An ever-widening circle : the Elmhurst College years

AN EVER-WIDENING CIRCLE:

The Elmhurst
College Years

Melitta J. Cutrighj

An ever-widening circle is how
H. Richard Xiebuhr, the
(Colleges sixth president,
described the development of
Elmhurst College from its founding in
1871 until 1925.

Ihe school had begun as a
proseminary or secondary school w ith
a student bod\' of 14 ho\s and men
from Gennan backgrounds who wanted
to become Evangelical ministers or
teach in German-language parochial
schools. .\11 classes, e\en English classes,
were taught in German. In a little over
50 years it had become a liberal arts
college that was preparing young men
from a number of religious back-
grounds for a variet}' of occupations.

Under Xiebuhr, one oi .Vmerica's
most distinguished theologians, the
circle of Elmhurst's influence had
widened dramatically and the school
was poised on the brink of further
expansion that would bring first
women and commuters, then foreign
and minority students and finally
nontraditional students, along with
man\- career and education options.

Niebuhr and his brother
Rcinhold, Elmhurst's most prominent
alumnus and one ot the toremost
theologians of the twentieth century,
are only two of the intriguing charac-
ters who have played an important role
in the nearly 125 years of Elmhurst
Golleges histon'.

Other ke\- figures ha\e included
(iarl Kran/., the first inspector or presi-
dent, who arrived in Elmhurst with 14
students on December 6, 1H71; Daniel
Irion, the last to hold the title of
inspector, who headed the Proseminar\-
tor 32 years; Paul Grusius, whose
tenure on the tacult\ britlged the
changes from prosenunar)- to junior
college to h)ur-\ear college and who.

Continued on hack flap

AN EVER-WIDENING CIRCLE:
The Elmhurst College Years

AN EVER-WIDENING CIRCLE
The Elmhurst College Years

by Melitta J. Cutright, Ph.D.

1" k^*^«-ll \^\

Elmhurst College Press

Author's Note

Anyone interested in learning more about Elmhurst College will
find that surprisingly little has been written about the College, aside
fi-om Robert Stanger's essay on "Elmhurst College: The First One
Hundred Years."

I drew much of the information about the early years from the
writings of Paul Crusius and the written recollections of early alumni.
William Denman's dissertation, Elmhurst: Developmental Study of a
Church-Related College, provided information about Elmhurst's enroll-
ment, finances and relations with its Synod. Background on the city of
Elmhurst came from several books about the community, including Don
Russell's Ehnhurst: Trails from Yesterday.

I've attempted to tell the story of Elmhurst's students, faculty and
staff, and the communities that gave birth to and housed the College as
well as the bricks, mortar, books and curriculum of the institution. I
hope this book will be read with enjoyment by the many friends of
Elmhurst College.

MelittaJ. Ciitright, Ph.D.
Elmhurst, Illinois
August 1995

vu

Foreword

Stories about colleges have their own powerful way of binding
together those who tell them and those who hear them. Such dramatic
forces are at play on every campus during homecoming weekends, where
many conversations begin with the words, "Remember when. . . ."

It was the sixth president of Elmhurst College, H. Richard Niebuhr,
who understood and wrote about the unique power of remembered
history. In his book, The Memimg of Revelation, he wrote, "To remember
all that is in our past and so in our present is to achieve unity of self."
Niebuhr titled one chapter of that work, "The Story of our Life." There
he spelled out the meaning of internal history. In his words, internal
history conveys value and worth for the selves who share that past. As we
relive our yesterdays, we rehearse events that are meant "to be cele-
brated." Or we respond to calls for "joy and sorrow, ... for tragic partici-
pation and for jubilees." Niebuhr maintained, "The valuable here is that
which bears on the destiny of selves. . . ."

These thoughts, written by Elmhurst College's most renowned pres-
ident, provide the Elmhurst College family with a special introduction to
the history told in this volume.

Elmhurst College, founded in 1871, is a college with a colorful and
vibrant history. At no time until now, however, has the College taken
time to tell its story in a fully written form. Aware of this fact, I asked the
Board of Trustees in May 1991 to approve the writing and publishing of a
history of the College in preparation for the celebration of its 125th
anniversary year in 1996.

A history committee was selected, composed of the following:
Raymond H. Giesecke, former chairperson of the Elmhurst College
Board of Trustees, now honorary trustee, and retired chairman of the
board of the McGraw Edison Company; Ken Bartels, director of

IX

X An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

development and public relations; Carol J. Barry, librarian; Brian
Bergheger, director, Elmhurst Historical Museum; Marilyn Boria,
administrative librarian, Elmhurst Public Library; Walter E. Burdick, Jr.,
professor of history, Class of 1960; Rudolf G. Schade, professor emeritus
and curator of archives; Robert W. Swords, retired member of the
English faculty; Richard Weber, vice president, Elmhurst Federal
Savings Bank, Class of 1970; and Kristin E. Whitehurst, director
of communications.

The history committee selected Melitta J. Cutright, author and
historian, to research and write this history. She holds a B.A. from the
University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern
University. In addition to the skills of a writer and historian, Dr.
Cutright brought to the task an association with Elmhurst College that
began in 1976 when she joined the Elmhurst College family. In that
year, her husband. Dr. James P. Smith, became a member of the
Department of Sociology.

In this history, Dr. Cutright tells stories about persons and traces
social forces. She relates the College to its social base and shows how
Elmhurst College's history is intricately woven into the life of its church,
the city of Elmhurst, the Midwest and the United States. During its 125
years, Elmhurst College has shared in and contributed to the social and
historical developments that have occurred on the American frontier, the
experiences that changed one church from a German to an American
church, and the evolution of higher education, which has made American
colleges and universities what they are today.

This history of Elmhurst College was written for the College's
family with the hope that the readers — graduates, faculty, staff, trustees,
students and friends — will reaffirm the College's past as their very own.

As the College celebrates its 125th year, we should pause, even if
only momentarily, to look where the College has been and to understand
that the past accompanies us into the future. The commemoration of one
and a quarter centuries is also the occasion to express appreciation for the
life and labor of those who preceded us.

Ivan E. Frick
President E?neritus

chapter \

K In the Beginning

It was cold but there was only a little snow on the ground on
Wednesday, December 6, 1871, when Carl F. Kranz and 14
students stepped off the train at the Elmhurst, lUinois stop.
Reverend Kranz and his students had journeyed to this community 16
miles west of Chicago to establish a school — a proseminar\^ or prepara-
tory school to train young men for entering the seminary. The school
was also intended to train teachers for the church schools of the German
Evangelical Church. Thus the Proseminary that would in time become
Elmhurst College began in the same tradition as had many of the early
American colleges such as Harvard and Yale — as an institution to train
ministers and Christian laymen.

The teacher and his students expected to take up residence in a two-
story building a few blocks from their train stop, but since the railroad
car carrying all their belongings and the furnishings for the Proseminary
went astray, they were unable to move into their new quarters. Instead
parishioners of Immanuel Church in Churchville, now Bensenville, took
them in. It was nearly Christmas before the freight car finally arrived and
the move could be completed.

2 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

On Januaty 4, 1872, the first classes of the German Evangelical
Proseminary — the forerunner to Elmhurst College — were held. WTiile
the first Proseminary students came to Elmhurst from Evansville,
Indiana, the roots of their journey can be traced back to Germany, where
the Evangelical Church developed as a peaceful and conciliatory, or
irenic, expression of German Protestantism that was deeply imbued with
Pietism. Followers were more concerned with personal faith and service
in the community than with doctrinal disputes or dogma.

From its formal union in 1817 the EvangeHcal Church, or the
Church of the Prussian Union as it was also known, has been marked by
frequent mergers. The union was made possible by the moderating influ-
ence of both Enlightenment rationalism and Pietistic fervor upon
Lutheran and Reformed confessionalism following the Napoleonic Wars.
Throughout the succeeding century and a half there would be more
unions, first with the Reformed Church in 1934 and then in 1957 with
the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of
Christ, with which Elmhurst College is affiliated today.

In the early and middle years of the 19th centur>^, many Germans of
the Evangelical faith emigrated to the United States and settled largely in
the Midwest. At first they were served by ministers who came with them
from Europe or by others who followed for the express purpose of minis-
tering to the new flocks. Soon, though, it became clear that the
Evangelicals in America were not going to be able to depend on ministers
from Germany and Switzerland. Instead, they were going to have to train
their own.

In 1 840 a group of German Evangelical ministers near St. Louis
organized the Synod of the West (called the Church Society of the West
until 1866) to found churches and minister to the increasing number of
German immigrants who were settling in Missouri, Southern Illinois,
Indiana and nearby areas. Only eight years later, a conference of the
Synod decided to establish a seminary at Marthasville, Missouri that
opened in 1850. (In 1883 this seminary would be moved to St. Louis
and called the Eden Theological Seminary.) Six months after the semi-
nary was founded at Marthasville, Reverend Wilhelm Binner, the head
of the seminary, wrote that "from the first the intention of the
Evangelical Church Society [was] to combine a college with the semi-

K In the Beginning 3

nary, because there is a perceptible need of such institutions particularly
in the West."

Although Reverend Binner hoped that the proposed German
Evangelical college would begin operation that very winter, it was not
until April 1858 that the first Evangelical "college" in America was
opened under the name of Missouri College. This college bore little
resemblance to colleges of today. Rather it was a boarding school or
private academy equivalent to a high school. Until the end of the 19th
century, such schools were often called "colleges."

Missouri College had a short history since it closed in 1862 because
of the fear of attack during the Civil War. Still, one person who would
long be connected with Elmhurst College spent several years at this
college. When Daniel Irion, Elmhurst's fourth president, was a child, his
father was a teacher at Missouri College. In later years Daniel Irion
remembered the excitement of hearing the college bell ring whenever it
was feared that Confederate soldiers were in the area.

The Synod was unhappy about having to close Missouri College
since there were a growing number of German parochial schools needing
teachers. Thus in 1867 it opened a separate teacher training school called
the Teachers' Seminary in temporary quarters at Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1870 the Synod decided to move the school into permanent
quarters in Evansville, Indiana and to convert it into a proseminary or
preseminary with a department for preparing teachers. The Proseminary
opened in January 1871 with nine students. The number grew to seven-
teen at the end of the academic year. Two of these students, J.H.
Dinkmeyer (who would become the father of Elmhurst College's eighth
president) and Frederick Gieselmann, had already attended the Teachers'
Seminary at Cincinnati and would go on to be among the first students
at Elmhurst.

Reverend Carl E Kranz, a minister at Mishawaka, Indiana, was
selected to head the Proseminary. Kranz, who was born in Germany, was
given the title of inspector as was customary in German schools.

The Proseminary might have remained permanently at Evansville
except that in 1871 the Synod of the West entered into talks with the
newer Synod of the Northwest, which had been founded in Chicago in
1859. Leaders of the Northwest Synod, recognizing the need for minis-

4 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

ters and teachers, had for some time supported the efforts of two minis-
ters to open a private seminary in Waukegan and later Long Grove,
lUinois. In 1865 the Northwest Synod took over this private seminary
and transferred it to a building the Synod rented in Lake Zurich.

W'Tien the end of the lease on the Lake Zurich property
approached in 1 869, the leaders of the Northwest Synod looked for a
permanent home. The Reverend Joseph Hartmann of St. Paul's Church
in Chicago introduced them to Thomas Bryan, a wealthy Chicago busi-
nessman who also owned considerable property in Elmhurst, Illinois.
Bryan was neither of German background nor the Evangelical faith, but
he was a well-known supporter of religious groups. On the 25th of
August 1869, Bryan and his wife Jennie sold to the Evangelical Synod of
the Northwest 20 acres of land in Elmhurst for the cost of $10,000 and
donated an additional 10 acres to the north of this land as an outright
gift. The tract of land contained 32 acres, but two had already been
given to the Catholic bishop of Chicago for a cemetery — what is today
St. Mary's Cemetery on the west end of the Elmhurst College campus
near the football field.

Included in the purchase was a substantial house that stood on
the highest point on the nearly treeless tract of land, near the newly
laid out Prospect Avenue. Into this house the Synod moved the semi-
nary from Lake Zurich in the fall of 1869. The Synod called this
seminary the Melanchthon Seminar)^. Head of the seminary was
Reverend Wilhelm Binner, who had been the first head of the semi-
nary at Marthasville.

The leaders of the Northwest Synod anticipated that Melanchthon
would be their permanent seminary for the training of ministers and so it
functioned for two years, although it was never successful at attracting
students. Then, in the summer of 1871, the EvangeHcal Synod of the
West and the Evangelical Synod of the Northwest agreed to unite. Wlien
it was decided that one seminary would suffice and this seminaiy would
be at Marthasville, the handfiil of seminarians in Elmhurst were trans-
ferred to Missouri.

It was also decided as part of the merger agreement that the
Proseminary at Evansville would be transferred to Elmhurst. The order
was sent to Inspector Kranz to pack up the students and the possessions

K In the Beginning 5

of the Evansville Proseminary and to take the train to the small commu-
nity of Elmhurst, Illinois. Among the possessions were the records from
both the Evansville and Cincinnati institutions. Thus the roots of
Elmhurst College can he traced back to 1866 in the handwritten docu-
ments in the Elmhurst College Archives. (All records were in German
until 1917.)

When the Proseminary was moved to Elmhurst, no charter was
sought. Instead the institution was organized as part of the property of
the German Evangelical Synod of the Northwest, which had been char-
tered by the State of Illinois in 1865. This meant that the Elmhurst
Proseminary had no separate legal existence. Rather it was property
"owned, controlled, and managed entirely and exclusively" by the Synod.
This lack of a separate charter would have profound implications in the
next century. It wasn't until 1942 that Elmhurst College finally got its
own charter.

The new Proseminary was administered by a Directorium that was
appointed by the Synod to oversee all its educational institutions
including the Seminary. A Supervising Board or Aiifsichtsbehoerde, made
up of three local ministers including one who was a member of the
Directorium, was put in charge of daily business. This Board had respon-
sibility for hiring faculty, supervising the inspector, admitting students,
making major business decisions and presiding over oral examinations.
Members visited classrooms and, as William Denman (who studied the
governance of the school) pointed out, on at least one occasion the Board
chose textbooks.

The late Paul N. Crusius, who was a long-time faculty member at
the Proseminar)^ and later at Elmhurst College, wrote extensively on the
early years of the institution. According to Crusius, Elmhurst College "is
something of a historical accident, or rather a series of accidents." It
might have been established at Marthasville or Cincinnati or Evansville
or Waukegan, Long Grove or Lake Zurich, but it was not to be. WTien
Inspector Kranz and his students arrived in Elmhurst in 1871, they would
have been forgiven for thinking that their travels might not yet be over.
They had no way of knowing that this trip would establish a school that
would be flourishing 125 years later.

6 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhurst in 1871

The community in which Inspector Kranz and his students arrived
was reehng from the destruction of the Chicago Fire less than two
months before. In a Httle over two days the fire had gutted Chicago, a
city of 300,000 inhabitants, burning more than three and a third square
miles in the west, downtown and near-north areas, killing nearly 300,
leaving another 90,000 homeless, destroying more than $200 million
worth of property and disrupting the economic life of the surrounding
area. Within two days of the fire's end, the decision was made to rebuild
Chicago, and over the next decade immense amounts of money, labor
and energy from the entire region were channeled into the massive
reconstruction effort.

Only two years before Kranz and his students arrived, the commu-
nity had adopted the name of Elmhurst. Until 1 869 it was known as
Cottage Hill after the Hill Cottage Tavern opened in 1 843 at the inter-

Elm hurst farm,
late 1800s.

K In the Beginning

Farm on west side ofcainpus.

section of what is now St. Charles Road and Cottage Hill Avenue. In its
early years, the tavern served as a stagecoach stop and way station for
merchants, farmers and other travelers between Chicago and the West. It
was also the site of the first post office. With the coming of the railroad
in 1849, the tavern became a private residence and was moved to south
York Road where it still stands.

Even with its new name, Elmhurst was not officially a town when the
students arrived. It wasn't until 1882 that the village was incorporated, so
the educational institution that became Elmhurst College predates the
town of Elmhurst. The Proseminary and Elmhurst College have grown
along with the village and suburb of Elmhurst that has developed around it.

The community of Elmhurst in 1871 had about 300 inhabitants.
Many, especially those north of the Chicago and North Western Railroad
tracks, were German immigrants or the sons and daughters of immi-
grants. The first settlers in the area — the Glos and Graue families — came
fi-om Germany in search of the rich farmland they had read existed on
the American prairie. In addition to farming, early pioneers opened dry

8 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

goods stores, livery stables, a stone quarry and sawmill among other busi-
nesses in the area that would become Elmhurst.

Other German-speaking families came from the eastern United
States and the mid-Atlantic states. Many of these first- and second-gener-
ation Americans settled in north Elmhurst where they became artisans.
Some worked on the railroad or opened shops along York Road and on
the north side of the railroad tracks. Reconstruction following the
Chicago Fire provided employment for Elmhurst residents for years.

The German influence in early Elmhurst was heavy even before the
arrival of Kranz and his students, as can be seen by the use of the
German "hurst" or "trees" in the town's name. German was the language
spoken in many places of business in north Elmhurst and even south of
the railroad tracks, such as in the post office where both German and
English were used.

In the 1870s and 1880s the public school taught both German and
English, often with a German-language teacher on the first floor and an
English-language teacher on the second. There were many German clubs
and societies. Even after Elmhurst was incorporated, non-German politi-
cians such as Thomas Bryan, who was of Irish descent, gave lengthy
campaign speeches in both languages. Until near the end of the second
decade of the 20th century German was commonly heard on the streets.

Elmhurst in 1871 was a community of immense contrasts. The
modest homes of the German immigrants on the north side differed
greatly from the mansions that already existed, mostly south of the tracks.
Many of the mansions were built as summer houses for Chicago's rich
who made the daily commute to Chicago on the railroad.

Some of the wealthy were of German descent, but most of the
estates were built by non-Germans. Thomas Bryan, a graduate of
Harvard Law School who was prominent in Chicago legal and business
circles and who was twice defeated as a candidate for mayor of Chicago,
built his summer house on the corner of St. Charles and York. This
mansion, known as Byrd's Nest, had 21 rooms and included a gvinna-
sium, bowling alley chapel and even a bathroom. Bryan's Episcopal
chapel was the site of the first religious services in Elmhurst. It was Bryan
and his wife who in 1869 gave and sold the land that remains the heart of
the Elmhurst College campus.

K In the Beginning 9

The Hagans family built two beautiful estates along St. Charles
Road. One of the Hagans' estates was just a short distance south of the
new Proseminary on the corner of Prospect and St. Charles Road. The
Lathrop mansion stood on St. Charles Road west of the Bryan estate. It
was Jedediah Lathrop who in 1868 planted the long rows of elm trees
along Cottage Hill. He, his brother-in-law Thomas Bryan and other early
settlers, including Seth Wadhams, did much to convert the barren prairie
into a tree-lined village. In what is now Wilder Park, across Prospect
Avenue from the Proseminary, stood the mansion of Wadhams, which
today houses part of the Elmhurst Public Library.

When Kranz and the students arrived in Elmhurst, the community
was crowded with refugees from the great fire. Many wealthy residents,
such as the Wadhams and the Bryans, had lost their Chicago homes and
taken up temporary or permanent residence in Elmhurst. Staying with
the wealthy families were friends, relatives, business associates, servants
and even dressmakers who had also lost their places of business and resi-
dences. Some of these refugees settled permanently in Elmhurst. Thus
Elmhurst's population grew rapidly at the end of 1871 and in 1872, when
a number of new houses were built north of the railroad tracks.

The First Building

The building that Inspector Kranz and his students finally moved
into was a large and attractive house of the kind that very successful
farmers built. It had a wide front and two wings with porches and gable
roofs. The center was crowned with a balustrade and a hip roof. Its
curving drive and the broad sweep of land surrounding it looked out on
Prospect Avenue from the location where The Frick Center (formerly the
College Union) now stands. A barn stood nearby.

Two rooms on the ground floor were study and recitation rooms. All
classes were held in the front room. Here students took turns reciting
their lessons and professors read aloud to their students. When it was not
their turn to recite, students sat on long benches or studied at rough
tables. When a second professor was hired, the tw^o teachers shared the

10

An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Melanchthon Semmm-y building, Elmhurst Proseminai-y, 1871. It was Inter converted
to professors^ homes.

classroom since there was no other. Inspector Kranz's desk stood at the
back of the room, before a double door that led into a room that Kranz
used as his study and where he kept his small supply of books. Like many
schools of this time, the Proseminary had no library, though individual
professors might own a few personal books.

The south wing held the kitchen and dining room, and the north
wing was a study room for the students. Upstairs Inspector Kranz and his
family had a two-room apartment. All the students slept in the attic. The
14 students who accompanied Inspector Kranz to Elmhurst would have
been crowded in this single attic room, but shortly after they arrived,
another 10 students were admitted, raising the total to 24. Thus by the
time classes got under way in January 1872 the house was fairly bursting
with people.

More than 70 years later. Reverend J. Strauss, a graduate of the
Class of 1874, remembered the conditions under which the first
students lived:

K In the Beginning 1 1

Most of the beds were stacked in the attic above the second story
close to the roof. They were packed so close to each other that you
could barely stick your hand between them down to the floor. The
trunks were set against the foot of the beds and over these the
students had to climb to the head and then stick their feet and legs
under the cover Hke sticking their feet into their shoes.

In the winter, snow often sifted through the roof and collected on
the floor. The little heat in the attic was provided by stoves for which the
students had to chop wood. In the summer the attic was stiflingly hot
although cracks provided a little natural ventilation. For washing, the
students pumped water outside from a deep well. As Strauss remembered,
students would "use tin pans for washbasins in a little, thin weatherboard
shack; and when it was cold, the tin became lined with ice. There were
galvanized tubs to bathe in."

The original house was divided and moved in 1895 to make way for
the construction of the Commons or Dining Hall. The center section was
relocated to the north side of the campus as were the two wings that were
put together to become another house. The reconstructed homes at 224
and 232 Alexander Boulevard served as residences for many generations
of Proseminary and College faculty until they were razed in 1987 to make
way for the Computer Science and Technology Center.

12

Carl Fredrick Kranz
The First President

Although the title "president"
was not used at Elmhurst until 1919,
Reverend Carl Fredrick Kranz held a
similar position when he ser\'ed as
inspector from 1871 to 1875. Kranz
was born in Silesia in Germany in
1839 and raised from age six to 14 in
an orphanage.

He studied theology at the
University of Breslau and was a tutor
for a wealthy family before being
selected to go to the United States as a minister. In 1 869, he arrived in
Mishawaka, Indiana where he served as a minister until he was
appointed head of the Evangelical Synod of the West's new Proseminary
at Evansville, Indiana.

While at Evansville, Kranz wrote his future wife, asking her to
join him in America. Auguste Sophia Kranz, like her husband, was an
accomplished musician. She was also an excellent artist who made
many pencil drawings. The couple had seven children, three born
in Elmhurst.

In the early months of the Proseminary, Inspector Kranz was
responsible for teaching all subjects. He also kept the records, paid the
bills, handled correspondence and checked to see that the students were
in bed at night. He oversaw the construction of the Proseminary's first
new building, later known as Kranz Hall, which was completed in 1873
at a cost of $12, 000.

Being inspector was a difficult job, so when Kranz was offered a
church in Iowa in 1875, he took it. Shordy afterward he was seriously
injured in a buggy accident. Though he moved to a church in Louisville,
Kentucky in 1881, he never regained his health, and he died in 1885.

chapter 2

K The Pioneer Years

The name Elmhurst College was popularly used well before
1900. Still, for its first 48 years, Elmhurst remained a
proseminary, secondary or boarding school. It flourished
principally for two reasons: first, because there were few secondary or
high schools in the rural areas of the Midwest, and second, because it
was the only school dedicated to educating boys from German
Evangelical families.

Most of the early students at the Elmhurst Proseminary were the
sons of German farmers or ministers. Many of them had backgrounds
that had accustomed them to hard work and spartan conditions, and they
were therefore at least to this degree well prepared for what they found
at Elmhurst.

A student's day began at 5:30 a.m. (6 a.m. on Sundays) and
ended sharply at 10 p.m. Waking, retiring and all other events of
the day were announced by the ringing of a bell, known as the hash-
bell. The first bell was rung 10 minutes before the hour to alert
students to go to the dining hall, chapel or class or to change classes.
The bell was rung again on the hour when classes, meals and religious
sendees began.

13

14 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

According to Paul Crusius, the daily schedule was as follows:

a.m. 5:30 Rising (6:00 on Sundays)

6:00-7:00 Study time

7:00 Breakfast followed by bed making

7:45 Morning religious services

8:00-12:00 Classes

12:30 Dinner

Until 2:00 Free time

2:00-4:00 Classes

4:00-5:00 Work (usually outdoors)

5:00-6:00 Study and music lessons

6:00 Supper

6:30-8:00 Study and piano lessons

8:00-9:00 Study

9:00 Evening religious services

10:00 Lights out

p.m.

Students could count on about one hour of free time during their
day. In their limited free time they often tried to get some exercise.
Reverend J. Strauss remembered that "the students frequently engaged in
gymnastics and by walking in regular fde like soldiers directed by a
captain of soldiers recently arrived from Germany." Such a regimented
schedule was not unusual for boarding schools of the day, and many of
the students who had grown up on pioneer farms were probably accus-
tomed to little more free time.

During the hour set aside for work, students labored on the farm,
milking cows and tending the animals; in the vegetable garden; in the
bakeshop, kneading and shaping bread; or elsewhere around the large
campus, most of which was covered with corn, oats or hay fields.
Suidents also chopped wood for the stoves and fireplaces throughout the
campus, shoveled snow and drew water from the outdoor well for use in
the washroom, kitchen and laundry. In the early years all work at the
Proseminary was done by students except for cooking and laundry. Some
students served as a "famulus" or servant to a professor or a professor's

S8 The Pioneer Years

family. This position was a carryover from Europe, and many American-
born students did not like the job.

Older students were assigned to help the inspector govern and run
the Proseminary. Each month one first classman or senior was appointed
as the Haiissenior. Among his duties were checking that all boys were up
in the morning, and reporting to the inspector anyone who was ill or who
refused to get out of bed on time. The Haussenior saw that all the boys
had their work assignments and that their work was done satisfactorily.
He checked that students were in their study room within half an hour
after dinner, that they attended evening religious services and that
every^one was in bed with lights out at 10 o'clock.

The Haussenior was assisted by a second classman or junior who
served for one week at a time and who was know n as the Hiielfhenior or
Wochemenior. This student was responsible for seeing that the classroom
w^as in good condition, that the blackboard was erased and that there was
chalk for the professor's use.

Each study room had a Zimmersmior who was supposed to keep the
room quiet. The Krankensenior was responsible for overseeing the care of
any ill students who were in the sick rooms. The Baeckerseuior was in
charge of baking the bread and on Saturdays the Kaffeekiichen that
enlivened the menu on Sundays. This was a coveted position because of
the opportunity for extra food and because the Baeckersenior had his
study room at the baker\^ There he was out of view of the Haussenior and
the inspector.

Food at the Proseminary was spartan. According to J. Strauss, "The
board [food] was meager, however wholesome and sufficient to produce
strength for body and mind. There was but little along the line of sweet
meats [desserts]." Though Strauss remembered little complaining about
the food at the Proseminar\^, another early student remembered differ-
ently. J. H. Horstmann, who attended the Proseminar\' in the 1880s,
remembered the food as follows:

Generally speaking, the meals were ver\' often most unsatisfactory^.
There was no lack of food but the preparations left much to be
desired. The kitchen equipment was primitive and the whole
construction and arrangement of the kitchen was such as to make
sanitary conditions difficult to maintain. Too often the sights and

16 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

smells encountered as one approached the openings into the dining
hall were anything but appetizing. The meat was usually the less
desirable kind; potatoes came with an overabundance of grease;
although there was a large garden in which students did much of the
work, the supply of vegetables was inadequate; there was plenty of
bread, baked by students in the Proseminary bakery, too much,
perhaps, in proportion to the other articles of food, and the
margarine and molasses with which it was served soon palled upon
sensitive stomachs.

Horstmann w^as lucky because he lived on a farm near Naperville,
Illinois and w^nt home one weekend a month to enjoy his mother's
cooking. She also sent back what Horstmann described as "a week's
supply of goodies to take along which helped to make up for poor meals."

According to Frederick Baltzer, writing about life at the
Proseminary in the 1870s, breakfast each day consisted of coffee, fresh
biscuits and molasses while supper each night was coffee, hash, a biscuit
and butter. He recalled that some students wanted molasses with their
supper as well as their breakfast, so they hid a container of syrup under
their table and managed to avoid detection for months.

V\Tien the Proseminary held its Silver Jubilee celebration in 1896,
Reverend Rudolph A.John, a graduate in the class of 1875, wrote the
following song to the tune of "The Old Oaken Bucket":

Fro?ri dear distant days, I think of the syrup,
Which once as a youth I so richly received,
Which there on the table in a neat little jug
Gave out sticky sweetness, until it o 'erflowed.
Mornings and evenings, and sometimes at lunchtime,
There was on the table, prepared for our use.
The syrup, the syrup, the rich golden syrup.
Uljich stuck to our fingers when mealtime was done.

Living conditions at the Proseminary were primitive but most of the
students seemed to adjust. As Horstmann remembered, "The beds were
not the kind to which most of us were accustomed at home — just a
mattress (none too soft) with a blanket between it and the sheet, and a
pillow a little softer than the mattress. After a week or two one became

K The Pioneer Years 17

accustomed to this lack of comfort and learned to sleep soundly and rest-
fully, forgetful of the 20 or more sleepers, dreamers and snorers who
shared the same bedroom."

There was no Evangelical church in Elmhurst until St. Peter's
Church was founded in 1876 across what is now Wilder Park from the
Proseminary. Therefore every Sunday students lined up and walked to
Churchville (now Bensenville), a distance of three miles, to attend
church. Frederick Baltzer wrote that the students marched to church
"goose-step fashion," four abreast in long columns.

According to Strauss, "During winter on the way [to Churchville],
students would occasionally look at each other's ears to see if they were
getting white with frost." If so, they rubbed them with snow until they
were red again. Undoubtedly the students were delighted when the
Lenten season arrived because for these six weeks students attended daily
ser\ices at Thomas Bryan's Episcopal chapel, just a short walk away.
Inspector Kranz preached at the Lenten services and afterwards students
were allowed to stroll in the park-like grounds that surrounded the
Bryan mansion.

Pranks and rule breaking were a large part of student life, even 125
years ago. Students were forbidden to go into Elmhurst even in their free
time unless they had the inspector's permission, but many students found
this more of a challenge than a restriction. Students were also prohibited
from speaking to any young ladies whom they might meet at church or
elsewhere, and all women were banned from campus except for the fami-
lies of professors and workers. This was one of the rules the students
most delighted in breaking. School officials were shocked when more
than one Proseminar\' student married an Elmhurst girl.

Students stole food from each other and from the kitchen. One time
several boys sneaked into the storehouse near the bakehouse seeking a
snack, and one ended up falling headfirst into a barrel of molasses. The
older students often played tricks on newcomers. Once a group of
students rubbed Limburger cheese on the inside of the pillowcases of
younger students.

The favorite prank remembered from the early years occurred when
the students sneaked into the barn after lights were out, took apart the
farm wagon and reassembled it on the roof of the barn with the tongue

18 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

pointing to heaven. The inspector made them take it down. According to
Frederick Baltzer, there was a small room in one of the buildings that was
used as a lockup. He remembered that occasionally boys were incarcer-
ated there and fed bread and water. Whether this room was used for the
offenders who moved the wagon is long forgotten.

Except in extreme cases, discipline was handled on a demerit
system. According to Crusius, any student receiving 10 demerits would
have to talk to the inspector. For especially serious offenses, the boy
might have to appear before the entire faculty. If a student reached 30
demerits, he received what was called a C.A. or conditio abeundi, which
was similar to probation. Further offenses could result in "shipping" or
expulsion. The Supervising Board confirmed expulsions. According to
Horstmann, one or more students were "shipped" each year for miscon-
duct or poor performance.

For the first 1 5 years or so of the Proseminary, discipline seemed to
have been especially heavy. According to Horstmann, it was only when
Daniel Irion became inspector in 1887 that there was less "petty regula-
tion." Irion was the first American-born inspector, and Horstmann attrib-
uted the new attitude that treated students more as responsible individuals
to his American birth.

Ewald Agricola, who entered the Proseminary in 1897, remembered
Inspector Irion's welcoming speech to the students. In German Irion
said, "You are all strangers to us. We know none of you, but we place fall
confidence in you. We consider you all to be gentlemen. [The last word
he said in English.] To us you are all gentlemen, and we shall treat you as
gentlemen until you should prove to us that you are not gentlemen. This,
however, we do not expect."

Once a month or so a "free day" was declared. On such days no
classes were held though students had to study in the morning and after
supper. In the afternoon they took hikes or visited in town (usually
without permission) and occasionally played baseball. Since there were no
organized extracurricular activities, the boys had to plan their own enter-
tainment. One of the early forms of entertainment was singing. Frederick
Baltzer was one of the students who in the 1870s organized the "Teutonic
Male Quartet," a double quartet that gave concerts and entertained at
free days.

a The Pioneer Years 19

Free days were not announced in advance although the student
grapevine often gave notice. Students would learn of a free day at
morning religious services when announcements were made. The
students could count on Washington's birthday being a free day as well as
the Kaiser's birthday. On Washington's birthday there was usually a
concert or speeches in English, which was the only time in the early years
that English would be officially used on campus. On the Kaiser's birthday
the celebration would be in German. In 1876 a special free day was held
in honor of Inspector Meusch's fortieth birthday. The highlight of this
day was dinner at noon that included roast chicken and cake, neither of
which were usual fare.

Although there were no ID cards, students were given a number
when they were admitted that was put on all their clothing to help in
getting back laundry. The number also determined the student's desk in
the study room, his bed, what place he would take at the washstand and
his seat for meals.

Students under the age of 18 were not permitted to smoke, but
many did. A small frame building near the barn was designated the
"smoke house" for older students. Underage students often hid in the
hayloft of the barn to smoke.

The Course of Study

From 1871 to 1913 it cost $150 to attend the Elmhurst
Proseminary. (This was the same rate that had been charged at Cincinnati
in 1867 and at Evansville.) This covered tuition, room, board and
laundry. The cost did not increase at Elmhurst for 42 years. This modest
charge could be reduced if a student was studying for the ministry or to
be a parochial school teacher or if his parents could not pay the full
amount. Since student fees didn't cover the cost of education even in the
earliest years, the Proseminar)' was dependent on annual subsidies from
the German Evangelical S\Tiod.

To be admitted to the Proseminary^, students had to be 16 if they
were "pretheologs" (students planning to go on to the seminar)') or if

20 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

they were planning to become teachers in the German church schools.
From the Proseminary's second year at Elmhurst, students known as
"college" students were also admitted. These students were undecided
about their career plans or intended to follow another profession. A
"college" student might be admitted at age 14. Starting in 1878 all
students could be admitted at 14.

Many early students were training to be teachers. Over the years the
number of such students declined as the number of German parochial
schools declined. The teacher training program was abolished in 1915.

In 1872 two of the new students were "college" students, as were 14
of the 32 new students admitted in 1873. While the Synod had always
intended to recruit students who did not wish to be ministers or teachers,
it is surprising that so many sought admission and were accepted this early
in the Proseminary's history. Thus what could be called a liberal arts tradi-
tion was already established by the second year of Elmhurst's existence.

"College" students seeking a traditional classical education
continued to make up a significant portion of the student body for nearly
two decades. As late as 1880 they accounted for nearly one third of all the
students at the Proseminary. The number of "college" students began to
decline after 1880 and dropped off sharply in 1889. By this time students
who did not want to be ministers or teachers no longer found that the
classical curriculum met their needs. By the 1890s new secondary schools
with more modern curricula drew many of the young men who in the
previous two decades would have attended the Elmhurst Proseminary.

