The history of Colby College, Part 52

Author: Colby College
Publication date: 1963
Publisher: Waterville, Colby College Press
Number of Pages: 716

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At his retirement in 1942, President Johnson performed a sacrificial act that stirred the admiration of thousands of readers of Time and other national pub- lications. He turned back to the College the entire amount he had received in salary during the thirteen years of his presidency. Not only the astute planning, the unrelenting zeal, and inexhaustible faith of Franklin Johnson went into May- flower Hill; he added to those qualities the tangible contribution of his hard earned money.

Securing the more than nine million dollars which went into the building of the Mayflower Hill plant was not merely a task of insistent, patient fund rais- ing; not merely a venture of faith. The whole Mayflower Hill story is a saga of victory over repeated frustration. There came first the bitter disappointment of the Taylor estate, then the long, lean years of depression. When war came, not only must further solicitation cease, but grave questions arose as to the validity of pledges already made. For instance, after the Japanese flooded Mer- ton Miller's gold mines in the Philippines, would he ever be able to fulfill his

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promise to complete the Library? Nor did the moments of frustration end after the war. Oral promises were sometimes not carried out, because the promiser died without leaving bequest to the College or other written record. A single donor had been expected to give the money necessary to build the Life Sciences Build- ing, but financial disaster overtook him before he could carry out his Colby plans. Franklin Johnson, Seelye Bixler, and all others who had a part in the active solicitation of funds must have felt often as Jeremiah Chaplin felt when he was turned away from a Portland home without subscription and was heard to say, "God help Waterville College." But at last it was done; every barrier was sur- mounted; every frustrated experience was only a memory. Franklin Johnson's dominant, unquestioning faith had been justified. The money was somehow raised. Colby's new campus became a reality.

Franklin Johnson always insisted that Mayflower Hill was not his accom- plishment alone, and of course he was right. Foremost of all those who stood at Johnson's side through good days and bad was Arthur Galen Eustis. A graduate of the College in 1923, he had soon returned as a young instructor in Economics and Business Administration, had risen to full professor and head of the Business Administration Department, had then become Treasurer and finally Vice-President of the College. For more than twenty years, until his untimely death in 1959, Galen Eustis had an active part in the plans, contracts and construction of every building erected on Mayflower Hill. He developed an intimate friendship with Fredrick Larson, the architect, and with the representatives of Hegeman-Harris and other construction firms. He was especially shrewd in watching details of costs and expenditures, fighting to a hundred victories on minor points of con- tracts which in the aggregate saved the College thousands of dollars. Year after year Eustis took no vacation, staying on the job all summer to see that Colby got a hundred cents' worth of return for every expended dollar. In giving de- serving tribute to Franklin Johnson, it is easy to overlook the man who, day after relentless day, performed the drudging details that made Johnson's dream come true. Every brick among the twenty million on Mayflower Hill is a kind of me- morial to that man who loved Colby more than his own life, Arthur Galen Eus- tis. Appropriately the new administration building is dedicated to his memory.

Then there was Johnson's successor, President Julius Seelye Bixler. Like Johnson, he had been committed to the academic life, and like the man from Columbia this man from Harvard found himself suddenly cast in the unfamiliar role of money raiser. He attacked that duty just as vigorously as he confronted the problem of Colby's academic improvement, and it was by his personal efforts that several of the larger gifts were assured.

The task could not have been accomplished without the vigorous, unwavering support of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Averill not only gave generously of his money, but also of his time and his talents, especially during the period when he served as the Board's chairman. Herbert Wadsworth and George Otis Smith, chairmen during the trying years from 1926 to 1944, never lost hope that the project would eventually succeed. When Neil Leonard succeeded Dr. Averill as chairman in 1946, he led the Board for fourteen years in determined, successful effort to bring Mayflower Hill to magnificent fulfillment. Other Board members were equally zealous. If the reader will turn to Appendix V and note the names of all persons who served on the Board of Trustees between 1930 and 1960, he will be impressed by that list of prominent, devoted persons who guided the destiny of Colby during those thirty crucial years.

