University of Oregon - Oregana Yearbook (Eugene, OR)

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X: , ,Y H vi, 0 V, V .,... .. ,l.., I .. ,.,,,,. V. . ,..,.V .. .'x-, ..,, , V.,. . ,Z -H...-.,. . .... .,.. . .I ,V ..F.,I,.,,,,.Y:.,.:.,:x , :I ,VI :tl .l fiw .. . which was at that time fitted up as an auditorium. They were held in the evening of june 14, 1878, and were attended by six hundred people. The pro- gram consisted of orations by the students and an address to the class by judge Dcdy. Diplomas were the awarded the following: Robert S. Bean, now President of the Board of Regents, Matthew S. VVallis, now living in Eugene, George S. VVashburne, deceased, John C. Wliitealcer, deceasedg and Mrs. McCormack. VVlhat the first Faculty lacked in numbers it made up in personality. President johnson, during his long administration of seventeen years, made himself a dominant force in the educational field. He was a man of marked mental attainments and pronounced eccentricities. His students tell many stories which demonstrate both characteristics. He could not brook stupidity in his students, and was capable of sarcasm at the expense of offenders which would have shamed the efforts of the most dreaded masters of invective on the present Faculty. He also had a hibit which is now, perhaps, more prev- alent among students than instructors,-that of chewing tobacco in the class room. President johnson at first taught Latin and Greek, but after 1882 con- fined his attention to Latin. In 1893 he retired from the presidency, but re- tained his chair in the Faculty. His final retirement in 1898 was the occasion for universal regret and tribute from the thousands of students and friends who had come in personal contact with him. Equally famous was Dr. Thomas Condon, the first Professor of Geology and Natural History. Before his appointment to the University Faculty, Dr. Condon had been for many years active in the mlinistry in this state. At the same time he had engaged extensively in geological study and research, and had gathered the valuable collection of specimens which he later presented to the University, and which is now known as the Condon collection. Dr. Condon's eminence as a writer and authority on geological matters is too well recognized to need mention here. He retired froml active service on the Faculty in 1895, retaining, however, the position of emeritus professor. To revert to our historical sketch, we again meet with the name of Henry Villard as a further and even greater benefactor of the University. Not con- tent with his original gift of seven thousand dollars toward eradicating the debt on Deady Hall, in 1882 he gave one thousand dollars toward the estab- lishment of a library. The next year he made his largest gift of fifty thousand dollars toward the endowment fund. Meanwlhile, the student body had far outgrown the capacity of Deady Hall, and the legislature voted the money necessary to erect a second build- F ourlecn

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- ' .. .- ' A' ' . . . ?R-l ing. It was completed in 1885, and in recognition of the generosity of the 'University's benefactor, was called Villard llall. Important changes in the curriculum were also taking place. The Law School was established in Portland in 1884, and in the same year the normal department in Eugene was abolished. ln 1887 the Medical School was es- tablished in Portland. The next building erected was the Men's Dormitory, completed in 1893. The brick citadel now uscd as a VVomen's Gymnasium, but formerly monopo- lized by the men, was built in 1897. The thi-rd recitation building, McClure Hall, was finished in 1900. lt was named in honor of Professor S. E. McClure, who was a member of the Faculty from 1887 until his death in 1897. Another important step in the raising of the standard of the University was the abolishment of the preparatory department in 1904. Until that year the preppers rubbed elbows with the regular collegians in the class-room and on the campus, but the growth of high schools all over the state made it no longer necessary to offer preparatory courses here. Important additions to the equipment of the University have been made in the last eight years. The Library building, now officially known as john- son Hall, in honor of the first President, was finished in 1906. In 1908 the large additional tract south of the old campus, on which Kincaid Athletic ,Field is now situated, and where future expansion in buildings and grounds will take place, was purchased. Engineering Hall was built in 1909, and the present Men's Gymnasium in 1910. Three men have occupied the presidential chair since the retirement of l:'resident johnson in 1893. Charles Hiram Chapman served from 1893 to 1899, and is now an editor of the Portland Oregonian. Frank Strong suc- ceeded Dr. Chapman, and in 1902 left to accept the presidency of the Univer- sity of Kansas. Prince L. Campbell has held the position since 1902. No history of the University, however brief, would be adequate without mention of the legislative crises through which the institution has passed. We will not here rehearse the numerous fights, successful and otherwise, which have been waged from time to time in the state legislature to supply the bare necessities of the University. However, the two important refer- endum campaigns in which the very life of the University has been at stake, and in which she has been victorious, should be recalled. February 11, 1908, the legislature passed a bill introduced by Represen- tative Eaton. of Lane County, appropriating S125,000.00 annually for the maintenance of the University. Opponents of the bill, many of whom were sincere in their convicti-on that it was inexpedient or that the state should not Fifteen