In the early years the students varied greatly in age. Most were in
their teens but some were adults. Many of the older students were born
in Germany. As late as 1884 only 21 of the 44 students in the upper two
years were born in America. Some of the German-born students had
attended a gyDinasiimi in their homeland and most found the Proseminary
work easy. Most of the American-born youths grew up in German-
speaking homes, but in many of those homes a German dialect was used.
Many of these boys could barely read German, so they often found the
Proseminary more difficult.

Horstmann remembered that there was bickering and occasionally
fights between the American-born and the German-born students. The
tensions were underscored when one group of students organized a

Sfi The Pioneer Years 21

German literary society to cultivate the German language while another
organized the Progressive Literary Association, which was an English
debating society.

Until the late 1880s most of the teachers were older and German-
born, which increased the frustration of American-born students such as
Horstmann. With the appointment of a number of younger American-
born faculty starting in about 1885 and the coming of Daniel Irion to the
inspectorship, Horstmann felt that the spirit and quality of the education
changed for the better.

To be admitted to the Proseminary, a boy had to be recommended
by an Evangelical minister. Officially students were required to have
graduated from an elementary school, but some students were admitted
who had not graduated. Students also had to pass an entrance examination.

When the Proseminary opened, the course of study was set for
three years. In 1876 the program was expanded to four years. According
to Paul Crusius, if there had been enough money, the course of study
would have been extended to six years, as at a German gymnasium, but
funds were always short. Besides, the need for ministers and teachers
was so pressing that six years could not be devoted to this study. A fifth
year was added from 1885 to 1900. The fifth year was reinstituted in
1907. In 1889 the faculty tried to add a sixth year, but it was not
approved by the Directorium.

At the Elmhurst Proseminary, students received a classical education
as was traditional at a German gymnasium. They studied German,
English, religion, history, music, mathematics and geography. In the early
years all subjects, including English, were taught in German. It wasn't
until 1902 that English and a few other classes were finally taught in
English, and it took until after World \A'ar I for English to became the
official language of the Proseminary. Starting in 1917 the Catalog wblS
published in English.

Pretheolog}' students also studied Latin and Greek, again in
German, while those planning to become teachers studied pedagogw In
1876 a basic science course was added and in 1878 a laboraton- science
was added, but these, like English, were considered to be of secondary-
importance at best. Baltzer remembered that in the 1870s English was
"treated as something that one could easily afford to miss." It would be

22 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

decades before Elmhurst had adequate laboratories, and the poor quality
of its science offerings would be a cause of complaint even after the insti-
tution became a true college in the 1920s.

First-year students took 36 classes, each 45 minutes long, per
week. Upperclassmen generally took 39 classes a week. Students read
and memorized textbooks, most of which were imported from
Germany, and recited their lessons for their teachers. The professors
also read to the students. According to Baltzer, students sometimes
played dominoes or chess while the professors read. More often they
fell asleep. Baltzer remembered that one day a student fell so soundly
asleep that he slept through two bells and woke up in the next class for
which he was not enrolled. Although there were several efforts to
update and reform the curriculum, it remained basically the same
until 1918.

When the Proseminary opened. Inspector Kranz, the only professor,
taught all classes. Two of the students — J.H. Dinkmeyer and W.F.
Gieselmann, who came from Evansville after having spent one year in
Cincinnati — served as unofficial student teaching assistants since there
was much more teaching than Inspector Kranz could do alone. Because
student help was not enough a second teacher. Reverend Friedrick
Weygold, was hired in March 1872.

Weygold was born and educated in Germany before the Bedin
Society for the German Evangelical Mission in America sent him to
teach at the Evangelical Teachers' Seminary at Cincinnati in 1869. When
the Teachers' Seminary closed, he became a pastor in Missouri before
being hired to teach Latin at the Elmhurst Proseminary. Weygold
remained at Elmhurst a little less than two years until the teaching
burden became too heavy.

Students took written exams at the end of each semester. Twice a
year they were subjected to oral exams, which were greatly hated. These
exams were conducted by the three members of the local Supervising
Board, who could ask any questions they wished, even about material not
covered in the classes.

The quality of teaching varied. While many of the early teachers
such as Inspectors Kranz and Meusch and Professor WK. Sauerbier were
remembered fondly by later students, this was not true of all of them.

K The Pioneer Years 23

Horstmann remembered many of his teachers in the 1880s as "legalistic,"
unconcerned about the students and generally uninspiring.

The professors were expected to teach between 26 and 31 classes a
week in many different subjects. (Because of his other duties, the
inspector taught only 12 classes a week once other professors were hired.)
At times the professors were as frustrated by the shortcomings of their
students as were the students. Baltzer recalls that one of the teachers in
the 1870s called his students such uncomplimentary names that they
boycotted his classes until he apologized.

In June 1872 the first two students were graduated from the
Elmhurst Proseminary. With no official ceremony, J.H. Dinkmeyer and
W.F. Gieselmann were certified to teach in German parochial schools.
The German Evangelical Proseminary at Elmhurst had successfully
completed its first year.

In August 1872, 21 of the 22 students who had not graduated two
months before returned for the start of the Proseminary's second year. In
addition 16 new students were admitted. The original house, which was
already overcrowded, could not hold this many people, so the students
took it upon themselves to construct a crude one-room shack in which a
dozen students slept. It was obvious, though, that this would not suffice
for long, and plans were drawn up for a new building.

At the end of the Proseminary's second year, on June 25, 1873, the
first new building at the Elmhurst Proseminary was dedicated. This
building cost about $12,000 to build. To raise money for it the Synod
took up special collections in September and October 1872 in all its
churches. Although later generations of Elmhurst students knew this
stone building with a yellow-brick veneer as Kranz Hall, early students
called it Old Hall or, when it was constructed, the Music Building.

Kranz Hall contained a chapel and classrooms on the ground floor,
apartments for unmarried teachers and study rooms on the second floor,
and a large attic with three rooms. The largest room in the attic was an
enormous bedroom for students. The two smaller rooms were sick
rooms. In the basement were a kitchen and dining room.

Shortly after the new building was dedicated, 1 1 students were grad-
uated— nine were sent to the seminary in Missouri and two were certified
as teachers. With this graduating class and the new building completed,

24 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhwst Prosejninmj Class of 1874. Second from the right and standing is Daniel
Irion, the first alumnus to serve as president.

Synod leaders hoped that Elmhurst s housing and classroom shortage
would be solved, but this was not the case.

In 1873, 32 new students were admitted. Of this number, 14
were "college" students, eight were "pretheologs," eight were
studying to be teachers and two were undecided. By this date there
were too many students and classes for two teachers, so two part-time
teachers were hired. J. Miter, a theology student at a seminary in
C^hicago, taught English from 1873 to 1875, and another teacher was
hired to teach music and first-year classes. V\^en Reverend Weygold
resigned in 1874, he was replaced by Reverend Frederick Hennigern,
who had been head of a German high school in Missouri. Even with
four full- or part-time teachers, including the inspector, classes were
large and each teacher taught many different subjects. One example of

S8 The Pioneer Years 25

this is that the EngHsh professor also taught classes in mathematics,
geography, U.S. history, and a combined class of anatomy, physiology
and hygiene.

The burden of so much teaching as well as the administrative duties
led Inspector Kranz to resign in November 1874 to take a pastoral posi-
tion in Iowa. Reverend Philip Frederick Meusch, who had emigrated to
America with his family as a boy and received his secondary school and
theological education in the United States, was selected as the second
inspector. Meusch wired his response to the offer. In German his answer
was simply, "I accept."

The End of the Pioneer Years

Inspector Meusch was on the faculty of Blackburn College when he
was selected to take the helm of the Proseminary. Arriving in January
1875, one of his first actions was to organize the faculty^ Beginning on
January 14 of that year, the faculty met every other Wednesday. In
succeeding meetings the faculty drafted and sent a list of recommenda-
tions to the Supervising Board. According to Paul Crusius, these recom-
mendations included the following:

1. In accordance with the American custom, the school year would
start on the first Tuesday in September.

2. The course of study would be extended from three years to four.

3. Each student would be required to pay $5 to buy laboratory
equipment and books for a library.

4. A week at the end of the school year would be set aside for oral
and written examinations.

5. Commencement exercises would be held at the close of the
school year, and friends of the school would be invited.

All of the faculty's recommendations were accepted except for the
third one. Students w^ere not required to pay special fees and no College
library was established until 1912. Since students missed having books to

26 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

read, in 1877 several students, including Frederick Baltzer, organized the
"Elmhurst Leseverein," which encouraged the reading of books. In its
first year the Leseverein charged interested students three cents an hour
to listen to readings that were held once a week. Paul Irion, a younger
brother of Daniel Irion, was the first official reader.

In its second year the Leseverein charged students 10 cents per
month and used the money to buy books that members could borrow.
The first book was entitled Die Weisee Sklavin (The White Slave), which
may explain why the books were so popular. The Leseverein also received
gifts of books from Synod leaders. These books were originally kept in a
closet of the smokehouse. After Old Main was completed, the books were
moved to a room in the basement of that building.

When Inspector Meusch died in 1880, the students renamed the
Leseverein the "Meusch Verein." By 1899 this collection contained 1,050
volumes and a number of German and English periodicals. In 1912 the
books were moved to the newly constructed Irion Hall and control was
given to the faculty. The books accumulated by the students plus some
2,500 books from the library of Thomas Bryan that were given to
Elmhurst College by his family in 1920 became the nucleus of the
Memorial Library that was opened in 1922. To memorialize the gift from
the Bryan family, a bust of Thomas Bryan stood for many years outside
the entrance to Memorial Library. Today the bust is in the Special
Collections Room in Buehler Library.

With enrollment growing into the 50s and 60s, overcrowding was
once more a major problem. In an effort to alleviate the situation, the
class of first and second year (senior and junior) pretheological students
was transferred to the Marthasville Seminary in 1877.

In a further attempt to solve the overcrowding problem, the
Supervising Board asked the faculty its view on establishing separate
educational institutions for pretheological students and those training to
be teachers. The faculty, believing that it was more economical and
educationally sound that all the students be educated at the same school,
recommended against this move. After consideration the Supervising
Board agreed, and in 1877 the General Conference of the Synod decided
to build another new building. It appropriated $12,000 for construction,
and ground was broken in the spring of 1878.

K The Pioneer Years 27

The Main Building, or Old Main as it is now called, was dedicated
on October 31, 1878. Distinctive in construction are the two towers of
the building. The clock was set in the front of a square tower that looks
somewhat medieval with the crenelations of a castle or fortress.
According to Crusius, one member of the building committee wasn't
satisfied with this tower and insisted that there must be a tower with a
belfry pointing toward heaven and a bell to summon students to study,
work and pray. Therefore a second tower was constructed atop the first.

Old Main contained classrooms on the first floor. On the second
floor were study rooms and bedrooms for students. Also included were a
chapel and an apartment for the inspector and his family. On the top
floor were sick rooms. In the basement were a reading room, a laboratory
and washrooms. The yellow and red brick building cost a little under
$25,000 to construct — more than twice the amount allocated — but the
overrun was financed by gifts. This building was little changed until
1923, although a few new classrooms were added in 1912 and a fire in
1920 did considerable damage.

Also in 1878, possibly as a delayed reaction to the resignation of
Inspector Kranz, the load on the inspector was lightened by the appoint-
ment of a business manager to take care of the dining hall and maintain the
buildings and the farm. The manager's wife was put in charge of the meals.

The year 1878 saw the publication of the first Proseminary Catalog,
which described in German the course of study. A copy of this eight-page
pamphlet can be found in the Elmhurst College Archives.

With two new stone and brick buildings, an enrollment hovering
near the 100 mark and a faculty of seven, the Evangelical Proseminar\^ at
Elmhurst ended its pioneer days. No longer was there any doubt that it
would remain in Elmhurst. WTiat was not yet clear was how well it would
adapt to changing times.

28

Philip Fredericlc Meusch
The Second President

Reverend Philip Frederick
Meusch, who served as the second
inspector from 1875 to 1880, was born
in Germany in 1836. About 1850 his
family emigrated to the United States
and settled in CaHfornia, Missouri
where Meusch attended high school
before enrolling in the Evangelical
Seminary at Marthasville, Missouri.
After a time as an assistant at a
St. Louis church, he joined the faculty of Blackburn College in
Carlinville, lUinois.

After Inspector Kranz's resignation in 1875, Reverend Meusch was
selected to head the Evangelical Proseminary at Elmhurst. His tenure
was marked by growth in the student body. As a result of severe over-
crowding, a new building, now known as Old Main, was built. It was
completed in 1878 at the cost of $24,000. Meusch started meetings to
organize the faculty, which had grown to five members.

Inspector Meusch was highly respected by the students. One of the
earUest student societies was renamed "Meusch Verein" after him. This
group collected books for student use many years before the first library
was opened.

Meusch and his wife, Julie Friesleben, were the parents of four
children. Meusch died suddenly in 1880 at the age of 44. He is buried
in the cemetery on Alexander Boulevard, adjacent to the Elmhurst
College campus.

chapter 3

K First Call for Change

The winds of change would have seemed far distant from the
campus in 1878. Within less than a decade, the German
Evangelical Proseminary at Elmhurst had created a
curriculum, a student body, a campus and a niche for itself as the
educator of sons of the Evangelical faith. With the second building
completed, the overcrowding problem was now taken care of for a
time. Most of the students were moved into the Main Building
although some remained in the Music Building (Kranz Hall). In the
fall of 1878 the student body neared the century mark and in 1879 it
totaled 103. Although the number of students declined to only 85 in
1880, it returned to just below the hundred mark for the remainder of
the 1880s.

As the campus and student body expanded, so too did the facult)^.
One of the most popular new facult}' members was W.K. Sauerbier, a
graduate of Heidelberg College in Ohio, who was hired to be the first
full-time professor of English. He taught at the Proseminary from 1875
until he was killed in a railroad accident in 1879. Other teachers in that
era included Professors Kaufmann, xMerkel, Rosche and Luternau as well
as Daniel Irion.

29

30 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The Proseminary did not publish a catalog in 1879, but starting in
1880, a catalog was issued each year. These catalogs listed faculty and
students as well as outlined the curriculum.

In the summer of 1880 the Proseminary was shocked by the sudden
death of Inspector Meusch at the age of 44. He was buried in the ceme-
tery on the northwest side of the Proseminary. Today his grave can still
be found in the small section of the cemetery that is owned by Elmhurst
College. The same summer Professors Kaufmann and Irion left. Since
Professor Sauerbier had died the previous fall, this represented a nearly
complete turnover in faculty. Clearly a strong inspector was needed to
rebuild the faculty and develop continuity for the Proseminary.

A New Inspector with New Ideas

In September 1880 Reverend Peter Goebel was hired to become the
third inspector. Goebel, who was bom in Germany, emigrated to the
United States with his family. He was educated at the Marthasville Seminary
and served as a pastor before being selected to head the Proseminary.

Over the next few years, a number of new faculty were hired, several
of whom remained for long periods of time. They included John Lueder,
who taught Latin, Greek, history and other courses until his retirement in
1910; Hernian Brodt, who taught pedagogy, German and German Htera-
ture for 26 years until 1918; John Rahn, who taught music; and C.J. Albert,
who taught English from 1884 to 1892. Albert was the first professor to
hold a master's degree. After leaving the Proseminary, Albert served as the
last village president of Elmhurst fi-om 1909 to 1910. Other teachers served
for shorter times. One, G.A. Ebmeyer, who taught German fi-om 1885 to
1890, was the last of the professors trained at a German gymnasium.

The 1884 Catalog listed the salary of each of the faculty members.
Inspector Goebel received $1,000 a year. Professors Lueder, Brodt and
Carl Dobshall, who taught from 1883 to 1885, received $900, $800 and
$700 respectively and were provided with housing. Professors Recher and
Rosche received $900 and $800 but no housing. No later Catalog
included faculty salaries.

K First Call for Change

FciLiilty /j/f/ubcrs, 1SS5-86. F?'ont row, centej; is Peter Goebel, who headed the
Prosejuinm-y; to his left, future presidejit Daniel Irion.

Inspector Goebel attempted to make several changes in the
Proseminary. In 1884 he asked the faculty whether they were satisfied with
the progress of their students. Faculty members told him that they believed
students were taking too many courses, which allowed too httle time for
preparation. To prove their point, they charted a student's week. According
to Paul Crusius, the faculty concluded that a student needed 144 hours a
week for classes and adequate preparation, or nearly 24 hours a day.

After analyzing their findings, the faculty^ voted that professors
should lighten daily assignments and that a five-year course of study
should be established. In 1885 the Supervising Board agreed, and a fifth
or preparatory year was added.

Later Goebel returned to the Supervising Board with another report
and suggestions that would have had a profound effect on the
Proseminary. He called attention to the decline in the number of
"college" students — those seeking a general education — and attributed
the decline to Elmhurst's classical education, which was not meeting these

32 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Students, 1890.

students' needs. In particular he noted that young men planning to enter
business or to teach in public schools needed more courses in English,
Therefore he recommended that a second English teacher be hired and
that some subjects be offered in English.

In a decision that shaped the course of the Proseminary for more
than three decades, the Supervising Board rejected the inspector's sugges-
tion to broaden and modernize the curriculum. This decision severely
limited the appeal of the Proseminary, and through the 1890s the number
of "college" students declined significantly.

The Goebel era saw the first significant efforts by students to
develop extracurricular activities. The Meusch Verein Society continued
while other student groups came and went. Between 1881 and 1883 alone
at least four literary or debating societies were formed under such names
as the Owl Club, the Concordia Society, the Demosthenes Society and
the Pedagogical Club.

In 1884 the Owl Club requested permission to prepare a newspaper
to appear every two weeks. The Supervising Board gave permission with

K First Call for Change 33

the understanding that a faculty member must approve each issue before
pubUcation. It is not clear whether any issues were written. None have
been found, but years later members of the Class of 1884 remembered
that they started Prudentia, a four-page handwritten paper.

The faculty, already concerned that students did not have time to
prepare for classes, voted in 1884 to abohsh all student groups except the
Meusch Society. Apparently this resolution was never carried out, since
new societies continued to pop up. The most successful was the Young
Men's Society, which was founded in 1885. A decade later its name was
changed to the Schiller Society, and it continued in existence until 1925.
Each Saturday night for most of those years the Schiller Society
presented musical and dramatic entertainment that was looked forward to
by member students who had few alternatives. Also in 1884 students
founded the Orpheus Men's Chorus, which in time became the College
Glee Club.

The most popular campus event was the annual "Seminarfest,"
which began in 1881 and continued until the end of the Proseminary era.
The first Seminarfest was held in the fall, but the celebration was soon
switched to the end of the school year. This special Sunday included
speeches, preaching, music and refreshments for students and members of
Evangelical churches from Chicago, who were invited to spend the day
on campus. In May of 1888, at the urging of Reverend Rudolph A. John,
pastor of St. Paul's Church in Chicago who would later write the song
about syrup, so many attended that two special trains were needed to
bring the guests from Chicago. Almost $600 was collected that day for
the Proseminary.

In 1887, after seven years — the longest tenure of any inspector yet —
Goebel resigned to become the pastor of a church in Peotone, Illinois.
Reverend Daniel Irion, a graduate of the Proseminary Class of 1874, was
selected to succeed him. Irion had taught at Elmhurst from 1877 to 1880
and part time from 1885 to 1887 after he became pastor of St. Peter's
Church in Elmhurst. Apparently it took some persuading to get Irion to
accept this post. Finally he was convinced that it was his duty to accept.
After three inspectors in 16 years, the Proseminary had finally found a
head who would stay. Although his tide was changed to director in 1901,
Daniel Irion served as head of the Proseminary from 1887 until 1919.

34 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmliurst College Years K

Even after his resignation, he continued on the faculty until 1928 and he
remained a part of Elmhurst College life until his death in 1935.

The Irion Era

Inspector Irion took over administration of the Proseminary at a
time of acute crisis. In the fall of 1887 a diphtheria epidemic swept
across the campus, and as many as 80 of the 100 students fell ill. After
two students died, the school was closed on December 1 and all
students were sent home. The school was not reopened until the first of
February. At least one additional student died in the interim. Thus
Inspector Irion was faced with the need to rebuild both the faculty and
school spirit.

Daniel Irion was a tall, slim man. Even at the age of 37 he was a
commanding figure. In his earlier stint at Elmhurst he had developed a
reputation as an outstanding teacher. He was also an outstanding
preacher. Decades after his days at the Proseminary, Ewald Agricola
(Class of 1902) remembered Inspector Irion's stirring sermons.

Inspector Irion was a solemn, reserved man who rarely laughed or
smiled. Yet Agricola remembered that Irion's face would light up when a
student recited his Greek correctly. Though the inspector did not show
much emotion, the students developed a warm affection for him in part
because he was so obviously concerned about their personal, intellectual
and moral well-being. Irion, who in later years was known as "the Old
Man," welcomed all new students to campus. He visited each student in
his room at least once a day as well as each study room.

After becoming inspector, Irion continued to teach all the religion
classes except for Bible stories. He also taught ancient history and half
the Greek courses. Occasionally he even taught Latin classes. Professor
Otto, the Latin professor, was the epitome of the absent-minded
professor. When Otto forgot to go to one of his Latin classes, the
students would grow noisy, which would draw the inspector's attention.
As soon as Irion determined the cause of the disturbance, he would teach
until Otto finally arrived.

K First Call for Change 35

The inspector also served as the chief disciphnarian. VVHiile most of
the young men must have dreaded a summons to Inspector Irion's study
to explain some misconduct or lack of attention to studies, they also cher-
ished his occasional invitations to the roof of Old Main to gaze through
his telescope at the moon and stars.

Robert Stanger, who grew up on the Elmhurst campus while his
father taught there, attended the Proseminary, and returned to
Elmhurst College as its ninth president from 1957 to 1965. He remem-
bered Inspector Irion well. "He was a man with black eyes and black
hair and staring eyes, who by his very appearance commanded respect
and attention. And yet, he was not an autocrat. . . . Behind that rigid
exterior there was a friendly heart." In the decades that Stanger knew
Inspector Irion, Stanger never heard him speak English to a student,
even in the decade after Irion resigned the presidency, which was long
after the official language of the College had been changed from
German to English.

Following the failure of Inspector Goebel's proposal to broaden
the curriculum, the idea of curriculum reform was dead for nearly two
decades. Inspector Irion confined his energies to building a faculty
respected for its learning and teaching ability and remarkable for its
length of tenure. In the 30 years that Daniel Irion headed the
Proseminary, only 18 men served on the faculty. Emil Otto, who was
considered one of the most profound Evangelical theologians of the
day, was hired in 1890 and remained until 1904. The same year Otto
joined the faculty, Carl Bauer was hired. Bauer was legendary for his
encyclopedic knowledge, which spanned everything from classical
languages to the fine points of figure skating.

In 1892 George A. Sorrick replaced C.J. Albert as the English
teacher. He was only the second Elmhurst faculty^ member to hold a
master's degree. Among the music faculty were John Rahn, a widely
known organist from Chicago, and C.A. Weisse, an Elmhurst
Proseminary graduate who made a name for himself as an organist, choral
director and composer.

In 1896 Christian G. Stanger, another Elmhurst alumnus, was
hired to teach music. Professor Stanger would set the record for the
longest continuous tenure of any faculty member in Elmhurst's history.

36 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Artist's depiction of the cainpus as seen from the northeast in the 1880s.

He remained on the faculty for 50 years — from the Proseminary's 25th
anniversary year until Elmhurst College celebrated its 75th anniver-
sary. Stanger was celebrated for his musical talents, especially his
ability as an organist, and for his teaching. After teaching music for
30 years, he switched subjects and became Elmhurst College's first
Erench professor.

Enrollment at the Proseminary grew in the first decade of Inspector
Irion's tenure, from near the hundred mark in 1887 to more than 130 in
1897, but the growth was not as explosive as it had been in the early
years. At the same time the makeup of the student body changed, with a
sharp decline in the number of "college" students and a smaller decline in
the number of prospective teachers. The number of students intending to
go to the seminary increased to more than 90 in 1897. A few day
students, Elmhurst professors' sons who lived with their families, were
also admitted.

S: First Call for Change 37

Elmhurst in 1896

While the Proseminary grew rapidly in its first 25 years, so too did
the town that gave it its name. By late in the 19th century Elmhurst was a
village of nearly 1,500 people. Following its incorporation in 1884, the
first sidewalks were installed in the downtown area. These wooden plank
sidewalks remained in use into the 20th century. In the years immediately
following the village's incorporation, sewers were installed, a village hall
was built on what is now Schiller Street, police were hired, kerosene
streetlights were put up and a village lamplighter was hired.

Many new businesses sprang up, including in 1883 a stone quarry to
the west of the village. Stores selling groceries, stoves, hardware and
other necessities of life were opened, as were blacksmith shops and

Student bakers, 1895.

38 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

saloons. The Elmhw'st Eagle — believed to be the first village newspaper —
began publication in 1885. A new two-story brick elementary school
called Elmhurst School was constructed at Cottage Hill and Arthur
Street in 1888, and in 1893 a high school program was begun there. The
first high school graduating class was made up of three students. Later
this school w^ould be renamed Hawthorne School. The original school
burned in 1917 and was replaced by the current Hawthorne School.

Many churches were built in Elmhurst during the early years of
the Proseminary. Most important for Proseminary students was St.
Peter's, the Evangelical Church built in 1876 across what is now Wilder
Park from the Proseminary. The Proseminary and Elmhurst College
have had a close relationship with St. Peter's. For the students at the
Proseminary, the construction of this church meant no more long, cold
hikes to Bensenville. St. Peter's housed the first parochial school in
Elmhurst, and a number of Proseminary students received their
elementary education there. This one-room school continued in opera-
tion until 1921.

Running water came to the village following the incorporation of the
Spring Water Company in 1890. A volunteer fire department was orga-
nized and the first fire chief appointed. Starting in 1 895 fire hydrants were
installed around the village. At approximately the same time the Elmhurst
Electric Light and Power Company began to bring lights to the village,
including to the Proseminary. Telephone service would come in 1897.

The village of Elmhurst extended about six blocks from east to west
and only a little more from north to south, but the residential area was
expanding. In 1896 the Proseminary lay along the west edge of the
village. To the east remained the mansions and estates. To the north was
open land to the railroad tracks. Across the tracks were the homes of
German immigrants. Houses were slowly extending toward North
Avenue, which marked the northern boundary of the village. To the south
and east new houses and streets were also being laid out.

In 1900 the area west of the Proseminary, from what is now
Alexander Boulevard on the north to near St. Charles Road on the south
and from Grace Street westward, would become the site of the nine-hole
Elmhurst Golf Club. This would not become a residential area until the
golf club was moved in the 1920s. Earther west from the Proseminary lay
cornfields and prairie, broken only by an occasional farmhouse.

K First Call for Change 39

The Commons, which housed the dining hall, in the 1890s. To the right aui be seen the
bakejy, boiling house, and Music Building (Ki-anz Hall).

The Silver Jubilee

In 1896 the Proseminary staged a Silver Jubilee Celebration to mark
its 25th anniversary. A year earher Inspector Irion had declared that a
new building, a dining hall, was necessary to the continued growth of the
Proseminar}^ and a fitting birthday gift. The S\Tiod had agreed and the
General Conference approved the construction. Sunday school classes
also raised funds to buy a new pipe organ for the chapel in Old Main.

The Dining Hall or Commons, which was the third new building at
the Proseminary, was constructed of red brick on the site of the old
Melanchthon Seminar)^, where The Frick Center now stands. In addition
to the dining room and kitchen, the Commons housed the laundry, sick

40 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

rooms, guest rooms and an apartment for the superintendent. It freed up
room in Kranz Hall (the Music Building) and in Old Main and allowed
for a growth in the student body.

On June 21,1 896, the Silver Jubilee Celebration drew supporters
and alumni from throughout the Midwest. This was the occasion for
which Reverend R.A. John wrote his parody in remembrance of the
syrup. It also saw the first meeting of Elmhurst's Alumni Association.

While the Silver Jubilee Celebration was a great success, concerns
were surfacing once more about the curriculum. Reverend Paul Menzel,
the chairman of the Directorium or Board of Directors who keynoted the
celebration, suggested that the time had come to add a sixth year to the
academic program. A year later the faculty and Supervising Board
approved the addition and urged the approval of the General Conference
of the Synod, but in 1899 the General Conference refused. According to
Paul Crusius, the General Conference refused to extend the curriculum
for financial reasons.

41

Peter Goebel
The Third President

Johann Peter Goebel, known as
Peter Goebel, was inspector from
1880 to 1887. He was born in
Germany in 1836, but his family
emigrated to the United States and
settled in Ohio in 1849. After
attending the Marthasville Seminary
and serving as pastor at churches in
Indiana and Illinois, he was called to
Elmhurst to head the Proseminary.
During Goebel's tenure, a fifth
or preparatory year was added to the curriculum because the faculty
believed that many of the young men coming to Elmhurst were
unprepared for the rigorous education they received. Inspector
Goebel suggested the addition of more classes in English and other
changes to modernize the curriculum, so that it would appeal to
more students who were not planning to become pastors or teachers
in German parochial schools. However, his suggestion was rejected.
This solidified the classical curriculum that would remain basically
unchanged for another 30 years.

Inspector Goebel rebuilt the faculty, which had been decimated by
resignations and death. In 1887, he resigned to become pastor at
Peotone and then Richton, Illinois.

Reverend Goebel and his wife, Wilhelmine Neucks, who was from
Germany, were the parents of seven children. Goebel died in 1905.

chapter 4

K Entering a New Century

The Evangelical Proseminaiy entered the 20th century with
several significant problems that needed to be addressed. These
included a declining enrollment, increasing financial problems
and growing concern that the curriculum, with its heavy emphasis on the
German language and classical education, was not preparing young men
for life in the new century.

When Inspector Irion called for the building of the Dining Hall in
1895, the Proseminary's student body numbered 128. Four years later the
number had plunged to only 83. While American participation in the
Spanish-American War may have had an adverse effect on enrollment, much
of this decline resulted from the changing makeup of the student body.

As the number of "college" and teacher-training students fell,
Elmhurst became dependent on students who planned to attend Eden
Seminary. From 1883 to 1933 most of the young men entering Eden
attended the Elmhurst Proseminary. Thus the success of Elmhurst and
that of the Seminary were more closely linked than they had been in the
earlier decades when many students embarked on other careers.

As a result of the drop in students and growing financial problems,
the fifth or preparatory year was eliminated in 1900. This led to a further

43

44 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

decline in the number of students, although the number began to pick up
again in 1903. The fifth or preparatory year was reinstituted in 1907, at
which time the number of students increased to 130, near the record
high 143 students that had been reached in 1892. The number of
students began to climb quickly after 1907 and throughout the years
leading up to World War I. By 1914, the student body had reached 175.
Then it shrank steadily until the end of the Proseminary in 1919.

Financial problems had been present from the start of the
Proseminary. The fee of $150 a year for tuition, room and board, and
laundry would not cover the cost of education, so the Synod had to make
up the difference. The situation was worsened because many students were
unable to pay even this meager tuition. For example, in 1909 only 44 of the
150 students paid full tuition. Thus the Synod held Sunday and festival-day
collections, solicited donations from church groups such as young people's
organizations and supplied annual funds to meet the Proseminary's needs.
In addition, it funded the construction of the new buildings.

By the early 20th century, alumni also began to raise funds for their
alma mater. Yet the bulk of the money came from the Synod. William
Denman, who studied the support provided by the Synod, noted the
constant pleas for support in church publications. "It is clear that, from
virtually the beginning. Evangelical educational institutions were destined
to live a life of poverty," he wrote.

Denman charted the amount of support the EvangeHcal Synod
provided to the Elmhurst Proseminary in the early years of the new
century as follows:

1901-02

$12,932

1902-03

$14,551

1904-05

$16,479

1906-07

$18,702

1908-09

$20,818

1909-10

$17,550

1910-11

$22,510

1912-13

$19,680

1913-14

$24,925

1914-15

$20,350

1917-18

$22,500

a Entering a New Century 45

The amount the Synod contrihuted varied from year to year,
depending on the success of its fund campaigns. Since the Synod
would not commit to an annual subsidy, the Proseminary never knew
how much it would receive in a given year. This, in turn, prevented
effective budgeting. In a year such as 1908-09 when the Synod
provided $20,818 for 136 students, the financial problems may have
eased. The next year when one additional student arrived, the Synod's
contribution declined by nearly 16% and times must have been
especially difficult.

One way the Proseminary made ends meet was by keeping faculty
salaries low. The provision of housing for some faculty may have helped a
bit, but it is remarkable that the Proseminary was able to keep such a
stable faculty in the face of its low salaries.

More Calls for Change

Possibly as a bow to modernity, the title of the head of the
Proseminary was changed to "director" in 1901. Also in that year the
name "Elmhurst College" was first officially used on the Proseminary
Catalog. These were the only accommodations to the new age that the
governors were ready to make.

While the leaders of the Proseminary were content to maintain the
traditional classical curriculum, some of the alumni were not. By the early
years of the new century a number of graduates had begun to apply to
colleges and universities or to seminaries that were not affiliated with the
Evangelical Synod. They had difficulty gaining acceptance for their
education at the Proseminary because many schools were unable to deter-
mine how much, if any, credit to give to courses such as world history and
mathematics that had been taught in German.

Other students who were admitted to a college or university found
either that they were unprepared for American educational institutions
or that they could not compete with those who had graduated from
schools that had a more modern curriculum. Thus pressure for change
began to grow.

46 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Administrative stnjf nnd Board, ca. 1900-1910.

In response to this discontent, the Proseminaiy moved for the first
time to seek accreditation. Following an evaluation of the Proseminary's
curriculum, the University of Illinois placed the Proseminary on its list of
accredited secondary schools in 1901. In addition to accepting their high
school education, the University of lUinois allowed Elmhurst graduates a
year of college credit in Latin, Greek and German, but it required them
to make up a year of secondary-level laboratory science, which the
University considered to be deficient at the Proseminary. To make up for
the deficiency in laboratory sciences, the Proseminary installed new labo-
ratory' facilities in 1902.

Elmhurst alumni still faced problems getting into other schools and
when competing with students from other secondary schools. Alumni
found, though, that their complaints about the quality of education
offered at the Proseminary fell on deaf ears. The decision by the
University of Illinois may have hardened the Proseminary's commitment
to its classical curriculum. As Paul Crusius pointed out, the classical

3C Entering a New Century 47

curriculum could not be changed without risk of forfeiting the three
classes of college credit that graduating students earned.

In 1909 the Proseminary was accredited as a secondary school by
the North Central Association. Then in 1913 it was accredited as a
secondary school by the University of Chicago. By this time the alumni
and others who were discontented with the classical curriculum had
turned their attention to a call for the Proseminary to be transformed
into a true college.

Student Life in the Early 20th Century

In many ways student life had changed little over the last three
decades. As Ewald Agricola remembered, students were still admitted at
age 14 if they had been confirmed in the church and if they sent a letter
of application, a letter of recommendation from their local pastor and a
certificate of good health from a physician. Upon arrival at Elmhurst they
were met in Old Main by Daniel Irion.

After students were settled in their rooms, they had to pass both
written and oral examinations to determine in which class they would be
placed. Those who were not prepared for the fourth or freshman class
were assigned to the fifth or preparatory class. Many of the boys were
assigned to the fifth class because their German was weak.

While there were still no electives at the Proseminary, students
followed a somewhat different curriculum depending on whether they
planned to enter the seminary or to become a teacher. Students planning
to attend the seminary took more Latin and Greek, while those planning
to teach took pedagogy and additional music classes. Christian Stanger,
the music professor, tested all incoming students for their musical ability,
and all but a few with absolutely no musical ability participated in one of
the choirs. All students took lessons in the piano, melodeon and pipe
organ, while future teachers were required to study the violin. Thus
music along with German were the foundations of the curriculum.

