University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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P CAP AND GOXVN 1903-7 . ERI-IAPS if any alumnus were asked to name the most interesting period in the history of the University he would solemnly mention the years of his under- graduate life. And yet it seems to me that those of us who were students in the University within the years 190 to 1907 can make such a statement with some justification. 1 When we arrived upon the campus the first decade of the Universityfs life was then history. The decennial celebration had been held. The U-niversity of Chicago was no longer an experiment. It had made for itself a recognized place am-ong the leading universities of the world. E October 1, 1903, saw the University with its physical plant greatly enlarged. The Law Building, the School of Education group, Bartlett Gynfmasium, and the Tower group had been completed within the previous year and were now ready for occup9.HCY- Tr T ft, The campus, which had been torn up almost continuously since the beginning, now assumed temporarily an appearance of completion. Segregation had descended upon the campus in a very definite fashion. Junior College men were directed to Ellis Hall and Junior College women to Lexington Hall, each group to be entirely oblivious to the other's presence on the campus. One needs no more definite reminder of the swift Hight of Time than to recall that these two buildings, which were then new, are now considered ruins. The Daily Maroon and The Monthly Maroon were just then beginning their second year. Both had been founded October 1, 1902, superseding the old University of Chicago Weekly. The Monthly Maroon was short lived, for it Went out of existence during the four-year period herein described. The Reynolds Club opened its doors at the beginning of the Autumn Quarter and was a great boost for men's activities. No dues were charged for the first six weeks, as I remember it. Then the regular membership fees began, and the first election of omcers was held. An almost immediate effect of the excellent new quarters for men in the Tower group showed itself in the organization of Blackfriars, which produced 7

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CAP AND GOVVN its first show, The Passing of Pahli Kahn, in the following Spring Quarter. The Dramatic Club entered upon a most successful period, and gave some of its most cred- itable performances within the years 1903-7. In those days the annual Dramatic Club play wa-s one of the -most conspicuous society occasions of the year, and tickets were as much sought for as are tickets to the Blackfriar shows nowadays. In athletics, affairs reached a climax in 1905. In the spring of that year Chicago won the conference meet with 56 points, Michigan being the nearest competitor with 38 points. In the Western Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament Chicago won the cham- .pionship in both singles and doubles. In the autumn Chicago won the Intercollegiate Cross Country Run on Thanksgiving Day. And as a Iitting climax, Chicago won the football championship, defeating Michigan in the final game of the season-the famous 2 to 0 game. This was the last game played with Michigan. As for student activities, perhaps the most interesting feature of this period was the wave of democracy which swept over the campus. One result of this was that the Cap and Gown, which thus far had been published by the Junior Society, was, in 1905-6, published jointly by the Iron Mask and the Junior Class, and thereaf-ter it became the publication of fthe Junior Class. Another result was the working out of a new constitution for The Daily Maroon providing for a more democratic method of electing its editors and business managers. It was in 1906 that the University suffered the greatest loss in its history in the death of President Harper, on Wednesday, January 10th. The master-mind, the cre- ator of the University, was gone. And so came the crucial test of the fabric of which the University was made. Fortunately, the President had planned and builded not for a decade or two but for generations to come. Fortunately, also, there was a man trained and qualified to step into the breach and carry on the work. Harry Pratt Judson, who had been Dean of the Faculties of Arts, Literature and Science, became Acting President, and on February 20, 1907, was elected President of the University by the Board of Trust-ees. In the history of the class of 1907, as recorded in the Cap and Gown of the year, appears the following staftement: Important things have happened at the Varsity in our day. President Harper has died. We were the last class that ever felt the iniiuencie of his active presence in University aiairs. We are also the fir-st Senior class that has had the opportunity of co-operating with the new President, and of helping to start the second era -of the University's life, the era of internal develop- ment. JOHN FRY1-:R MOULDS, '07. . LK if! T - , K I ' 1 l 2 3