University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

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Early Chemical Laboratory These ten years have seen great physical progress in the building up of Rhode Island State College. In May 1934, an appropri- ation was made which provided for a new women’s dormitory, a new library and ad- ministration building, an improved dairy barn and the remodeling of Lippitt and Edwards Halls. In 1935, a new Home Economics Building was completed. Three years later, dedication ceremonies, attended by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mr. Robert Quinn, who was Governor of Rhode Island at that Bliss Hall time, gave these buildings their official titles. The next step in the building program it is hoped, will be an enlarged gymnasium to fulfill the needs of the expanding Rhode Island sports activities. Rhode Island State College athletics have gained prominence in the last decade. In 1938, four Rhode Island men made the all- conference basketball team and now Rhody boasts the national scoring champion in basketball. The Keaney teams are still thrill- ing the basketball world with their two- point-a-minute scoring ability, and they have traveled to Madison Square Garden for two years to bring fame and honor to the college sports record. The Rhode Island track team has also built up its strength and power. In the last four years the campus has seen records smashed right and left, with the final victory of a national championship for the track stars of Rhode Island. The graduating class of 1942 was ushered into Rhode Island by a hurricane in 1938. 17

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3 N 1932, East Hall was converted into a cafeteria for men and women, the infirmary was established, new roads were laid and the president’s house was built. At the close of 1932, the campus numbered twelve fraternities and three sororities, and its extra-curricular activity had expanded to include some twenty-six clubs and organiz- ations. Socially, the campus was progressing, and with the introduction of “talkies down the line” on Saturday nights, the usual Satur- day night silent movies with the dances which followed, were failures. As a result, in 1932, the dances were turned over to organizations, and for the first time a fixed fee was charged by the sponsors. The last ten years, have been stormy years and progressive years, Rhody sons have seen hurricanes blow, revolutions in teaching methods take place, and they have seen the college come close to its goal of becoming a university and another exchange of presidents take affect. In the last decade, the student body has gained its prominence in college student government. From the establishment of the Sachems in 1932, the students have progressed to a form of Student Senate, es- tablished in 1941, which is more democratic and progressive. The Glee Club, which first presented the Messiah in 1933, has in less than ten years gained reknown in New England’s musical realm. Beginning in 1934 a custom of electing a mayor of Kingston has prevailed and is now becoming a campus tradition. Pres. Raymond G. Bressler 1931-1940 19 2 2 1 9 3 2 Ranger Hall 16

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3 N four years on the campus, the class has seen the institution of the college carnivals which appeared in the fall of 1939 and 1941, for the benefit of the Scholar- ship Fund. In the Spring of 1942, they participated in celebrating the fiftieth anni- versary of the birth of their college. This year the college is undergoing another great change in its curriculum. Wartime measures are making it necessary to reorgan- ize the college system on a quarterly basis. At present it is only necessary to let facts speak for themselves in relating the progress of the college. In 50 years the college enroll- ment has expanded from 33 to 1200, while the faculty is over ten times its original size. It is hard to estimate what advances the next half century will bring. Probably none! The physical growth of the college is of historic significance and an effective indica- tion of the maturity of the college. Rhode Island State College is growing old grace- fully, showing its age in the comparison of its meager beginnings with the facilities which it has to offer now, at the close of a half century. Rhody has progressed from a small settlement of three buildings and a vast amount of rock-strewn, overgrown New Eng- land swamp land until the school now numbers nine halls of learning, three dormi- tories, Home Management house, Watson house, sixteen privately owned fraternity and sorority houses, a field house, football field, tennis courts, the experiment stations, and the President’s residence. From fifty people watching eagerly the laying of a cornerstone. Pres. Carl R. Woodward 1941 19 3 2 19 4 2 Lippitt Hall