Of the many classes students took, only English, U.S. history and a
combined one-year class in anatomy-physiolog\'-hygiene were taught in

48 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

English. Students spoke only German with their professors except with
their English professor and occasionally with Professor Stanger, who was
the youngest faculty member. According to Agricola, Director Irion gave
stirring patriotic speeches on U.S. holidays, always in German.

Well into the 20th century many students still spoke among them-
selves in German. Agricola said that the language used was often deter-
mined by what the students were discussing. Many used German to
discuss schoolwork but would switch to English when the conversation
turned to baseball. Upper level students were more likely to speak
German than younger ones. Overall Agricola remembered that English
predominated somewhat out of class, but that all the students became
genuinely bilingual.

Students still lived in crowded conditions. When Agricola entered
the Proseminary in 1897, 75 of the students were housed in Old Main
and 35 in Kranz Hall. Most slept in large rooms of 12-14 students. Rats
could often be found in students' rooms looking for remains of care
packages students received from home, and at least one alumnus remem-
bered that a rat bit a sleeping student.

The students ate together in the Dining Hall or Commons, and most
continued to complain about the quality of the food. Still not all agreed.
Agricola found the food "excellent." When he and other newcomers
praised the food, the upperclassmen took them to task. "It was a part of the
social code at the Proseminary to find fault with the food, and to find such
fault vociferously," he wrote. He remembered that supper on Sunday
evenings consisted of half a coffeecake one week and half a pie the next,
served only with coffee. A graduate of the Class of 1903 wrote that when-
ever he remembered his Proseminary days he thought about rhubarb —
"rhubarb pie, rhubarb sauce, rhubarb every other way."

Running water was available only in the basement of Old Main. To
take a bath, students poured cold water from the faucet into an immense
water barrel. Then they stuck in an iron pipe connected to the heating
system, which warmed the water. Next the students poured the warm
water into the bathtub. It could be wondered how often baths were taken
under these circumstances.

Students had to draw water from the well in the yard for drinking.
One of the jobs of the "famulus" or servant in each study room was to

K Entering a New Century

49

Baseball team, 1 904.

bring in water for the boys to drink as they studied. All the boys drank
from a single dipper that was placed next to the water bucket.

The barn stood where Memorial Hall, which houses the Deicke
Center for Nursing Education and the Center for Continuing Education,
stands today. "Old Abraham," a hired man who worked at the
Proseminary for more than 25 years, did all the plowing and harv^esting of
the corn fields, but students still worked in the garden, bakehouse or else-
where around campus. Students were responsible for sweeping, dusting,
scrubbing, and carrying food to and from their tables.

Eight students at a time served as bakers and prepared all the bread,
rolls and other baked goods. Before the turn of the centur}' the buildings
had been converted to steam heat, so students no longer had to chop

50 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Basketball tea?n, 1909-1910.

wood. The Proseminary also had electricity, which eliminated the
cleaning and filling of lamps.

The Proseminary provided no athletic facilities except a small room
in the basement of Old Main that was used for calisthenics. Students
played baseball in the area between Old Main, the Dining Hall and the
barn. This spot was sloping and uneven, so around 1900 the students
took it upon themselves to lay out a baseball diamond. According to
members of the Class of 1903 who returned to Elmhurst for their 50th
reunion in 1953, the decision to allow the students to make a baseball
diamond was made by "the Old Man" himself. (It was said that Professor
Stanger, who was a baseball fan, put in a good word for the students.)

The students determined that the proper place for the diamond
was in the area where the football field is now located. There were two

K Entering a New Century 51

problems with this location. It was currently used as a potato and
cabbage field, so students had to convince Inspector Irion that a good
baseball field was more important than potatoes and cabbage. After
winning this battle, they still had to lay out the field on the rough land.
One student found a friend in Elmhurst with a team of horses, a plow
and a scraper, and within a day the baseball diamond and a running
track were completed.

According to the members of the Class of 1903, the first baseball
game on the new diamond was against St. Vincent's. If the students
remembered correctly, Elmhurst's athletic endeavors began on a positive
note when Elmhurst students triumphed convincingly.

Also around 1900, students organized the Student Athletic
Association, which was totally supported by student dues. (It wasn't until
1919 that the College supported the athletic program.) Within a few
years students were competing against other schools in soccer and track
as well as in baseball. The 1901 Elmhurst baseball team had uniforms
that, along with bats and other equipment, were paid for by the Student
Athletic Association. To help buy equipment, the athletic association
presented plays that were open to the community as well as students.

While students might have preferred to play football rather than
soccer, the faculty and Supervising Board considered football too
dangerous, so soccer was played beginning in 1909. Paul Crusius recalled
that both the baseball and soccer teams had excellent records in their
early years and that the 1912 soccer team won the state championship.
Elmhurst teams played teams such as those from Lane and Crane high
schools of Chicago and McCormick Seminary as well as independent
teams such as the Bricklayers. The track team was less successful in part
because it competed with the baseball season.

A few years later the students also laid out clay tennis courts. One of
the early tennis stars was Henry Dinkmeyer, who would serve as presi-
dent of Elmhurst College from 1948 to 1957.

The students used the same ingenuity they showed in getting a base-
ball diamond for other causes. Again according to the Class of 1903, the
instruments used by the Proseminary band were in a deplorable condition,
so the students asked Director Irion for permission to raise funds by
appealing to churches and worshipers through the S\Tiod magazine, Der

52 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Tears K

Friedensbote. The director gave permission for the students to present their
proposal to the Supervising Board, which in turn granted permission for the
special solicitation. Several hundred dollars were raised, and two smdents
were sent to Chicago to purchase an entire new set of instruments. The
band proudly showed off its new instruments at that spring's Seminarfest.

The students solicited the brethren at least once more between 1897
and 1903. The Meusch Library in the basement of Old Main had fallen
upon hard times, so the students asked to make another appeal to the
faithful. The director and the Supervising Board gave permission, and
enough money was raised to put in a wooden floor, repair and paint the
walls and ceiling, install ceiling lights and purchase large library tables,
comfortable chairs and bookcases. The students supplemented the funds
they had raised by giving a performance of "The Merchant of Venice" in
downtown Elmhurst.

The other most active student organization was the Schiller Society.
It presented a variety of entertainment — poetry readings, orations or

Schiller Society, 1910.

K Entering a New Century 53

scenes from plays by Schiller, Shakespeare and other dramatists. During
meetings of the Schiller Society one student read the Schillerbote
("messenger"), a paper that contained essays by members, news articles
and jokes. Although read rather than printed and distributed, this could
be considered the first campus newspaper. Often the editor had to omit
the jokes if the director was in attendance. Luckily the director came only
when invited since he was not a member.

Twice a year the Schiller Society gave a free program on a Sunday
afternoon for the whole Proseminary family. Professor Stanger would
usually play the organ, and students played musical instruments in addi-
tion to the usual orations and dramatics. Among the stars of the enter-
tainments were Timothy Lehmann, Class of 1899, who served as presi-
dent of Elmhurst College from 1928 to 1948, and Pete Langhorst, the
future coach.

On free days the students took part in many of the activities that had
occupied earlier students. They took walks. The stone quarry and the
banks of Salt Creek were popular spots on nice days. Although the
students usually started out on their walks in pairs, they liked to return in
groups. Sometimes as many as 50 students would return together and
march in step along the wooden sidewalks, making a tremendous racket
that could be heard blocks away.

In the winter students went ice skating. In the summer they swam in
Salt Creek. In 1902 a Proseminary student drowned in the creek. Many
students indulged in a safer sport — bicycling. A number of the boys
brought their bikes with them to school. At least once during Ewald
Agricola's days a group of students hiked all the way to Chicago and rode
three abreast down Michigan Avenue.

By early in the new century many students had cameras and were
enthusiastic photographers. Each student completed the whole photo-
graphic process from snapping the pictures to developing the plates to
mounting the finished photos. They used the closets of their sleeping
rooms for darkrooms.

The students enjoyed indoor games too. They played checkers and
chess and organized a chess club. They also spent much of their free time
in talking and horseplay. The smokers congregated in the smoking room,
known as the Fumatorium, in the basement of Old Alain. Here they

54 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

smoked, talked and played chess. This was the only room in the
Proseminary that the director never entered. Nonsmokers gathered in
the washrooms and, after study hours, in the study rooms for conversa-
tion and games.

Occasionally students and groups of Elmhurst town boys got into
fights. On Halloween night the "townies" often tried to sneak onto the
Proseminary grounds to create mischief, so Proseminary students lay in
wait for them. Many battles ensued. According to Proseminary graduates,
they won each battle.

Rules and Regulations

Most of the rules estabhshed in the early years of the Proseminary
continued into the 20th century. The "Rules and Regulations" printed in
the later years show that the rule against going into Elmhurst during free
time — the most often broken of Proseminary rules — had finally been
dropped. Now the only regulation was against students leaving the city of
Elmhurst without permission.

Students were no longer forbidden to talk to ladies. In fact,
ladies were permitted to visit the Proseminary during students' free
time. The rules stated in capital letters, however, that "LADIES ARE
NOT ADMITTED to any portions of the buildings used for living
quarters, including the students' own rooms, without permission from
the Director."

Some rules would sound familiar to today's students such as the
admonition against driving nails into the walls or defacing Proseminary
property. Students were told, again in bold print, that they must not
engage in "ANY AND ALL ACTS OF HAZING, INITLVTING,
ABUSING OR MALTREATING ANY FELLOW STUDENTS."

Other rules sound decidedly quaint today. Students were cautioned
not to shout. They were told to take care of their teeth and to have all
cuts and boils attended to in the sick room. All students were forbidden
to drink alcoholic beverages. Those over age 18 were allowed to smoke
pipes but not to smoke cigarettes or to use chewing tobacco.

K Entering a New Century 55

Student hijhiks, 1911. On bed, F. Bnihn and H. Dinkmeyer; standing, P. Gimtler,
J. George, and H. Niebuhr. Both Dinkmeyer and Niebnhr later became Elmhiirst
College presidents.

Students were prohibited from visiting poolrooms, saloons or other
"questionable places." They could not dance or attend dances, cut classes
or study time to go to moving picture shows, theaters or other entertain-
ments, or swear or use "objectionable language."

Rules continued to be enforced by the director and faculty through
the system of student monitors. These students, who served on a rotating
basis, held tides such as campus senior and class senior. A student was in
charge of each study room and each sleeping room. The student monitors
varied in how strict they were about enforcing the rules. Evervone knew,
though, that if a study or sleeping room got out of hand, die director
would soon arrive. A few words from him would immediately restore order.

56 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Eimhurst College Years K

Students themselves helped enforce the rules. Occasionally a student
who broke Proseminary rules or who was judged to be guilty of anti-
social activity was brought before a court of his peers. In other ways
students helped maintain standards. Agricola remembered that once a
student convinced the other students that the use of "ponies" or transla-
tions of Latin and Greek writers into English or German was wrong, and
the practice was abandoned for a time.

To assure that study rules were being followed, the director and at
least one other professor visited each study room each evening. If a
student was absent, for example to practice the piano in Kranz Hall, he
would leave a card on his desk telling where he was.

At 10 o'clock each evening lights were out. If the students did not
quiet down, they would hear the voice of the director calling out in
German, "Now, let us have silence here." Silence would immediately fall.

57

Daniel Irion
The Fourth President

Daniel Irion was the head of the
Elmhurst Proseminary from 1887 to
1919, the longest term of any coresi-
dent in the history of the institution.
In 1901 his title was changed from
inspector to director. Irion was born in
1855 at Marthasville, Missouri where
his father was a professor at the
Evangelical Seminary. He entered the
Proseminary when it opened in
January 1872 and graduated in the
Class of 1874 before going to the Marthasville seminar)^.

Irion joined the faculty of the Proseminary in 1877 and
remained there until 1880, when he resigned to devote himself full-
time to pastoral duties. W^en he became pastor at St. Peter's Church
in Elmhurst, he returned to the Proseminary faculty part-time from
1885 to 1887. After considerable persuasion, he agreed to become
inspector in 1887.

Daniel Irion was a tall, lean and imposing man with piercing
eyes. In addition to his outstanding ability as a teacher, he was an
excellent preacher, and many students remembered his stirring words
decades after their graduation.

Following the conversion of the Proseminar)^ into a junior college
in 1919, Irion retired from the directorship. He was given the title of
president emerims and served as professor of New Testament from 1919
to 1933. He also served as the vice president of the Evangelical S\Tiod
from 1913 to 1917.

Director Irion was married to Frederike Stanger. They were the
parents of three children who lived to adulthood. One of their children,
Paula, married Paul Crusius, the longtime professor at Elmhurst.
Director Irion remained on the Elmhurst College campus until his
death in 1935.

chapter 5

K Calls for Reform Mount

Calls for changes in the Proseminaiy intensified near the end
of the first decade of the 20th century and in the early teens.
An unusually gifted group of Proseminary alumni, led by
Reinhold Niebuhr — Elmhurst's most prominent alumnus, who would go
on to become one of the foremost theologians of 20th-century
America — opened a full-scale attack on the program at the Proseminary.
No longer were they content to work for changes in the traditional clas-
sical curriculum. Now they called for the Proseminary to be replaced by
a four-year college on the American model.

While earlier alumni had called for change, they had lacked an
effective mechanism for making their concerns widely known. In 1911
the reformers developed a powerful new weapon when they helped found
the Keiyx, a literary magazine edited by students at Eden Seminary for
students at both the Seminary and the Proseminary.

According to Niebuhr, who served as assistant editor when the
magazine was founded and became editor in 1912, the Kei-yx (the Greek
word for "herald") was started to arouse "interest in Evangelical schools
and through this interest, to work for higher standards." He later wrote,
"It was the Keijx that first began the agitation for a real college at

59

60 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the
foremost Ajrierican theologians
of the 20th century.

Elmhurst. Previous to its birth there was only a very feeble demand for a
college with higher academic standards than prevailed at Elmhurst."

Other factors played into the young reformers' hands. The financial
situation at both the Proseminary and the Seminary was worsening
quickly. After 1904 the number of students at the Proseminary skyrock-
eted, from 100 to 175 just 10 years later. Since the Proseminary was
losing money on each student, an increase in attendance meant more
money lost. Within a few years the Proseminary was running a deficit of
more than $10,000 a year.

In 1909 the Synod formed fund-raising committees to increase
contributions, but the efforts failed. The sources that had been used in
the past to raise money were drying up. Evangelical churches, many of
which were now large and prosperous, could have increased their contri-
butions. Many, though, had begun to spread their contributions around,
to support Evangelical hospitals or orphans' homes, foreign and home
missions, or special funds for pastoral pensions.

The decision of the General Conference of the Synod in 1909 to
add an extra year to the Proseminary program exacerbated the school's

K Calls for Reform Mount

61

financial situation. Unlike the fifth year originally established in 1885,
this was tacked on at the end of the traditional program. Although it was
not recognized at the time, this was the first step on the road to
converting Elmhurst to a true college, since this year provided the first
postsecondary^ education. Though still not really a college, Elmhurst was
invited to become a charter member of the new Association of American
Colleges in the same year.

\Vhen the postsecondary year went into operation in 1911, it
increased the student body and required more resources. Once again
the Proseminary was overcrowded. This led to the construction of the
fourth new^ building, which was completed in 1911. Irion Hall, which
was built north of Kranz Hall, contained sleeping and study rooms for
about 100 students and a new apartment for the director and his
family. A chapel was constructed in the north wing while a library and
a gymnasium were housed in the basement. The construction of the
gymnasium allowed students to organize a basketball team to play area
opponents such as Wheaton College, Elgin Academy and even Loyola
University as w^ell as local secondary schools. In the first game in the

Student body, 1911. Middle run.
right: Th. W. Mueller.

second j rum left: II. Richard Niebidn'; sixth jruiii

62 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Eimhurst College Years K

new gym, Proseminary students beat the Eimhurst High School
team 29-8.

Why the student body increased so rapidly in this era is not
totally clear. Several religious movements were encouraging young men
to become ministers. An evangelical movement was sweeping through
all Protestant churches, and the Evangelical Synod found itself one of
the chief beneficiaries. In addition, there was an increased emphasis on
educating Christian laymen, which resulted in the formation of the first
Evangelical Leadership Training School on the Proseminary campus
in 1915.

Starting with its first yearbook in 1914, the Proseminary marketed
itself in better ways that probably brought in new students. William
Denman also attributes the increase in students to some extent to the
success of Elmhurst's athletic program. "Intercollegiate athletics . . . had
by this time become a highly successful attraction," he wrote. Athletic
victories such as Elmhurst's winning of the state soccer championship
raised the image of the Proseminary and helped in recruiting.

The Battle Rages

As more young men were graduated from the Proseminary, they
swelled the ranks of those dissatisfied with the status quo at their alma
mater. None of these alumni was more passionately committed to seeking
reform than was Reinhold Niebuhr.

Reinhold Niebuhr graduated from the Proseminary in 1910 before
going on to Eden Seminary and then to Yale University. After Yale he left
the academic world for a parish in Detroit where he served until 1928,
when he became a professor at the Union Theological Seminary in New
York. A magnetic speaker, lecturer and preacher; a prodigious scholar
with a multitude of articles and 20 books to his credit; a worker for racial
harmony; a friend and adviser to the powerful; and one of the most
important religious thinkers of this century, Niebuhr died in 1971.

Niebuhr's relationship with Eimhurst continued long after he grad-
uated from the Proseminary. His younger brother, H. Richard, served as

K Calls for Reform Mount

63

Kmniamiel
Keller, Adolf
Aleck, and future
Ehnhurst College
president Robeit
St anger at 1918
class picnic.

the sixth president at Elmhurst from 1924 to 1927 and oversaw the trans-
formation of the Proseminary into a college before he went to Eden and
then Yale.

In later years Reinhold Niebuhr remembered fondly people he had
known at the Proseminary and praised the success of the Proseminary's
efforts to fQlfill its Christian mission, but he stressed that it had not
provided the intellectual education and stimulation that he sought. "We
may have a fairly adequate professional training but we lack the founda-
tion of a general education," he wrote.

In an age of science we know litde about the higher sciences. In a day
which brings practically every religious problem into some relation to
the doctrine of evolution we left school knowing no more about this
bugaboo of theology, "evolution," than the mere word. Our knowl-
edge of psycholog)' and philosophy was snatched on "quick lunch"
counters and we had no time to make a thoro (sic) study of sociology
while everyone about us was speaking about the "social gospel." . . .
We learned the dates and the names of histor\^'s heroes but we had no
understanding of its profounder meanings and no appreciation of its
lessons. . . . There is a great store of knowledge that we ought to have
but do not have. We will have to do the best we can to acquire it by
personal study but for those who come after us we covet a better
preparation for a calling that ought to have nothing but the best.

64 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

In 1913 the Keijx increased the pressure for change in an article
that asked "Will We Ever Be Bachelors?" According to the article, "Our
Church has recognized for some time that it is becoming absolutely
essential that Elmhurst graduates receive the B.A. degree. Wonderful
strides have been made in the development of the Elmhurst course of
study so that this goal seems to be in striking distance." The Keiyx went
on to urge the upcoming General Conference

to attain this goal. The graduates of Elmhurst and Eden are under a
great disadvantage in their relations to English-speaking people and
their clergy. We cannot expect these people to be acquainted with the
character of the work of our institutions. Neither can we therefore
blame them when they think less of us because we do not possess the
universally recognized insignia of a good general and theological
education, the B.A. and B.D. degrees. . . .

The fact that Elmhurst has come within striking distance of the B.A.
degree in a four years' course reflects great credit upon the institu-
tion and its faculty. However, B.A. work requires as a rule eight,
sometimes seven years, which includes high school and college work.
It can therefore be seen that Elmhurst never can, with the best of
will, do eight years' work in four or five years.

There is but one solution of the problem, as the Keiyx believes, and
that is to demand high school diplomas from those who enter
Elmhurst. It would then be an easy matter to give our men a thor-
ough college training and confer the B.A. degree upon them in four,
possibly three years. With that accomplished it would be an easy
matter to give the B.D. degree in Eden.

Early in 1914, when H. Richard was assistant editor, the Keiyx head-
lined its annual Elmhurst issue with another call for change.

Elmhurst College has unmistakably advanced. . . . But, that . . .
Elmhurst College must and will take greater strides in the future,
not far off, is the sure conviction of the Keiyx. . . . Elmhurst
need no longer impart high-school education, any more than
grade instruction!

K Calls for Reform Mount 63

Every boy in our land can, it he will, receive a high school education
today . . . close to his home . . . under the careful, watchhil guidance
of his parents.

Why, furthermore, should we undertake to do what the government
with so much more resources is able to do more successfully, satisfac-
torily. The time is ripe that Elmhurst demand a certificate of
high school graduation for entrance and that Elmhurst give only
collegiate courses!

Later in 1914, after H. Richard Niebuhr had become editor, the
Keryx included an article from Reinhold, who wrote about what he had
found at Yale. He concluded his article with another plea for change.

I can not forego this opportunity without saying a word regarding the
position we were placed in here because of the fact that we had no
academical degree. . . . Yale is at present the only school of any
standing that will at all consider giving a man a degree if he does not
possess the A.B. That is one very good reason to coming (sic) to Yale.
But the dean has told me that Yale will be forced to apply more strin-
gent rules in the future simply to protect its academical standing, and
study here will therefore become increasingly difficult.

A man without a degree is, for the first year at least, under constant
difficulty and in continual embarrassment. It is for this reason that
I have lost no opportunity and will lose none to express the hope
that it will soon be possible for our Church to arrange a college
course that will receive full credit in the academical world. Even
the Mennonites come here with an A.B. and take their place
among the chosen w hile we are forced to look on naked of those
garments without which a man is considered a barbarian in the
academical world.

Early in 1915 articles by Reverend Paul Schroeder and Reverend
H.L. Streich in the Kejyx continued the pressure. Schroeder wrote that

Elmhurst College must be a college in fact and not only in name. . . .
The time has come when Elmhurst must be more than a preparatory
school for Eden. It must be the college for the Evangelical youth of

66 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

our land, that will give him a liberal and classical training, necessary
for every vocation of life. Let us not multiply colleges but enlarge
and build upon the institutions that we have.

While the Niebuhrs and their aUies wanted the abohtion of the
Proseminary and the raising in its place of a four-year college, a more
conservative plan was developing within the Proseminary faculty. In
1915, two months before Paul Crusius resigned from the Proseminary to
become a pastor at Downers Grove, IlHnois, he wrote a long article for
the Keiyx outlining the faculty plan.

Crusius began with a series of questions. "Does our experience of
constant financial want even for our present modest requirements justify
the hope that we are able to support a vastly more expensive college?"
What would it cost, he asked, to found a college? He quoted a college
president who said that it would cost nearly $1 million.

"In Elmhurst the Synod has a good academy, which could be made
as much better in equipment and larger in scope as the means put at the
disposal of the Board might permit," Crusius wrote. Why not build upon
what already existed by raising the curriculum to a junior college rather
than starting from scratch to create a four-year college? Such a plan
would involve less risk and less cost, he argued. It would require adapting
the curriculum to the American standard for a junior college while main-
taining it as a German preparatory school. Then a sixth year of study
could be added in the American pattern.

Crusius suggested that Elmhurst grant a high school diploma after
four years' work and a diploma that certified an additional two years of
college work after six years of study. This would make Elmhurst more
appealing to Evangelical students who did not intend to go on to the
seminary. "Hundreds of our young men, I believe, annually attend the
colleges and state universities of our country. . . . The religious atmos-
phere of Elmhurst might well make it appear a safer place than the state
university to spend the first college years."

Crusius argued that Elmhurst should maintain its character as a
German preparatory school. "Elmhurst must retain most of its present
work for another generation," he wrote. "The church needs it; our dut)^
toward German culture demands it. ... I have expressed the conviction
that the Synod cannot afford to close its academy, the Proseminar."

K Calls for Reform Mount 67

George Sorrick and Daniel Irion in the first science lahoratoij at Elmhiit'st College, 1915.

It couldn't afford to start a college either, wrote Crusius:

The present plant is none too adequate for an academy. For a college,
it would be a total misfit. . . . There are probably hundreds of strug-
gling small colleges in our country. Instead of adding another, I have
long wondered whether our Synod couldn't absorb one? . . . My
suggestion is that it might be possible for our church to secure the
control of a college in return for its patronage and support.

As part of this plan Crusius suggested remodeling and converting all
of Old Main to classrooms, tearing down Kranz Hall, building a new
dormitory on the site of Kranz Hall, and constructing a new music
building with a large auditorium. Other changes would also be needed,
but they could come later.

In early 1917 the Keiyx recounted the experience of a member of the
Elmhurst Class of 1916 who had been admitted to the Universit}^ of
Wisconsin and another who had been admitted to George Washington
University. Since neither had a degree, both had to take special examina-
tions in order to be admitted. The Keiyx reminded readers that for years it

68

An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Bible class led by Prof. Schviale, Old Chapel in Irion Hall, 1916.

has deplored the fact, that Elmhurst is not up to the standard of a
first-class college capable of conferring degrees upon its grad-
uates. . . . We can safely say that work at Elmhurst is well done;
and ... we can be proud of what Elmhurst does, especially in the
classical languages. It is doubtful whether Greek and Latin is taught
more thoroly (sic) in any college in the United States. . . .

Such a record goes to show what Elmhurst could do in the other
departments, were it given the opportunity to do so. In Elmhurst, the
Evangelical Church could have an excellent college for its sons,
regardless of the vocation chey might choose, if only the funds were
available and the necessary arrangements made for the extension of
the work. We hope the near future will fulfill the dreams of many
alumni and the Keiyx. Eor the present we can be glad that what
Elmhurst does, it does well.

Also in 1917 Reinhold Niebuhr rejoined the battle with an article
titled "The Future of Our Seminaries."

X Calls for Reform Mount 69

To begin with the work of our schools does not conform to the stan-
dards set all about us. It is a well-known fact that a minister in this
country is expected to have an eleven-year education. . . . However
frantically our schools may have been trying to crowd the equivalent
of eleven years of study into seven or even eight years, they have not
succeeded and never can. Pure mathematics is against them. Within
their limitation they have done work of which we may all be proud.
But they can not accomplish the impossible. In other words we need
a college, not a junior college but a fully accredited one.

Niebuhr wrote that a college could be paid for if churches contributed
as they ought and if students paid more for their education. "If our semi-
naries would not charge a cent tuition and simply held the students respon-
sible for their board they would be better off than they are now."

Niebuhr disagreed with Crusius' idea of adding a year to the end of
the Proseminary's course of study.

If we ever have a college, that will not mean that three or four years
will have to be added to the present terms of our schools. It will mean
that three or four years ought to be pushed off at the bottom. The
Church ought not be responsible for the high school education of its
youths. That they can get at home. In other words, it ought to
demand a high school diploma of its Elmhurst men.

By this time, the battle for change was nearly won. In April 1917 the
Board decided to recommend to the General Conference that it expand
the Elmhurst curriculum to become a four-year college. This appeared to
signal the triumph of the Niebuhr wing of the reformers. Yet while
change would finally come, the shape that Elmhurst College would take
was still not what many reformers had hoped it would be.

Student Life at the End of the Proseminary Era

WTiile alumni and facult}^ debated the reorganization of the
Proseminarv^, life at the Elmhurst Proseminar\^ slowly chans^ed. In the fall

70 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

of 1912 the first lecture series to bring in outside speakers was organized
on campus.

A year later a janitor was hired for the first time to take over main-
tenance of Proseminary buildings, which ended most of the students'
janitorial duties. In the same year the faculty granted the Class of 1914
permission to publish the first school annual. Earlier classes had been
refused permission. Though the Class of 1914 didn't manage to publish a
full-scale annual, it did put out a picture book. The first annual, called
77:7^ Elms, was not published until 1916.

Ehiihw'st Mejnories was the title of the Class of 1914's picture book.
Included was a sketch of "A Day At Elmhurst." The start of the school
day was at 6 o'clock, half an hour later than in earlier decades. According
to the author, "In the days of yore, this was the time for the clamorous
hand bell to make its rounds thru the bedrooms, rudely rousing the
sleepers from their dreams. Now there is no such inconvenience. We
have progressed; an electric gong rings the hour of rising."

Students who failed to heed the bell would find the Untersenior,
or senior's assistant, at their door, followed shortly thereafter by
the senior.

Sometimes with gentle, sometimes with forceful means, he tries to
persuade the indolent sleepers that it is time to get up; but even these
methods of coercion are futile in the case of some. The only infallible
means is the light step and the authoritative voice of the Director.
When these are heard, everyone knows and feels it is really time to
say farewell to slumberland.

In the afternoon came the big change in the students' day. When
classes were dismissed, which was no later than 4:35, the boys had free
time rather than a work period. They still had duties such as making
their beds, serving their meals, mowing lawns on Saturdays and clearing
snow. They also worked in the library or bakeshop, but the main work of
caring for the buildings was done by the new janitor, and the farm work
was done by "old Fritz," who had worked at the Proseminary for decades.

When classes ended for the afternoon, "With a hip, hip, hurrah! we
hurry out upon the baseball diamond, the football field, the tennis court,
the green country or down into the gymnasium," continued Elmhurst

K Calls for Reform Mount

71

Elmhurst Proseminary band, 1916.

Memories. "The life of the college runs smoother under the new order
[and new janitor] than ever before. Those who cannot refrain from being
usefully occupied, now console themselves by stalking some harmless
Greek or Latin verb thru dozens of lexicons, and after worrying it to
distraction, pounce upon it in high glee."

After supper came another 30 minutes of freedom "during which
many are seen taking a stroll to town, often stopping at the corner
grocery to satisfy the craving for sweets." Then came study time, chapel
and lights out.

Another change the students of 1914 celebrated was in the qualit\^ of
the food. With a new couple in charge of the dining hall, "a casual
observer would have great difficulty in finding any difference betw een
those who were fed upon the food that mother makes, and those who are
fed upon the everyday college fare."

In 1911 chemistry was added to the curriculum, but it was dropped
the next year because there was no adequate laboratory^ In the same year
several faculty, including Paul Crusius, began to conduct Saturday chapel

72 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Football (soccer) tea?ii, 1916-17.

services in English so students would be familiar with the English Bible
and hymnal that was being used in some Evangelical churches.

In 1912 the small library that had been collected by the Meusch
Society since 1877 was given over to the control of the faculty. Paul
Crusius was placed in charge. He was assisted by Mrs. Breitenbach, a
librarian whose husband was professor of Latin and English, and by
student helpers. By this time the holdings numbered approximately 1,200
volumes. For the first time an annual appropriation was set aside for the
purchase of new books. By 1915 the hbrary holdings had grown to 3,270.

The Schiller Society and the Athletic Association remained the
bulwarks of students' after-school hours. In 1912 they were joined by the
YMCA, which evolved out of the Meusch Society that was no longer in
charge of the library. Paul Crusius was one of the early supporters of the
YMCA. Within a few years the officers of the YMCA were serving as a
student council. Starting in 1919 student council officers were elected by
direct vote of the entire student body.

K Calls for Reform Mount 73

Throughout the teens new student groups were founded. Some
lasted for a time while others passed quickly out of existence. The Philo-
Biblicum was organized to train Sunday school teachers. The
Wanderlust Club promoted walking, and members walked as far as
downtown Chicago. It took them almost four hours, after which they
rode back to Elmhurst on the train. The Reading Circle and Alpha
Lambda Kappa, an American history club, were other student groups
that formed during this period.

A new course in American history and civil government was intro-
duced in 1914 and taught in Enghsh by Paul Crusius. At the end of the
next school year students were shocked when Crusius resigned. Crusius,
whom the students privately called Blitz, was without question one of the
most popular as well as the most active faulty members. He was a central
part of nearly all aspects of Proseminary life.

Enrollment reached 170 in 1914. Classes were no longer known as
first through fifth years. Now they were called freshmen, sophomores,
middlers, juniors and seniors.

Students took one period of physical education a week, which was
taught by various faculty members. Even Director Irion taught two
classes of gymnastics a week. The Keijx called for half an hour of P.E.
each day, but the change was not made.

Athletics flourished at the Proseminary. Starting in 1912 a basketball
team joined the soccer team that held its season in the fall, the baseball
team that played in the spring, and the track team that held meets with
area schools.

The Proseminary contributed nothing to the athletic program
except a place for the teams to play and, starting in 1912, tuo faculty
representatives for the athletic advisory board. Paul Crusius was one of
the first faculty advisers. All Proseminary teams were funded by the
student body through dues to the Athletic Association of $1 to $2. Even if
all students were members, this did not allow much money to finance
four athletic teams.

By late in the teens some of the athletic teams were falling on hard
times. The soccer team could no longer find teams to play. Many of its
former opponents were now in leagues and playing no one outside their
league or had abandoned soccer for football. In the fall of 1919

74 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhurst played its last soccer game. Starting in 1920 it would compete
in football.

The War Years

The opening of World War I in Europe caused strains at the
Proseminary. The Elmhurst school had always celebrated its German
heritage, and many students, faculty and graduates had family members
still in Germany, Thus there was much support for the German side,
especially in the early years of the war.

"The greater part of us can happily and with a good, clear
conscience place our sympathies on the side of Germany," stated a 1914
issue of the Keryx,

not only because we trace our descent from Germany, or because our
education is under direct German influence, but because we have the
conviction that under all the diplomatic sugar-coated statements,
there is some truth and justice to Germany's claims. . . . Although our
hearts yearn for Germany victories, our prayer has been and will be
that peace may come.

Elmhurst alumni were active in a local neutrality club at Eden.
Furthermore, three of Eden's professors served on the Executive
Committee of the local organization of the American Neutrality League.
According to the Keryx, in 1915 a number of Eden students sent indi-
vidual petitions to President Wilson and the Foreign Relations
Committee supporting bills to stop the sale and exportation of arms
to any belligerent nation.

After America's entrance into the war, most student and faculty
opinion appears to have svmng behind the American troops and their
allies. In 1918 Reinhold Niebuhr, who had been appointed executive
secretary of the War Welfare Commission of the Evangelical Synod, sent
a message to the Keryx that discussed the Great War and American
participation. While acknowledging that most ministers were pacifists, he
asked whether all pacifism was sincere. "There seem to be quite a

X Calls for Reform Mount 75

number ot men who have developed religious scruples against war very
recently," he wrote. "They never protested against the military ambitions
of Germany or any other nation."

Niebuhr went on to express his opinion of America's involvement in
the war.

No nation was more definitely committed to the peace ideal than
ours. . . . But when the world, particularly our present enemies,
misinterpreted this idealism and sneeringly construed it as a rich and
flabby complacency that was afraid to risk the prosperity of peace in
the fortunes of war, we began to realize that our very love of peace
might cause us to lose it. ... As between our enemies and our allies
there seems to be rather more moral purpose to end war for all time
with our allies.

The Ke?yx reported that when news of the end of the war reached
Elmhurst the

occasion was observed most patriotically. . . . the entire College was
precipitated into a state of general uproar. Amid the blare of the
bugle the Stars and Stripes majestically ascended the newly erected
flagpole. The campus and the building were lavishly decorated with
bunting and flags. The band added to the turmoil by pla\ang a
number of stirring selections, after which it headed the procession,
consisting of the faculty members and the student body, in their
triumphant march thru town, in celebration of this, the most epochal
event in the history of mankind.

In spite of the ultimate support for Allied war efforts, memories of
the early sympathy for Germany lingered long in Elmhurst and strained
relations between some in the community and the Proseminary. It was
not only Elmhurst faculty and students who felt this strain. So, too, did
German residents of Elmhurst. It is said that it was during World War I
that the German language began to disappear from common usage in
Elmhurst's streets.

Given the anti-German feelings that developed during the war, it is
not surprising that starting in 1917 the Proseminary printed its Catalog in
English. Still, immediately after the war, German was reestablished as the

76 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years H

language for chapel services and classroom use in all but a few classes. In
1919 the Board and faculty declared that German should be used in
classes as much as possible. Yet in the same year the Catalog said that an
elementary knowledge of German was desirable though not necessary.

