes that should be made at the college as steps toward But the responsibility for transleting the Proposals into action resided with President the followmg: in the teaching- etequalization. Davis and the action that resulted was 1. Reorganized and strengthened undergraduate dCDartments to meet the requirements ofthe law, to improve teacher preparatton and l0 estabhsh a foundation for graduate study programs. 2. Expanded agricultural curriculum and agricultural extension program which had begun early in 1931. 3. Broadened home economics curriculum. 4. Establishment of the business administration and business education division, 5. Organization of an engineering program. 6. Beginning ofgraduate studies. 7. Reorganization of the administration of the college and the initiation of a state supported budgeting system.

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The ambitious academic organizational structure which greeted Dr. Davis that first year t1943-1944t was matched by an equally ambitious array of courses. Dr. Davis must have been quite pleased with the fact that the curriculum included courses that were uniquely relevant to the student body such as the following: Drama 51 l w The Negro in Drama and the Theatre English 433 w American Prose and Poetry ofNegro Life History 41 l - Negro History Sociology 441 - Races and Nationalism Dr. Davis must have been a bit perplexed by the incongruity of the existence of such situations as a foreign language faculty of one teacher, Mrs. Alma Watkins, and the foreign language section of the catalog which listed twelve French courses, twelve Spanish courses, one Italian course, one Portuguese course, and three German courses. Dr. Gore Leaves the College. b Just as the college was bringing into realization new and exciting dimen- sions of its role and scope, an event occurred which introduced pain with the exhilaration. The Dean ofthe College, Dr. George W. Gore, announced his resignation to accept the Presidency ofa sister institution. In the fall of 1950 Dean Gore became the President of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College. To lose the services ofa man who had been literally the embodiment ofthe intellectual spirit ofthe college was loss that taxed the cohesiveness ofthe college to the limits. In retrospect one realizes that the past exercise of Dr. Gore1s creative academic administrative expertise, which made his departure so painful was the same phenomenon which had influenced the development of the college to a level that enabled it to sustain itself in his absence.