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

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, Much of the influx of post-war students was due to the far-reaching effects of the GI Bill, which financed veterans ' tuition payments, and the general affluence that Americans were enjoying for the first time in many years. Dr. Tebeau writes: The veterans generally had a wholesome influ- ence upon college life. They were not better equipped academically and intel- lectually, but they were more highly motivated and more likely to perform at the level of their ability. Many of them were concerned that they had lost time and that they must get on with their preparation to enter the job market. Large numbers were married and had families to be concerned about, too. True prosperity had finally arrived. A financial base that was dependable enough to generate steady expansion had emerged, and Dr. Ashe lived to see the University well on its way to academic and financial maturity. When he died in 1952, and Dr. Greek Week Pie-Eating Contest, c. 1935. Hurricane football fans return from Gainesville road trip on victorious trainride, c. 1949. 21

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future, and UM knew it. The 1945-46 school year saw 2000 students register for classes. One year later, the enrollment figure jumped to just under 7000, including 1000 students totally separated from the main campus. For two years, they lived at South Campus, once the Richmond Naval Air Base, which was located 12 miles from Coral Gables. There were housing, food and recreational facilities for about 1100 students who lived in converted officer ' s quarters and barracks. Warehouses became classrooms and admini- strative offices were in the Officer ' s Club. However, most of the students assigned to South Campus were less than pleased with it. Feeling cheated of the main campus activities and atmosphere, the students were unhappy, alt hough this situation only lasted for two years. It was at this point that the main campus had been finalized. For awhile, there was some question within the Board of Trustees as to whether to expand the present campus surrounding the Anastasia Building, move to the main campus where UM is located now, or perhaps even move to Key Biscayne for an island atmosphere. In March, 1946, the word came that the Merrick gift would be the final campus. At the end of that period, in 1948, on-campus apartments were finished the first housing provided on the new main campus and the Richmond Base was no longer used. The main campus had begun to take shape. The Memorial Building had been finished and even the Merrick Building, having stood incomplete for 23 years, was opened for business. This intense flow of new students strained all the resources on the campuses to their breaking point, and still more space was needed. Dr. Ros- borough: The University had to rent whole sections and entire apartment buildings down on 20th Street and on 3rd Avenue. They then sublet these units to faculty who had been hired to accommodate the new masses of students. It was usually a year or two before newcomers to Miami could find the lifestyle and dwelling they were looking for because of the tremendous flood of new residents. In the meantime, these were like faculty dormitories. A UM promotional gimmick, shot in New Jersey, c. 1954. 20 The annual alligator pond dunking at the Anastasia Building patio, c. 1937.

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Jay F.W. Pearson took the reigns, frat- ernities had started establishing their own houses, dormitories were under construc- tion, a student union had been running for a few years, and the number of students enrolled had finally stabilized at a rela- tively high figure. The financial pros- perity of Florida was lifting all the other institutions of the area up with it. Life on campus was closer to what we know today, but many important differences still remained. Women living in the apartment areas occupied a section of the campus enclosed by a seven-foot high chain link fence a seemingly impenetrable barrier to rambunctious panty raids and other fiftyish pranks. Curfews were in effect, no alcoholic beverages were allowed in University housing, and the no-necking rule was strictly enforced on campus. Academically, the situation improved steadily. The early professors had shaped the future of the institution by starting from scratch. As Dr. Tebeau recalls: There were several attractive things about this place. We were in the midst of a growing situation. From the day I came here in 1939, there was improvement. I felt that I had a part in bringing this school up. There aren ' t too many places a teacher can go and feel this way. Another thing was the unbelievable freedom to teach, which is not to suggest that any of us were radical. Nobody here ever tried to inhibit any professor from trying some- thing different, if it was at all rational. Many professors have told me that the reason they stayed here through all the problems of the first 25 years was that they had the freedom to develop their own courses to a degree that would sufficiently encourage them to stay on. Other schools with more prestige would place a profes- sor into a niche from which he could not extricate himself. Unfortunately, this freedom is not present to the old degree here anymore. The size and complexity of the University does not allow as much leeway as we had then. The din and confusion of construction were an ever-present accompaniment of academic activity during the 1950s as the fledgling university enlargened its facilities and began to make use of the great area of land at the main campus. Dr. Pearson found himself almost obscured by the exponential growth of the physical plant. During the 1950s, Eaton Hall, the Ashe Building, the first of the de Hirsch Meyer Law School Buildings, the Aram ' Gosh ' Goshgarian, left, in his 1949 campaign for president of student government. He was the first non-fraternity president of the Student Association. Ferr Engin Medic orialf morel toisa fteHf Galleri bejini lijjou; ercdtl nearfi Staler sdenci Ano School P De 22