While German was the primary language of instruction for several
more years, the pro-German forces were fighting a losing battle. Faculty
minutes were kept in English after 1922, as were the Board records after
1924. Still, not everyone was ready to make the change to English. In
1927 Daniel Irion wrote an article for The Ehihurst College Bulletin. It
was in German. In spite of Irion's continuing devotion to the traditional
German system and language, America's entrance into the war, along
with the efforts of reformers such as Reinhold Niebuhr, sounded the
death knell of the Proseminary program based on a German classical
education and the German language.

chapter ()

K A School for Every
Young Man and
His Chum

ohn Kaney, a graduate of the Proseminary Class of 1917,
remembered his days at Elmhurst thus:

Our instructors were all sincere and dedicated people. Most had been
educated and trained in Germany. . . . They were good men but there
was litde easy communication between students and faculty members.
The instructors apparently maintained the old German attitude of
keeping aloof from the students. There was absolutely no give and
take discussion, there was nothing approaching mutual friendship and
understanding between students and faculty members. . . .

After four years of Latin in which I made good grades I should have
been able to read Latin readily and know what was said. I couldn't.
Something was wrong. History was taught in German and we got an
immense number of facts down our mental gullets which we tried to
retain until the next exam. . . .

It seems the curriculum was designed mostly to prepare young men,
after they had completed Elmhurst and Eden, for the role of minister
in German communities where it was necessar\' to preach in the

77

78 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

German language. But the speaking of German was fast disappearing
except in a few isolated locations. . . . The world was changing fast
and change at Elmhurst was overdue.

When the Seminary Board recommended in April 1917 that the
Proseminary be converted into a four-year college, it called for the addi-
tion of a modern language and the creation of professorships in soci-
ology, economics, science, mathematics and education. Yet when the
General Conference met in the summer of 1917, it took a more conserv-
ative course and adopted the plan proposed by Paul Crusius and other
faculty. Instead of establishing a four-year college, the Conference
decided to continue providing secondary education while expanding
offerings to include a junior college. This was viewed as an interim plan
since the General Conference was expected in 1921 to consider
expanding to a four-year college.

To deal with the heavy financial problems already existing at the
Proseminary and to allow for additional staff and courses needed for the
junior college, the General Conference authorized annual appropriations
for its two schools. The Proseminary received $26,095.65 for the
1918-19 school year. By the middle of 1918 the Proseminary's debt was
reduced to $1 1,000, and it was paid off within the next several years.

The 130-member class that arrived at Elmhurst in the fall of 1918 —
the last class to enter the Proseminary — found an educational institution
in upheaval. The faculty of eight educational generalists, most trained in
the German tradition, were suddenly faced with having to adapt to the
American system, which included educational specialization. New faculty
would have to be added along with new courses and equipment. Even
more important, a new educational atmosphere would have to be created.

In addition to developing American-style teaching practices,
changes in discipline and student life would be necessary. Most of the
rules of student behavior established in 1871 were still officially in effect.
Many, though, were regularly ignored. For example, students were
forbidden to go to vaudeville shows, which, according to Kaney, the "Old
Man" thought were not appropriate for future ministers. Yet the high-
light of many students' week was to get permission to go to Chicago to
shop or meet friends. Then they would visit the McVicker's Theatre
where, if they timed it right, they could watch two vaudeville shows.

K A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 79

Paul Crusius quoted Theophil Mueller, a 1912 graduate of the
Proseminary who for 41 years served as a professor of sociology and dean
of the College, as saying that this period was "like tearing down the old
Union Station in Chicago and building the great new one on the same
site without interrupting the arrival and departure of a single train. There
had to be the most careful planning, and everybody had to put up with a
lot of temporary inconvenience." Change, and struggle over the form that
change would take, marked the entire decade from 1918 to 1928.

The Elmhurst Academy and lunior College

Starting in fall 1919 the name of the Proseminary was officially
changed to the Elmhurst Academy and Junior College. Still Paul Crusius
wrote in the Ke7jx that "There is no reason why the name Proseminar
may not be continued in familiar German usage, since that is what the
institution remains."

In summer 1919, just before the opening of the Academy and Junior
College, Daniel Irion retired as director. He had headed the Proseminary
for 32 years and would continue as professor of Hebrew, Greek and the
New Testament until 1928. At his retirement he had taught at Elmhurst
for all but seven of the previous 5 1 years. Professor Irion remained close
to the College until his death in 1935. Only Christian Stanger, who was
professor of music and romance languages fi-om 1896 to 1946, served
longer on the Elmhurst faculty.

In November 1919 Daniel Irion was succeeded as head of the
Elmhurst Academy and Junior College by the Reverend Herman J.
Schick (also spelled Schick) of Evansville, Indiana. Schick, who graduated
from the Proseminary in 1897, had been a successful pastor in a number
of Evangelical churches. He was also appointed dean of the Junior
College. In a move toward Americanization, Schick was given the title of
college president.

Schick was the first president to reach out to the Elmhurst commu-
nity and to visit Evangelical churches all across the country^ seeking
support for the school. Director Irion had been active in St. Peter's

80 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Church, but he had continued the Proseminary's traditional isolation
from the Elmhurst community. Under Schick's administration the
Elmhurst community was invited onto campus for lectures and concerts.
Elmhurst ministers from non-Evangelical churches were asked to lecture.
Starting in 1923 young ladies were welcomed at College events.

Mrs. Schick also reached out to the Elmhurst community. In 1920
she organized the Ladies' (later Women's) Auxiliary, which mended
students' clothing, secured supplies, decorated the dormitories and
Dining Hall to make them look more homelike, raised frinds, and made
life more pleasant for the students.

Paul Crusius was selected as principal of the Academy. He had
married Paula Irion — the director's daughter — in 1917 while he was a
pastor at Downers Grove. When Crusius was rehired to teach history
and hterature at the Proseminary in early 1919, he was paid $1,400 a year
plus $100 for heat and lights. According to a letter to Crusius, the base
salary for faculty in 1919 was $1,300 a year with a bonus of $100 for
every four years of service on the faculty up to a maximum of $1,700.
Married faculty lived on campus in College housing, while unmarried
faculty generally boarded in town.

The first four years of study at Elmhurst were almost the same as at
the Proseminary. Requirements for admission to the Academy remained
eight years of elementary school unless the student was over age 16, the
ability to pass an exam. Evangelical church membership, an autobio-
graphical sketch and the recommendation of an Evangelical minister.
The course of study was very similar as well, although the number of
class periods each week was cut from 32 to 29 so that students would
have more preparation time.

The Elmhurst Academy and Junior College Yea?- Book for 1919-20
explained that the change to a junior college was made first and foremost
to give future ministers an additional year of preparation before they
went to Eden. Another reason was that young men who decided late in
their high school career to become ministers could prepare for Eden.
Third among the reasons was that Elmhurst could teach subjects such as
psychology, sociology, economics and Hebrew that had been taught at
Eden previously, allowing Eden to offer more theological courses. Last
was that a junior college could provide two years of college to
Evangelical men who didn't want to become ministers.

K A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 81

D?: Daniel Irio?i (right) and his mccessor as president. Dr. Hennan J.
Schick, marking the transisition fiwn the old P7vse?ftina?y to the ??todem
Academy and Junior College in 1919.

82 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

According to the Year Book, the purpose of the Academy was, as it
always had been, to prepare students to become Evangelical ministers.
"The academy is also the best possible school for boys who wish to
become teachers, doctors, and lawyers," the Year Book added.

Instruction, except in English, American history, science and mathe-
matics, was still in German. Of the 115 hours needed to graduate from
the Academy, the largest requirement was in German — 19 hours —
followed by English and Latin with 16 hours, math with 13, music with
12, history with 1 1 and religion with 8. After four years of study at the
Academy, students received a high school diploma. Starting in 1920,
Academy students were all housed in Irion Hall, while Junior College
students were housed in Kranz Hall and Old Main.

The major changes in curriculum came in the Junior College. "This
is not a mere extension of the academy, but a two year course worked out
independently," wrote Crusius. Admission to the Junior College required
graduation from a four-year high school or academy, three years of Latin,
at least two years of a modern language (preferably German), and
membership in an Evangelical church.

Although the admission requirements did not insist that students
know German, students who had never studied German would find study
at the Junior College difficult since some of the textbooks and teaching in
religion and music courses were in German. An elementary course in
German was established for students who were not fluent in German.

As the Keryx reported, the "campus language is English and the
German which we receive in classes is not sufficient to enable us to speak
the German language fluently." Some students were concerned about
their inability to use German, so in 1920 they organized the Geselligkeits
Verein Hans Sachs or German Society.

Starting in 1921 Junior College students were required to have
taken a year-long course in physics, geometry and algebra, two courses in
modern language, history and Latin, and three in English before admis-
sion. Using the popular educational concept of the day, these were called
Carnegie units.

When the Junior College opened, two majors were offered — a theo-
logical preparation and a teacher preparation major. (The teacher prepa-
ration major was soon eliminated.) Students who wished to go on to

K A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 83

another college in an area other than theology or teaching could take a
general course. The 1919-20 Catalog didn't spell out this course but
rather stated that "each student will be advised individually as to the best
choice of subjects."

For many years, the idea of an elective curriculum had been
immensely popular with educational reformers, including Harvard
President Charles William Eliot. Yet it wasn't until the opening of the
Junior College in 1919 that electives were added to the Elmhurst
curriculum. While the theological course of study was totally prescribed,
students who wished to take an extra course or who were excused from a
required course could choose a course in Latin, history or mathematics.
Students preparing to teach were required to take 50 hours of set
courses and 10 hours of electives from English, Greek, history, sociology
or Bible study.

A.W Aron, the first Elmhurst professor to hold a Ph.D., was
added to the faculty in 1919 in social sciences, raising the number of
faculty members to 10. For the first time faculty members were orga-
nized into departments of Classical Languages, Biblical Science,
English, German, History and Social Science, Mathematics and
Science, and Music. Still the tradition of generalists hung on well
into the 1930s and faculty members frequently taught classes outside
their departments.

The Junior College "must conform to the standard of American
college work in quantity [approximately 15 hours a week]," wrote Crusius
in 1919. Classes were to include lectures as well as recitations, which had
been the traditional fare at the Proseminary and which remained the
heart of Academy instruction.

While the atmosphere would have to be different at the Junior
College, it wasn't expected to be exactly like that at other American
junior colleges. "Junior college students will be given, so far as possible, a
distinct college life of their own," continued Crusius, but it would be
"similar, one may venture to guess, to that at Eden." Thus the model for
student life was that of a seminary rather than a secular junior college.

The new Junior College adopted several aspects of American college
life. In 1919 the faculty and Board allowed students to organize three
Greek-letter fraternities. Similar ft-aternities had been operating at Eden

84 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years 5S

for several years. After three years the College closed the fraternities
because of complaints from faculty and students that their exclusive
nature was disrupting student life. For a number of years afterward
Elmhurst refused to allow any student groups that smacked of either
fraternities or of exclusiveness. The school even forbade students to orga-
nize a letterman's group and a drama honorary that had a Greek name.

Also the College adopted the American practices of initiation and
hazing of freshmen, which had been forbidden at the Proseminary. The
Ehi Bark reported various initiation activities apparently conducted by
the YMCA, which was responsible for orienting new students. In 1922,
for example, students were forced to dress in their pajamas and parade to
the North Western station. One had to push a baby carriage with another
student inside. After returning to the campus the students were paddled.
The upperclassmen on the Elm Bark called these activities "fun."

Tuition for both the Academy and the Junior College was free, but a
fee of $200 was established for room, board and laundry; use of the
library, musical instruments and laboratories; and incidentals.
Scholarships covering these fees were available, and ministers' sons were
given a 50 percent discount. In 1921 the College set a tuition rate of
$100 for nonresident students. For students needing money, the YMCA
found jobs on campus such as mowing lawns and caring for furnaces.

The $200 fee was a modest increase of $50 per student from what
had been established in 1913. Without subsidies from the Synod, this
amount would not have covered the cost of education. According to
William Denman, the Evangelical Synod provided the following support:

Academy

Junior College

1919-20

$40,866

$17,714

1920-21

$45,679

$20,857

1921-22

$51,580

$26,951

1922-23

$40,621

$21,352

1923-24

$48,973

$25,044

This marked a major increase, since contributions in the last years
of the Proseminary were $21,000 in 1916-17, $44,500 in 1917-18 and
$26,000 in 1918-19. Still it wasn't enough.

9C A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 85

Crusius recognized that much more money would be needed before
Elmhurst was properly equipped. He had plans for new buildings and
programs, but he also realized that there was no money. In his 1919 Keryx
article, he outlined needs as follows:

A new music hall is little short of a necessity. This should contain also
the auditorium and stage for which the gymnasium now does duty.
Some day, an Alumni G\Tnnasium with a swimming pool may take its
place among the buildings. A separate building for science, not neces-
sarily a large one, would be desirable. . . . The library cannot long
remain in its present quarters. . . .

The need is also felt for an athletic director. . . . All we need is money.

Crusius saw a broader purpose for Elmhurst than just being a feeder
school for Eden. The Junior College, he wrote,

has thrown the doors wide open to high school graduates in partic-
ular. We want them, because we know what we can do for them. We
want them, whether they expect to go to Eden or not. Even next year,
we shall be able to offer them a classical course. In another year or so,
when the faculty has been increased, we shall be in position to offer
any young man who expects to enter the profession of teaching, law,
etc., an adequate training before going to a professional school. The
junior college is for every young man and his chum.

As Crusius pointed out, Elmhurst College was for men — men only.
In 1919 the New York district of the Synod called for the admission of
women to the Junior College, but official consideration of coeducation
was not given at this time. At first glance the decision to exclude women
may not appear surprising, but the establishment of an all-male school at
this late date was unusual. When the Evangelical Synod established a new
academy in Texas in 1922, it was coed.

Coeducation had been intoduced in the United States in 1837 at
Oberlin College in Ohio. Following the Civil W^ar the move to coeduca-
tion picked up steam. By 1900 more than 70 percent of all American
colleges were coed, with the vast majority of single-sex colleges being in
the east.

86 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

By the 20th century coeducation was nearly the rule in midwestern
colleges. German Reform schools such as Catawba, which like Elmhurst
began as an all-male secondary school, admitted women when it became
a college. Other schools such as Heidelberg and Ursinus were either coed
from the beginning or became so long before Elmhurst.

Legend has it that Elmhurst bucked the trend because of the deter-
mination of one man to exclude women. It may not be a coincidence that
Daniel Irion retired from the faculty in 1928, and one year later the
Synod decided to admit women.

Elmhurst in the 1 920s

When the Academy and Junior College were established, Elmhurst
was a fast-growing city of more than 4,500 citizens, including Carl
Sandburg, who lived with his family in a house on South York Street.
Since 1910 Elmhurst had been incorporated as a city. In 1919 the
successful candidate for mayor had run on a platform of getting Elmhurst
out of the mud by paving its streets, and the next year York Road was the
first street to be paved. In 1920 the Elmhurst Park District was organized
and, shortly afterward, it was given half of the estate of the T.E. Wilder
family (originally the home of Seth Wadhams across from Elmhurst
College) with the proviso that a library be constructed on it. The Wilder
Park conservatory was built in 1923, and the greenhouse and flower
gardens opened a few years later.

The first public library had opened in Elmhurst in 1916 on the site
of what became Elmhurst National Bank. George Sorrick, who was on
the Proseminary faculty, was an early member of its governing board.
The first librarian, Mrs. H.L. Breitenbach, was the wife of another
Elmhurst faculty member. She and Paul Crusius had established the first
College library in Irion Hall. While serving as city librarian from 1916 to
1926, she was in charge of the move to the new facility in Wilder Park.

In 1920 Hawthorne School, which had burned in 1917, was rebuilt
and, along with old Field School on North York Road and Lincoln
School, provided public elementary education. In the same year York

X A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 87

Community High School was completed on the old Lathrop farm on the
western reaches of town. This school, which served Elmhurst, Villa Park
and part of Lombard, contained a swimming pool, and the Elmhurst
Academy and Junior College arranged for its students to swim there. Later
in the twenties Roosevelt and Washington schools were constructed, along
with a school at St. Mary's, now Immaculate Conception Church.

Early in the decade a new church was finished at St. Peter's, across
the park from Elmhurst College. A former Elmhurst faculty member,
Karl Chworowsky, is credited with Americanizing St. Peter's.

In 1918 the Elmhurst Booster's Club was founded to promote civic,
commercial and cultural activities. Seven years later it changed its name
to the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce. By that date, the number of
businesses in the city had grown remarkably.

The first theater had been completed in the previous decade, but in
1924 the York Theatre was built. Many Elmhurst students watched silent
movies there.

Elmhurst Community Hospital was built in 1925-26. Previously the
nearest hospitals were in Oak Park and Aurora.

Much of the area between downtown Elmhurst and South York
Road as well as land east to Poplar and west to Hagans was being built
up. To the west of Elmhurst College, though, was prairie except for the
golf club and the new high school.

During this period, many old buildings disappeared. Byrd's Nest, the
Bryans' home, was torn down late in the decade, as were a number of
other mansions. Their places were taken by more modest homes.

By 1930 Elmhurst had grown to a city of more than 14,000. The
rapid expansion came to a sudden halt, however, as the nation plunged
into the Depression.

Academy and Junior College in Operation

John Kaney and Robert Stanger both remembered that students
staged a brief and unsuccessful strike in protest against a Proseminary
teacher in about 1917, but neither remembered the reason. Except for

88 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

this occasion Proseminary students seem to have contented themselves
with quietly violating rules rather than trying to change them. This
changed shortly after the founding of the Junior College. According to
Robert Stanger, "Then you began to have conflict between the old stan-
dards and the new ideas of education, and that adjustment was sometimes
pretty hard."

In 1919, the curfew for Junior College students was set at 1 1:00
p.m. (Bedtime for Academy students remained 10:00 p.m.) When in 1920
President Schick and the Board moved the curfew back to 10:30, students
petitioned the Board that the hour remain at 1 1:00. When the Board
rejected the petition in October 1920, the students called a mass meeting.
Several Board members and President Schick attended, and Schick
reported that students showed "unfortunate decorum" to the chairman of
the Board. Nine students who led the protest were asked to swear to
abide by all established rules. They refused and called for a student strike.
All but seven students on campus participated.

After another student meeting and negotiations with faculty and
members of the Board, the students decided to end their protest. They
sent regrets for calling the strike along with promises to abide by all
rules. They believed that they had received assurance that no punish-
ment would be meted out. Thus when the faculty voted to place all
strikers on one-month limited probation, the student body threatened
to go home en masse. Two students went to St. Louis to plead with the
president of Eden to admit 39 students in mid-semester. The threat was
ended when President Schick announced that, in honor of the birth of
his baby daughter, he was canceling the probation and setting the
curfew at 1 1:00 until the Board voted on the matter. The crisis
continued to simmer, though, because the two students who went to
Eden were expelled late in the year. Fallout from the incident caused a
major rift between Schick and leaders of the Synod and Eden.

Other signs of discontent and strain were apparent. The YMCA
founded the first school newspaper, called the Elm Bark, in 1920, and
evidence of student unrest can be found throughout its early editions.

Many students opposed the continuing use of German, especially in
church services. For some years the Proseminary had been alternating
German and English in evening chapel services. Early in 1921 the students

K A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 89

convinced President Schick to experiment with a plan that provided an
extra EngHsh service on the nights when German chapel was scheduled.

Still not satisfied, early the next year the student hody petitioned the
Seminar}^ Board to conduct all chapel services in English. To bolster their
case, the Ehfi Bark surveyed students and found that 4 percent reported
that they understood no German; 1 5 percent understood practically no
German; 40 percent understood some German; and only 41 percent
understood nearly all German. In addition, 75 percent of students
supported having all chapel services in English.

In February 1922, the Seminary Board rejected the students' peti-
tion. It approved the use of English on alternate nights but restricted
English services on the nights when regular services were in German to
first or second year students who were not yet comfortable with German.
All others must attend the German services.

Discontent over other issues also built. Housing was overcrowded
and spartan. According to the Ehi Bark, late in 1921 there was only one
shower on campus. It wasn't until 1924 that Irion Hall was remodeled
and a shower was added to each floor.

On June 5, 1921, Elmhurst put its controversies aside and cele-
brated its Golden Jubilee. A pageant portrayed the College's history,
and all alumni were invited for a reunion. President Schick spoke to the
alumni in English and Professor Irion in German. As part of its celebra-
tion the College launched the most ambitious building campaign of its
50-year history.

By 1921, 8,000 books were crammed into the small Hbrary in Irion
Hall. The books were still cared for by Paul Crusius and student helpers,
since the College had no hbrarian. That year Reinhold Niebuhr led a
drive to raise money to build a librar}'. William Volker, a Kansas City
business leader, contributed $10,000 as a challenge grant, and the Synod's
young people's groups donated another $40,000. The librar\^, which cost
$65,000, was finished in 1922 and dedicated to Evangelical church
members killed in the recent war.

Memorial Library, a single story building above a high basement
that today houses the Deicke Center for Nursing Education and the
Center for Continuing Education, was the first building constructed to
the west of the original quadrangle. To clear the spot, the barn and most

90 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SC

Elmhiiist College orchestra, conducted by Dr. Christian Sanger, in the early 1920s.

of the sheds had to be torn down, and the fields and gardens removed.
Thus ended the days of a working farm on campus.

By 1922 another dormitory was badly needed, so funds were raised
and construction on South Hall (now known as Schick Hall) was begun.
The new dormitory, which cost $145,000, contained 50 rooms for 100
students plus apartments for faculty and a new president's office.

At the same time Old Main was totally remodeled at the cost of
$55,000 following a major fire in 1920, and more adequate science labo-
ratories and equipment were finally provided. Since 1920 Old Main had
been the home of the first college store, which sold toiletries, clothing
and a complete line of candy.

The new buildings brought improved living conditions and better
study space, but they didn't end student discontent. A controversy devel-
oped over the need for stronger student government. For several years

X A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 91

YMCA officers had served as a student council, but neither students nor
faculty had found this system to be satisfactory. Next the entire student
body elected the student council. In 1920 a group of Junior College
students called the Brotherhood was formed to serve as the student
governing body. A group with the same name was the student governing
body at Eden, but this system did not work at Elmhurst. Next the admin-
istration instituted monthly mass meetings of the student body, but these
meetings were too unwieldy to be effective in bringing forth student
concerns or exercising leadership.

The Keryx noted discontent at Elmhurst in April 1922 as follows:

From time to time one also hears various complaints from the
students at Elmhurst about conditions here, conditions which do not
measure up to the expectations and desires of those who complain. A
spirit of criticism is somehow instilled into the makeup of our youths
early in their Freshman year and this spirit remains with them
thruout (sic) their Elmhurst career. . . . Constructive criticism is
always good and wholesome. But the spirit of much of the aforesaid
criticism is not constructive. ... It partakes too much of the nature of
mere knocking, and as such only creates unnecessar\^ dissatisfaction. . . .

We can improve the relations of the students among themselves, to
the school and to the faculty. ... It is wrong to follow the principle of
conservatism, — viz., that things are sacred because they are old, or,
conversely, that things are dangerous because they are new. . . .

The last Ehn Bark of 1924 also commented on the continuing bad
mood on campus as follows:

It is true that for many of us the last school year has not been very
pleasant. The general restlessness and seeming peplessness and lack of
school and group spirit has indeed been very disappointing. Even the
most optimistic finally had to admit defeat insofar as they could do
nothing to better the spirit of discontent. But let us consider that
Elmhurst is undergoing a great change. The old Proseminar)' tradi-
tions and customs are quickly being done away with and newer ideas
introduced. It is always hard to get used to new things, so also the new
things at Elmhurst. A new school year begins in September and many

92 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

who are returning are hoping for some new ideas and new things that
will make Elmhurst bigger and better in the service of the Lord.

More Changes Ahead

In the fall of 1919, 120 students entered Elmhurst, 83 in the
Academy and 37 in the first class at the Junior College. This was the
smallest number of students since 1906. Enrollment at Elmhurst went up
sharply for the next years, and the number of students studying at the
Junior College more than doubled to 81 in 1923.

Student recruitment was becoming more sophisticated. The Keryx
in 1920 explained why students should go to Elmhurst as follows. "The
smallness of the school, and this contact and fellowship lead to personal
relations which cannot exist in the big 'U' or in the big colleges. . . . Also
all our school is a Christian school."

The Keryx also pointed to the successful athletic programs as
another drawing point for Elmhurst.

Then in 1924 the number of students seeking a secondary education
plunged. By this time secondary schools were available nearly everywhere,
so there was less incentive to send 14-year-old boys away from home to
study. According to Denman, enrollment figures were as follows:

Academy

Junior College

Total

1919-20

83

37

120

1920-21

87

47

134

1921-22

114

48

162

1922-23

115

58

173

1923-24

120

81

201

1924-25

94

83

177

By 1923 new classes were being offered to Junior College students
in sociology, speech, French, physical education and biology. In addition
a plan was worked out with Washington University in St. Louis for grad-
uates of the Junior College attending Eden to complete their B. A.
degree along with their B.D.

K A School for Every Young Man and His Chum 93

4i

I I1L-' ^^_ _^ ^.ademyand3un.orCo>.eg..

Published by the

VOLUME 1.

Y. M. C. A.

ofElinhurst Academy:

NUMBER 1- v;4

Freshman Reception

1920
ne Young Men's Christian

Association

Of Elmhurst College

6/

Supper ..■ .'.0. SchW '~ — __^

^^™'"" 7 Eimhnvst r^ ^

CelloSolo d Bullet- ^^ /i^XA^%

,j , Prof. C. Abbeti -^..n... ■"■ur. \ --_, w."/

Address ..^■•■'^ /

Trombone So o^.--^ ■
Humorous Selection

Piano Solo pJ Titp , .^^

Closing Address ^1 Tp^,,,^ ^ A .HEMorJT^ ^'8«Aft v

.:';i;"^ "'-™,;^" ■" "^i:; '^':".i:'r ■"^^;::r'

/ — -— -— __ ■"'""■ ■'*.• fXi::.""-

I

Student publications
f}-oin the 1920s.

"UC

■"■"^M .C"^' ""•'»«..' ...rf";,''-"-'' ■*'".....',"■' "■'-•''■■' - "

'-•'"■ "■ I'm. jy- "'"•''. «;,i, ;

"" • '■■•ice „r " '■""<;£ „r r„ ""^ "•■■ -

94 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

In 1923 the faculty expanded from 10 to 13 members. Added were
two professors with doctorates, Homer Helmick and Wesley Speckman,
who headed the Chemistry and Biology Departments respectively. Also
relatively new to the faculty was Th. Mueller, who headed the
Department of Social Sciences starting in 1921.

As the student body, faculty and campus buildings expanded, so too
did the need for new administrative services. When the new library was
finished, the first librarian was hired. For the first time an office secre-
tary, Miss Elfrieda Lang, was employed to work for the president. A
campus superintendent and a chief engineer were also hired. An
Elmhurst doctor was appointed campus physician on a part-time basis
and a matron was engaged to take over the duties of caring for sick
students — a task previously done by the seniors.

The Reverend Robert Leonhardt served as the first registrar as well
as the first physical education director and the first football coach. He
organized the first intramural program in 1920. Robert Hale came to
Elmhurst in 1922 as coach and instructor of history at the Academy. In
the same year the Seminary Board provided money to improve the
athletic facilities including the track, football field and tennis courts.

In 1923 the College held its first homecoming and two alumni
wrote Elmhurst's "Alma Mater." In the same year Elmhurst Junior
College became a charter member of the Northern Illinois Junior
College Athletic Conference, which included schools such as North Park,
Crane and St. Procopius.

More changes lay ahead — changes that would be even more funda-
mental than those that had occurred between 1918 and 1923. As Paul
Crusius later wrote, "The junior college was a stage on the way to a full
four year college." The ferment of the Junior College years was only a
preview of the revolution ahead.

95

Herman J. Schick
The Fifth President

Herman J. Schick (Schick),
president of Elmhurst from 1919 to
1924, was the first person to hold
that title. He was born in Milltown,
New Jersey in 1878, the child of
German immigrants.

Schick graduated from the
Proseminary in 1897 before going to
Eden Theological Seminary and
McCormick Theological Seminary.
After serving as a pastor in Illinois and
Indiana, he returned to Elmhurst as president in 1919. While
heading the College, Schick earned a master's degree at the
University of Chicago.

In addition to serving as president, Schick was dean of the Junior
College and professor of bibHcal science and religion. During his presi-
dency, the name "Proseminary" was replaced with the "Elmhurst
Academy and Junior College," and changes in the curriculum and
student rules were begun. Memorial Library and South Hall, now called
Schick Hall, were also completed.

Follovdng his resignation from Elmhurst in 1924, Schick served as
pastor of Immanuel Evangelical and Reformed Church in Chicago. He
w^as coeditor of an Evangelical book of worship and of other books on
religious topics. He was married to Louise Wagner, who was the first
president of the Chicago Federation of EvangeHcal Women and an
organizer of the Women's Auxiliary at Elmhurst College. The Schicks
had three children. President Schick died in 1949.

chapter 7

K Revolution —

The Niebuhr Years

In summer 1921 the General Conference of the Evangelical Synod
met to discuss the future of the Academy and Junior College.
Critics were still far from satisfied. The previous year Reinhold
Niebuhr had written in Keryx:

In spite of the progress that has been made there is as yet no cause for
complacency. ... At this rate it will be fifty years before we have a first
class A.B. college. As yet there seems to be no definite realization in
our church that we can not have what we need in educational advan-
tages without the expenditures of a large amount of money and [with]
no program to secure the hinds that are needed. Even a good junior
college at Elmhurst will require the investment of at least S2 50,000
and a fall college is out of the question with less than $500,000. . . .

It will suffice to say there is hardly a denomination in America that
does not outrank us in educational institutions. Even the negro
denominations have not only more colleges for their membership
than we but they have several institutions of high scholastic standing
and offering degrees recognized by the Carnegie Foundation, while
we have none.

97

98 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

We have been too long indifferent to our colleges and seminary and
have fallen too far behind the procession to make a policy of very
gradual development at all acceptable now. We need a heroic attempt
to get abreast of other denominations.

After much discussion the Conference voted to authorize Elmhurst
to become a four-year college while maintaining the Academy. The
change to a senior college would be made in 1923 when the first students
would be accepted for the junior class. Unfortunately, the Conference did
not provide money to make changes necessary for Elmhurst to become a
four-year college.

In the fall of 1923, 81 students enrolled in the three years of
Elmhurst College, raising the total number of students at Elmhurst,
including in the Academy, to 201 — an all-time record. The Yeai- Book for
1923-24 stated the purpose of Elmhurst College as follows:

Elmhurst College stands for thorough Christian education. Emphasis
is placed on Christian character and the development of the mind as
well as the body. The student is surrounded with wholesome
Christian influences and is given the necessary instruction in the
Bible and other Christian truths which are essential for an intelligent
and vital faith. ... A particular purpose of Elmhurst College is to
provide a place where the EvangeHcal Synod may prepare young men
of serious purpose and high character for the study of theology at
Eden Seminary.

A total of 120 hours, excluding physical education, was required for
graduation from the four-year college. The Year Book for 1923-24
outlined the two courses of study — a pretheological and a general course.

The pretheological course remained very similar to what was
offered at the Junior College, but additional Bible, English, history and
German courses were added along with courses in economics or soci-
ology, psychology and philosophy. Students would take one hour of elec-
tive in their junior year and 7-10 hours of electives in their senior year.
To graduate, a student would need to have taken at least nine semester
hours in German and English, eight in the Bible, four in Greek unless
Greek had been taken before the student entered college, and three in

9C Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 99

psychology, biology, history, philosophy, and economics or sociology. The
electives could be selected in any of these subjects as well as in chemistry
(which was taught by Paul Crusius), education, public speaking, French,
Hebrew, Latin, mathematics or music.

Over their four years at Elmhurst, students in the general studies
course were required to take eight semester hours in the Bible, six in
English, six in German or French, and three in psychology, biology and
social sciences, plus 31 semester hours of electives. The Year Book for
1923-24 suggested a number of majors for students in the general divi-
sion including the Bible, ancient languages, biology, Enghsh, history,
modern languages and social sciences.

The Year Book for 1923-24 expanded the section on school discipline
from one paragraph to almost a page. For the first time rules governing
absences from class and probation procedures were spelled out.

With the move to a four-year College, the cost of attendance went
up. Room and board remained $200 a year but tuition was finally
assessed, and it plus other fees raised the cost for tuition, room and board
to around $300 a year. The fees included $30 for music, library, lights,
heat, physician and janitor services, $5 for athletics, plus laboratory fees
for science courses. Some in the church opposed the imposition of
tuition. Throughout the Proseminary era Elmhurst had proclaimed itself
"tuition free," charging only for living expenses. Later College officials
believed that the move away from tuition-free education undermined
support from some in the Synod.

In spring 1924 the North Central Association accredited the
Junior College. According to President Schick, 42 junior colleges
applied for accreditation but only eight, including Elmhurst, were
unqualifiedly recommended.

Everyone connected with Elmhurst College recognized that accredi-
tation for the four-year senior college would be harder to gain. As
President Schick wrote in the 1924 Elms, "Accreditation will depend on
the ability of our Synod to meet the requirement of the Association
concerning endow^ment funds, enrollment of students and some further
equipment. There is no doubt concerning the possibility of our Synod to
meet any and all the requirements of the Association, if there is the
earnest will to do so."

100 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years 5C

As part of the drive for accreditation Schick called for tearing down
Kranz Hall, "thus eliminating the crowded appearance of our buildings in
the eastern section of our campus." A new music building would be built
on the north side of the campus to the west of existing buildings. Farther
to the west he wanted to build a gymnasium with a swimming pool. He
also wanted to improve the athletic fields and add a grandstand.

A New President

At the end of the 1923-24 school year President Schick resigned to
return to the ministry. His relations with Synod leaders had been strained
since the 1920 student strike, during which he had claimed that Eden's
president and other leaders had made slanderous statements about him.
Following this incident the Seminary Board had appointed an investiga-
tion committee that had reported that there was "a general spirit of
unrest and indifference upon the campus." The committee suggested that
greater freedom be given to the college students, but it would take a
different, younger president to accomplish this.

Selected to replace Schick was H. Richard Niebuhr, who was only
30 years old. Niebuhr, a 1912 graduate of the Proseminary and a grad-
uate of Eden, had earned a Ph.D. from Yale, making him the first presi-
dent of Elmhurst to have a doctorate.

Niebuhr arrived in Elmhurst in fall 1924, at about the same time
the first Elmhurst students enrolled in the fourth or senior year. He
threw himself into activities aimed at transforming the fledgling College
into a high-quality liberal arts college. Niebuhr brought to Elmhurst a
first-rate mind, a vision of what the College could be, and the ability to
line up faculty, students. Board and Synod leaders behind him. His three
years at the helm were a dizzying period of change and dreams of what
might be.

A debate had been going on for years about the purpose of
Elmhurst and the education it provided. President Schick had stressed
the importance of piety over scholarship. "Be fervent in prayer, diligent
in work, obedient to the rules . . . and the Sabbath," he wrote in the Elm

Sfi Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 101

Bark in 1921. In one of his final messages in the 1924 Elms, Schick
summed up his wishes for Ehnhurst. It "would stand first and foremost
for thorough Christian education, with the emphasis unequivocally and
emphatically on Christian."

Immediately Niebuhr broadened the purpose of the College. V\^ile
Elmhurst would remain a Christian college providing education for
ministers, Niebuhr and some faculty, including Paul Crusius, saw a wider
purpose that included educating lay church leaders and those who sought
strictly secular careers.

A survey of alumni published in the Souvenir Alhimi, Ehnhurst
Acadeiny and Junior College, 1921 had given fuel to the argument that
Elmhurst should be more than a feeder school for Eden. Not surpris-
ingly, the largest occupation group of the 1,749 alumni surveyed was that
of minister. Yet fewer than 40 percent were ministers. The remaining 60
percent were scattered among a number of occupations including
teachers, businessmen and doctors.

Writing in the 1925 Ehns, President Niebuhr called for scholarship,
academic excellence and independence.

