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Show THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE FOUNDERS DAY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 28, 2000 FEBRUARY 17- u Still in THE The U Tries to Survive And Benefit From BRENT OLSON Chronicle Feature Writer the if Hard Times of the 1930 aspect of life in 1930s escaped the effects of the Depression. However, g due to drastic measures, the University of Utah was able to survive the Great Depression relatively unscathed. The decade began on a positive as note, at least construction-wise- , Kingsbury Hall, the Union Building (now David P. Gardner Hali) and the Engineering Building were all completed in 1930 and 1931. The drive to construct the Union Building had begun in 1922, when the Associated Students of the University of Utah collected one dollar per student toward construction. That same year, students amended the student constitution to create a mandatory $2.50 lee to collect money for the Union Building. Ultimately, the majority of the funds for the project came from alumni sources, but it was not until the student fee was increased in 1930 that enough money was raised to complete No cot-cuttin- the building. FUNDING AND ENROLLMENT While many of the more expensive private universities experienced dramatic drops in enrollment, public universities, including the Ut often had only minor decreases. Ralph Chamberlin, in his book The University of Utah, cited two key reasons why enrollment remained strong ait the U: Fiist, students felt that as current job opportunities were continuing their education was the best possible use of 'their time; second, a number cf sources of Financial e assistance, including loans and became available employment, through governmental agencies. The new federal relief agencies benefitted both the U and students. "Extensive and long needed improvements were made on the university campus by the use of student and other labor paid for by grants from the emergency relief funds," Chamberlin non-existe- nt, part-tim- W&&JkA - wrote. From 1930 to 1934, enrollment only dropped from 3,462 to 3,196. By 1935, enrollment had already begun to increase and leached over 4,000 by ,.P mm Though enrollment remained relatively constant due to federal aid, the Ifs state funding during the Great Depression fell significantly. "At the depth of the depression, the budget as a whole was cut about 35 percent, and the funds for supplies and equipment from 40 to 50 percent," Chamberlin wrote. To save money, the faculty voluntarily accepted a salary reduction in 1932 and another in 1933. Students were also asked to do their part to reduce costs, including keeping social expenses to a minimum. In 193, the Interfraternity Council passed a resolution that read, "Any University of Utah coed accepting flowers of any manner...for use at the Junior Prom, or in her room, or between the leaves of the family Bible or aibum...wiil be considered by this group a gold digger of the first water and unworthy of the attention of the University of Utah fraternity men." The difficult job market caused by the Great Depression also led the U to form a Placement Bureau, the first organization created specifically to help LT graduates find jobs in their chosen fields. Despite the economic pressures caused by the Great Depression, the U was able to put together a competitive and highly successful athletics department that won state and conference championships in many sports. Library Building. When the current campus opened in 1900, the library was located in one room and had 12,950 volumes. By the time it moved to the John R. Park Building in 1913, there were already over 40,000 volumes. When the Thomas Building opened in 1935, the number of volumes had increased to 124,070. One needed structure that was not primarily constructed with federal funds was Carlson Hall, the firs! women's dormitory. Construction of a women's dormitory had been one of the principle goals of the first dean of women, Lucy M. Van Cott, and had been discussed since 1900, but it was not until a bequest of 8121,519 by Mary P. GSvlson in 1934 that one was censtructeaf In addition to the construction of new buildings, renovation work was done on a number of existing structures. The. two most significant projects were building an extension of the Medical Building and replacing a wooden Metallurgy Building, destroyed by fires twice in a period, with a fireproof version. WOMEN'S DORM After receiving additional lands from the federal government in 1934, the Board of Regents passed a motion calling for ail fraternity houses to be built on a strip of campus land between 400 South and 500 South on University Street. However, two years later, the Regents decided that housing the fraternities on campus was not a good idea. Federal funds also allowed