University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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UM students respond to organized cheering, c. 1952. themselves of these special courses so they could continue teaching here while getting their necessary degrees. This kept many teachers at UM. Early in the Anastasia ' s history, what had been plann ed as the dining room became the assembly hall, the theatre, and the symphony hall in one. Everybody had to go to Assembly each Wednesday. In one way, that was very nice because it got all the students and faculty together. Freshmen had to stand in the rear until everyone else had a seat. They had to hold their ' dink a small, green beanie cap, in their hands the whole time. The Assemblies were usually presenta- tions performed by the various departments. We also had some very important speakers, like William Lyon Phelps of Yale University, Knute Rockne, football coach at Notre Dame, and Florida Governor Martin. All these Assemblies were open to the public and this turned UM into something of a cultural cen- ter of the area. Miami had never had any- thing like this before. The first football stadium was located where the athletic practice fields are now. Naturally, it was constructed of simply wooden bleachers. Every single week was a Homecoming in the early years. All week long, the students would gather everything they could get their hands on that would burn for the bonfire each week- end, which was held in the triangle where the Coral Gables public library is now. While student spirit was high, riding on the irrepressible energy of youth, there was a certain amount of faculty spirit as well. The obstacles they overcame are things that one would be totally surprised about today. Dr. Rosborough: When people are very hard up for money, there are always hard feelings. But more than half of the faculty stuck through the en- tire mess of the bankruptcy proceedings. After all, many of these men had families to support. When the bankruptcy was over, all the clerical staff was paid in full. It was the law that all wage workers be paid first. What was left over went to sal- aries which covered the faculty and admin- istration. We only got four per cent of what we were due. That was all that was left, but we were happy to get that much. We believed in the University and the stu- dents kept coming back. The students ' involvement in the com- munity was always high, since UM depended on community support in just about all phases of its operation. But sometimes the students went too far, although they were always forgiven. Dr. Tebeau writes, The University News on November 20, 1929, re- ported that students had assembled at the Flagler Street Bridge in a motorcade that moved toward Bayfront Park and disrupted a program there. Led by a cheerleader, they crashed the gate at the Olympia Theater (present day downtown Gusman Hall) and marched onto the stage and sang some songs. They then came back to Coral Gables and re- 15

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Dr. Melanie Rosborough: We taught classes six days a week, with most meeting three times. Students attended Mondays - Wed- nesdays - Fridays and Tuesdays - Thursdays - Satur- days. Saturday classes were not dropped until Dr. Pearson ' s presidency, when we lenghthened the Tuesday - Thursday classes. People agreed that the change was pre- ferable, although there was some griping initially due to the longer class period. But then the University could offer special courses on Saturdays as they had been doing in the evenings. In those days-, a teacher was only required to have two years of college to be a certified instructor, but when the requirement was changed to demand a bachelor ' s degree, many instructors availed 1941 brought the Army and Navy to UM, expanding the ROTC program to accomodate students for war. the?( Ear what tan andi Uti onev dth Fresh ; : :- :: k .: 14

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little ' been towei from their TJied Pre thele perilo neede toppli ultyfl versit; ruptcj Foster experi be cor in the torea hesav conh ' d Leo Portnoff and his violin collection. He taught violin at UM from 1934-38. peated their performance at the country club. On another occasion in 1929, they irked the Coral Gables police and firemen by their antics, which included setting four false alarms, throwing eggs, dunking individuals in the water at the fountains, giving free haircuts, and staging a fight between freshmen and sophomores at a local theatre. Always sensitive about the community attitude toward the University, President Ashe, in 1938, writing to Clarence Turner, the head cheerleader, wondered if the Give ' em hell, Hurricanes yell would not offend the sensibilities of some people! The students, however, never lost sight of what it was that brought them together, so they had a great deal of con- cern for the school. This attitude was demonstrated in May, 1936, when, as Dr. Rosborough recounts, the students decided that the Anastasia Building had gotten sort of crummy looking and that it needed a paint job. The father of a student offered half the paint needed from his store, while students solicited the rest of the paint money and other supplies. The students com- pleted most of the project themselves. A a cent inters If Dr. energ) defeat day. App towart ofUM (head disasti during But purlin] admin innova 16