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

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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

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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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Quinn Hall Green Hall the college has progressed to a position of importance to merit dedication ceremonies of one of its buildings conducted by the First Lady of the United States. It’s semi-centen- nial anniversary will be celebrated by twenty times those fifty earnest souls who witnessed the lowly birth of Taft laboratory. Rhode Island State College has gained fame through the achievements of its gradu- ates and undergraduates. Its Glee Clubs have gained an enviable reputation in New England. “State” basketball and track teams have spread its name nationally. In addition to the Rhody graduates who have won ac- claim for their college in diverified fields, professors and instructors, while studying on the campus, have advanced revolutionary theories in science and research. Rhode Island farmers and those from other states as well, have come to depend on the Depart- ment of Agriculture for their farming infor- mation and the latest developments in agriculture. The Home Economics depart- ment has introduced many a new wrinkle in the realm of nutrition and home management. The brilliance of the Rhode Island engineers is recognized each year as a result of their labors. The college is rapidly assuming its responsibilities of service to the nation as well as to the state. It is hard to estimate what advances the next half century may bring. Perhaps when Rhode Island reaches the ripe old age of three score and twenty it will boast university rating in the higher ranks of educational institutions. 19