The education which Elmhurst has sought to give and which it will
continue to seek to give is a Christian education, — a thorough
acquaintance with contemporary culture, a love of truth, an abilit\^ to
deal independendy with the problems of individual and social life in
the light of thorough knowledge, and all of this shot through with the
ideal of Jesus; for Elmhurst men share the conviction so widely
expressed that the most urgent need of the present generation of men
is light and warmth, the light of knowledge and the warmth of high
idealism.

In the same piece Niebuhr addressed the debate over whether the
school and church should try to hang on to their German roots.

A second contribution which Elmhurst College hopes to continue to
make to its students and through them to an ever widening circle is
the transmission of the best elements in that culture which its
foimders brought to America. German science, German literature,
German philosophy, German music, and German religious thought
mav fructifv' the soil of America as other national cultures have

102 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

fructified it. . . . Elmhurst College will seek, therefore, to be ever
more America and to introduce its students to the contemporary life
and science of the nation in which they live, but it will also seek to
make its own specific contribution to that national culture by its
transmission of the heritage it received from its fathers.

The 1925 Elmhurst College Bulletin spelled out Niebuhr's position.

The purpose of Elmhurst College is to provide its students with
the opportunity of securing a broad and liberal culture. It remains
strongly interested in students who expect to enter the ministry
and seeks to prepare these especially for their future work, but it
offers similar advantages and opportunities to other students who
wish to take a college course as a foundation for later professional
study and life-work.

Elmhurst College desires to offer not only the best opportunities for
the securing of culture but it seeks to develop in its students indepen-
dence of thinking and to assist them in every way possible in the
cultivation of Christian character.

A lessening of the emphasis on pretheological education was under-
scored in the 1925-26 Annual Catalog. No longer was a separate course of
study outlined for pretheology students. Rather, all students were
subjected to the same requirements. A note informed students that those
preparing to enter Eden needed to take German as their modern
language, four semester hours of public speaking and 12 semester hours
of Greek, unless they had completed two years of Greek in high school.

Many of Niebuhr's changes were met with opposition by alumni and
church leaders who feared that Elmhurst was abandoning its heritage and
its mission to prepare young men for the ministry. There was talk in
some quarters of the wisdom of returning Elmhurst to a Proseminary.
Niebuhr addressed the issue in a paper titled "Proseminary or College":

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 103

No progress is made without some loss. The gain of every new good
involves the loss of some old value. . . . The transition of Elmhurst
from proseminary to college has been reviewed with regret by some
old graduates. ... It is true undoubtedly that the development of the
college has been accompanied by the loss of some of the factors
which made the old proseminary dear to its students, but this loss has
been due not so much to the change of character of the institution as
to the changing times. And the new values which are offered by the
development of the college seem to out weigh the good which has
been lost. . . .

The college affords the student an opportunity for introduction to a
broader culture than the curriculum of the proseminary can offer. In
the latter the emphasis must be laid on the languages and on history.
In the former the emphasis lies on history and social and natural
sciences. This is an advantage not only for the general student but for
the pretheological student in particular. The pastor of today needs to
know the Bible as thoroughly as did his predecessor, but he needs to
understand also the world in which he lives. . . . The broad curric-
ulum of a college of liberal arts is a necessary part of the preparation
of every pastor today.

Niebuhr went on to assure alumni that more than two-thirds of students
entering Elmhurst intended to become ministers.

Addressing another controversy that had raged for years, Niebuhr
reported to the Board of Trustees in 1926 that Christian commitment
and modern scientific study were not in opposition. He wrote:

It is our contention that the interests of scientific education and reli-
gious education do not conflict and it is the function of the school to
introduce its students to the world of modern ideas so that they may
think in the current terms of the day, make use of the accepted results
of scientific research and insight, yet maintain in this sphere of
modern thought the faith and the ethics of the gospel. The task of
assisting the student to find his religious orientation in the modern
world is not a light one; certainly it cannot be achieved by refusal to
introduce him to the contemporary culture, or by the effort to teach
him to think in terms which have long ago lost currency.

104 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

A Four-Year College At Last

In June 1925, the first three students graduated fi*om the four-year
program at Elmhurst College, but their degree was somewhat tarnished
because the senior college program was not accredited by the North
Central Association. The effect of the lack of accreditation was felt nearly
immediately. Writing two years later the Executive Committee of the
Board of Trustees reported that most of Elmhurst's graduates couldn't
gain admission to graduate schools and that those prepared to teach
could find jobs only in "some small, unrecognized high school."

Before Elmhurst could earn accreditation, changes needed to be
made in finances, curriculum, faculty and quality of education provided.
Throughout his years in the presidency, Niebuhr endeavored to effect
these changes as rapidly as possible.

By 1926 Niebuhr had warmed to the task of improving the quaHty of
education. He sought nothing short of excellence. In the Elms he wrote:

Our ultimate purpose is not the attainment of a common standard
but of an effective individuality, not the formation of a standard
product but the education of individualities and personalities. ... It
must be the purpose of Elmhurst College to develop men who are
not merely good "C" men in all their attainments but who are men of
"B" and "A" grade in intellectual as well as in moral and spiritual
achievement.

President Niebuhr's concern for improving scholarship was evident
in new programs for students and faculty. Early in 1926, on Niebuhr's
recommendation, the Board voted to establish the first honors courses at
Elmhurst. The same year the Elm Bark published Elmhurst College's first
honor roll.

In 1925 the Board agreed to pay half the tuition of professors taking
graduate work in Chicago and approved a sabbatical leave program. By
1926 Niebuhr had established the first academic ranking system along
with a salary schedule. Full professors in the College earned $2,500-
$3,200, assistant professors $2,250-$2,750 and instructors $1,500-2,200.
Salaries for faculty in the Academy were slightly lower, with full profes-

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 105

sors earning between $2,500 and $3,000. In 1926 President Niebuhr was
scheduled to earn $3,100 plus an apartment with lights and heat.

A key figure in Niebuhr's efforts to improve the quality of education
was Th. Mueller, whom the president appointed as dean. Mueller and
members of the faculty such as Paul Crusius were given the task of devel-
oping senior-level classes that reflected Niebuhr's concerns for excellence,
independence and the social sciences.

In his 1925-26 Repoit to the Board ofTr-ustees Niebuhr outlined where
he wanted Elmhurst to go.

The present curriculum of the college of liberal arts is not a unity but
an agglomeration. New elements have been added with the rise of
new departments of research and thought; but as our culture lacks
synthesis so our curriculum does. . . . The social sciences seem to
form the natural center around which the curriculum of the day
should be organized as the natural sciences were the nucleus a gener-
ation ago and the humanities were in an earlier day. The present
curriculum is not only an agglomerate, it's atomistic in its character.
The various "courses" are poorly correlated if at all, they do not form
parts of a single whole; they seem designed to give the student
various aptitudes and techniques to deal with this, that, and the other
specific situations in life but they do not greatly assist him in the
achievement of a comprehension of his total situation in civilization
and the world. The curriculum seems to divide the student's thinking
into compartments as it divides the work into departments.

Under Niebuhr, Elmhurst became less concerned with teaching
students the dogma of the Evangelical Church and more concerned with
helping them learn to live a Christian life. "The emphasis for our day
must be upon practical Christianity," Niebuhr told the Board of Trustees
in 1927. "We conceive our task as a Christian college to be not the
inculcation of doctrine, but the promotion of the Christian attitude
toward life."

Niebuhr threw the College open to students fi^om outside the
Evangelical Church. WTiere previously a testimonial from an Evangelical
pastor was necessar\^ for admission, starting in 1925 a recommendation
fi'om "the home pastor" would suffice.

106 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Football team, 1 920s.

Although all students had to attend chapel, services were cut from
twice a day to once a day and then to four times a week. Students were
also permitted to attend non-Evangelical churches.

Rehgious requirements remained for Elmhurst faculty. In 1925 the
Board affirmed that "only teachers who are positive Christians should be
employed though they should also be competent scholars in their field."
Yet when charges of irreligious teaching were lodged by some church
leaders against an Elmhurst religion professor, Niebuhr and the Board
supported the professor's academic freedom. The Board stated, "Teachers
should be guaranteed freedom in their instruction."

President Niebuhr continued Schick's efforts to build closer rela-
tions with the Elmhurst community. He encouraged the Board to offer
two scholarships for graduates from York High School. No religious
requirement was attached to these scholarships. In 1927 the College
library was opened to the community, and plans were drawn up to offer
classes on evenings and Saturdays for members of the community.

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 107

However, these plans could not be implemented because there were
insufficient funds.

A School of Music was created in 1926 at least in part to offer music
programs for the community. "I believe that the establishment of the
school of music marks a new era of co-operation between town and
gown," wrote Niebuhr. The new School of Music employed a large part-
time faculty, including the first women to teach at Elmhurst. By 1928,
over 200 Elmhurst children and adults were taking music lessons. It was
hoped that a music conservatory could be developed, but financial prob-
lems soon scuttled this plan.

Under Niebuhr the College ceased trying to regiment college
students' lives. Previously rules and regulations were spelled out in great
detail. Now, according to the 1925-26 Annual Catalog,

Elmhurst College expects its students to conduct themselves on and
off the campus, whether in the classrooms, dormitory or gymnasium,
as gentlemen and as Christians. It believes that students who have
arrived at the mental maturity required for the successful prosecution
of studies of collegiate grade may reasonably be expected to have
developed a corresponding maturity of character. It therefore seeks to
avoid a multiplicity of rules for the government of the conduct of its
students and expects them to observe the standards of decorum and
good breeding without supervision.

Academy students needed more supervision. According to the 1925-26
Annual Catalog, "The academy dormitory is supervised by academy teachers
who seek not only to enforce general rules regarding the habits of the resi-
dents but also to aid them in their studies during the evening hours."

In 1925, in an attempt to find an effective student government,
Niebuhr instituted a self-governing Student Union. It served as the
means by which students could express opinions and was expected to
work with the president and other administrators to regulate student life
and govern the College.

The first student-facult\^ discipline committee and the first
governing body for dormitories were also established. Committees of
students on each floor of the dorms replaced seniors as rule makers and
enforcers, ending a holdover of the Proseminary days.

108 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SS

In these years student life began to take modern form with a formal
orientation for new students, the requirement of health exams for admis-
sion, ability testing, more frequent grade reporting and, for the first time,
grades sent home to parents. Students doing poorly in their classes
received counseling from Dean Mueller and were prohibited fi^om partic-
ipating in extracurricular activities.

The YMCA was still in operation, planning cultural and religious
activities. Since 1925 the Elm Bark had been independent of the YMCA
and was one of the largest student groups on campus. Other active
student groups included the El?7is staff, which put out the annual; the
Masque and Buskin, which was a dramatic club; and a new International
Relations Club, which had been promoted by President Niebuhr and for
which Paul Crusius was the faculty sponsor.

The old Schiller Literary Society had finally folded, but a number of
music groups still flourished, including the Glee Club, several quartettes,
the Orchestra and the Band. So, too, did the athletic teams. Elmhurst
had fielded a rugby football team in 1920, and starting the next year it
competed in American football. It also had baseball and tennis teams.

The College didn't field a competitive basketball team from 1925
until a new g)Tnnasium opened in 1928. For a number of years Elmhurst
had rented the York High School gym for its home games, but by 1925
York was no longer willing to rent its gym, so the College basketball
team had nowhere to play. This was used as a rallying cry among the
alumni in the campaign for a new gym.

Plans for a "Greater Elmhurst"

Niebuhr's vision of the future of Elmhurst included expanding the
size and scope of the College and developing it into a leading liberal arts
college. In 1925, when the Seminary Board met at Elmhurst, the presi-
dent and the Board recommended that a $400,000 endowment be estab-
lished for Elmhurst. (Elmhurst's endowment was only a little over
$35,000.) This was needed, Niebuhr was convinced, before the College
could hope to gain accreditation.

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 109

110 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The Seminary Board accepted this recommendation, and on
February 18, 1925, the Elm Bark headlined "Mammoth Extension Plans
Approved." According to the student paper, a Ten-Year Plan for a
Greater Elmhurst costing $1,000,000 would include, in addition to the
endowment, a number of new buildings designed to serve 400 students, a
faculty of 25 and a $100,000 Hbrary endowment.

The first stage would be a Four- Year Plan to raise the $400,000
endowment and build a gymnasium, a new dormitory, a service building
and six faculty houses. The eight academic departments were to be fully
equipped, staffed and headed by faculty with doctorates, and $5,000 a
year was to be spent on the library and laboratories. If the Four- Year
Plan was carried out, Niebuhr expected accreditation in 1929.

Under the even more ambitious Ten-Year Plan, the endowment was
to be increased to $1,000,000 by 1935, and additional buildings,
including a chapel or auditorium, would be constructed. In its enthusiasm
for the expansion plan, the Board directed Niebuhr to investigate
purchasing other property in Elmhurst, including the Challacombe prop-
erty that adjoined the campus on the south (where the Schaible Science
Center now stands).

Throughout 1925 and 1926 Niebuhr crisscrossed the nation, often
with the College Glee Club, to drum up support for the plan. Special
issues of the Elm Bark were published, and a new pubHcation for alumni,
the El?7ihurst College Bulletin, was begun.

The Chicago architect Benjamin Franklin Olson was hired to plan
the campus. For the next 40 years he would design all the new buildings
on campus. Although his plans were modified over the decades, the look
of Elmhurst College today bears the imprint of Olson and President
Niebuhr's vision of the future.

At its meeting in the fall of 1925, the General Conference of the
Synod approved the Four- Year Plan, but it did not authorize the funds
needed to carry it out. Instead it promised to launch a fund drive in 1928
to raise $600,000. This promise was never kept.

In February 1926 the College formally asked the Synod for $100,000
for a gym, $150,000 for a dormitory, $325,000 for endowment and
$25,000 for a service building. When it became clear that the Synod was
not going to provide funding, Niebuhr contacted alumni, church groups

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 1 1 1

and community members for funding. In 1926, he secured a gift of
$25,000 from Chicago business leader W.A. Wieboldt for the gymnasium.

In March 1926, apparently realizing that money for the endowment
was not going to materialize any time soon, Niebuhr redirected his
efforts. He chose to concentrate on improving the program of st^dy and
physical facilities rather than on building the endowment. He wrote to
the head of the North Central Association that he was going to recom-
mend to the Board of Trustees that it use any available funds "for the
improvement of the education program rather than for the increase of
endowment. I would rather improve our educational standard than try to
meet the requirements of the North Central Association."

Late in 1926 the Board approved Niebuhr's hiring of the Reverend
Theodore Mayer as a "part-time promotional secretary" to help launch a
major fund-raising campaign. One of the campaign's rallying cries was "a
gym by next Thanksgiving" — by November 1927. The campaign brought in
pledges of about $165,000, but it wasn't until 1928 that construction of the
gym finally began. Since more than $40,000 in pledges were never made
good, the College had to borrow from the Synod to complete the building.

Even though money was not forthcoming, Niebuhr proceeded with
his larger plan. "A building program, extending over a period of ten years
and designed to make theirs one of the most attractive little colleges in
the middle west" is how the Chicago Sunday Tribune of May 9, 1926,
reported the Ten-Year Plan for a Greater Elmhurst. The plan envisioned
a campus serving 600 students by 1936.

All new buildings were to be constructed in brick with stone trim
and slate roofs in the Georgian or English Colonial style. New buildings
would include the gymnasium, a Students' Union and new dormitories to
the north of a sunken midway that would contain a garden and reflecting
pool. A new grandstand seating 4,500 and nine tennis courts would be
north of the Students' Union. On the south side would be new class-
rooms and dormitories alongside the existing library and South Hall, At
the east end of the campus would be a new music building and a presi-
dent's home. At the west end would be a large new administration
building with an auditorium and new science labs.

Not yet satisfied, Niebuhr was planning another major change.
Although the Board had not approved the admission of women to

112 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhurst, coeducation was considered likely in the future. Thus,
according to the Tribune, to the west of the administration building
would be a "woman's quadrangle, where girl students will have their own
gymnasium, dormitories, and science halls."

More Changes Ahead

The growth of high schools rendered the Academy no longer neces-
sary. By 1 92 5 little effort was being made to recruit students for the
Academy, enrollment was plummeting, and consideration was being given
to closing the secondary school.

Niebuhr, who along with Crusius had earlier argued against closing
the Academy, was having second thoughts. When in 1925 he learned that
the Synod was considering opening a women's college in Ohio, he
suggested that the Academy be transferred to that location and that
Elmhurst become coed. The same year Elmhurst asked permission of the
Seminary Board to drop the first and eventually the second years of the
Academy program if it seemed advisable.

In 1926, when the Academy's freshman class had only six members,
the Board voted to close the first year program in 1927. In 1928, with
total enrollment in the Academy at 18, the Board voted to close the
Academy in June 1928.

Although coeducation had been unofficially discussed for a number
of years, H. Richard Niebuhr appears to have come to this position
reluctantly. In 1925, he wrote to a Synod leader as follows:

I have prejudices against the co-educational school. I should much
prefer to see Elmhurst develop along the lines of the eastern men's
colleges. But there was a good reason for the refusal of most middle-
western colleges to follow the example of the eastern schools and I think
that the reason was the same one as ours — a necessity for economy in
the development of colleges. A coeducational school will bring rise to
many problems, — of supervision and guidance. . . . But since other
colleges are able to handle these problems with more or less success I
am not afraid of Elmhurst's abihty to deal with the simation.

X Revolution — The Niebuhr Years

113

Don/zitoiy rooDi, ca. 1926.

In June 1925 all the faculty, except one member, voted to ask the
Board to report to the Seminary Board that the faculty believed that
"steps should be taken to admit women as students to Elmhurst College."
The faculty cited the fact that many Evangelical women already attended
colleges, while others were unable to attend college because of the
expense or because there was no suitable college.

"Co-education is natural and logical, and beneficial to both sexes,"
said the faculty resolution. "It is preferable to segregation, because it fits
young men and women better for life." In addition the faculty expected
that it would raise the "social standard" of the young men at Elmhurst.

Faculty members believed that coeducation would avoid duplication
and save a great deal of money. Also, according to the faculty resolution,
a coed college would better serv^e the Elmhurst community than an all-
male school.

114 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The faculty thought women could be accommodated at Elmhurst
for a relatively small price. A women's dormitory and minor changes in
several buildings would be needed. A dean of women would have to be
appointed, and a few departments such as Art and "Household
Economics" would have to be opened, while the Education Department
would have to be expanded.

Several district conferences of the Synod opposed the move. While
the president and most of the faculty at Elmhurst had come to accept the
idea of coeducation, many in the church had not, and Niebuhr had to
reassure alumni that coeducation would not mean that Elmhurst would
send fewer students to Eden and to the ministry.

In 1926 Niebuhr reaffirmed his position:

The faculty of Elmhurst College have just about come to the conclu-
sion that, however little they may personally care about co-education,
the school owes it as a kind of duty to the community to admit
women, and that furthermore, to open Elmhurst to women is the
quickest and least expensive way to give Evangelical girls an opportu-
nity to get a college education at an Evangelical school.

He estimated that it would take at least $500,000 for the Synod to start a
women's college. In addition, the school would need an endowment of at
least $300,000 to win accreditation. At most it would cost $100,000-
$150,000 to prepare Elmhurst for women. It would also cost much less to
run one campus than two. The faculty and president hoped that coeduca-
tion could begin at Elmhurst in 1927.

Niebuhr went on to argue that existing dormitories could house no
more than the 200 students now in attendance. With a new dormitory
and laboratories, though, the campus could house and educate 400-600.
Unless Elmhurst admitted women, he did not see how they could reach
this number. He wrote:

If Elmhurst remains a college for men only, we may have not more
than three hundred ten years from now, but except for dormitories,
we shall need just as many and just as large buildings for three
hundred as for four hundred or more. With co-education, our
chances of rising to an enrollment of four hundred are nearly twice as
good, and six hundred is a possibility. . . .

X Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 1 1 5

Against what I have said for co-education, especially on the financial
side, there is no valid argument. ... I can say that we at Elmhurst would
he quite content, for ourselves, to leave things as they are. We are in
favor of co-education not for the sake of Elmhurst alone, but in view of
unescapable logic, especially the logic of money and of its efficient use.
A greater Elmhurst will bring credit and prestige to the Synod and
benefit its students. Two small colleges will do nothing of the sort.

In 1927 a special committee on education for women was appointed
by the General Board with Reinhold Niebuhr as one member. In that
year he wrote in the Evangelical Herald that "coeducation at Elmhurst is
the only method by which our young women will be able to secure the
opportunity of a college education under church auspices."

H. Richard Niebuhr wrote his brother in 1927 that he had found
the idea much less unpopular with the district conferences he had
recently visited than it had been the year before. He also lowered his esti-
mate of the cost of the change. Now he thought it would take no more
than $40,000 to build a small dormitory for women and to make changes
in existing buildings.

Stresses and Strains

Putting Niebuhr's ideas into practice was difficult, especially when
many of the faculty had been trained in a different tradition. In spite of
problems, more electives were added, as were comprehensive surveys
giving broad views of contemporary problems for students in the first two
years of study. Nationally known speakers, often friends of the Niebuhr
brothers, were brought to campus, and one chapel service each week was
replaced with a cultural program. The YMCA began to sponsor small
discussion groups of faculty and students on topics of interest in the
world at large.

The opening of the School of Music provided a new major. In 1927
a Bachelor of Science degree was offered and a teaching program for
elementary schools was approved by the Illinois State Board of
Education. In the same year a program allowing students to complete

116 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

both bachelor's and divinity degrees in six years was worked out with
Eden. Plans were made for a fine arts degree, and the first business
courses were offered. New courses were added in all eight departments,
including 10 chemistry and philosophy and eight sociology courses. As
Th. Mueller reported to the Executive Committee in 1928, "Real progress
has been made in the inner development of the school; in the efficiency of
instruction and the raising of academic standards." He befieved that
economics was the only department that still needed to be developed.

The College created a psychology lab and upgraded its chemistry
and other natural science labs. Library facifities were expanded, and hold-
ings increased to more than 15,000 by 1927. That year the Ehnhurst
College Bulletin reported that the laboratories "compare favorably with
those of much larger institutions."

The faculty was also expanded. By 1927, there were 17 faculty,
including Niebuhr, of whom three had doctorates. In addition, the
School of Music brought in more than a dozen part-time instructors,
including several who were nationally known.

Under Niebuhr the search turned to faculty with doctorates from
American schools. When a Synod leader suggested a candidate for the
faculty who trained in Germany, Niebuhr replied, "I am of the conviction
that we ought not to employ any men of this sort. We ought to have,
especially in our language department, men who have been trained at
American schools."

While some changes were effected fairly easily, others were not. In
1925, the General Conference of the Synod had authorized a new
government system for its educational institutions. The old Seminary
Board was renamed the General Board for Educational Institutions, and
Elmhurst's Board of Control was replaced by a Board of Trustees that
reported to the General Board. Six of the 12 members of the Elmhurst
Board were elected by the General Conference of the Synod, with two of
these members representing specific churches. Three other trustees were
elected by the General Board for Educational Institutions, and the final
three were elected by the Elmhurst Board itself This was the first move
toward making the Board of Trustees a self-perpetuating body. Among
the early members elected by the Board of Trustees were the first
accountant, banker and head of a corporation.

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 1 1 7

After 1925 it was the Board of Trustees that hired all faculty except
for the president. This gave the College somewhat more autonomy.
Under Niebuhr's direction the new Board of Trustees devoted more time
to making major policy decisions and developing plans for the future.
Previously much of the Board of Control's activity had involved decisions
about which individuals to admit and graduate, discipline problems and
day-to-day life on the campus. Most decisions were now left to the presi-
dent and his growing number of administrators.

As administrators assumed more responsibility, they developed new
reporting methods. The first annual report from a head of Elmhurst
College was issued by H. Richard Niebuhr in 1925-26. Annual reports
from other administrative officers soon followed.

At the same time the faculty was getting more professionally orga-
nized. It adopted a committee structure with executive, curriculum,
admission, athletics, library and other such committees.

Still not satisfied with the degree of autonomy it had won, in 1926
the Board of Trustees requested financial autonomy. Shortly afterward
the Board asked an attorney to clear up the legal status of Elmhurst
College under the charter. Next the Board appointed a committee to
draw up a constitution for Elmhurst College.

WTiile Elmhurst's Board sought autonomy, the Synod was deter-
mined to maintain control. A nasty dispute broke out in 1926 when the
new treasurer of the Board attempted to arrange for a bank loan for the
College. When authorization from the General Board was finally received
for the loan, it was for $15,000 rather than $50,000 as Elmhurst expected.
In addition, authorization to make the loan was given to the president of
the Synod and the president of Elmhurst College, not the treasurer of the
Elmhurst Board of Trustees. The treasurer immediately resigned.

When Niebuhr learned of the incident, he wrote to the head of the
General Board for Educational Institutions that he did not intend to
handle such matters in the future. "I do not know what the function of a
board of trustees is if it is not that of administering a school like ours in
these respects." He continued:

My attitude in the matter is this: I will not be responsible for the
continuation of my work here unless I am given a Board of Trustees
who have the powers as they have the abilit}^ to carr\^ on the financial

118 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years 9C

administration of the institution. I do not object to safeguards and to
supervision by the synodical officers and the general board but either the
treasurer of the Board must be given sufficient power to give this instim-
tion the kind of financial autonomy necessary to its existence or you
must find a president for the school who is willing to carry on under the
present circumstances. I have neither the inclination nor the will to carry
on the work of the treasurer, and above all I haven't the ability.

I am very much disappointed in the whole situation.

While the incident was smoothed over, the problem was not solved.
The Board of Trustees would not receive financial autonomy for many
years. Likewise it would take decades for Elmhurst College to accomplish
Niebuhr's ambitious expansion plans.

All these new plans cost money. By June 1925 Niebuhr was
informed that only 2 1 cents remained in the treasury, and he prepared to
tell faculty and staff that paychecks would be late.

One way to generate revenue was to raise tuition. Beginning in 1926
the cost of a year's study was increased to $335, of which $125 was for
tuition. Since pretheology students were automatically given a $100
scholarship and ministers' sons were given a rebate, only a small amount
of additional money was realized.

By 1926 the College was running a deficit. In March the treasurer
of the Board of Trustees loaned the college $8,500 to tide it over for one
month and tried to arrange the $50,000 loan mentioned earHer. In July
Niebuhr wrote to individual church leaders asking for contributions.
This was necessary, he said, because Elmhurst was receiving $40,000 less
from the Synod than in the previous year. In addition it was starting the
School of Music and trying to fix up the Dining Hall.

In November 1926 the College had to borrow $5,000 to cover the
deficit, but this did not help the situation for long. By March 1927 a
deficit of $27,000 was projected for the end of the school year. Niebuhr
and other College officials sought to borrow money, but the Synod
refused to approve more loans. Thus Niebuhr was forced to beg for loans
from the Synod to pay monthly salaries and operating expenses.

Despite the deficit, in 1927 the Board voted to buy the property at
167 Virginia Street in Elmhurst, which included two apartments for

X Revolution — The Nlebuhr Years 119

faculty housing. It also agreed to build a house for the College president,
and it considered building a faculty apartment house. For none of these
ventures did it have money

Niebuhr's dreams for Elmhurst went farther even than the Ten-Year
Plan. Among his papers in the College Archives is a memorandum dated
November 1925 in which he proposed the creation of a federated
DuPage University on the model of the University of London. This
university might include Elmhurst, Wheaton and North Central, or
Elmhurst and two Lutheran colleges to the east.

Niebuhr saw DuPage University developing a quality of education
comparable to that offered by Northwestern University on the north side
and the University of Chicago on the south side. It would have schools of
medicine, law, commerce and possibly social sciences similar to the
London School of Economics, and joint professorships. The schools
would pool resources, and a large university endowment would help
support the smaller colleges as well as the university. Although the
autonomous individual schools of the university might maintain their
religious affiliation, the university would be nonsectarian. Niebuhr never
had an opportunity to implement this plan.

Another dream he was able to see succeed after he left Elmhurst was
the unification of the Evangelical and Reformed churches. In 1926 he
wrote a Chicago minister that, "It occurs to me that the biggest pipe-
dream we could dream would be the plan of uniting all the liberal
churches of German ancestry, including especially the two mentioned,
our own and the Reformed in the U.S. There may be others. I've figured
out on the basis of Federal Council statistics that a combination of this
sort would total 8,538 churches, 6,562 pastors, 1,224,594 members and
$21,603,699 in financial strength."

In 1927 he corresponded with a leader in the Reformed Church
about a possible union:

For some time, some of us in the Evangelical Synod have been seri-
ously discussing the question whether or not a closer alliance between
our church and the Reform (sic) Church might not be possible. . . .
Do you suppose that your General Board on Education would be
interested in inviting the co-operation of our General Board? I
believe that some of our districts could be interested in some of the

1 20 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Reform Church Colleges, and that an exchange of professors as well
as board members might even happen in some instances. This would
make possible the development of our educational program without
duplicating the efforts of existing colleges.

The Dreams End

The continual search for money took a heavy toll on President
Niebuhr. Early in the summer of 1926 he took time off to rest. "I think
you will have to look for a man with a less fragile set of nerves than I
seem to possess. I am very much provoked for not being able to stand up
under the strain of the office, but there is no use to quarrel with one's
constitutional make up," he wrote. He felt better after taking a week off
to visit his brother. "I was on the verge of getting out thinking I couldn't
handle the situation another year without wrecking my nervous constitu-
tion," he wrote. The situation and his health did not improve and in
January 1927, after less than two and a half years as president, he
resigned to go to Eden as a professor. He remained in office until July 1 .

In his letter of resignation Niebuhr reminded the chairman of the
General Board for Educational Institutions that "it was my purpose to
devote my life to the study and teaching of theology and philosophy of
religion and that I undertook the present work for the time being and
until a successor would be found who would relieve me so that I might
return to the work for which I have prepared myself especially."

Niebuhr continued:

I feel that I cannot continue without further danger to my health.
The duties of the position are not so arduous that I ought not to be
able to fulfill them without needless wear and tear on my nervous
organization, but my constitution is such that I have scarcely been
able, during the past two years, to complete the school year without a
nervous breakdown and I now realize that my working ability has
been so impaired, for the time being, that I cannot afford to continue
beyond the present school year.

K Revolution — The Niebuhr Years 121

He called for a change in the structure that governed Elmhurst,
which he believed was impeding the development of the College:

I hope that my successor will be enabled to perform his duties under
the guidance and with the assistance of a Board of Trustees to whom
ample powers of control have been delegated by the Synod. . . . the
present machinery through which these boards and officers operate is
cumbersome, inefficient and ill-designed to further the purpose of
developing Elmhurst College.

Niebuhr concluded his letter by expressing his fondness for
Elmhurst College. "And be assured that so long as I live my interest in
and love for Elmhurst College will prompt me to place my services at its
disposal in any task that lies within my powers."

The General Board asked Niebuhr to take a long vacation and
rethink his decision or at least to stay an additional year so that a
successor could be found, but he refused. The General Board did not
address his call for changes in the governing of the College.

In his inaugural address more than a year later, Timothy Lehmann,
Niebuhr's successor, summed up the regime of the young president thus:

He came, and prophetically he faced an apathetic Church and hero-
ically he laid the foundations for and pointed the ways toward an
enlarged educational program. He knew that it would not find
general approval. He even feared its indefinite postponement and so
he boldly applied a new standard. . . . Deliberately he set forth a
program that could not be kept within the available financial
resources by some twenty to twent)^-five thousand dollars per year.
The Church saw it, even approved it formally or by resolution,
because it dared not do otherwise. But instead of responding uith
heart and soul, as heretofore, by at least paying the deficit after its
unavoidable realization, the Church simply refused to give more.

122

H. Richard Niebuhr
The Sixth President

H. (Helmut) Richard Niebuhr,
president from 1924 to 1927, was bom
in 1894 in Wright City, Missouri. His
father, an Evangelical pastor, emigrated
from Germany; his mother was the
daughter of an EvangeUcal minister.
Richard grew up in Lincoln, Illinois
with his two brothers and sister. His
sister Hulda became a professor at
McCormick Theological Seminary in
Chicago while his brother Reinhold,
who taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, became
one of the twentieth century's most famous religious figures.

Richard Niebuhr graduated from the Proseminary in 1912 and
went to Eden Theological Seminary, graduating in 1915. He was a
minister in St. Louis for several years and taught on the Eden faculty
before earning B.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Yale Divinity School.
Niebuhr then came to Elmhurst, where he was president until his
health broke and he resigned to return to Eden Theological Seminary.
In 193 1, he accepted a professorship at Yale, in time being named to the
prestigious SterHng Professorship. He remained at Yale until his death
in 1962.

At Elmhurst, Niebuhr presided over the school's transformation
from an academy and junior college to a Hberal arts college. He
expanded the College's horizons, its curriculum and its campus.
Niebuhr wrote many books and articles, including Radical
Monotheism and Western Culture, Christ and Culture and The Kingdom of
God in America. He was one of America's most distinguished theologians,
historians of American Christianity, philosophers of religion and
students of ethics. He had a great influence on generations of students
and modem theological scholarship.

Richard Niebuhr was married to Florence Mittendorf, whom he
met in Lincoln, Illinois. They were the parents of two children.

chapter 8

K The Battle to Survive

The General Board for Educational Institutions took nine
months to select H. Richard Niebuhr's successor. Feelers
were put out to Reinhold Niebuhr, but he was not interested.
Finally, in October 1927, the General Board selected Timothy Lehmann,
a popular minister from Columbus, Ohio who was a Proseminary and
Eden graduate. Before accepting, Lehmann insisted that the College
build a president's house as Niebuhr had planned. Late in December
1927 Lehmann accepted.

Although he had taken a few courses at the University of Richmond,
Lehmann had little experience in higher education and few contacts in
the academic world. What he did have were many contacts in the Synod,
the reputation of a successful fund-raiser and an abundance of energy. He
also possessed a warm regard for his predecessor and for Niebuhr's
efforts to broaden the purpose of Elmhurst College and strengthen the
education it offered.

Since Lehmann could not take over until June 1928, the Executive
Committee of the facult\^, made up of Th. Mueller, Paul Crusius and
Homer Helmick, administered the College for the 1927-28 school year.
The Executive Committee faced an immediate crisis because the budget

123

124 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

777. Mueller, who taught in the
Sociology DepmtJnent for 41
years and served as dean of
students fi-o?n 1925 to 1947.

for 1927-28 was running a deficit. In addition, the College was
committed to building a gymnasium and the president's residence, and to
buying the property at 167 Virginia Street for faculty housing.

Mueller said years later, "As we look back, this year takes on all the
aspects of a full-grown nightmare." The school would soon owe nearly
$40,000 and had little credit or hope to pay back any money it might
borrow. Without a loan of $20,000 in late 1927, the College might not
have survived into the new year. In spite of the loan, by February 1928
there was no money to pay professors.

In a formal report to the Board early in 1928, the Executive
Committee called for the continuation of Niebuhr's plans. "We have
faith that the hopes, the dreams, the ideals and the capabilities of
Elmhurst which Dr. Niebuhr incorporated in his plan for future devel-
opment can be realized. And we have faith in our new leader." The
Executive Committee recommended what it called a "temporary
retrenchment involving no retrogression, but a curtailment of expan-
sion for the present, with the purpose of holding fast what has been
accomplished in the past nine years at a cost of much effort and sacri-

K The Battle to Survive 125

fice. The budget for current expenses would need to be reduced to an
absolute minimum."

The Executive Committee recommended that the $800,000 assets of
the College serve as collateral for a bond issue. The money raised would
be used to pay off current debts and carry the College through till
February 1930, which would allow the new president time to raise money
to finance the College.

The College limped along, borrowing what it could, including
$25,000 from the Synod, until April 1928 when members of its Board of
Trustees met with Synod leaders. "Elmhurst is facing the greatest crisis in
its entire history, — a crisis in which the very existence of the institution is
at stake," reported the Board of Trustees. The College had a deficit of
$50,000 and needed $10,000 to complete and equip the gym plus another
$20,000 to build a president's residence. In addition, it was projecting a
deficit of more than $23,000 for 1928-29.

