University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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Draper Hall in the days of dirt roads and horses One big problem of the administration was to convince the male students that they should complete their college education before entering the service; the students were told that everyone had a job in the war effort and that theirs was right here at school. A 12 week summer course was instituted to shorten the four year course to three; a training program was set up including a required physical fitness course for all men, a campus air-raid program, and special courses in map reading, first aid and public health. An enlisted reserve program was organized; in 1944, 132 of these reservists were called. Prof. Ralph A. Van Meter was appointed associate Dean to handle educational and administrative problems arising from the arrival of U.S. Army cadets for five months of educational courses. Dormitories were converted into military barracks; fraternity houses served as homes for undergraduate women; the sororities remained intact (a few of them joined national affiliates during this period ). Campus Community Chest, scrap metal drives, and bond appeals were organized; ration books were given out to the students. Less and less men entered the College; the women outnumbered the men 203 to 73 in the Sept., 1943 registration. The Stockbridge Course was temporarily shortened to one year. Commencement exercises were shortened to keep up with the wartime economy. There were approximately 2700 faculty, students and alumni serving in the armed forces. As the end of the war approached, the mental attitude of both faculty and student body reverted to college living. Fraternity rushing was revived and in April of 1945 the Scrolls were organized. The Alumni introduced a measure for more self-liquidating dormitories to meet the need of the returning veterans, those on the G.I. Bill, civilians who had postponed their education, and the regular flow of students. A new movement was in the making to change the name of the College to the University of Massachusetts. The September registration of 1945 opened in an atmosphere of peace. It was like a breath of fresh air for this institution which had survived the economic perils of a depression, a hurricane and a world war. The post-war era was marked by a renewal of old student organizations, the birth of new ones, and a revival of sports and extra-curricular activities. President Baker recognized the need for the extension of higher education at this time. In 1946 a committee of leading educators set up a two year program at Fort Devens as a branch of Mass. State College to provide for the overflow of veterans. This service ran until 1949.

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After the depression hit, Baker expressed his concern in that the College should aid in the problem of conserving and developing natural resources and that the College equipment could be used in the fight against the economic slump. Despite the depression, the institution grew both physically and spiritually. In 1933 Governor Ely submitted a bill to the N.R.A. program for a new library and boy ' s dormitory for the College. In 1934 Goodell Library, named in honor of the late President, and Thatcher Hall, in honor of former President Roscoe Thatcher who had died the preceding December, were completed. The curriculum reflected depression effects: special Physical Education courses offered for recreational and playground instruction; introduction of vocational courses in summer school curriculum to aid unemployed; increased enrollment by many who couldn ' t afford privately-endowed institutions. This last factor presented a problem due to limited facilities. It was this early depression period which saw sororities move into houses of their own; the opening of the Campus Store at North College; the establishment of Thursday morning convocations; and the publication of Dr. Frank Prentice Rand ' s YESTERDAYS AT MASSACHUSETTS STATE COLLEGE to which we owe a great deal in the writing of this history. In his 1935 report. President Baker could list the following accomplishments: 1. Improvements in training and research. 2. Improved opportunities for study and extracurricular interests; more cultural opportunities. 3. Better student leadership and representation. 4. Campus used more for educational meetings of various organizations. 5. Recognized need for planning for increased student body. 6. Increased extension service. Yet President Baker was worried; the College couldn ' t possibly take all those who wished to enroll, at least not without physical additions and salary raises for the staff. Its being grouped with penal and charitable State institutions, financial control was a handicap. This fear of security was given a touch of sadness by the death of former President Kenyon Butterfield on Nov. 26, 1935- In this same year, an agitation movement was started to bring about a Bachelor of Arts degree. As this would require a great change in program and possibly alienate groups with agricultural interests in the College, President Baker didn ' t push for the degree at this time. A look at the College in the years 1936 to 1939 can serve as an example of the modern advances made by this institution. In 1936 the Women ' s Athletic Field was dedicated--a representative symbol of how the status of co-eds had risen. All freshman men were living on campus for the first time and all students enjoyed the extensive improvement of classrooms and labs. The total of credits was reduced from 72 to 60, and the required courses of the first two years were liberalized. The B.A. award was finally introduced; President Baker pxsinted out that the widening scope of the College had been a good sign and that the liberalizing movement was legal enough in that the Morrill Act of 1862 hadn ' t stipulated that it was necessary for a state-supported school to be concerned with agriculture only. A Campus Planning Council was organized to work on a building plan for the coEege— to provide a map for the new building locations, including dormitories for the rising enrollment. (The undergraduate body reached a high of 1208 in Sept. of 1939.) An allotment of $63,000 was received for renovating South College; the State appropriated $55,000 to the school for damage incurred due to the 1938 hurricane. Two more dormitories— Lewis House and Butterfield House, which were completed respectively in 1940 and 1941— were started by the Alumni Building Corporation. The founding of Isogon organization in 1940 ran parallel to the establishment of another org anization of a totally different nature. This organization was a committee created to make a study of facilities and services which the College could offer in case the United States became involved in war. Following this, a College Defense Council was set up. Later, the College announced that it could accept a program of training civilian pilots and of giving refresher courses to industrial workers. These precautions were not futile; on the contrary, they were just the beginning steps in a long program, for when the U.S. entered the Second World War, M.S.C. launched an all-out program of training and defense Like all other institutions of American life, M.S.C. had to adapt itself to a new pattern of living due to the wartime crisis.