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NEW CLOTHES FOR ALMA MATER

At the November meeting of the Trustees in 1935 it was voted "that a field man be employed from the Marts and Lundy organization to visit friends of the College prior to the renewal of the General Campaign." That field man was E. Allan Lightner, who for twenty-five years continued to be the spark-plug of Colby's money-raising program. In June, 1938, the Board voted to continue its contract with Marts and Lundy, with the understanding that the contract should include the valuable services of Mr. Lightner. In 1940, when the Trustees de- cided to terminate their official relation with Marts and Lundy, Mr. Lightner was induced to leave that organization and become Assistant to the President for Development at Colby. A man of tremendous energy and zeal, he became re- sponsible, through the years, not only for many thousands of dollars in subscrip- tions, but also for a long range policy of establishing good will, whereby subse- quent gifts and legacies flowed into the college treasury in ever increasing amounts. While soliciting funds for the Mayflower Hill plant, Mr. Lightner never neg- lected the need for endowment, and his efforts resulted in securing a consider- able portion of the increased endowment funds during the building period.

Three other persons were prominent in the Mayflower Hill campaigns: Pub- licity Director Joseph Coburn Smith; his wife, the Alumnae Secretary, Ervena Goodale Smith; and the Alumni Secretary, G. Cecil Goddard. It was Joe Smith's artistry and ingenuity which produced many of the attractive folders and brochures, and as editor of the Colby Alumnus he kept the developing picture of Mayflower Hill constantly before the alumni. Joe was an expert photographer, whose work won prizes in national publications. His long-exposure photograph, showing the stars moving across the tower of Lorimer Chapel will long be remembered by readers of Life. Taking movies of construction as it progressed on the Hill, Joe put together a permanent movie record of the Mayflower Hill story, which was exhibited at alumni meetings and public gatherings, as well as to each entering class for several years.

Ervena Goodale Smith, as Alumnae Secretary, devoted her considerable talent and her charming personality to the interests of Colby women, too long neglected for the activities and welfare of the college men. She had good reason to labor valorously in behalf of the Women's Division. Not only was she herself a Colby graduate, but her husband's aunt, Louise Helen Coburn, was at that time the most prominent among all Colby alumnae. Miss Coburn had been one of the earliest women students, the first woman trustee, and had led the successful cam- paign to prevent abolition of the Women's Division in the 1890's. With that goodly heritage Ervena Smith was determined that the women should have full recognition and proper housing on Mayflower Hill. Allied with such valiant workers as Dean Ninetta Runnals and Miss Florence Dunn, Mrs. Smith directed the alumnae campaign for $100,000 to erect the Women's Union, and united Colby women as never before.

G. Cecil Goddard, soon after his graduation from Colby in 1929, was brought back to the College as its first full-time Alumni Secretary. Although he found it a sufficiently arduous task to organize the alumni files, set up regional organi- zations, and institute an alumni fund, he found himself soon plunged violently into the Mayflower Hill campaign. It was no easy job to raise $300,000 from graduates and former students of the College, even with the name of Arthur Rob- erts as an attraction. That the effort was successful and the Roberts Union se- cured was due in no small measure to the ability and devotion of Cecil Goddard.

Although many others gave unstintingly of time and energy to the May- flower Hill fulfillment, commendation is especially due to five men who, through

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the later years of the Bixler administration rendered significant service: Ells- worth "Bill" Millett, who followed Goddard as Alumni Secretary; Richard N. Dyer, a non-Colby man who had come to know and love Colby with a devo- tion equal to that of the staunchest graduate; Edward H. Turner, Director of Development, whose calm equanimity, sound judgment, and grim persistence as- sured the success of the Fulfillment Campaign; Ralph Williams, who succeeded the late Galen Eustis as Vice-President, and completed Eustis' carefully laid plans; and George E. Whalon, Superintendent of Grounds and Buildings, who had direct charge of the erection of the Lovejoy, the Art and Music, and the Administration buildings, and did the job as well as, if not better than, a high-priced construction firm had done with earlier structures.