At their April meeting, the Trustees and Synod leaders agreed that
the Synod would float a $300,000 bond issue to cover deficits, finish the
gym and build the president's house. No money was provided for the
badly needed endowment, since the new president was expected to raise
these funds.

In May 1928 the Synod agreed to issue the bonds. At the last minute
the amount of money was increased to $400,000, but part of it was
earmarked for Eden. This bond issue was to plague Elmhurst for years.
Although part of the money went to Eden, Synod officials held Elmhurst
responsible for repaying the whole amount plus the interest. This was not
the way Lehmann or others at Elmhurst understood the agreement. They
believed that the entire Synod had committed to pay the interest and to
repay the bonds, not just Elmhurst. The controversy complicated rela-
tions between Elmhurst and the Synod for nearly two decades and added
to Elmhurst's financial insecurity.

Before Lehmann took over, the Executive Committee recommended
the closing of the Academy as a money-saving measure, and the Board of
Trustees agreed. In June 1928, after more than 56 years, the secondary
school closed its doors.

Lehmann was inaugurated in October 1928, at which time the
Gymnasium (now Goebel Hall), which cost nearly $175,000 to build and

1 26 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years PS

equip, was dedicated. In his inaugural address, Lehmann called upon the
Evangelical church to provide Elmhurst with the financial support it so
badly needed. "Can the Church be aroused and made conscious of its
obligation and is it willing to pay the price therein involved?" he asked.

Lehmann Hkened the College to a boy whose father turns away
because his son is growing up too fast and costing too much. As the
College grew, costs increased. "But instead of responding with heart and
soul . . . the Church simply refused to give more," he said. "As long as
the Evangelical Synod continues to pursue the short-sighted policy that
Elmhurst College is sufficiently useful in the provision of the needed
supply of pre-theological students, so long does it hmit itself in its effec-
tiveness and fails in its purpose to serve both Church and community."

Consolidation and Development

During the early years of Lehmann 's administration the curriculum
was fleshed out and student services were expanded, while efforts were
made to maintain the momentum developed under Niebuhr. Yet much of
the institution's effort had to be directed at weathering financial crisis
after crisis, which impeded the attempts to prepare the College for
accreditation.

Lehmann was determined that Elmhurst remain firmly committed
to Christian education. "It has become increasingly clear that the church
as such, or any denomination, has no business in education except as it
provides an institution that shall be definitely constituted and conducted
as a Christian school," he said in a 1929 report to the Board. In a report a
few years later, Lehmann stated that Elmhurst should have a "thoroughly
evangelical program whose aims and objectives shall center in and revolve
about the ideal of a Christian college of liberal arts serving specifically
the Evangelical Synod of North America in its activities and generally the
community in which it operates." A year later he wrote, "It is my
contention that the church has no business in education at all, except it
be willing to make vital distinctions between mere education and
Christian nurture."

K The Battle to Survive

127

Paul Crusius, who taught at
El7?i hurst for 44 years and played
a major role in the College V
development.

He was equally committed to keeping a Christian faculty. "We could
neither afford, nor do we care to have, a man or woman on the faculty of
Elmhurst College who is irreverent toward religion or indifferent to the
purposeful method in providing a Christian education," he told the Board
in 1930.

Late in 1928, Lehmann moved into the President's House, which
had been constructed north of Irion Hall at a cost of approximately
$30,000. This two-story brick colonial house provided the first separation
for the president's family from the student body as well as the first rooms
for entertaining. It also freed up rooms in South Hall for students or
faculty. The President's House was torn down to make room for today's
Buehler Library.

The new president's first concern was money. The Synod had agreed
to help subsidize deficits for two years, but by 1930 it expected the new
president to raise all needed money. Elmhurst also had to pay back the
money that the Synod advanced in 1928. Thus one of Lehmann 's first
actions was to begin a major fund-raising campaign, which was called the
Elmhurst-Eden Advance, to raise $1.25 million in one year. Proceeds were
to be spHt between the two schools, with Elmhurst getting three quarters.

128 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhurst planned to use its money to pay for the earlier bond issue, estab-
lish a $400,000 endowment, and finish paying for the new buildings.

Problems surfaced even before the campaign began. The Synod
decided that the campaign must be aimed at individuals, rather than at
congregations as in traditional efforts to raise money. Misunderstandings
developed over whether Eden was to share in the cost of raising the funds.
Lehmann had gready underestimated the price of raising money, and when
he attempted to charge expenses to the campaign, including part of his
salary, he was informed that Elmhurst would have to bear these costs alone.

Lehmann jumped into the campaign with great vigor and took
personal charge, although a fund-raising group was hired to assist him.
He worked tirelessly, seeking funds by speaking and preaching to
hundreds of groups throughout the entire country.

The first targets of the campaign were the citizens of Elmhurst.
According to Lehmann, this group was selected, "inasmuch as the towns-
people of Elmhurst had never done anything especially for Elmhurst
College since Mr. Bryan donated the original ten acres." In three and a
half weeks, Lehmann received nearly $60,000 in pledges.

He targeted prospects in Chicago next and more pledges rolled in.
From Chicago he expanded his sights to the Midwest and the nation. He
expected to reach his goal before the end of 1930, but he hadn't counted
on the stock market crash in late 1929. As the nation slipped into depres-
sion, money dried up and many contributors began reneging on pledges.
Thus Lehmann extended the campaign into 1931 and then into 1932 and
1933, which caused expenses to skyrocket.

While more than $1.8 million was pledged, ultimately Elmhurst
received only about $330,000, of which $200,000 went to pay off part of
the bonds, while less than $100,000 was earmarked for endowment. But
this money kept Elmhurst going and served as the basis of the tiny
endowment that finally allowed Elmhurst to gain accreditation.

Lehmann devoted most of his attention to raising money from
1929 well into 1933, so responsibility for running the College fell
upon Dean Mueller and faculty leaders such as Paul Crusius. These
leaders, most of whom had major administrative and teaching respon-
sibilities, were heavily overburdened. Although Mueller had
announced that he couldn't continue to teach 12-15 hours a semester

K The Battle to Survive 129

D?: Irion welcomes Betty Roefer and Eunice Buck, tivo of the first women students at
Elmhurst College, 1930.

1 30 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

and be dean, too, he received little relief until he took a sabbatical in
1931-32 to study student services and counseling at the University of
Chicago. From 1931 to 1933 Crusius was also away, working on his
doctorate at Harvard.

Few leaders of the Synod or the Board understood what it took to
run the fund-raising campaign of a modern college. When Mueller went
on leave, the Board suggested that Lehmann personally replace him as
dean. Instead Professor Helmick took over as acting dean. Earlier the
Board had asked why Lehmann couldn't head the Department of Biblical
Literature in addition to his other duties.

While Niebuhr had enjoyed close relations with his Board,
Lehmann had a fractious Board that was uncertain of its role vis-a-vis the
president and the chief administrators. This weakened Lehmann 's posi-
tion with the Synod and deflected his attention from fund-raising.

Even while attempting to raise money, Elmhurst added to its deficit.
Although the Synod expected the College to balance its budget by 1930,
Elmhurst was forced to borrow money fi^om Elmhurst State Bank in
1930, and the deficit for that year was $16,000.

Coeducation at Last

Enrollment had peaked at 201 students in 1923-24, with 120 in
the Academy and 81 in the Junior College. While the number of
college students increased after 1924, the number of Academy students
declined. By 1925-26 there were only 115 students on campus. The
number of college students increased to 159 in 1928-29 and stood at
150 the next year, but such a small enrollment guaranteed that
Elmhurst would not flourish.

Although most attention was paid to the College's deficits, Lehmann
understood that enrollment was the true problem. He believed that
Elmhurst could educate an additional 100-125 students without signifi-
cant changes, but that it could not survive long with only 150.

In fall 1929 Elmhurst unveiled a new recruiting slogan — "Chicago's
West Side College," it called itself. The next year an article in the

X The Battle to Survive

131

±xxi>xtt^x

w V B « v •• *

n I

Wovien V choral group, ca. 1 940.

Chicago Sunday Tribune proclaimed, "Real University for West Side." In
the article, Lehmann echoed Niebuhr's dream. "With the land we have
for expansion and the population from which we have to draw, Elmhurst
should play a part comparable to that of the great universities of the
North and South side of Chicago."

To help boost enrollment, Elmhurst opened a College News Bureau
late in the decade and hired the first field secretary to recruit local students.
Still, by June 1930, the situation was so critical that the Board offered
students a $25 credit on tuition for every new student they brought in and
asked faculty to spend at least two weeks over the summer recruiting.

Since assuming the presidency, Lehmann had recognized that admit-
ting women was the only way for Elmhurst to draw enough students to
survive. In 1929, at his urging, the Board voted to accept women students
and the Synod concurred. After nearly 59 years, Elmhurst was going coed.

In fall 1930, 46 women entered Elmhurst College, bringing enroll-
ment to a record high of 233 students. Since there was no dormitory- for
women, all commuted from home. Mrs. Lehmann was appointed dean of
women on a voluntary basis. Women's rest rooms were built, and other

1 32 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Genevieve Standi, dean of
Toomen from 1932 to 1961,
and dean of students from 1948
to 1961.

minimal changes were made to accommodate the women, who were
greeted at tea.

The College established a course of study in secretarial sciences that
it expected to appeal to women. The course was abolished in 1931-32
when it became clear that this was not the type of college education
women were seeking. Plans were also discussed for opening a Home
Economics Department, but no money was available.

The coming of women to campus was a major break with the past.
Women represented the first large group of commuter students. Also,
since women could not serve as Evangelical ministers, they were liberal
arts rather than pretheology students.

For years students planning to become ministers had made up the
overwhelming majority of the student body. Since the four-year
college opened, they had accounted for between 66 and 70 percent of
students, according to William Denman. Now the percentage of
pretheology students fell to 30 percent in 1930-31. The percentage of
students planning to study for the seminary increased to 38 percent
over the next three years but then decreased to 21 percent in 1937-38
and 10 percent in 1938-39.

X The Battle to Survive 133

Many of the women were not members of the EvangeHcal church,
so for the first time sizable numbers of students from other faiths were
enroUing at the EvangeHcal college. By 1932-33 only about half the
students claimed membership in Evangelical churches.

The deepening of the Depression also affected the makeup of the
student body. As the economy worsened, fewer families could afford to
send their children away for college. Therefore Elmhurst saw an
increase in male as well as female commuters. By 1934, 20 percent of
students were women and more than 50 percent were commuters.
These changes in the student body upset traditionalists among the
alumni and the Synod.

Ever since the Junior College had opened, charges of free thinking
and immorality had been lodged against students and occasionally faculty^
by some alumni and Synod leaders. Lehmann frequently defended the
school and its students, although he was not always satisfied with their
conduct. Early in 1929 he reported that "all was not well in the dormi-
tory." Profanity, gambling, drinking and immorality in speech and action
were rampant. He asked the facult)^ to investigate, and one student was
expelled while several others were reported to their parents.

Lehmann did not place full blame for the problems on students,
since he felt that the College was doing too Httle to give students
constructive social outlets. This is one of the reasons he supported the
admission of women. Less than a year after Elmhurst went coed, the
president informed the Board that life on campus had improved and that
women were having a positive influence.

Although it was hoped that there would be housing for women in
1931-32, none was available. Therefore the majority of women continued
to be commuters while some roomed with Elmhurst families.

In 1932, Genevieve Staudt, a professor in the Education
Department, was appointed dean of women — a position she held imtil
1961. Her job included every^ing from counseling students, to
inspecting rooming houses, to establishing the social calendar and chap-
eroning all events that women attended, including the dances that had
begun on campus in 1930. WTien women were allowed to live in part of
Irion Hall in 1933, Staudt moved in along with her charges. \Mth
housing on campus finally available, the number of women increased.

134 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Women students inarching, Hojnecoming 1931.

According to Dean Staudt, 44 percent of the early women were
working their way through college, yet their grades were substantially
higher than the men's. The women's record of accomplishment eased some
of the objections of alumni who had wished to keep Elmhurst all-male.

In an effort to prepare students for college, Dean Mueller initiated
the first student orientation program, called Freshman Period, in 1928.
Lasting four days, it included information about classes and study habits,
and concluded with a visit to Chicago where Mueller, a sociologist, took
the students to slums and ethnic neighborhoods as well as downtown.

Big-Time Athletics Come to Elmhurst

Lehmann thought that athletics could help recruit students and
create school spirit and enthusiasm among students, alumni and members
of the community. Therefore, in 1928 he hired a successful high school
football coach from Wisconsin to build winning football teams. Lehmann

K The Battle to Survive 135

OcW

W 53rd, 1931

„„iinir«"«"'""

Homecoming programs from 1931.

1 36 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

wrote that he expected the coach "to put Elmhurst on the map in
athletics as well as in the direction of the characters of young men toward
the fullest and cleanest life." Also in 1928 Elmhurst joined the Illinois
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or Little 19 as it was known.

In his first year, the new coach fashioned a winning team. "The
success that athletics have met with during the current year has been
nothing short of miraculous," reported the 1929 Elms. "The Elmhurst
teams have set up a mark which many other colleges can well envy. There
are three reasons why this wonderful athletic record has been attained,
namely — the new Coach, the new gridiron, and the new gymnasium,"
continued the yearbook.

Elmhurst's 1928 football team won five football games, tied two and
lost only one. The 1928-29 basketball team — the first for a number of
years since the team now had a gym to play in — won 15 out of 17 games
against the Little 19 Conference and was invited to compete in the
National AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Basketball Tournament at
Kansas City. The team declined the invitation since the trip would have
taken them away from classes too long.

The 1929 football team was the best ever. The Pirates, as Elmhurst
teams were called, won eight of nine games, losing only to DeKalb. The
student body was dehghted when the Blue and White defeated Wheaton
College, already considered Elmhurst's traditional rival, by a score of
31-0. The next year the football team won six and lost two, but that was
the last outstanding team at Elmhurst for many years.

In fall 1929 Elmhurst added a cross country team and reorganized
the tennis team, which was coached by C.C. Arends, hired that year as
instructor in public speaking. Elmhurst also developed a strong intra-
mural program.

A pall was cast over the athletic program in 193 1 when Reuben
Getschow, the captain of the football team who had been an all-confer-
ence guard the year before, broke his neck in the first game of the year.
Dr. Loyal Davis of Northwestern University operated in an attempt to
save his life — a surgery that President Lehmann personally witnessed —
but Getschow died nine days after the injury.

In addition to athletics, the College used its Glee Club to stimulate
interest and support for the school. In 1928, the Glee Club began to

K The Battle to Survive 137

appear regularly on WLS radio, one of the most powerful stations in the
Midwest. The Glee Club also traveled throughout the Midwest, often
with President Lehmann.

Lehmann spoke widely both in the Elmhurst area and throughout
the nation and preached regularly at area churches. While the previous
two presidents had begun to reach out to the Elmhurst community,
Lehmann rapidly assumed a leadership position in the city. During his 20
years as president, he served on the boards of selective service, old age
assistance and the Kiwanis Club as well as on many other civic and
community groups such as the centennial planning committee.

Lehmann was active in many professional organizations, including
the Federation of Illinois Colleges and the Liberal Arts College
Movement, and he served as president of the Illinois Association of
Colleges. He was the first Elmhurst College president to actively seek to
learn fi-om neighboring institutions. For example, when Synod leaders
attacked Elmhurst for having too many administrators, Lehmann used his
contacts to survey 10 similar schools and found that Elmhurst ranked
eighth in the percent of revenue spent on administration. Lehmann,
Mueller and other Elmhurst administrators learned a great deal from
their peers at the University of Chicago, where both Lehmann and
Mueller took courses, and at other colleges and universities.

Knowing that many alumni were not happy with the changes at
Elmhurst, Lehmann revitalized the Alumni Association, organizing
district associations, hiring a part-time alumni secretary and using the
Elmhurst College Bulletin, a new alumni pubHcation, to keep alumni
informed and interested in events at Elmhurst. In spite of all these
efforts, Lehmann found his campaign to win alumni support less
successful than he had hoped.

Problems Pile Up

While President Lehmann found relations with alumni strained, he
had even less success in his dealings with Synod leaders. Ever since
Elmhurst was organized, it was a part of the Evangelical Synod, "o-uTied,

1 38 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years S8

Students in line for hot lunches, 1931.

controlled, and managed entirely and exclusively" by the Synod, as its
charter said. In 1929 Lehmann wrote that "The failure of the church to
entrust its representatives in charge of Elmhurst College with the full
responsibility of its development accounts for the slow progress made
thus far.

Although in 1929 the General Conference gave Elmhurst's Trustees
the right to elect an additional three members to its board — bringing the
total of those the Trustees could elect to six — the General Conference
continued to elect nine members and to have final authority on all
matters. Often the Elmhurst Board and administration discussed
attempting to gain control through a new charter. They always hesitated,
though, for fear that a new charter would not grant them exemption from
taxation and that the Synod would cease contributing to the College.

SC The Battle to Survive 139

The Synod's contributions slipped from more than $81,500 in 1929-
30 to $65,000 in 1932-33. Even with an increase in enrollment, the
College could not absorb this decrease. In 1931, to cut costs, the College
eliminated the Elmhurst Festival — the Seminarfest of Proseminary days —
after 50 years. Despite stringent measures, Lehmann was unable to elimi-
nate the deficit by 193 1, and late that year he informed the Board of
Trustees that increased financial support was "a question of life or death
for Elmhurst College." Then in July 1932 the faculty was informed that
their salaries were being cut.

Starting in 1934 Elmhurst found a new source of help in
recruiting students and a small but vital new source of revenue. With
money from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration the College
was able to enroll 28 new students each year. While most colleges lost
enrollment as the Depression worsened, Elmhurst enjoyed a modest
growth of 6-7 percent a year because of the increase in the number of
women, commuters and students receiving federal assistance.
According to Lehmann, it was these groups that allowed Elmhurst to
survive the Depression.

The capacity of Elmhurst's dormitories was soon exceeded. The
College couldn't afford to build a new dorm so it was forced to allow
students to board in Elmhurst. This, combined with the number of
commuters, meant that Elmhurst had lost much of its residential-college
quality by the mid-thirties.

While the enrollment was increasing, Elmhurst could not continue
to draw students if it remained unaccredited. The Junior College had
been accredited, but it issued its last diploma in 1930, so this accredita-
tion meant little.

In order to prepare for accreditation, Elmhurst continued to expand
its curriculum. Lehmann was interested in preprofessional programs, so
new courses were added for students seeking to go on in medicine. In addi-
tion 22 courses were added in business administration and economics, plus
several in music, poHtical science, and elementary and secondary education.

By 1934 Elmhurst had 10 departments that offered majors,
housed within four divisions — religion and philosophy, languages and
literature, natural and physical sciences, and social sciences. Five
preprofessional programs were also available. Because the College

140 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

feared that the School of Music might be a hindrance to accreditation
and because it had long run a deficit, it was reshaped into a
Department of Music in 1933.

Dean Mueller had instituted ability testing for all students some years
earlier. In the early thirties he conducted other tests and studied retention
data in an effort to predict which students were most likely to succeed. As a
result of his studies, he called for an end to Elmhurst's long-standing policy
of open enrollment. Because of the need for students as well as fears by
many in the Synod that higher admission standards would eliminate some
students planning to become ministers, Mueller's recommendation was
rejected, and Elmhurst's admission remained open.

While entrance requirements were not strengthened, graduation
and academic requirements were. The College was still concerned with
developing well-rounded students. Thus rules in the thirties limited the
number of courses a student could take in a major and minor, and
required students to take a significant number of courses in all four divi-
sions. New rules also required students to carry a "C" major at all times
or face probation, deficiency reports and possible expulsion. Previously
students only had to reach a "C" level by graduation.

Another way in which Elmhurst prepared for accreditation was by
strengthening its faculty. Although salaries were very low, they were paid
regularly, which was not the case at some colleges. Also salaries usually
came with housing or a stipend in lieu of housing and, starting in 1929,
the Trustees instituted a modest pension program. Thus Elmhurst was
able to recruit and hold faculty.

The College also used limited sabbatical money and pressure to
encourage faculty to secure additional education. For example, when
Paul Crusius did not finish his doctorate at Harvard after a sabbatical in
1931, the president, dean and Board of Trustees urged him to remain
another year at his own expense to finish. He agreed, completing all
course work and beginning his dissertation before returning to
Elmhurst. Although he didn't receive his Ph.D. for several years, he was
well on his way by 1933, which was considered vital for department
heads if the school was to gain accreditation.

The Elmhurst administration got so good at using its sabbatical
money that it encouraged at least one professor without an advanced

K The Battle to Survive 141

degree to go on sabbatical the semester that the faculty was to be
surveyed for accreditation. A temporary replacement with a Ph.D. was
hired in his place.

Accreditation at Last

When in 1929 Elmhurst requested the University of Illinois to
recognize it as a four-year college, the University's survey team was
generally impressed with Elmhurst's faculty, student spirit and library.
"We found the instruction for the most part to be very good. Some of it
was excellent," reported the sur\^ey team. The team continued, "There is
no doubt that the faculty, in personality, energy and scholarship, ranks
well in comparison with faculties of most of the good smaller colleges in
the State. . . . Your visitors were very favorably impressed with the
teaching staff."

In spite of the praise, the survey team had concerns about the
College's finances. "In view of the fact that the financial situation is at
present somewhat uncertain and that the future progress of the institu-
tion is dependent in a large measure upon the outcome of the plans for
increasing the income," the team recommended that the College be put
on the University's "B" list. The University would receive graduates or
transfers, but it might require an extra semester or two of class work
from them.

Elmhurst was not satisfied with the outcome of the survey and
immediately determined to reapply for the University's "A" list. It was
also determined to win accreditation fi^om the North Central Association.

Before Elmhurst could approach the North Central Association, the
College was rocked by a scandal that jeopardized its accreditation. In
January 1931, Elmhurst was visited by a special committee of the North
Central Association that had been formed to investigate athletic
programs. When the report was issued two months later, Elmhurst was
shocked to learn that it was among the schools that were condemned.

The report pointed out that the president of Elmhurst College was
paid $4,000 a year, the dean $3,700 and the head of the Chemistry

1 42 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SC

Department who had a Ph.D. $3,300, but the football coach received
$4,000. "The coach receives more money than the Dean or Head of any
Department. ... It is obvious that the administration places a higher
value on athletics and physical education than on academic accomplish-
ment," the investigator reported.

The investigator concluded that athletes were being given prefer-
ence for scholarships and campus jobs and that they were being
allowed to defer tuition payments. "The academic records of the
athletes, in general, are below average and some of them are failing. . . .
too much activity in athletics has caused some of this failure," the
report stated. Other charges included recruiting by the football coach,
which was not allowed, failure of athletes to maintain grades needed
for eligibility, and at least one case of money being given to an athlete.
The investigator believed that the coach purposely kept no carbon
copies of letters he had sent to what were described as "athletes who
are shopping around."

The report continued as follows: "The investigator does not
believe the coach is a man of high ideals. He is out to win games and
the investigator is convinced that Elmhurst College is not in good
standing with some of the other colleges of the 'Little Nineteen.'" The
recommendation was clear. "The faculty should study the problem and
solve it. , . . The North Central Association should bring pressure to
bear upon Elmhurst to study its athletics program and to conform with
the policy of the North Central in regard to athletics in both letter
and spirit."

This scandal should not have come as a surprise since Elmhurst had
received protests about its athletic program. For example, in September
1930 the executive secretary of the General Conference of the Synod
wrote to Lehmann claiming that the coach had "lowered the moral tone
of the school" and that athletes were being given jobs when other
students were not. Charges had been leveled by faculty as well. Years
later Th. Mueller reported that athletes had been hired to play for
Elmhurst and that one football player was a discard from the Chicago
Bears. He recalled that Professor Karl H. Carlson became so upset by the
situation that he resigned. Lehmann sent Mueller to talk to Carlson, and
the dean persuaded Carlson to rescind his resignation.

K The Battle to Survive 143

In May 1931 Lehmann fired the football coach "for the good of the
College." Lehmann wrote that "our present coach has outlived his useful-
ness for reasons of indifference to character requirements for himself and
the students." Ultimately the coach was allowed to resign.

Two years after the athletic scandal, Elmhurst hired Oliver "Pete"
Langhorst as football coach and athletic director. He and his wife
Matilda or "Mrs. Pete," who was the alumni secretary for many years,
were beloved by generations of Elmhurst students.

Because of the scandal the North Central Association demanded
that the school be surveyed again in 1932. The scandal also did not go
over well with Elmhurst's alumni or the Synod.

In Eebruary 1932 a North Central Association team came to
check on the athletic situation and found the problems cleared up. The
new coach was earning only $1,900, and a limit of $2,400 was placed
on his salary for the next year. "No irregularities seem to have been
practiced this year in the athletic department. Thirty men were found
eligible to be on the football team. They have been urged to keep their
scholastic records high. . . . Whatever evils may have existed previ-
ously, they seem to have been fully cured," the team reported. The
report went on to state that Elmhurst College had "a Christian atmos-
phere, a loyal spirit, the location in a quiet, refined community, the
close contact between students and teachers. In this college there are
good ideals, positive direction, a careful weighing of values and
splendid team work." Although the team surveyed athletics, the visitors
reported that "the great handicap in the development of the college is
in its financial condition."

Early in 1932 another North Central accreditation team visited
campus. Elmhurst had been invited to participate in a North Central
study of accrediting standards, and the College planned to use the visit as
a practice run for a later official review. Then, in spring 1932, it learned
that under a new North Central rule it would have to receive accredita-
tion as a four-year school by 1933 or lose accreditation as a junior
college. Therefore Elmhurst decided to rush ahead and ask for a formal
survey, although it had not completed its curriculum development or
accumulated $400,000 in endowment, and in spite of the fact that one of
its leading faculty — Paul Crusius — was on sabbatical.

144 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years S5

The official North Central survey was conducted in January 1933,
and two months later accreditation was denied. The report underscored
shortcomings in the faculty, low admission standards and a lack of student
services. It praised the academic administrators, the physical plant and,
surprisingly, the financial situation. Rather than focusing on the lack of
endowTnent, it pointed out that Elmhurst spent $633 per student, which
was very high. Only two of the 34 schools visited by the North Central
Association that year spent more. "However, a relatively high expenditure
is to be expected in view of the small enrollment," said the surveyor.

It was the faculty that came in for the sharpest attacks. The report
concluded that, not only did many faculty members lack academic
degrees, but almost all were inactive in their fields. It noted that only one
had published a book or reviews in the previous five years, none held
offices or presented papers at professional meetings, and few even
attended those meetings. "No member of the group would appear to
have achieved scholarly distinction," the report concluded. The report
called for Elmhurst to hire from now on only faculty with Ph.D.s who
promised to become scholars.

The report recommended better student services, including acad-
emic, personal and vocational counseling, and placement services. It also
called for scholarships for nontheology students and for stricter admis-
sion standards.

While the news on accreditation was bad, the North Central
Association delayed implementation of the rule that would have
stripped Elmhurst of junior college accreditation until 1934, giving
Elmhurst one more year to gain accreditation. Dean Mueller turned to
the task of complying with the recommendations with a vengeance.
Faculty were pressured to seek additional education, undertake schol-
arly work or become active in a professional society. Student counseling
services were developed.

Elmhurst sought money from the Synod and asked it to confirm its
commitment to the College. In September 1933 the General Conference
reaffirmed its support for Elmhurst but came up with no money for the
endowment. In spite of its financial problems, Elmhurst College asked
for another accreditation and petitioned the University of Illinois for an
"A" rating.

K The Battle to Survive 145

A new inspection team from the North Central Association visited
campus in late January 1934. On April 24 the College was notified that it
was accredited. Students carrying victory signs marched through the city,
classes were cancelled and a dance was organized.

The report showed that the committee was still dissatisfied with
Elmhurst's open admission policy, but otherwise it found that the College
met the required standards. "We believe that in the matter of the faculty
the condition has been greatly improved, and is now better than the
average found among the member institutions of the North Central
Association," reported the survey. It was a measure of what Mueller had
accomplished that, according to the faculty minutes, during the semester
that the survey visited, 33 percent of Elmhurst's faculty had doctorates
and 39 percent had master's degrees.

In April the University of Illinois also surveyed Elmhurst and placed
it on its "A" list. This survey team complimented Elmhurst's library as
well as the teaching and the student body. "May I not congratulate you
upon the splendid progress which you have made at Elmhurst during the
past few years," wrote the University of lUinois' registrar to President
Lehmann. "I assure you we were all very favorably impressed with the
work you are doing."

It is not clear why Elmhurst's precarious financial situation and the
endowment of less than $100,000 were ignored. Probably in a time when
nearly all colleges were having financial problems, it was considered
unfair to hold Elmhurst to an impossible standard. In a report to the
Board in 1934, Lehmann wrote, "The economic situation had much to
do with this. It was clearly impossible to stress the importance of income
from endowments as it had been done."

The investigation teams must also have been impressed with what
had been accomplished over the last decade. The College had been
changed from a German secondary school to a four-year liberal arts
college. To succeed in this task had taken visionaries such as H. Richard
Niebuhr, practical leaders such as Th. Mueller and Paul Crusius, as well
as church leaders, alumni, faculty, students and stalwart supporters such
as Timothy Lehmann. Together they had created a College of which they
could be proud during extremely harsh economic times.

146 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The Struggle Intensifies

The College's survival was not guaranteed for more than a decade
after accreditation. The remainder of the thirties and the war years of the
forties were a precarious time for Elmhurst, as for most colleges. The
lack of money shaped all facets of its development, and the union of the
Evangelical Synod with the Reformed Church in 1934 threatened
Elmhurst's funding.

Support from the Synod had always been vital to Elmhurst's
survival. As the Depression worsened, this support fell by more than
$25,000 a year, from its high of $81,590 in 1929-30 to $56,213 in
1935-36. From there it declined even further and hovered around
$50,000 a year until 1941, when it started back up. This diminished
contribution accounted for almost half the College's annual revenue.

The College raised tuition as high as it thought possible. The cost
of attending Elmhurst in 1930-3 1 was $425 for a general resident student
and $325 for a resident pretheology student. Tuition was $150 ($50 for
pretheologs) and the rest was for room, board and general fees. By 1938
it cost $484 for the general student and about $100 less for pretheologs.
The next decade saw more cost increases. By 1946 the cost was around
$660 for a general resident student and $560 for a resident pretheolog,
with tuition of $275 and $175 respectively.

Elmhurst spent about $5,000 a year in direct financial aid such as
for the scholarships to students from York and other area high schools.
The pretheolog discount and discounts for the sons and daughters of
ministers also added up. Combined with the scholarships, the total for
financial aid each year reached over $15,000, which the College could ill
afford. President Lehmann commented that the decision of the Board to
give discounts to pretheologs and other church members took away
money that "should and could have been used for salary increases for
the faculty."

Throughout the thirties, enrollment increased and the makeup of
the student body continued to change. From a low of 222 students in
1932, enrollment increased to 264 in 1936 and 288 in 1937. The next
year saw a major increase to 365. Enrollment peaked at 386 in 1940.

K The Battle to Survive 147

To accommodate increased enrollment Elmhurst bought the
Challacombe property at the corner of Prospect and Elm Park in 1939.
Starting in 1940 students moved into the house, which they called Senior
Lodge. The old residence served as housing until it was torn down to
make way for the Science Center.

Women and students from the Chicago area made up almost all of the
enrollment increase. By the end of the thirties, more than 40 percent of
students were women and 70 percent were from Chicago and its suburbs.

The religious makeup of the students was also changing. By 1937
fewer than half of the students were from Evangelical and Reformed
backgrounds, and by the end of the thirties pretheology students no
longer dominated the student body. The largest major was business, with
pretheologs accounting for only about 1 5 percent of the student body.

All these changes in the student body as well as the increases in cost
to attend Elmhurst disturbed many alumni who felt that the College had
strayed too far from its roots. In response to the obvious discontent of
alumni, the College pointed out that Elmhurst was still educating the vast
majority of future Evangelical ministers. In the late thirties, 70 percent of
students at Eden had studied at Elmhurst.

It concerned the College that many alumni, whose financial support
it needed, were unhappy. President Lehmann traveled widely to assure
them and church leaders that Elmhurst was doing the work of the
church. Still, opposition to changes, including calls for Elmhurst to revert
to a proseminary, continued well into the 1940s.

One major link between Elmhurst and its older alumni was severed
in October 1935 when Daniel Irion died. Irion had symbolized Elmhurst
College for generations of alumni. Christian Stanger and Paul Crusius
remained the only links to Elmhurst's days as a Proseminan^.

As the enrollment grew late in the thirties, so, too, did the faculty
and staff. By 1 940 the faculty numbered 3 7 and the administrative staff
included President Lehmann, Dean of Women Staudt, Dean and
Registrar Mueller, plus a business manager, bursar, recorder, secretar\^ to
the president, librarian, manager of the Commons and dietitian.

For some time Elmhurst had provided a Student Employment
Bureau that helped students find part-time work. At the end of the decade
it also started a placement office to help graduates find employment.

1 48 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

The Evangelical and Reformed Union

While the EvangeHcal Synod could boast of only Elmhurst College,
there were seven Reformed Colleges including Franklin and Marshall,
Heidelberg, Ursinus and Cedar Crest. From their earliest days, individual
Reformed colleges had been funded by regional or local associations
rather than the entire church. Most Reformed schools were much better
funded than Elmhurst. For example, in 1928, when Elmhurst had only a
tiny endowment, Heidelberg had an endowment of $600,000, a figure
that Elmhurst would not reach for decades.

The possibility of a merger between the Evangelical and Reformed
Churches worried Elmhurst officials, who feared Elmhurst would lose its
funding from the general church. When it became clear the merger would
take place, Elmhurst petitioned for a continuation of its traditional funding.

Much to Elmhurst's relief, no change in funding occurred in 1934
when the union took effect. Although the union officially dates from that
year, the EvangeHcal Synod continued in existence until 1940, and
Elmhurst remained under its jurisdiction. Still Elmhurst saw what lay
ahead, so it increased its cultivation of regional churches.

In 1936 Elmhurst launched a new fundraising campaign aimed at
1,000 wealthy parishioners who were to be nominated by their pastors.
Special attention was to go to those who had made earlier pledges but had
been unable to fulfill them. The plan was to raise $1.5 million with half
going for endowment and the rest for campus expansion and operating
expenses, but the campaign was unsuccessful. Many pastors were unwilling
to submit names, and most parishioners, uncertain that the worst of the
Depression was over, were hesitant about giving large sums of money.

Elmhurst officially became a college of the Evangelical and Reformed
Church in November 1940. Early the next year Elmhurst's Board of
Trustees was reorganized into a 12-person Board of Directors. (In 1940 the
first women had been elected to Elmhurst's Board.) Eight of the new direc-
tors were elected by the church and four by the previous Board.

One of the first acts of the new Board of Directors was to authorize
a survey of the College to be conducted by John Dale Russell and his
staff at the University of Chicago. The survey team looked at the aims of

X The Battle to Survive 149

the College, its administration, physical plant, equipment, Hbrary,
curriculum, faculty, instruction, student personnel service, and finance
and business administration.

The results were generally positive with much of Elmhurst's
program, facihties, faculty and student body coming in for praise. Areas
that were faulted included Elmhurst's financial position, inefficient busi-
ness practices, library, failure to involve the faculty in the governance of
the College, and convoluted lines of authority between the school, its
board and church.

The survey team reported that the school's $400,000 debt, much
from the 1928 bond issue, was the highest of any school accredited by the
North Central Association. It pointed out that the library, which earlier
had been one of its strengths, had suffered greatly and was now marginal
at best. The team also took Elmhurst to task for not developing a state-
ment of aims that differentiated it from similar colleges.

The survey team made more than 90 specific recommendations,
which Lehmann hoped to use as the jumping off place for internal study
by Elmhurst faculty and staff and for a general overhaul of the College.
He was frustrated because the faculty declined to rise to the challenge
and the College had no money to implement changes.

