University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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♦ ms i M The Cld Library Building riu- .School of Chemistry The Electrical Engineering Unit Music Building was the first to receive con- sideration. The structure was erected in 1921-22 opposite the College of Dentistry. ' o sooner had President Coffman taken the reins of the University than he began to talk to the alumni about things that they might do if they were so minded. Here was a ten-year building program ahead of the University, a generous provision of the legisla- ture, and one might have assumed that the future would be nothing but the realization of a pleasant dream. Not so. In President Burton ' s last year the University enrollment increased, not the usual ten, fifteen, or even twent}- per cent, but vaulted to the unbeliev- able height of a sixty-seven per cent advance o er any previous attendance. Here %vas a problem. The legislature had done its best for buildings, it had set a new standard for support, but it had reached the limit. A reaction was setting in. Retrenchment was the order of the day. And this was the situation that President Coffman faced. He did more than face it. He went out to meet it. He appealed to the alumni to prove their loyalty with something more than words. This was a new idea. The alumni had never been asked to render financial assistance before. Why should they? Wasn ' t this a state uni ersity supported by taxation? The - met with President Coffman. He met with them. The alumni appointed a com- mittee to study the needs of the campus that could not be met by legislative appropriation. They found a student unrest due to lack of athletic facilities. They found a lowered morale partly due undoubtedh- to the war, but partlv due to a lack of indoor space where the student body could be assembled. There was no place where the president could speak to the freshman class except out of doors, no place where commncement exercises could be held with alumni and parents of the seniors present. The committee reported that a stadium with increased playing facilities and an auditorium were the two outstanding campus needs. One of these at least could not be provided bv the legislature; the other would have to wait until after the ten-year program was finished and might not come then. Here was need for action. The opportunity came with the inauguration of Mr. Coffman as the fifth president of the University of Minne- sota in May, 1921. The alumni held a dinner on May 14 in the ball room of the Minnesota Union. The occasion was a happy one. It was felicitous and yet serious, for the following resolution was passed b - unaminous acclamation: It is the unanimous opinion of your com- mittee that the activities and interest of the faculty, students, alumni, and former students of the ITniversity of Minnesota be centered M Shevlin Hull Twenty-two

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♦ - She ♦ ♦ ♦ ©opher ♦ of ♦ ♦ ♦ Siuentu ♦ ♦ ♦ 5euen Iti ' , liow thu taiiipiiN cif ilu- lulurf, st) far as buildings were eoncerneii, would look. Minnesota then had a comprehensive campus plan and a good start in buildings. But she still had to ni.ike a struggle for each new structure. Hy l ' M. the old Chemistry Building had been tremendousU outgrown. Emergency assistance was needed. A suc- cessful appeal was made to the legislature and the present Chemistr - Building was completed during the year 1913-14. It was the first structure to be built on the mall. The old structure was transformed into a men ' s club house and still flourishes as the Minne- sota Union. The school of Mines was quick tu folltjw in 1914-15. A devasting fire had demolished the old building, and in the reconstruction plans it was decided to rebuild for the College of Education and the University High School and place the Mines Building on the new campus. This plan was followetl, and as a result the School of Mines was located on its present site west of the Chemistry Building. Then came a lull. The war was on. Presi- dent Vincent resigned to accept the presi- dency of the Rockefeller Foundation in Xew York Cit -. President Burton mounted the Unixersity stage. The campus became a military camp during the life of the Student Army Training Corps. The armistice was declared, the S. A. T. C. disbanded and some- how that hectic year was closed. Despite the general disruption due to the atmosphere of the times, the new definitions of college func- tions, new interpretations of curriculum alues, President Burton with rare educa- tional statesmanship sensed the necessity of another forward look in the building field. Calling the University administrators to- gether, he asked them to lay before him the needs of their departments for the years ahead. Then classifying the results of this survey he grouped the most immediate needs into a ten-}-ear building program and went to the legislature with it. So eloquently did he present the University ' s case before that body that they approved the request in its entirety. The program called for an appro- priation of $560, 000. 00 a v ' car for a period of ten years. while President Burton will always be remembered as Minnesota ' s war president, his outstanding achievement was the attain- ment of the comprehensive building plan which is just being consummated with the plans for the building expansion of Physics and Law. In 1920 Michigan made overtures to President Burton which he couldn ' t resist. He left Minnesota tor the presidencv ' of Michigan I ' niversity and ri ' maini-d there until his death in the spring of 1925. It became one of President Coffman ' s tasks to carry out the building jirogram. The i4 ipm 4 -w»--icf 1 ' : } , . ' ,., -s -? ! %» University Hospital ' icuril Across the River i j» I J..U .j.» i XJ XXXX JL J».j J-J, X .LNU X.J fA.. ' ,....f jv. . v4 . j ' .4r fAvfw4vfLk v Twentv-oiie

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♦ She - ♦ Gopher ♦ ♦ ♦ oF ♦ ♦ Ementu ♦ geuen ♦ 1 upon the raising of a nu ' inorial fund ot two million dollars to be used in the erection, on the campus, of an adequate and suitable auditorium; the acquisition of the land now owned by the University bounded by Oak Street, Church Street, Beacon Street, and University A enue, as an extension of the present athletic field, for enclosing the entire field with a wall and the erection thereon of a stadium. Then came a new epoch in Minnesota history. Here was the first time in the fifty- four years of her existence that students, faculties, alumni, and friends of the insti- tution were asked to make a financial sacrifice to do something worth while for the Univer- sity. The record of that campaign has been fully written; it need not be repeated here. The total amount raised on the campus by students and faculties went beyond six-hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars. Alumni and friends brought the total to more than one million seven-hundred thousand dollars. By common consent it seemed wise to build the stadium first. Land was purchased, plans drawn, the contract let, and finally ground broken March 6, 1924. It seemed inconceivable that the huge structure seating over fifty-thousand persons would be ready for the fall games. But in this instance the contractors set a new standard of efficiency, for they kept gaining on their schedule until they were ahead of their agreement by prac- ticalK- a month and maintained that lead to the close, so that not only the big games but the preliminar} ' ones as well were staged within the new structure. The Stad ium viewed from e ery stand- point — economy, size, appearance, and utility, is one of the finest and most service- able in the country. On a bleak winter day one looking o er at the deserted seats might wonder if the investment were worth while. But if this same spectator should enter the North Tower on University Avenue, and go down into the team quarters, the locker rooms, and the equipment room where the immortal Oscar holds sway, see the training quarters for track, and other teams as well as football teams, and note the completeness of the equipment he would wonder at the facilities of this all-the-year-round structure. Then let him make a tour of the interior and find on the ground floor that splendid cinder track extending clear around the Stadium, a quarter of a mile stretch for indoor track so necessary in this climate; under the seats at the side of the track ani]jle space on a dirt floor for field e ents, broad jump, high jump, pole vault, discus and shotjiut. Furthermore, in connection with the track a loop has been built so that the runner training for a distance event may make a i Tht ' [ ' onu ' u ' Livinna iuin A 1 ■„! in Campus 11 ' t riic Arthur i ' psuii Room 1 Mrmiohil rl ihr Kivcr Drive Twenly-lhree