On the broad slopes of Mayflower Hill thirty-one modern buildings give tangible proof that faith brings results and that faith without work is dead. Frank Johnson's dream of 1929 is now a magnificent reality. But Dr. Johnson would himself be the first to say that buildings do not make a college. In his memorable essay, "If I Had Three Days to Live," he wrote: "I know that a college does not consist of bricks and stone, but is a vital thing, with a background of traditions and emotions, built up through the years by men and women of faith and courage carrying on the unending search for truth and the good life."8

CHAPTER XXXVIII

A New President And A New War

I T seems to be fated that Colby presidents shall take office in difficult times. James Champlin stepped up from professor to president just as the slavery issue was plunging the nation into civil war. His successor, Henry Robins, had just agreed to accept the office when the Panic of 1873 brought depression and hard- ship. The financial panic of twenty years later greeted President Whitman, and Franklin Johnson in 1929 was faced with the most serious and longest sustained depression the country has ever known.

Prospects for Colby were bright when the Chairman of the Trustees, George Otis Smith, publicly announced on June 26, 1941, that the Board had selected as Johnson's successor Julius Seelye Bixler, Bussey Professor of Theology at the Divinity School of Harvard University. Before the new president had taken office in July, 1942, Japanese bombs had descended upon Pearl Harbor. As had happened in 1917, students were again leaving college for the armed services; tension and uncertainty pervaded the campus. The eagerly awaited construction on Mayflower Hill had to be suspended. There was even doubt whether the Men's Division could continue with anything approaching a liberal arts program or, as had happened twenty-five years earlier, would again become an armed camp.

The new president was, however, ready for the emergency. Like President Johnson, Bixler had served in the armed services in World War I. His first use of the "President's Page" in the Colby Alumnus, in July, 1942, showed exactly where he stood in respect to the national crisis.

The changes the war has brought are bound to have a drastic effect on all our colleges. We must be prepared to see changes take place at Colby. My own hope and belief is that they will come as a natural unfolding of the purposes for which Colby has always stood. Colby has steadily believed in the Christian and democratic way of life and has effectively shown what it is like. This college must continue to teach that way of life in a manner that the modern generation, in spite of its disillusionment, can understand. We shall respond with en- thusiasm to any demands of the government. At the same time I feel that we shall best serve our country if we try to keep alive the spirit that has always characterized the liberal arts college in the detachment of its search for truth. We shall do everything we can to help win the war. We shall try also to cultivate those qualities which will be needed to win and maintain a just peace. Colby has been through war be- fore and has emerged triumphant. We should be faint-hearted indeed if we thought it could not be done again.1

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The Trustees had taken plenty of time to select the right man to succeed Franklin Johnson. The "Father of Mayflower Hill" had wished to retire in June, 1941, but the Trustees persuaded him to remain for another year. When it came time for the annual meeting of the Board at Commencement in 1941, their com- mittee to nominate a new president had already made a choice, but they knew, if he could be persuaded to accept at all, their man could not begin his Colby duties until the summer of 1942.

When the Trustees met on June 13, 1941, it was Neil Leonard who re- ported for the committee.

Mr. Leonard reported that efforts were being made to secure a president of the College to succeed Dr. Johnson, who desired to retire previously to this time, but had consented to remain for another year. The com- mittee had made extensive and conscientious effort to secure a man qualified for this extremely important position and had finally selected Dr. Julius Seelye Bixler, presently Acting Dean of the Harvard Divinity School.

Voted, that the Committee on Progress of the College, or a sub-committee thereof, be authorized to interview Julius Seelye Bixler and if, in their judgment, it is expedient, to tender him the office of President.2

A fortnight later, on June 26, Chairman Smith was able to announce Dr. Bixler's acceptance. He was thus given a full year to acquaint himself with the history, traditions, curriculum, and present aims of the College before President Johnson handed over the reins on July 1, 1942.

