Tennessee State University - Tennessean Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

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28 Student Activities. The advent of student protest activities did not cause the more traditional student ac- tivities to disappear from the campus. During the semicentennial year a student at Tennessee A. and I. had the opportunity to choose membership from among four chapters of national sororities, four chapters Ofna- tional fraternities, the honor societies, and forty-one other varied student organizations. By 196 l theatrical arts had unmistakably surfaced as one of the major areas of student activities at Tennessee A. and I. The newspaper announcement of the drama offerings for the 1961-1962 drama season identified three theatre organizations at the University. They were the Players Guild, the ChildrenTs Theatre, and the Laboratory Theatre. In 1962 intercollegiate athletics had achieved a truly distinctive status at the University. The pro- gram was well-rounded and included the major sports in the region. The souvenir program for the fiftieth year homecoming football game contained a briefhistory of athletics at Tennessee A. and I.

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Physical and Fiscal Devefopmem. e A university is more than bricks and mortar. But the bricks and mor- tar fashioned into buildings determine in many important ways the nature ofthe instruction, research, and service which is possible within a university. The college, which was transformed into a university during the Davis years, was housed in thirteen major buildings when Dr. Davis was inaugurated in 1943. When it became a university in 1951 three additional buildings had been constructed for the engineering and technology programs. A cafeteria capable of serving the total student body had been constructed as an an- nex to the Womenis Vocational Building, and was dedicated as the Jane E. Elliott Cafeteria. Mrs. Jane E. Elliott was Director of the Cafeteria when Dr. Davis was appointed President. The program of student ser- vices had also acquired another, the Student Health Service Building which enabled the University to free its residence halls ofelinieal units. J'lrrul'mn'u IHIHH'HR HurmHvry Um 'c Hnrmffnrt' Before the end ofthe decade of the 19505 five additional new buildings were constructed and opened for service. Cfemem Hall, a dormitory for male students, was completed during the summer of 1957 at a cost of $558,337.50. This building was named for a Governor ofTennessee, The Honorable Frank G. Clement. Hankat' Hall, a dormitory for female students was placed in a service at the beginning of the fall quarter of the 195?-58 academic year. Named in honor of Mrs. Edna Rose Hankal, a dedicated and well-loved Dean of Women when Dr. Davis was appointed President, this building cost $542,236.90. Ciay HaU. the Education Building. was completed in 1958 at a cost of $500,000. In addition to its primary service of housing the teacher-education program, it perpetuates the memory of the service of Mr. R. E. Clay tDaddy ClayJ and his long period of service as the campus Sunday School leader and as the State Developer ofNegro Education. The original unit of the Student Union Bait'dfng was completed and occupied at the beginning of the fall quarter of 1959. It housed at that time the major administrative staff for student affairS, the post office, a bookstore, a cafeteria-snaek bar, a student lounge, a recreation hall, and an academic hall of fame. The cost of construction for the building was $500,000. Construction of the Chemistry Buifding was begun as the decade of the 195015 ended. In his Annual Report, dated August 1, 1960, President Davis stated that the new Chemistry Building would cost $500000 and would house both the Chemistry and the Mathematics programs. 27'

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ROTC building burned in 1968 protest. Emerging from its first fifty years of service to black students exclusively in 1962, Tennessee A. and I. State University was in the midst of a social revolution from which it did not wish to escape, and from which it could not escape. When the 1962-1963 academic year began, public accommodations in many sec- tions ofNashville had already acquiesced to the persistent efforts of students and local citizens who eought service without regard to color of skin or ethnic origin. In the fall of 1962 these efforts were continmhg because the task was far from complete. An understanding ofthis process, and the studentsi linvo'lveiinent' m it, will contribute to understanding 0fthe complex nature 0fthe process of desegregating an institution like Tennessee A. and 1. State University. . The process of becoming a multi-ethnie university was accelerated during the eohcludmg years of the Davis administration, and continued throughout the period ofservice 0fthe third preSdent, Dr. Andrew P. Terrence. . . From 1961 through 1965 black college students in the City of Nashville made continuing essauits on racial segregation practices. The ufreedom rides, nsit in, along with stand-insii 1n tnotioit picture theatres were the major forms of protest used. For many Tennessee A. and 1. students Fitlt'tng this period, the academic year was a period ofalternate living on campus, picketing segregated faCIIlIlCS in town. and waiting injail for the NAACP. SNCC, 0r SCLC to arrange bail.