While Lehmann and the College received little support internally
for the survey, they made excellent use of it externally. It became the
cornerstone of a publicity campaign aimed at reassuring the church and
alumni that the program at Elmhurst was strong and that the changes
over the past two decades had been for the best. Lehmann referred to the
survey often during his travels and in preparation for celebrations to
mark Elmhurst's 70th anniversary late in 1941.

As part of the anniversar)^ celebration, Elmhurst held a conference
with Synod representatives and officers from the A/lidwest in December
1941. College officials reviewed the survey findings and recommenda-
tions, and pointed out that the appropriations for the College totalled
only a little more than $2 per church member. The conference attendees,
convinced by what they heard, issued a series of recommendations that
included an increase in funding by the church.

Only a few days after this meeting hope for increased fiinding and
reform vanished with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of

1 50 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

the United States into World War 11. For the next four years Elmhurst's
chief concern would once more be survival.

Throughout the early months of the war, negotiations were
underway with the Synod for Elmhurst to obtain its own charter. One
stumbling block continued to be the 1928 bond issue. Although Elmhurst
insisted that the obligation for the bonds and the interest lay with the
Evangelical Synod, not the College, in the end it was forced to assume
the debt, which totalled around $300,000.

Elmhurst finally received its own charter on May 12, 1942. No
longer was it owned by the Synod. The College and all its property were
officially transferred to a new corporation in June 1943.

Its own charter did not mean that Elmhurst was an autonomous
institution. Its new constitution had to be approved by the Evangelical
and Reformed Synod. The first draft of the constitution was rejected
because the Synod did not believe the church's final authority over the
school was clear enough. The constitution that was finally approved in
1943 guaranteed the Synod authority over the school, because it still
elected three quarters of the trustees and had to approve the rest as well
as the president.

Elmhurst remained dependent on Synod funding. Thus it was
relieved in 1942 when the church assured the College that it would not
cut it adrift. The Synod was true to its word, and denominational support
increased from $55,000 in 1941 to $74,500 in 1944. This allowed
Elmhurst to keep its doors open through the war years of declining
enrollment when Synod support provided the bulk of Elmhurst's income.

Student Life in the Depression Years

Students at Elmhurst had an active social life, in spite of the nation's
economic troubles. The YMCA, YWCA, Ehi Bark, Elms, Men's Glee
Club, Women's Glee Club, Student Christian Association, Band, Campus
Choir, Pre-Theological Club and College Theatre remained important
campus organizations. Other organizations came and went, including a
variety of dramatic clubs such as the Masque and Buskin, the French

K The Battle to Survive 151

Oliver "P^?e" Langhorst, who setued
as coach fi-o?n 1933 to 1969 and
athletic director fi'Of?/ 1933 to 1963.

Baseball team, 1935.

1 52 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Club, a debate club, a history club and a revival of the Goethe Verein.
After first refusing to allow a letterman's club, the administration relented
and the "E" Club was organized in the mid-thirties.

The YWCA, which soon changed its name to the Women's Union,
sponsored teas, speakers, sports for women, coed dances and the most
popular campus event of the winter season — the Annual Women's Union
Circus, which was started in 1932. This circus included clowns, a
sideshow, skits and acts presented by various campus organizations. It
grew to be so popular that in 1939 some 700 students, fi'iends and towns-
people attended.

Fall on campus was marked by Homecoming, which always
included a bonfire, snake dance to downtown Elmhurst, concert, parade
and dance. In 1939, more than 500 alumni returned for Homecoming.
In the winter students skated on the ponds at Wilder Park. Spring
brought the junior prom. Students still strolled in Wilder Park or
around Elmhurst, but as cars became more common they ventured
farther from campus.

Athletics, especially football, occupied a large place in student life.
Oliver "Pete" Langhorst, who had played football, baseball and basket-
ball while a student at Elmhurst before transferring to the University of
Illinois, served as coach from 1933 to 1969 and as athletic director from
1933 to 1963.

In spring 1934 Langhorst invited a number of area schools to a
track and field meet on the Elmhurst campus. This began the Annual
Elmhurst Intercollegiate Invitational Track and Eield Meet. More than a
dozen schools sent athletes to the meet, which generated excellent
publicity for the College.

Elmhurst's athletic teams had mixed success at best. The 1935 foot-
ball team won five, lost two and tied one, which was its high water mark
for the decade. In 1937-38, the basketball team won eight and lost seven,
which was its first winning season in nine years.

During the thirties Elmhurst added a swim team, which practiced
at the Oak Park YMCA. By the end of the decade, Elmhurst had an
excellent men's tennis team that was coached by speech professor C.C.
Arends. In 1939, the tennis team won the College Conference of
Illinois title.

a The Battle to Survive 153

Elmhurst supported an active intramural sports program for women
as well as men. Women played field hockey, volleyball, basketball,
badminton, table tennis, tennis and archery. By 1940, Elmhurst women,
coached by Maude Johnson, were competing in intercollegiate tennis.

In 1940 the name of the Elmhurst athletic teams was changed.
According to the Elm Bark, President Lehmann and the students were
dissatisfied with the name "Pirates," which they claimed had been given
to Elmhurst's teams in the early thirties by other schools in the confer-
ence after Elmhurst was charged with pirating or stealing players. The
Eh/i Bark held a contest in which students could suggest names. "Blue
Jays" (in later years "Bluejays") was selected and debuted at the Elmhurst-
Wheaton football game that fall. The traditional colors of blue and white
were maintained.

The Elmhurst- Wheaton game of 1940 was remembered for years by
Elmhurst fans. After a hard-fought game, Elmhurst emerged victorious
by the score of 19-13 and students called a strike for Monday. At 7:30 in
the morning, a dozen dorm students barricaded the doors of Old Main
and prevented faculty and students from entering. Soon a large crowd gath-
ered and students snake-danced through Elmhurst before ending in the
gym where they danced, sang and enjoyed an impromptu review.

The War Years

Long before the U.S. entered World War II, the shadow of the
conflict hung over Elmhurst. Student groups, chapel speakers and
letters to the Ehi Bark debated whether America should intervene. A
strong pacifist streak in the Evangelical and Reformed Church, as well
as the German heritage of the College and many of its faculty and
students, warred w^ith a concern on the part of many students, faculty
and administrators about the atrocities that were occurring in Europe
and Asia,

When Pearl Harbor was bombed, most of this debate ended.
Although a pacifist group continued to meet on campus, most students
and faculty got behind the war effort. As the Ehi Bark editorialized on

154 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhiirst blood do?iors during World War II.

December 9, 1941, "Whether we like it or not we should be convinced
by now that it has been our war for quite a while."

Male students registered for the draft and worried about military
deferments. Lehmann, Hke other college presidents, urged students to
stay in school. Most students followed his advice, though several soon left
school to join the army.

Wartime measures began immediately. By early 1942 the College
had begun to speed up the curriculum so that students could graduate as

S: The Battle to Survive 155

quickly as possible. In January, Elmhurst announced blackout procedures
and appointed air raid and fire wardens. Students flocked to first aid
classes, women met weekly to roll bandages, and a Student Defense
Council was formed. The Defense Council organized blood drives, set up
plans to deal with sabotage, collected reading material for military
personnel, saved paper and tires, and sold war bonds and stamps.

In anticipation of enrollment cuts, the College announced in
February 1942 that it was letting six professors go, eliminating some
subjects such as botany, and instituting a number of war-related courses.
While most colleges and universities prepared for lower enrollments, the
expected declines would affect Elmhurst more negatively. Elmhurst,
which had barely survived the Depression, could now look forward to an
even more dangerous time with no surplus or cushion to help it ride out
the war years.

More concrete signs of the war began showing up. In May 1942
sugar bowls were removed from tables, and students were allowed only
one teaspoon of sugar with each cup of tea or serving of cereal. Later,
other foods, including meat and fresh fruits, were either rationed or in
short supply.

In spite of the war, some aspects of student life continued with
remarkably little change. Students held dances, rooted for their athletic
teams, put on campus plays and looked forward to the Women's Union's
Annual College Circus. The 1942 junior prom went on as scheduled, but
students were urged to use the money they would normally have spent to
buy corsages for war stamps instead.

In March 1942 the College bought and brought to campus a
dismantled airplane for use in an aviation training program. In the fall the
College added a naval training course, and naval cadets enrolled in math,
physics, meteorology and navigation classes on campus. The cadets, who
were housed in Senior Lodge, were extremely popular at dances and
other College events.

For some time the Student Refugee Committee had been endeav-
oring to bring refugee students from China to campus. In fall 1942 the
committee shifted gears and instead brought to campus four American-
born students of Japanese heritage who were members of the Evangelical
and Reformed Church. These were the first students of Asian back-

156 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

ground to attend Elmhurst. Their arrival followed campus protests of the
persecution of Japanese-Americans in California. In spite of mild protests
by local veterans groups, the students were soon an accepted part of
College life.

There had long been concern on campus about the status of
Negroes. In April 1942 the Elm Bark proposed the organization of inte-
grated army units. An editorial wrote that, "The present policy of segre-
gation in the American army contradicts, to put it mildly, the program of
extending democratic principles, one of which is that all men are created
equal." The paper encouraged students to register their willingness to
serve in integrated units. It also called for a committee to be organized to
investigate opening Elmhurst to Negroes.

Admitting Negroes was still a topic under discussion in October
1944 when the Elm Bark talked to a number of students about their
views. Finding that student opinion was mixed, the newspaper editori-
alized, "We are facing a serious issue. . . . But the step is necessary and
even inevitable."

In an effort to help students graduate in three years, Elmhurst
announced that its students could take summer school courses at
Wheaton College in summer 1942. Then in summer 1943 Elmhurst
offered its first summer school program. Twenty students, 17 men who
were on an accelerated pretheology schedule and three women, attended
classes in physics and American history.

In spite of the war, 321 fall-time and 14 part-time students enrolled
in fall 1942, a decline of only 31 from the previous year. Of these
students 216 were men.

The City of Elmhurst in the Thirties and Forties

The city of Elmhurst suffered through the Depression and war
years as did all of America. Growth slowed, but population in the thirties
increased by about 10 percent so that by 1940 the population was close to
15,500. During the Depression, building also slowed, residents lost jobs,
and those who maintained employment found their wages slashed.

S: The Battle to Survive I 57

Responding to increasing need in the community, Timothy Lehmann and
other citizens organized the Elmhurst Welfare Association in 1932 to
provide food, clothing, fuel and other assistance to families. Lehmann
was named Association president. Soon government assistance also
became available.

In the midst of the Depression, the city marked the centennial of its
settlement. A two-week celebration was held in June 1936, complete with
a massive parade, concerts, dances, athletic events, a historical pageant
and other entertainments.

When the United States entered World War II, construction slowed
even more since building material was not available. The war years
brought the draft, and hundreds of Elmhurst citizens went to war. Nearly
50 didn't return.

Victory gardens were planted throughout the city. Gasoline, sugar,
meat and other commodities were rationed, and an active civil defense
program was instituted.

Peace brought Elmhurst a return to prosperity and another period
of rapid growth. From a population of around 16,000 in 1945 the city
would grow to more than 21,000 by 1950. When victory over Japan was
celebrated in August 1945, the city and Elmhurst College were both
ready to enter a boom time.

The War's End

By the 1943-44 school year Elmhurst College was reeling from the
effects of the war. Only 224 students enrolled in the fall, of whom 122
were women. For the first time in Elmhurst's history, women outnum-
bered men. A decline of nearly 100 students in just one year was
ominous. So too was the fact that the enrollment was now perilously
close to 200, the level below which the administration estimated that the
College could no longer exist.

Among the students were a number of naval cadets and other
military personnel who were training to be pilots. They and other
students left school throughout the year to join the armed forces or to

1 58 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

enter either Eden or the Reformed seminary at Lancaster,
Pennsylvania. Thus much of the school's social life revolved around
farewell parties and weddings.

By fall 1943, 400 midwest schools had dropped athletics, but
Langhorst and a handful of other coaches kept their programs going. At
the start of football season, 14 players reported for Elmhurst's varsity.
The team had only two returning lettermen, since most of the previous
year's players were now in the military. Ten more players were found, so
by the first game the team had 24 members.

Homecoming in 1943 was called "Fall Furlough," and the
Homecoming football game was one of only five Elmhurst played that
fall. The team lost three and tied two. Because the two ties were against
Wheaton, the season was not considered a total loss. No intramural
football was played since all men interested in football were needed on
the varsity.

The 1943-44 basketball team won two and lost nine. The College
was so short of athletes that many students played on two or more teams.
In spite of the shortage of men, the 1942-43 tennis team finished the
season unbeaten. In 1944, Elmhurst cancelled the Annual Elmhurst
Invitational Intercollegiate Track and Field Meet after only three of 12
colleges expressed interest in competing.

The shortage of male students was felt elsewhere. Instead of a Men's
Glee Club, a mixed chorus was organized.

The 1944 Elms opened with an "In Memoriam" page listing the
seven students or alumni killed in the war. By 1945, the list had grown to
14. In all an estimated 500 Elmhurst students, alumni and alumnae were
in the armed services during the war.

In the fall of 1944 enrollment increased to 241 and the College
breathed a sigh of relief. Of this number, 54 percent were members of
the Evangelical and Reformed Church, which was the largest percentage
in 1 5 years. That fall's football team, which won one of six, was nick-
named "Pete's Puny Ponies." Still Elmhurst managed to field a team
when many other schools couldn't. The 1944-45 basketball team was
more than respectable, winning seven of 12.

In January 1945 Elmhurst College held its first midyear commence-
ment, at which 16 students were graduated. Women's Union Circus and

K The Battle to Survive 159

spring vacation were cancelled in 1945. The vacation was eliminated to
take strain off the overcrowded wartime transportation system. The
College held final examinations and graduation earlier than usual. By
this time the end of the war was in sight and it appeared that Elmhurst
would survive.

Registration in the fall of 1945 confirmed that the worst was over
when 301 students enrolled, including a number of returning service
personnel. As the 1946 Eh?is reported, "This was the year the boys came
home!" From this time on the enrollment would increase at a dizzying
rate up to 539 students in 1946, 153 more than Elmhurst's record high
enrollment, and 660 full- and part-time students in 1947. Such increases
would bring their own problems, but none would be as severe as the crisis
that the College had just weathered.

Although Elmhurst College had come close to going out of busi-
ness several times in the twenties, thirties and the war years when a
number of similar colleges had failed, its survival was now assured. In
succeeding decades faculty, administrators, students and alumni would
debate the shape the College would take, but no longer would they have
to wonder if it would continue. Elmhurst celebrated its Diamond Jubilee
year in 1945-46 with the knowledge that it could look forward to a
promising future.

160

Timothy Lehmann
The Seventh President

Timothy Lehmann was presi-
dent from 1928 to 1948. He was
born in 1881 in south Russia, the
son of a minister in German settle-
ments and the grandson of a
minister. He emigrated to the
United States in early childhood and
grew up in Independence, Ohio.

Lehmann graduated from the
Proseminary in 1899 and from
Eden Theological Seminary. He served in churches in Virginia and
Maryland before settling in Columbus, Ohio where he was pastor
of St. John's Evangelical Protestant Church for more than 16 years.

During Lehmann's 20 years as Elmhurst president, the third
longest tenure in Elmhurst history, the College admitted the first
women, gained accreditation, and survived the Depression and the
World War II era, when declining enrollments brought the College
perilously near to closing. During Lehmann's presidency overall
enrollment grew from 250 men to 660 men and women.

Lehmann was active in the Elmhurst community, serving on
the Welfare Board and the DuPage County draft board. After
retiring from Elmhurst, he was a pastor in Virginia. He died
in 1971.

Lehmann was married to Martha Menzel, the daughter,
granddaughter and great-granddaughter of ministers. She served
for one year as volunteer dean of women, and her warmth and
energy helped the first women on campus adjust to their new
school. The Lehmanns had two sons and a daughter.

chapter 9

K Peacetime Expansion

Elmhurst College entered a new era in the years immediately
following World War II. With the return of soldiers arid the
G.I. Bill of Rights, enrollment skyrocketed, bringing the first
surpluses in Elmhurst's history. Suddenly, after decades of scrimping and
stretching each dollar, Elmhurst had financial security. It was now ready
to undertake an ambitious building campaign.

This period marked a major change in personnel as well. In short
order, the president, dean, financial manager and Christian Stanger, the
senior faculty member who had been at Elmhurst for 50 years, retired.
This broke many of the remaining links not only with the Proseminary
days, but also with the Niebuhr era and the creation of the four-year
college. Paul Crusius, Karl Carlson and Homer Helmich remained, but
as they neared the end of their careers they were no longer prime shapers
of the College. Younger faculty leaders included Rudolf Schade and
Harvey DeBruine.

Elmhurst's enrollment more than doubled in two short years, from
301 students in 1945 to new record highs of 539 in 1946 and 660 in
1947. This unprecedented growth brought with it an immediate need for
new housing, more classrooms, adjustments in the curriculum to serve a

161

162 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The Twenty-Five Club, 1955: Karl Henning Carlson, Paul N. Crusius, Christian G.
Stanger, Theophil W. Mueller and Homer Hehnick, all on the faculty for 25 years.

student body that included many older veterans, and changes in the rules
governing student life.

Elmhurst's first response to the housing crisis was to request and
receive from the federal government three surplus barracks that were set
up between the Gymnasium and the cemetery in 1946. Veterans lived in
these residences that the College referred to as the Cottages but that
students simply called the Barracks or the Shacks. The unfinished swim-
ming pool area in the Gymnasium was also turned into a dormitory for
30 students and dubbed the Annex. These moves were not long-term
solutions. With no money for new dormitories or faculty in his budget,
Lehmann seized upon an upcoming celebration as the focus for a new
fund-raising campaign.

Elmhurst College's Diamond Jubilee celebrating its 75th anniversary
included a year's worth of activities, starting with a convocation in
January 1946. As part of the celebration, a fund-raising campaign that
had slumbered for some years was revived with the aim of financing
major improvements to the College. Included were plans to construct
new dormitories, a chapel, an auditorium, a science building, a student

K Peacetime Expansion 163

union, an addition to the library, a new power plant and the Gymnasium
swimming pool that had been planned in the 1920s. The campaign also
earmarked funds to increase the endowment, establish scholarships,
endow professorships and enlarge the faculty.

The College expected to raise $600,000 for new dormitories to
accommodate the massive expansion of the student body, and a goal of
$2.5 million was set to pay for these and other constructions and
improvements. Individuals and Evangelical and Reformed churches were
targeted for special appeals, as were all fi-iends of the College.

Because of the continuing economic disruptions resulting from the
war, a lack of focus and administrative skill, and the probable exhaustion
of President Lehmann who had been struggling to raise funds for the
College for nearly 20 years, the campaign did not succeed. Only
$175,000 in cash and pledges was secured by the time the campaign
ended in 1947.

Other anniversary activities were more successful. Jubilee celebra-
tions were scheduled around Commencement in the spring with special
services, a campus festival and musical events. The celebrations continued
in the fall with a gala Jubilee Homecoming in October, the Institute on
the Liberal Arts and Religions in late November featuring Reinhold
Niebuhr, a Jubilee Anniversary Banquet of Recognition in November,
and a Diamond Jubilee Praise Service and Festival in December that
closed out the year.

The Postwar College

With the end of war, much of traditional Elmhurst student life
returned to normal. The annual Women's Union Circus was reinstituted
as one of the highlights of the winter. In spring 1946, the Elmhurst
Intercollegiate Invitational Track and Field Meet was revived. The
campus radio station, WRS (Wired Radio System), began broadcasting
during Homecoming in 1947. It later changed its call letters to W^SE.

The increased number of students put a heavy strain on the campus
food service, and the College was hard pressed to find enough workers

164 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

and space to serve all the students. Complaints also increased about the
quality of the food. Therefore, late in 1948, students were no longer
required to eat at Commons.

Freshman hazing, which had been discouraged for many years,
made a comeback. In 1948 two students were seriously injured, so the
College attempted to crack down on the practice. This effort was unsuc-
cessful. The 1952 Elms described how, in the middle of the night, sopho-
more men got freshman men out of bed, blindfolded them and dumped
them in various places off campus from where they had to make their
way back to the College.

The freshman beanie was required apparel for the six weeks
between the start of school and Homecoming. During "Hell Week" — the
last week before Homecoming — freshmen had to wear their clothes back-
wards, carry signs, scrub floors, shine shoes and appear before a
Kangaroo Court at which they were sentenced to Q^g shampoos and
other indignities for alleged infractions. In spite of some protests, the
Elm Bark defended hazing as a way to build school spirit.

The addition of a number of veterans added energy to Elmhurst's
athletic teams, but on the whole the teams were no more successful than
they had been in previous years. In 1945, the football team went 0-4 while
the 1945-46 basketball team had a record of 3-12.

In 1947 the football team managed only one victory in nine games,
but the 1947-48 basketball team tied for third in the conference under
the direction of Coach Robert "Bob" Thompson. In 1948 the football
team managed only one victory out of eight games (the highlight of the
season was a 19-12 Homecoming victory over Concordia), and the Elm
Bark described the team as giving "a miserable showing."

In 1949 William Kastrinos became the new football coach and
installed the "T" formation in offense. The team's record only worsened
to 0-8. Late in 1949, a new baseball diamond was built at the west side of
campus. This gift from alumni meant that baseball players no longer had
to walk to East End Park for games. The 1950-51 basketball team had a
losing record, but captain Don Seller finished second in the College
Conference of lUinois in scoring with an average of 22.5 points per game.

The Elmhurst College Theatre was much more successful than the
athletic teams in the late forties and fifties. The Theatre continued

K Peacetime Expansion 165

under the direction of long-time speech professor C.C. Arends, who
had been in charge since 1929. Arends also continued to coach the
Elmhurst tennis team, Elmhurst's most successful team for many years.

A New President for A New Era

Relations between President Lehmann and the Synod had been
strained from the very beginning. Continuing unhappiness about the
changes at Elmhurst on the part of some alumni pastors, conflicts with
both the Board of Directors and Synod leaders, and charges of adminis-
trative inefficiency had surfaced throughout his administration. For
example, in 1940, after Lehmann pressured a faculty member to resign, a
regional Synod charged the president with mismanagement. Although the
dispute was ultimately settled, ill will remained.

Recognizing that it was time for new leadership. President Lehmann
submitted his resignation in 1947. Elmhurst had changed radically in his
20 years as president. It had grown from a small, struggling, unaccredited
men's institution that had only begun to develop a college curriculum to a
substantial coed liberal arts college.

Much more remained to be done. Still, under Lehmann 's leadership
Elmhurst had survived the greatest crises in its history — the struggle for
accreditation, the Depression and the war years. Time and again he had
cajoled church leaders into providing enough money for the College to
continue, and during hard economic times he had managed to raise more
than $500,000 in a number of fund-raising campaigns. Though these
campaigns were never as successful as hoped, they bought time for the
College, and Lehmann was always ready for another fund-raising effort.

Lehmann stayed on at Elmhurst until March 1948, a month after a
new president was chosen, to help in the transition. In spite of his many
and vigorous fund-raising activities he left his successor a debt of nearly
$400,000, including the long-standing bond debt of almost $200,000 as
well as a projected deficit of more than $40,000 for the 1947-48 year.

Also in 1947, Th. Mueller resigned as dean, a position he had held
for 22 years. He had shared the major decisions with Lehmann during

166 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

those years and had masterminded the changes necessary for accreditation
and survival. It was Mueller who developed and organized the curriculum.
He would remain as chairman of the Sociology Department until 1962, at
which time he completed 41 years at Elmhurst.

Succeeding Mueller as dean was Alfred Friedli, who had been a
principal of a large high school in St. Louis. He was an experienced
administrator and church leader. Throughout his time as dean he was
concerned with developing preprofessional programs, maintaining a
Christian commitment, and recruiting a student body that was composed
substantially of members of the Evangelical and Reformed faith.

Selected as the eighth president was Henry Dinkmeyer, the long-
time pastor of Bethany Evangelical and Reformed Church in Chicago,
who had been closely involved with Elmhurst College for many years. He
had graduated from Elmhurst in 1911 before going on to Eden and then
to Yale and the University of Chicago for graduate study. He had also
served as a member and chairman of Elmhurst's Board of Directors.
Dinkmeyer was known as an excellent administrator, a strong fund-raiser
and a "practical Christian."

Dinkmeyer and Friedli made few breaks with the College's past.
They attempted to adapt the school to its changed environment while
maintaining its rehgious character. Dinkmeyer also changed the role of
president, withdrawing from day-to-day student activities.

Another important change in personnel was the appointment of
Genevieve Staudt, who had served as dean of women since 1932, as dean
of students. She expanded student services and improved the advising
program. Staudt started tutoring programs and worked for the creation
of remedial classes for less well-prepared students.

In 1947, the College adopted its first admission requirements. After
that date students in the lower third of their high school graduating class
had to score above a certain level on a college admission exam. This
requirement was set so low, however, that in reality Elmhurst was able to
cling to a nearly open-enrollment policy, although there was criticism
from a number of faculty who called for more stringent entrance require-
ments. Dean Staudt underlined her concern for what some faculty
considered to be marginal students by adopting a slogan proclaiming that
Elmhurst was "A College that Cares."

a Peacetime Expansion 167

Clarence Josephson, a former president of Heidelberg College,
minister and business leader, was appointed assistant to the president in
1949. He served as the business manager and improved the management
of the College's business affairs. He also implemented a new investment
policy under which the Board of Directors rather than the Synod
managed the College's investments. Increased enrollments, better busi-
ness practices and improved investments soon resulted in the first
surpluses in the College's nearly 80-year history.

The first problems facing the new president were the burgeoning
enrollment and the resulting housing shortage. Shortly before Lehmann
retired, the Board had decided that a student body of 650 would be ideal
for the Elmhurst campus. Dinkmeyer quickly reversed this thinking and
began to draw up plans for a campaign that would provide housing and
faculty for more students. And more students came.

Full-time enrollment rose to 750 in 1948-49. Under the influence of
the Korean War, it dropped to 631 in 1950-51 and 557 in 1952-53. In
1953 enrollment started back up, increasing to 658 in 1954-55 and a new
record of sHghtly more than 800 students in 1956-57. By now the admin-
istration was talking about an ideal of 1,000 students — a size that
Elmhurst would reach in the middle of the 1960s.

Starting in 1949 Elmhurst offered an Evening Session to attract
students from the Elmhurst community. Enrollment grew rapidly from
11 in 1949 to 175 in 1953 and 445 in 1957-58. While the Evening
Session didn't increase the strain on housing, it did require the hiring of
new faculty and some changes in curriculum.

As the tension between Elmhurst's president and church leaders
eased, Dinkmeyer received increased help fi*om the church, including a
$30,000 Synod gift and individual gifts from the Board, alumni and
friends. Annual appropriations continued from the Synod although the
amount didn't increase as the enrollment grew. Tuition was raised by only
about $25, to $300 for general students and $200 for pretheologs in
1948-49, but the boom in enrollment magnified this amount. Thus in
1948-49 Elmhurst registered its first ever surplus of a little over $20,000.

Early in summer 1949, the College established a new faculty
pension plan and provided a much-needed raise averaging eight percent.
Still the College managed to end the 1949-50 year with another surplus

168 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SC

of more than $20,000. A surplus of $15,000 followed in 1950-51, by which
time tuition had been raised to $350 for general students. Tuition went up
to $400 for general students and $225 for pretheologs in 1954-55.

As relations continued to warm, Dinkmeyer convinced the Synod's
General Council to retire the College's bonds. Thus by December 1951
Dinkmeyer told the Board of Directors that the bonds were all paid off
and the College was totally out of debt. Also in 1951-52 Dinkmeyer
annoimced that the College's financial situation was the best it had been
in 25 years. In fact, it could be argued that it was better than it had been
in the College's entire history.

President Dinkmeyer also convinced the General Council to give
the Board of Directors more autonomy by allowing them to select half
of their membership. This led to an increase in the number of business
leaders on the Elmhurst Board. The Board also began to pull out of the
day-to-day management of the College. It ceased interviewing prospec-
tive faculty and gave routine approval for appointments.

Retrenchment during the Korean War included plans to eHminate a
third of the faculty, but Elmhurst wasn't as hard hit as other colleges.
Still, enrollment at Elmhurst fell by about 180 students between 1949
and 1953, and the faculty was cut by about a fifth.

Dinkmeyer made a concerted effort to secure gifts from Board
members, alumni, business and industry, foundations and individual
churches. In 1955 Elmhurst received its first corporate gift — $1,000 from
U.S. Steel. Late in the same year came $134,000 fi-om the Ford
Foundation for faculty improvement. In the same period Elmhurst
received a number of substantial gifts from congregations for the
building fund.

Building Abounds

For the first time in more than 20 years Elmhurst College under-
took a major building program. Although the College did not have
money for a new dormitory, in October 1948 President Dinkmeyer had a
hole bulldozed on the north side of campus. There he erected a sign that

K Peacetime Expansion 169

President Dinkmeyer speaking at groundbreaking for Dinkmeyer Hall in 1955.

read, "A Hole to be Filled by Faith For A New Dormitory." Then he set
to work raising the money needed to build the dorm. Ground was broken
early in 1950, and the dormitory, which cost about $325,000, was
completed in 1951. It was called Senior Men's Dormitory until 1956
when it was renamed Lehmann Hall.

In 1955 Dinkmeyer used the same procedure to begin construction
of a new women's dormitory on the south side of the campus, to the west
of what was then called South Hall and is now known as Schick Hall.
The dormitory was completed in 1956 and named Dinkmeyer Hall
against the president's wishes.

The next new building to be scheduled was a chapel. A gift of
$300,000 from Louis Hammerschmidt, who had long served on the
College's Board of Directors, provided half the money needed for the
chapel, which would include a number of classrooms. This time
Dinkmeyer's sign read, "Another Hole to Be Filled With FAITH FOR A

170 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

NEW CHAPEL. One Half of the Hole Has Been Filled by Dr. Louis
Hammerschmidt." The rest of the money to build Hammerschmidt
Memorial Chapel was not raised until the next presidency.

A faculty apartment building to the south of the main campus, on
Elm Park, and a new heating plant were also constructed under
Dinkmeyer. In February 1957, the College announced that an addition
would be built to Memorial Library and the pool would finally be built in
the Gymnasium. The new buildings were in keeping with the plan
devised in 1926 by Benjamin Franklin Olson, who designed all the build-
ings on campus for 40 years, fi-om the construction of the Gymnasium
through the College Union (now The Frick Center), which was built in
1964. A mall where generations of Elmhurst students have played ball
and sunbathed was built between the two rows of campus buildings.
Roads were paved and many trees were planted during Dinkmeyer's term.

Curriculum Changes

Dean Friedli made only small changes in the course of study. In
keeping with the emphases of both Friedli and Dinkmeyer, increased
attention was paid to preprofessional and vocational training. Starting in
1947, Elmhurst participated in the training of nurses. The first nursing
students were trained at Masonic Hospital in Chicago and came to
Elmhurst three days a week. A number of new business courses were
developed, and beginning in 1951 Elmhurst offered a Bachelor of Science
degree in business administration.

In this period three new departments were organized — psychology,
economics and political science. Teacher education was strengthened
with the addition of an elementary education program and, for a short
while, a kindergarten and primary education program was offered. Also
strengthened were the music education and speech programs, with
speech therapy being added. In 1947, the Elmhurst College Speech
Clinic opened to train students and serve the community. Also considera-
tion was given to offering graduate-level social work classes and opening
a School of Social Work.

SC Peacetime Expansion 171

Hungarian joined German, French, Spanish and Greek in the
Language Department. Support for Hungarian came from the
American Hungarian Studies Foundation. Elmhurst offered eight
classes or sections of Hungarian each year throughout the early and
middle fifties, but ultimately student interest waned and Hungarian was
eliminated in the next administration.

Under the continuing influence of Th. Mueller, a number of depart-
ments experimented with interdisciplinary courses. One of the most
popular was Mueller's "Democracy and Freedom in Modern Society."
Several departments also added advanced courses for majors.

A Changing Student Body

The student body in the late forties and early fifties became
increasingly heterogeneous. Veterans made up 38 percent of students
in 1947. The percent decreased in later years until the end of the
Korean War brought another influx of veterans to campus. From 1954
to 1958 veterans made up somewhat more than 10 percent of the
student body.

With changes in the composition of the student body came changes
in student rules. Recognizing that it would not be able to enforce
requirements that the veterans be in their dorms or barracks at a certain
hour, the College ended the last remaining hours for men, those for
fi-eshmen. Women still had to be in their dorms by set times. Students
were now allowed to own cars, and soon parking and traffic congestion
became major problems on campus.

In the postwar years the number of pretheology students increased,
as did those planning other careers in the church. Still, over time the
percentage of students from the Evangelical and Reformed churches
declined from 47 percent in 1947 to the low 40 percent range in the mid
and late 1950s.

Dean Friedli and the Board became concerned about the rehgious
makeup of the College as the number of non-Evangelical and Reformed
students and faculty increased. When Friedli took office, he stated that

1 72 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhurst's chief consideration must be the spiritual welfare of its
students. Throughout his tenure he sought to recruit students of the
Evangelical and Reformed faith and faculty who were committed
Christians. He called for the College to take steps to create a student
body that was two thirds Evangelical and Reformed.

Because of changes in both the composition and the size of the
student body, Elmhurst was forced to alter its requirement of atten-
dance at daily chapel services. In 1949, daily chapel ended, and services
were held on only two mornings a week. Students and faculty were still
expected to be at services, but soon the number of both who attended
regularly declined. For many years students were urged to attend
chapel and those not of the Evangelical and Reformed faith were
encouraged to go to services at their own places of worship, but roll
was no longer taken.

Under Dinkmeyer, efforts were made to recruit foreign students,
and African-American students were welcomed on campus. The first
African-American student, Gwendolyn Jeffers from Cleveland, graduated
in 1951. Operation Foreign Student, organized in 1950 by the Student
Refugee Committee, raised money to bring a foreign student to campus
each year. The first student supported by Operation Foreign Student was
a German pretheology student fi-om near Stuttgart. By 1958 there were
nine foreign students on campus.

With the new dormitories, Elmhurst increased the number of resi-
dent students fi-om around 300 in 1952 to more than 430 in 1956, 575 in
1958 and 700 in 1959. The percentage of resident students also went up
from 41 percent in 1949 to nearly 55 percent in 1957.

Student Life

With the outbreak of fighting in Korea, Elmhurst students once
again began to leave school to join the military. Their numbers, though,
were much lower than during World War II. Early in 1951 the campus
was shocked to learn that the first of its former students had been killed
in action. But student life went on, much as before.

SC Peacetime Expansion 1 73

The Jays' 1950-51 basketball captain Don Seller was named to the
All-Conference Team at the end of the season. After a number of losing
seasons, the 1952 football team went 4-4, and the administration gave the
students the Monday off after the team beat the U.S. Naval Air Force
Base team in Memphis. The next year brought a new coach and three
wins, four losses and a tie. Little did Elmhurst fans know in November
1953 when they beat North Central that their team would not win
another game until November 1956.

The 1955-56 basketball team under Coach Walter Schousen was
much more successful, finishing 14-7, 8-6 in the conference. It tied
with Millikin for third m the CCI. Emil "Pat" Lira starred for the
Bluejays and was named to the All-CCI team. Suddenly there was
standing room only in Elmhurst's gym, and basketball tickets were the
hottest item on campus.

While the basketball and baseball teams had their ups and downs,
there were only downs for the football team in the middle of the fifties.
In both 1954 and 1955, the Bluejays went 0-8, with losses in 1955 of 78-3
to Wheaton and 81-0 to Millikin. The Bluejays scored only four touch-
downs in 1955 while allowing the opposition 56. By season's end, the
team was dispirited and decimated by injuries.

In spite of a new football coach, the 1956 football team continued
to suffer defeat after defeat. As the season neared an end, the Bluejays
had racked up 22 straight losses over three years. During this time,
there was much talk among students and alumni about the possibility
of dropping intercollegiate athletics. The talk died down a bit when
Elmhurst defeated North Central 14-12 in November 1956. Students
tore down the goalposts in celebration, and they paraded through
downtown Elmhurst.