Although every intelligent reader of the newspapers knew that war clouds loomed in the autumn of 1941, and although Colby like many another college was participating in accelerated defense measures, such as the Civilian Pilot Train- ing Program, the attack on Pearl Harbor was as genuine a surprise on the cam- pus as it was elsewhere over the nation. The College reacted immediately. Con- scious that two preceding wars had seen hectic rush to enlistment, thinning the student ranks, college officers strongly advised students not to make too hasty decisions. On the weekend of Pearl Harbor, President Johnson was out of town on college business, and it fell to Dean Marriner to address the men students on December 9. He said in part:

Colby men will again do their full duty. Several of our alumni are now stationed at Pearl Harbor and at Manila. It is grimly possible that some may already have lost their lives. We cannot be blind to the fact that some of you will before another year be in uniform. But it is not your duty to rush off for enlistment. President Conant of Har- vard has said, "Those students who hurriedly join the army do their na- tion irreparable damage by the misuse of their talents." This is in- deed no time for a renunciation of higher education. Now, if ever, the nation has need of trained minds. It is for you to take a private oath of allegiance to serious college work, as our friends and relatives in the service take public oath of allegiance to military duty. Then, when the nation does call you into its armed services, you will indeed be ready.

There must be no jitteriness, no confusion, no futile bull sessions about what we shall do next, when the obvious next is tomorrow's lessons. Not with fear, not with uncertainty, certainly not with indifference, we

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A NEW PRESIDENT AND A NEW WAR

shall meet whatever call our nation makes upon us. With calm yet alert courage, as Elijah Lovejoy faced the mob at Alton, as William Parker faced the Confederate charge at Spottsylvania, as Murray Mor- gan faced German bayonets at Mons, we too shall meet the challenge of our day. Before we are Dekes or Zetes or members of any other fraternity, before we are Protestants or Catholics or Jews, even before we are Colby men, we are Americans, and as Americans we shall not fail.3

As has been previously mentioned, a later chapter will deal with Colby's national contribution in three wars. It is the province of this chapter to show the impact of World War II on the College.

The official position continued to be encouragement of men students to remain in college and of high school graduates to start their college course. In the summer of 1942 Colby published a circular entitled "Questions of the Day." In answer to the question whether it was patriotic to attend college when the country was at war, the circular quoted President Franklin Roosevelt: "Young people should be advised that it is their patriotic duty to continue the normal course of their education, unless and until they are called, so that they will be prepared for greater usefulness to their country." It was pointed out that the military services had a high opinion of college graduates, and could make signifi- cant use of them. Reference was made to the flight training program recently introduced at Colby.

Despite this sound advice, the college enrollment proceeded to drop sharply. One reason was the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the Selective Service Act passed early in 1941. The act gave no preference to college men as such, but it became the practice of many local draft boards to defer college students, especially those preparing for medicine or dentistry, or those majoring in the physical sciences. Because each draft board was for all essential purposes an autonomous body, with appeal boards usually supporting local decisions, defer- ment was by no means predictable, and students became increasingly jittery. As early as February, 1941, President Johnson had publicly stated: "The effect of the draft law upon attendance of students now in college and the entrance of new students next year is uncertain and to some extent ominous. Lack of uniformity in the practice of draft boards in the matter of exemptions and deferments leads to confusion. Although there is talk of legislation to defer students until comple- tion of their courses, this seems improbable."

In March President Johnson announced to the faculty that the College would not ask for military exemptions. When several members suggested that such an attitude would be disastrous to enrollment, Johnson told them not to get excited. "Our job," he said, "is to maintain a sane atmosphere in the performance of our task of educating young people."

Long before Commencement in 1942 men students had begun to leave the campus. At the April meeting of the Board President Johnson reported that the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps had repeatedly sent recruiting officers to the campus. He said that 37 students presented themselves to the Navy recruiters in one day, and that the Marines had obtained more than twice their expected quota. Although the situation was somewhat alleviated by enlistment in various reserve corps, especially that of the Navy, whereby the enrolled men were per- mitted to remain in college for varying lengths of time, the student ranks suf-

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fered continuous depletion. Those who remained in college found it increasingly difficult to settle down to serious classroom work.

As the demand for an enormous army increased and casualties mounted, college deferments became more rare, and many a student hastened to enlist in a branch of the service which he preferred rather than wait to be drafted. When the fall term opened in 1944, there were only 55 civilian men in College. They and the 227 women made a total normal enrollment of 282, the smallest in more than twenty years. The following table shows graphically the war's effect upon Colby enrollment.