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After four semesters, the students transferred either to this school or, in some cases, to another college. By 1947 agitation for a university status increased a great deal. Many veterans couldn ' t go to private colleges and attended this College in search of engineering, business or B.A. degrees. The extensive educational courses, the agitation by many in the eastern part of the state for a university there and the fear that the College could become lax in effectiveness and organization due to the abundance of new schools within the College led to a bill to change the status to a university. Governor Bradford approved the bill on May 6, 1947 and M.S.C. became U. of M. Because of ill health and advancing age. Baker retired in June. In 1948, Ralph A. Van Meter was inaugurated President of the University after serving a term as acting Pres. Van N. ' eter saw in his term of office a tremendous growth in enrollment and in expansion of facilities. Under the bi-partisan support of the State Legislature and Administration, the University prepared to meet the rising student population (in 1949 there were 621 freshmen, in 1953 there were 1170). Under Van N!eter ' s term, the positions of Dean of Horticulture and Agriculture and Dean of Nfen were created; the new programs in Engineering and Forestry were accredited by professional concerns; a more detailed guidance service including testing programs was introduced; a twelve-week summer session was created to allow three-year education in compliance with possible manpower need due to the Korean War; 100 Commonwealth scholarships were established; graduate school was reorganized and enlarged; the College of Arts and Sciences was authorized; aid to agriculture, homemaking, and youth problems were carried on by the Extension Service; and a swarm of new classrooms, labs and cement-block dorms were constructed. In January 31, 1952 Dean William L. Machmer, who had served the University since President Butterfield had invited him to the staff— a period of 42 years of service— retired; less than four months later he passed away. A month before Machmer ' s death. President Van Meter was hospitalized due to a shock, and Provost Jean Paul Mather took over to become President on May 11, 1954. We can forever praise Torrey, Waugh, Machmer, Hicks and countless others deserving of praise; we can comment on President Mather ' s fine administration and the work it has done; much more can be said as to history and recent developments, yet each event in the past is but a stepping stone to the future. Let us try to foresee that which the future promises for us and at the same time keep in mind that overwhelming work and progress which has been accomplished in the past. THE FUTURE A stereotypical test in the field of psychoanalysis is that of the word association test in which a word is given to the subject under analysis, who, in turn, must state the first word that comes into his mind in association with the given word. The word Mather immediately brings to mind the word progress . The progress of a university can take its course in various forms; physical, spiritual, and academic. President Mather and his administration are fulfilling the meaning of progress in all three forms: physically— through the building additions constructed for both academic and social purposes; spiritually— the installation of a snowball of forward movement amongst the faculty, an environment of future progress substantiated by the visible signs of that which has already been accomplished; academically— continual expansion and introduction of courses; increasing appropriations for science facilities and the development of specialized schools of the University; establishment of the School of Education, the School of Business Administration, the School of Nursing and the Division of Physical Education; a consistent development and replacement program for the College of Agriculture and the Sch ool of Home Economics; the improvement of the status of the faculty (the Freedom Bill and appropriation of $100,000 enable the creation of full professorships in a number necessary to establish 45% to 55% ratio of associate and full professors to assistant and instructor level positions and the hiring of professors at rates above the minimum which was established in the state schedule of salaries— this can be done independently eliminating dependence on State House red tape); the Barrington Reclassification Report provides for a salary increase of $1000; the total Barrington increase along with the Freedom Bill will put us on a level of competition with other educational institutions. In terms of physical expansion, the 1956 Assembly of the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth allotted money for a Library addition, an R.O.T.C. Armory and Classroom Building, a Women ' s Physical Education Building, and preparation of plans for a Science Building. There are plans for a $2,000,000 construction of low-rental apartments for assistant professors, instructors, and married students; for a new infirmary; acquisition of new lands; Engineering Shops and Drafting Rooms; all part of the Master Plan to facilitate the 10,000 student population predicted by 1965. An institution such as this must benefit those associated with it by not only internal improvements but also publicity in order to let the public know of its accomplishments, problems and ideals. The Freedom Bill and the Master Plan have brought a great deal of favorable attention to the institution and its problems. At this present moment we are moving ahead on steps necessary to execute a contract with the I.C.A. Division of the State Department of the United States which will provide us with an expenditure of $175,000 per year for four years to cover a program of exchange for scientists and professors between the University of Massachusetts. This exchange program is a representation of our growing responsibility to the local public and the world. We are fortunate to have a heads-up President whose aggressiveness is shown not only on this campus but in his devotion to education as a whole.