the U to much-neede- The Great Depression had created a huge demand for social workers but there weren't enough trained individuals. Accordingly, in .1936, the Graduate School of Social Work was formed to accommodate the needs of local social workers, who otherwise would have been forced to complete their education outside of Utah. Finally, the U was designated a branch Air School in 1939 for the purpose of preparing pilots for commercial and military service. The trend toward highly specialized vocational training was viewed with consternation throughout the country, as it called into question the usefulness and nature of general education. To better define the roles of general and specialized studies, students were separated into a lower division of freshmen and sophomores, where general education was emphasized, and an upper division of juniors and seniors, where the focus moved to specializa- ar tion. SPECIALIZATION At the same time new buildings were being built, new courses of study were also being added. Beginning with the encouragement d buildings. The most important of these fe-'i.iS- tion. v A construct a number of of local hospitals, the first Nurses' Course was established in 1934 under the jurisdiction of the School of Educa- was the first building to serve exclusively as a library, the George Thomas EXTRACURRICULAR FUN U President George Thomas' drive to better the academic reputation of the U continued to bear fruit in the 1930s, as a number of honor societies ftp w , - opened chapters at the U. In 1932, the Acorn Club of the U became of a chapter of the Mortar Board the first honor society for senior women. The Phi Beta Kappa chapter on the U campus opened in 1935 and in 1937, Sigma Xi, an honorary graduate scientific society, started a campus chapter. The 1930s were among the most stable years ever in the history of U athletics. Ike Anderson, coach of the football and track teams, served throughout the decade, as did basketball and baseball coach Vadal Peterson, swimming coach Charles Welch and tennis coach Theron Parmelee. This continuity allowed the U to create a number of very successful programs, winning both state and conference championships throughout the . Maude May Babcock, founder of the U s theater programs, retired in 1938 after 46 years at the U. During her tenure, she directed 41 of the 43 varsity plays produced. The year Babcock retired was also marked by the consolidation of all of the different dramatic groups on camthe Unipus into one organization Theatre. versity Though the Great Depression the U's progress, slowed momentarily sacrifices by the faculty and voluntary students, along with federal government aid, assured the school's survival. v. " 5 u I 1940. SHERS N EVA AS D Chronicle Feature Writer - i TV ' 0 a ) - FX i -- Dec. 7, 1941 would change just about in the United States, including the of Utah. From the time Pearl Harbor was bombed to the 1945 surrender of Japan and Germany, 71,172 men and women from Utah joined the armed forces and fought in World War II. Of those, 6,735 w,2re U graduates or former students; 314 were killed. MR. PRESIDENT University of Utah ROTC cadets get some artillery along with their traditional dose cf readarcd former students to World War II. ing, writing arid arithmetic. The U sent 6,735 graduates horns. coma didn't fourteen and hundred Three The most immediate concern 5940s U leaders had tc confront was how to overcome the negative effects of the Great Depression It would be George Thomas, appointed president in 1921, who would carry the U through this time. Physics professor Thomas Parmley described the president as "utterly fiank and honest" and believed that Thomas provided the necessary stability to carry the U through the period. His presidency ended in 1941 when he retired, but he stayed in office for 10 months until his suc cessor could be found. Finally, die committees made their choice and LeRoy E. Cowles took charge of the U on Nov. 15, 1941. Not even a month later, the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred and the country found itself at war again. Cowles was now required to work closely vith federal and military officials. To deal with wartime conditions, the General War Council (headed by Cowles himself), as well as many other organizations, was established. Cowles was succeeded in 1946 by A. Ray Olpia With the war over, Olpin could concentrate on university-specifi- c goals. He believed that the U's No. priority was getting higher-qualit- y professors. Some were concerned that Olpin's background in physical science would cause the humanities to suffer, but it was his wife who influenced him in the areas of art and music. Because of this, Oipin urged that Maurice Abravanel and William Cluistensen be hired. Olpin is reported, however, to have been arro- 1 see 1940, page 19 - |