Men

Women

Total

Sept. 1940

449

255

704

Sept. 1941

435

267

702

Sept. 1942

289

262

551

Sept. 1943

227

282

Sept. 1944

246

327

Faculty members, especially the younger ones, felt the call to military duty. Before the war ended, nine members of the staff had entered the armed services: Registrar Elmer C. Warren and Professor Alfred K. Chapman in the Army Air Force; Coach Edward C. Roundy in the Military Police; Professor Norman Pal- mer, Music Director John Thomas and Coach Nelson Nitchman in the Navy; Director of Health and Physical Education Gilbert F. Loebs to a post in the physical training of army men; Assistant Librarian Harold Clark and Instructor Samuel Morse in the Army. Through their Committee on Instruction the Trus- tees granted leaves of absence to these men.

Naturally the war affected college finances. Tuition income of $168,828 in June, 1941 had dropped to $75,872 in June, 1944. The situation was alleviated by the loss of faculty members to the services, by the temporary leave of other faculty members to engage in defense industry, and by the assignment to Colby in 1943 of a college detachment of the Army Air Force. The stringency was further relieved by the adoption of a year-round college calendar and by the admission of freshmen three times a year.

Before President Bixler took office, Johnson had led the faculty to adopt a three-term calendar, through which each term would be equivalent to one of the customary semesters, thereby enabling a student so to accelerate that he could complete the eight normal semesters in two and two-thirds calendar years. The college year of 1941-42 ended on May 24. A summer term of twelve weeks was conducted from June 1 to September 2, and the fall term began three days later on September 6.

Two consequences of the new calendar were the necessity of holding three commencements a year and the decision to admit freshmen at the beginning of each term. What happened was well described in President Bixler's report to the Trustees in June, 1943.

Just as a student may enter college in September, February, or June, so we now must provide Commencement exercises in December, May, and August. The number graduating on each occasion will be small, but we desire to give each group of seniors as many of the usual com- mencement privileges as possible.

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In the spring of 1942 the faculty voted to conduct a summer term of twelve weeks, under the direction of Professor Carl J. Weber. We have adopted the policy of admitting freshmen in June and have gone so far as to allow some qualified seniors to enter in February before com- pletion of their high school course. In June 1942 we admitted twenty- four freshman men and nine women; in February twenty-two freshman men, of whom fourteen lacked the final semester in high school, and four women; in June 1943 we took seventeen men and eight women. The summer term was an outstanding success. The absence of extra-

curricular activities has meant fewer distractions; the continuous study of one subject six days a week, instead of the usual three hours on al- ternate days, has given a sense of uninterrupted growth, and the smaller classes have allowed more discussion. The faculty generously voted their services without compensation for the summer term of 1942. For the summer of 1943 a small bonus has been made available.

In November, 1944, the faculty voted and the Trustees agreed, to return to a normal college program of two semesters a year and not to operate a summer term in 1945. Faculty and students alike agreed that the accelerated program had placed too great strain on both teachers and students and that, except in dire emergency, the results did not justify the expedient.

The war had understandable effects upon the curriculum. Immediately after Pearl Harbor the faculty set up a Committee on Curriculum and Defense. As early as January, 1942, that committee had made the following recommendations: (1) that restrictions on taking a sixth course be removed for the duration of the war, and that in unusual circumstances even a seventh course be permitted; (2) that major requirements be adjusted to permit students to enroll in courses preparatory to meeting military requirements; (3) that physical education be required of all students during their entire college course; (4) that so-called war- credit be granted only to students who should "meet such tests as the College shall prescribe," but that in cases where a degree became a distinct advantage to a student, "some departure from this practice may be justified." Regula- tions governing year courses were rescinded for the duration, and every course was placed on a term basis.

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The history of Colby College, Part 52

Author: Colby College Publication date: 1963 Publisher: Waterville, Colby College Press Number of Pages: 716

Author: Colby College
Publication date: 1963
Publisher: Waterville, Colby College Press
Number of Pages: 716