While sports declined in popularity as losing seasons piled up, Sadie
Hawkins dances became extremely popular in the early fifties, as did
formal dances, which were now often held off campus. Also popular were
Polyhymnia, which was the women's chorus, and the Glee Club.

Although an occasional politician such as Illinois Senator Paul
Douglas or Synod leaders visited campus, there was no organized effort
to bring speakers to Elmhurst until the Lecture Series began in 1953.
The student-faculty committee that organized the Lecture Series soon

1 74 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

Commencement, 1957.

found that the Elmhurst community was eager to attend lectures but
students were not.

As both the student body and the faculty grew rapidly, some of the
close bonds between faculty and students that had marked Elmhurst's
history weakened. In 1947, in an effort to increase student- faculty
interaction, the College instituted Firesides, small student-organized
discussions that were held at various faculty members' homes. These
get-togethers continued through the fifties.

In February 1957, President Dinkmeyer announced that he would
retire at the end of the school year. Two weeks later on February 16, a
day before his 65th birthday, he died suddenly of a heart attack. In nine
short years, Dinkmeyer had begun a major building program and over-
seen the changes that were necessary to accommodate the sudden massive
increase in enrollment. He had put the College for the first time on the

K Peacetime Expansion 175

path to prosperity. Under Dinkmeyer there was never a question of
whether Ehnhurst College would survive. The question remaining was
how the College would adapt to the changes that the 1960s and the last
decades of the century would bring.

City of Elmhurst

Like the college that bears its name, the city of Elmhurst entered a
period of prosperity and rapid growth following World War II. From a
population of nearly 15,500 in 1940, it grew to more than 21,000 in 1950
and to nearly 37,000 in 1960. New housing sprang up all over Elmhurst,
including in the area adjoining the College in what is known as College
View. As the population boomed, new schools and services for youngsters
became necessary.

Many new businesses sprang up in the downtown. Spring Road and
North Avenue areas. The Elmhurst Industrial Park was laid out north of
North Avenue in the middle of the decade. Quite a few of the new busi-
nesses benefited from the larger enrollment of college students who had
autos, which made shopping easier.

By the middle of the 1950s, a number of the stately elm trees that had
given Elmhurst its name had sickened and died. This signaled the arrival of
the dreaded Dutch Elm disease, which over the following decades would
change the face of much of the city and the College campus.

176

Henry Dinkmeyer
The Eighth President

Henry W. Dinkmeyer, president
from 1948 to 1957, was bom in
Carlinville, Illinois in 1892 and gradu-
ated from the Elmhurst Proseminary
in 1911. From Elmhurst he went to
Eden Theological Seminary and then
to Yale Divinity School and the
University of Chicago, where he
earned a master's degree.

Dinkmeyer was pastor at
Bethany Church on the north side of
Chicago for 28 years. During that time, he was chairman of the
board of Elmhurst College and a member of the board of Eden
Theological Seminary.

Under Dinkmeyer Elmhurst achieved its first balanced budgets. As
the College's enrollment increased rapidly, Dinkmeyer began a building
campaign. Lehmann Hall (originally called Senior Men's Dorm),
Dinkmeyer Hall and a faculty apartment house on Elm Park were
constructed, and plans were begun for the Hammerschmidt Memorial
Chapel. An experienced fund-raiser, Dinkmeyer had a hole bulldozed on
campus for buildings he intended to finance and signs erected
proclaiming that these holes would be filled by faith. In a remarkably
short time, the holes were filled by contributions.

Early in 1957, Dinkmeyer announced his plan to retire. Two weeks
later, the day before his 65th birthday, he died suddenly.

President Dinkmeyer was married to Lois Ely. He and his wife
were the parents of one son.

chapter 1 0

SS Into the Mainstream

Following the sudden death of President Dinkmeyer, an Executive
Committee consisting of Dean Friedli, Dean Staudt and Clarence
Josephson governed Elmhurst College. The search committee that found
the new president turned to the same institution that had supplied
President Dinkmeyer — Bethany Evangelical and Reformed Church in
Chicago — for his successor.

Robert Stanger, who became the ninth president of Elmhurst
College in summer 1957, had a life-long connection with the College.
He was born on campus in the original Melanchthon Seminary building,
which had been cut in two and moved to Alexander Boulevard where it
served as faculty housing. His father, Christian Stanger, had been the
music professor at the Proseminary. Robert Stanger followed in his
father's footsteps, graduating from the Proseminary in 1918 and Eden
Seminary before going on to Yale University, where he received a
Bachelor of Divinity, and the University of Chicago, where he earned a
master's degree.

Stanger served as a professor of biblical literature on the Elmhurst
faculty from 1931 to 1934 and as dean of men for one year before
turning full time to the ministry. His second church was in Detroit,

177

1 78 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

where he succeeded Reinhold Niebuhr. From Detroit, Stanger went to
Bethany Church on Chicago's northwest side when Henry Dinkmeyer
became Elmhurst's president. Since Stanger had spent more than 20 years
away from higher education, he took a summer course at the University
of Michigan's Institute for College and University Administrators before
assuming his new post.

In a 1976 interview, Stanger recalled that he was hired to help
Elmhurst "enter the American mainstream." Until this time, the school
had always been subsidized by its church. "The denomination subsidized
it because it was a service institution," he said. Ever since Elmhurst's
founding its church had considered the College's major job to be the
preparation of students for Eden Seminary. Now with the impending
merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church with the
Congregational churches to form the United Church of Christ, the
school could no longer count on a denominational subsidy. At the same
time the College's sense of mission was changing. "And so it was my job
then to . . . develop the resources of the school," said Stanger. In time,
these resources would allow Elmhurst to stand on its own, related to but
independent of its church.

Stanger spent much of his presidency in building and fund-raising.
Under Stanger, as under his predecessor, there were few changes in
curriculum. The changes in the student body that had been under way
since the thirties accelerated, and Elmhurst became a Christian liberal
arts college serving all students. During this presidency the College
constructed new buildings to keep up with the burgeoning enrollment
and worked to improve the quality of the students, the faculty and the
education that the College provided.

A Decade of Development

President Dinkmeyer was engaged in raising money for a chapel
when he died. He had secured the largest grant to that date in the
College's history — $300,000 from Louis Hammerschmidt, a Board
member from South Bend, Indiana. The gift was to be matched by other

X Into the Mainstream 179

Hole dug for chapel in mid '50s, and chapel
under construction.

180 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

funds raised from alumni and congregations to pay for the building that
was expected to cost approximately $650,000. President Stanger
completed the fund-raising and planning for the Hammerschmidt
Memorial Chapel, which was dedicated in 1959. In addition to the
chapel, which served as both a place of worship and of assemblies, the
building contained much-needed classrooms and faculty office space. A
full-time chaplain was hired in 1963.

Throughout the late fifties and early sixties the college population
increased rapidly across America. Elmhurst took advantage of the
increasing national interest in higher education to launch a plan to
expand the College. In 1958, Elmhurst hired a public relations firm to
study its image and its ties with alumni, faculty, community, and local
businesses and industry. Among the findings of the study were that
Elmhurst failed to project a clear image or sense of purpose, had poor
staff morale because of very low faculty salaries, suffered from inadequate
alumni support, had few meaningful relationships with its community and
local businesses, and was little known outside church circles.

To improve this situation, the College established a new
Development and PubHc Relations Office and hired a new director, who
immediately expanded the public relations activities of the College and
improved communication and contacts with alumni, corporations and
foundations. In 1960, the first full-time Alumni Affairs Director was
hired. The College also changed the composition of its governing body
to increase the representation of business leaders.

Elmhurst benefited greatly in this period from federal and state
assistance to students and to institutions of higher education. Federal and
state scholarships and grants encouraged students to attend college. The
federal government also made money available through grants and loans
for building new dormitories, and government money helped improve
Elmhurst's library and laboratory facilities.

Elmhurst tapped into the federal money to finance the construction
in 1961 of Niebuhr Hall, a dormitory for men built between Lehmann
and Irion Hall on the north side of the mall. A long-term government
loan funded the dormitory, which cost approximately $450,000. A
modern student health service with three hospital rooms for men students
and three for women was located in the lower level of Niebuhr Hall.

a Into the Mainstream 181

On
On

o

182 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

In May 1961, the College announced a new 10-year expansion
program called the "Decade of Development," which included an aggres-
sive solicitation of alumni and local community and business leaders. The
College unveiled an updated campus plan developed by Benjamin
Franklin Olson, the same architect who had drawn up the Ten-Year Plan
for H. Richard Niebuhr in 1926.

The College Union, which was finished in 1964, was an early finiit
of this new fund-raising and expansion effort. The College Union was
built just to the west of the Commons, which had become too small to
feed the increased number of students. Commons was razed shortly after
the new building was completed. The College Union had dining and
snack facilities, and it provided meeting rooms and space for student
organizations such as WRSE, the Ehm and the Elm Bark, plus a mail
room and bookstore. Funding for the Union came from a variety of
sources, including a large federal loan and gifts from alumni and the
Kresge Foundation.

Next the College turned its attention to filling a decades-old need
for a science building. After nearly 40 years of constructing all buildings
on campus in one style, Elmhurst decided to hire a new architectural firm
to design this specialized building. Funding and most of the plans for the
Science Center were nearly complete when President Stanger retired.
The building was finished during the tenure of his successor.

The Decade of Development also proposed an increase in the
College's endowment, better salaries and benefits for the faculty, more
scholarships, improvement in the library, a new gymnasium and a fine
arts center. The buildings alone were expected to cost more than $2.35
million. The Decade was scheduled to end in 1971 when the College
would celebrate its centennial.

Loosening Church Ties

The merger in 1957 of the EvangeHcal and Refonned Church with the
Congregational churches to form the United Church of Christ forced
Elmhurst to recognize that it could no longer depend on large-scale support

a Into the Mainstream 183

from its church. Congregationalist colleges received little funding from the
denomination although they received frinding from individual churches. In
1959, as part of the move toward increased self-sufficiency, Elmhurst revised
its constitution, changed the composition of its Board and elected its first lay
chairman of the Board. In 1954, there had been 1 1 clergy and 1 1 laymen on
its Board. Ten years later there were 15 laymen and 9 clergy.

The new Board did not share the concern of earlier Boards with
keeping the tuition at Elmhurst low so that needy members of the church
could attend. Rather the Board pushed for tuition increases, sometimes over
the president's objections. Tuition was increased in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961,
and again in 1963 and 1964. In that period, mition more than doubled from
$475 to $990. The College also raised room and board charges.

The Board pushed for expansion of the evening program as a means
to increase Elmhurst's revenue. Also, following a pilot project, the
College established a summer school program in 1965. More than 800
students attended the first Summer Session.

Dean Friedli, who had worked actively to maintain a high
percentage of students from the United Church of Christ, retired in
1962. In the following years the student body increased in diversity until
by the late sixties United Church of Christ members made up only about
a third of the Elmhurst student body. An increasing number of faculty
were also nonmembers.

A Search for Quality

While Elmhurst was improving its physical facilities, it also under-
took efforts to improve the quaHty of its students and staff. A number of
times in Elmhurst's history, faculty members, especially those who were
younger and better educated, had criticized the quality of students
attending the College. By the late fifties, some faculty beUeved that
Elmhurst was drawing fewer top-quality and more mediocre students.

Frequently over the decades concerns had also been voiced about
the quality of the teaching faculty. New ammunition was added by a 1958
study that showed that faculty salaries and benefits were substantially

184 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SS

below those at comparable colleges and that this was having a negative
impact on Elmhurst's efforts to hire and retain outstanding faculty.

As questions about the quality of education provided at Elmhurst
were being asked, the College was scheduled for a periodic review by the
North Central Association. The North Central Association required the
College to conduct a major self-study as part of the review. Much of the
1959-60 academic year was devoted to this study.

Following Elmhurst's self-study, a North Central Association
Review Committee visited campus. While the Review Committee recom-
mended continued accreditation, it pointed out numerous problems.
These included poor faculty salaries, an inadequate library, the need for
student union and science facilities, an almost total lack of faculty
research, poor communication with the student body, inefficient organi-
zation and administration, and a lack of understanding of institutional
aims. The Review Committee recommended that the College use outside
resources and increase its contacts with other colleges to help address
these problems while researching issues such as the needs of Elmhurst
students, the nature of its alumni and factors leading to student attrition.

After the review, the faculty undertook an additional year-long self-
study of the College's aims and purposes, its relationship with its church,
student activities and campus development. The faculty also edited the
first faculty manual.

To improve the quality of the faculty, the College established a
salary schedule and provided nearly annual faculty raises. In addition,
Elmhurst instituted a modest travel-grant program, a disabihty program
and improved health insurance. The Alumni Association began offering
annual faculty research grants, and later in the sixties the College started
a sabbatical study program. As Stanger remembered in his 1976 inter-
view, Elmhurst had been understaffed for years, and many of the faculty
were aging and undereducated by the standards of the day. As older
faculty retired, the College hired faculty with advanced degrees. In addi-
tion, Elmhurst made special efforts to keep faculty who earned advanced
degrees and who, in earlier days, would have left for a university once
they completed their doctorates.

While better compensation and benefits would in time lead to a
better faculty, only a more selective admissions policy would result in a

X Into the Mainstream 185

Professor Carl E. Kommes and Dr Rudolf J. Priepke of the Elmhurst College Chemistij
Departme?n, 1962.

higher quality student body. Elmhurst had long maintained an open
enrollment policy, in part because it needed all the students it could
recruit to survive and in part for philosophical reasons. Administrators
such as Dean Friedli feared that raising requirements would mean that
some church members would not gain admission. Other administrators
including Dean Staudt were firmly committed to helping less well-
prepared students succeed. Thus Elmhurst set its admission requirements
so low that virtually all students could meet them.

By the middle of the sixties, the College had a widening pool of
potential students, a budget that was in fairly good shape, and new
leadership, so it could become more selective. Therefore, it raised
entrance requirements and began recruiting students from more diverse
backgrounds and from outside the Midwest. It also strengthened gradu-
ation requirements and started advanced placement and junior year
abroad programs.

186 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The efforts to improve the quaHty of students worked. WilHam
Denman, who became dean of students in 1961, reported that the
average SAT score of students increased more than 30 points between
1965 and 1968. At the same time the number of high-scoring students —
600 and above in mathematics — increased from under 10 percent to
20 percent.

The early sixties saw a changing of the guard among the College
administration and faculty, prompted in part by the extension of the
College's mandatory retirement rule to include administrators. Following
the retirement of Dean Staudt, Dean Friedli (who remained as a
professor in the Education Department) and Clarence Josephson,
Elmhurst reorganized and modernized its student services and business
offices. In 1962, Donald C. Kleckner was appointed academic dean. At
nearly the same time, Robert Swords was appointed registrar and head of
the Evening Session and Trevor Pinch business manager.

Paul Crusius retired in 1958 following several years of part-time
teaching. He had taught at Elmhurst — first at the Proseminary, then at
the Junior College and finally at the four-year college — for 44 years
and had been instrumental in shaping the development of the College.
When he died in 1959, one of the final links with the Proseminary
was broken.

Among other long-time faculty who retired in these years were
Th. Mueller, who taught sociology for 41 years from 1921 to 1962 and
served many years as dean; Karl Carlson, who taught in the English
Department from 1923 to 1958; Homer Helmick, who taught chem-
istry from 1923 to 1961; Harvey DeBruine, who retired from the
Biology Department in 1958 after 25 years; and Walter Wadepuhl, who
taught German from 1946 to 1964. Early in the next administration
C.C. Arends (1929-68) and "Pete" Langhorst (1933-69) also retired
after 39 and 36 years respectively. While many of the new administra-
tors and faculty hired to replace retirees did not have close or any ties
with the church, most had advanced degrees and experience at other
colleges or universities.

As President Stanger neared retirement, he and others at the
College recognized that Elmhurst needed to take stock of where it was
going. Thus in 1964 the College undertook its first study retreat. For

a Into the Mainstream 187

two days the Board, faculty and student leaders met at a hotel in
Highland Park to discuss the future of the College. Out of that meeting
came a Ten Point Program that emphasized the College's commitment to
the liberal arts, its church ties, and its need for continued growth and
improvement in the quality of its education. In addition, it revised its
Statement of Purpose to add a commitment to academic excellence and
academic freedom.

In 1965 Robert Stanger reached 65, the mandatory retirement age,
and he retired at the end of the 1964-65 academic year. The College had
grown rapidly during his tenure, adding three new buildings and reaching
the high water mark of 1,000 students. While in many ways Stanger was
the last of the old guard to head Elmhurst, it was during his presidency
that the College stepped out of its role as a denominational school and
into the ranks of independent church-related colleges.

In 1976 Stanger looked back on his presidency and his seven-and-a-
half decades of involvement with Elmhurst College.

We tried to maintain the character of the school as a church-related
college. I always continued to hold that as an ideal. And I still have
the feeling that the salvation of the small college lies in emphasizing
its uniqueness rather than making it a part of the general education
picture. . . . And of course, the emphasis during all of our time was on
the maintenance of the Liberal Arts character of the College. . . .

Times change, and we have to change along with them. This is
natural [but] I do still have the feeling that a college with a heritage
such as Elmhurst has, ought to try to somehow maintain its unique-
ness. It always had an interest in the development, not only of the
mind, but also the spirit and the character, the personality, in other
words, the religious emphasis, the Christian emphasis. This is very
hard to maintain in the modern world, but I think it's something
that ought not to be lost because this is what brought Elmhurst
College into being.

188

An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Freshman Week, 1963.

Student Life

While student life continued to revolve around traditional campus
events and activities, the sixties brought many changes. Freshmen still
wore their beanies from the time they arrived on campus until
Homecoming, but by 1963 some students were questioning this tradition
and the hazing that was a part of freshman initiation.

Dances remained popular, with Homecoming in the fall and the
Junior Prom in the spring, each of which had its queen and her court,
as did the Elmhurst Intercollegiate Invitational Track and Field Meet
in May. Starting in 1958, Bachelor's Holiday, a week during which
coeds carried boys' books and invited boys out, was added to the
social calendar.

K Into the Mainstream 189

Victofj celebratioti,
1961.

Hawaiian dinner in
Covjmons. 19 63.

190 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years S5

The College Theatre production 0/ Elizabeth the Queen, 1961.

Fall saw Religion in Life Week, while winter included the Campus
Christian Fellowship's Winter Retreat. The long-running Women's
Union Circus remained another highlight of the winter season.

Active campus groups included the Student Christian Club, the
Men's Glee Club, Polyhymnia and Chapel Choir. The three musical
groups made spring tours throughout the Midwest and beyond. The
Debate Club became increasingly visible and successful during these years,
and a service group called the Fellowship of the Squires was organized.

The College Lecture Series continued in spite of chronic complaints
about low student attendance. Faculty, administrators and the Elm Bark
lamented the low attendance of students and faculty at chapel, and
President Stanger tried to devise programs that would appeal to more
students and faculty. Faculty Firesides enjoyed increased popularity as
students became interested in events outside of campus. The Elmhurst
College Theatre, still directed by C.C. Arends, offered several plays a year.

As the fifties ended and the sixties progressed, new student activities
became popular. In addition to the Freshman Week tug-of-war, students

X Into the Mainstream 191

Prom, 1958.

took up smashing junk autos for charity as part of the Campus Chest
fund-raising campaign. Other students showed their strength by trans-
porting a Volkswagen beetle to the stage of the Chapel.

Soon students were attending hootenannies, and groups such as the
Chad Mitchell Trio, Al Hirt and the Clancy Brothers were performing on
campus. Folk singing and protest songs were heard ever\^'here.

192 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years 3C

Polyhymnia leaves on tour, 1961.

Changing Student Interests

For decades, most Elmhurst students had shown Httle interest in
events off campus or in making significant changes in their college life.
Only in the teens, when Reinhold Niebuhr and others had campaigned
to make the Proseminary into a liberal arts college, and in the days
leading up to World War I and II was there continuing interest in outside
events or significant calls for campus reform. All this changed with the
arrival of the sixties.

The difference could be seen in the student newspaper. While the
Elm Bm-k gave little coverage to earlier elections, the 1960 presidential
contest between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon was a frequent source
of debate. The 1964 election between Lyndon Johnson and Barry

K Into the Mainstream 193

Goldwater generated even more interest, including fierce debate in the
pages of the Eb?i Bark where the chairman of the Pohtical Science
Department backed Goldwater while the Elm Bark endorsed Johnson.

Starting in 1961 the Elm Bark carried stories and editorials calling
for the abolition of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Letters to the editor blasted the "liberal bent" of Lecture speakers and
the student newspaper. Soon campus debates were being organized about
national and international issues, and political columns became a regular
feature of the Elm Bark.

In April 1961 the Ehn Bark editorialized against the John Birch
Society, which resulted in more emotional letters to the editor. By the
next year, attention was focused on the civil rights movement and the
nuclear test ban treaty. With the Berlin Crisis and Cuban Missile Crisis
of 1962, student and faculty attention to international events soared.

The change in the interests of the student body could also be seen in
Elmhurst's decision early in 1961 to join the United States National Student
Association or NSA as it was called. Some 400 schools with more than a
million students belonged to NSA. Student leaders who supported
Elmhurst's membership in the group viewed it as a way to increase Elmhurst
students' involvement in issues that interested college students nationally.

While NSA was already under attack from some conservative
groups, it was not as well known or controversial as it would become over
the next years. Elmhurst's participation in NSA was short lived. In May
1963, following a bitter debate, a student referendum narrowly passed
calling for Elmhurst to withdraw, and it did.

Late in 1962, the student government went on record opposing the
resistance of the governor of Mississippi to school integration. Forty-three
Elmhurst faculty members petitioned professors at the Universit}^ of
Mississippi to promote an atmosphere of educational equality for all races.

A 1963 poll conducted by the Campus Committee on Civil Rights
found overwhelming support for further integration of the College.
Because of the limited number of African-American students at Elmhurst,
the College considered setting up a student and facult)' exchange
program with a southern Negro college. Early in 1965, the faculty
recommended affiliating with Huston-Tillotsin College, a United Church
of Christ-related college in Austin, Texas.

1 94 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

HOMECOMING FAMINE ENDS

16- Year Frustration Qoses
As Jays Beat Procopius 7-6

Elmtiurst freshmen were sllll in diapers when EC held its
last Homecoming victory celebration.

Sixteen years of frustration found venl Ust Saturday as
both students and old grads exploded in wild jubilation.

For the second time m a row the fans eagerly counted
off the seconds for [he final gun signaling an EHmhurst victory
Confidence was in the air as

;age.

splin "

tally torn into
! of which may

When ;

as all over the
e d Coach Pete
Laogborst to their shoulders
and carried him off (he field
However, when asked about
what went on in the locker

We s

Goal Totls Go

down onto the field bent on
demolishing the goal posts
As the band and 1 500 voices
rang with the fight song and
Alma Mater, they paraded

front of the stands- The goal

; found in almost every s

1 President Robert Stanger
de ready to deliver his

bors." he said On hearing
this, the crowd lost all of any

Cv Parade Follows
In ecstacy the students

field and then broke up into
random hugging and back
whomping. No victory parade

Karen BeD8on
Reigns as Queen

formed a musical comedy,
PiUs from Paradise."
The Jays beat SL Procopius
7-6 in the Homecoming game
Saturday Everyone jumped

lUgh Elmhurst
': parade before
spectators who watched

float pictured below, Irion
and Lehmann held 2nd and
3rd places respectively.
Queen Karen Benson with her

;d Rev Waller E. Hel
as! or of Gethsemane
Church of Christ in

The Elm Bark

Elmhurst Collage, Elmhunt, lllin

A remarkable 1962 event.

Also in 1965, 23 students and three faculty went to Selma, Alabama
to march for civil rights, while a sympathy march was held on Elmhurst's
campus. Other students spent spring vacation in Greenville, Mississippi,
helping with voter registration and working to alleviate poverty in the
Mississippi Delta.

By 1963 students were becoming concerned about the military draft.
Soon American participation in Vietnam was debated at Firesides and in
editorials and letters to the editor. By the late sixties, demonstrations and
marches were a common occurrence on campus, but those days were still
in the future during the presidency of Robert Stanger.

As the sixties wore on, relations between students and administrators
became strained. Students had long complained about parking and traffic
problems on campus. Now they became vocal about tuition, room and

X Into the Mainstream 193

board increases, and student rights. After two students were expelled for
publishing an underground magazine, the Elm Bm'k launched a campaign
for increased student rights. In addition to criticizing the College admin-
istration for poor communication, the newspaper charged that the
College was refusing to treat students as "mature adults capable of
making their own decisions."

Soon the debate expanded to include what role the College had in
supervising students' off-campus activities. "Administration Must Remove
Paternalism" headlined an Elm Bark editorial challenging the traditional
pohcy of in loco parentis. Since the student government was unwilling to
press for increased students' rights, the El?7i Bark called for the abolition
of the student government.

Questions about women's hours were also raised. The College
appointed a special committee to see whether women should be allowed
to stay out later, especially on weekends. While some students and the
Elm Bark called for abolition of women's hours entirely, most merely
asked for later weekend hours.

In 1964, a group of students called for open dormitories. Another
group proposed allowing women in men's rooms in Irion Hall between
5:00 and 10:30 p.m. President Stanger denied this request, explaining that
he would have to veto any plan for open dormitories on moral groimds.
This only fueled the debate.

Ups and Downs in Athletics

In the mid fifties, Elmhurst's men's basketball teams were competitive
with other schools in the College Conference of Illinois and, as they had
been throughout Elmhurst College's history, a few were good. For
example, the 1957-58 basketball team, coached by Walter Schousen,
finished second in the conference and was invited to the NAIA regional
tournament, where it lost by two points to Eastern Illinois University.

As the fifties neared an end, the football teams continued to compile
dismal records. After an opening victory in 1957, the team lost seven
straight games. The next year the team lost all its games including an 86-0

1 96 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Tennis conch C.C. Arends with co-captains Bill Sir and Bob Hughes, 1963.

drubbing by North Central. By the end of the season, the College was
debating what to do with the football program. Student meetings were
held, letters to the editor filled the Eh?i Bark, and the administration
considered a variety of plans. Ultimately three options were identified.
Elmhurst could, in order to attract better football players, provide financial
aid for athletes, as several schools in the conference did; or it could with-
draw fi-om the CCI, in which it was not competitive, and seek competition
elsewhere; or it could drop football altogether.

In 1958-59 the faculty and Board considered instituting a scholar-
ship program to provide assistance to students with special talents,
including those on the football field and the basketball floor. Ultimately
the Board rejected the proposal because of decades-old objections to
subsidizing athletes. Instead the Board called for more effective recruit-
ment and public relations to draw good athletes to the College.

K Into the Mainstream 197

A new football coach was hired in 1959, but the results were no
better, as the Bluejays lost all eight of their games. Almost all were routs,
including an 83-0 defeat at the hands of Wheaton and a 60-0 defeat by
Augustana. Late in October, following 20 straight losses, 10 football
players resigned from the team in an attempt to pressure the school to
establish a new athletic policy. The Elm Bark called football "that sick
organ in the Elmhurst body that threatens to spread its poison of low
morale and discontent to other organs."

In November 1959 the faculty voted to withdraw from the CCI at
the end of the 1960-61 school year and called for the formation of a new
conference that would prohibit the subsidization of athletes. This decision
affirmed Elmhurst's commitment to continuing the football program.

In 1960 "Pete" Langhorst returned as football coach. Although
the Bluejays lost all their games that year, the scores were not as
lopsided. In 1961, its first year as an independent, Elmhurst's football
team still enjoyed little success. Finally, in mid season, after four years
without a victory, the football team beat Rose Polytechnic Institute
48-0. Team members carried Coach Langhorst off the field on their
shoulders and the EI771 Bark ran two full pages of photos from the
victory. The College gave students the Monday off following the Rose
Poly game. This victory was followed by three more defeats, but there
were signs of improvement.

The 1962 Elmhurst football team was more successful. Following
four opening losses, it again beat Rose Poly, and students snake-danced
through downtown Elmhurst. The next week the team defeated St.
Procopius for Elmhurst's first Homecoming victory in years. The Eh?T
Bark headlined that the Bluejays had "rolled over Proco" by the score of
7-6. Fans tore down the goalposts, Langhorst received another \'ictory
ride on his players' shoulders, and the students again took the Monday
following the victory off" from school. Elmhurst beat Concordia the next
week for the team's third victory in a row. Even a final game loss to
Principia could not dampen the newly found football fever.

Coach Langhorst retired as athletic director and football coach in
June 1963, after 30 years as athletic director and several stints as football
coach. He taught physical education and coached cross countr\^ and track
until 1969, and he continued to run the Elmhurst Intercollegiate

1 98 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

Invitational Track and Field Meet, which celebrated its 30th anniversary
in 1964.

A new football coach was hired in 1963. In his first year, Wendell
Harris rang up seven victories against one loss. Elmhurst beat lUinois
College for its second straight Homecoming victory as well as Lake
Forest, Northwestern College, Rose Poly, St. Procopius, Concordia and
Principia. The only loss of the year was to Earlham. The 1964 football
season was nearly as successful. The Bluejays beat Northwestern College,
Rose Poly, St. Procopius for their third straight Homecoming victory,
Winona State and Concordia. This pushed their home winning streak to
10 straight. The only losses of the year were to Illinois Wesleyan and
Principia. The Bluejays had won 14 games in two years and 17 out of 21
in three years. "No longer do teams try to schedule Elmhurst as a
breather game," claimed the Ehn Bark. "Elmhurst was the 'big' game for
Illinois College, Concordia and Principia."

While the football and basketball teams drew most of the attention,
other sports flourished. By the mid sixties, Elmhurst had golf, wrestling,
swimming, tennis, cross country, track and field, and baseball teams. The

1964 cross country team, coached by "Pete" Langhorst, was 13-1 in dual
meets and won first place at the Rockford Invitational. The 1964 and

1965 track teams both won the Chicagoland Independent Conference
meets. C.C. Arends continued to coach the successful tennis team as he
had since 1929.

K Into the Mainstream 199

^
^

5

O
g

'^

200

Robert Stanger
The Ninth President

Robert Stanger, president from
1957 to 1965, was born on the
Elmhurst campus in 1900. His
father, Christian Stanger, taught for
50 years at Elmhurst. For most of
1^^ ^^^^m Stanger's life, he was associated with

f W ^^^^H Elmhurst College.
■ ^^^^^H Stanger graduated from the

fl ^^^^^^k Proseminary in 1918. Erom
H ^^HI^^H Elmhurst, he went to Eden
Theological Seminary, Yale
University Divinity School and the University of Chicago, where he
received a master's degree.

While at his first church in Chicago, he taught at Elmhurst from
1930 to 1933 and served as dean of men for a year. He left Elmhurst to
move to Bethel Church in Detroit, where he succeeded Reinhold
Niebuhr. In 1948, he succeeded Henry Dinkmeyer at Chicago's Bethany
Church. During his ministry, he was vice president of the EvangeHcal
and Reformed Church and a member of the General Council.

As president, Stanger continued the building program started
by his predecessor. Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel was
completed along with Niebuhr Hall and the College Union, now
The Frick Center.

After retiring, Stanger was granted the title of emeritus president.
He served as College archivist and organized the College Archives. He
was the author of "The Eirst One Hundred Years," a history of
Elmhurst College that appeared during the College's centennial year, as
well as coauthor of a brief history of the Evangelical and Reformed
Church. He was active in the Elmhurst community, including the
Elmhurst Historical Commission, YMCA and Kiwanis Club.

President Stanger, who was married to Juel Wolf, died in 1976.
The Stangers had tvvo children.

chapter \ 1

K The Turbulent Sixties

Breaking long tradition, the Board selected the first layman in the
College's history to succeed Robert Stanger as the tenth presi-
dent of Elmhurst College. Donald C. Kleckner, who had been
dean at Elmhurst since 1962, assumed office on July 1, 1965. Kleckner, a
graduate of Heidelberg College in Ohio, earned master's and doctoral
degrees from the University of Michigan before doing postdoctoral work
in England. He served as chairman of the Speech Department at both
Heidelberg College and Bowling Green State University before his
appointment at Elmhurst.

Robert Clark, who had come to Elmhurst in 1957 to teach in the
Philosophy Department, replaced KJeckner as academic dean. A grad-
uate of Elmhurst College, Clark held a doctoral degree from the
University of Chicago and a joint divinity degree from the Universit}^ of
Chicago and Chicago Theological Seminary. He was academic dean
until 1975, after which time he returned to fall-time teaching in the
Philosophy Department.

In another change, C. Neal Davis replaced William Denman as
dean of students. Davis came to Elmhurst from William Jewell College
in Liberty, Missouri.

201

202 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Enrollment continued to rise rapidly. Fall 1965 saw more than
1,220 full- and part-time students at Elmhurst, up 16 percent over the
previous year. In spite of the recent building program, both dormito-
ries and classrooms were filled to capacity. Special recruitment efforts
in the eastern part of the United States showed excellent results, with
16 percent of the student body coming from the East, up 6 percent in
only one year. Students came from 13 nations in addition to the U.S.
and Canada.

By 1967, the daytime enrollment had risen to more than 1,500. In
1970-71, it topped 1,750 with nearly 1,100 students in the Evening
Session and 1,000 in the Summer Session. The Centennial
Commencement in June 1971 saw a record 450 students graduate, up
from 250 graduates in June 1966.

The number of faculty increased as well. By fall 1966, Elmhurst had
79 full-time faculty, and a year later the faculty numbered 99 full- and
part-time . More than 50 percent had or were working on doctorates. In
an effort to attract and keep outstanding faculty, the College increased
salaries by an average of 10 percent in 1966 and developed a new benefits
program including better medical coverage.

As the size of the student body grew, so too did tuition, from $1,100
a year in 1965-66 to $1,010 a term in 1971-72. Also increasing was
Eimhurst's financial aid program, which topped $400,000 in 1970-71. In
addition to traditional scholarships. President Kleckner created
President's Awards to recognize outstanding students. The first
President's Awards were given in fall 1967. Starting with the 1968-69
academic year, Elmhurst students benefited from a grant program estab-
lished by the Illinois state legislature.

By 1967, Elmhurst was almost entirely dependent on tuition, with
only $100,000 coming from the United Church of Christ. This repre-
sented less than 3 percent of the College's operating budget. In
succeeding years this percent would continue to decrease.

Construction began in July 1965 on the Science Center, which was
expected to cost more than $2,000,000. Alben Bates, Sr., of Elmhurst
provided a $50,000 challenge grant for which the College agreed to raise
$100,000. Robert S. Solinsky of Glen EUyn also pledged $36,000. As part
of the fund-raising campaign, Kleckner organized a Council of Business

K The Turbulent Sixties 203

Associates, a group of business and industry leaders who worked to
advance the College.

The Science Center opened in fall 1966 and was dedicated in April
1967 as part of a series of events that included a seminar for 200 Chicago
business leaders. In 1994 it was renamed the Arthur J. Schaible Science
Center in honor of a graduate of the Academy who attended Elmhurst
College from 1925 to 1928 before earning a medical degree and carving
out a successful career in Alaska. In the same year the Science Center
opened, the College was given a linear accelerator or "atom smasher" by
the University of Chicago. This made Elmhurst one of only 15 schools in
the country with that equipment.

As the Science Center neared completion, planning began for a
new dormitory to be built south of the Chapel and west of Dinkmeyer
Hall. The College selected a contemporary style similar to that of the
Science Center for this dorm, which was financed through a $1 million
federal loan. Ground was broken in September 1967, and Stanger Hall,
named after the recently retired president and his father, opened in
September 1968. This dormitory for women was the first air-condi-
tioned dorm on campus.

Late in 1965 the two barracks that had stood on the north side of
campus since 1946 were finally removed. Their place was taken by much-
needed parking space.

In 1966 the College established a campus arboretum that was
recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Herbert Licht, an
Elmhurst landscape architect who secured and donated many of the trees,
was instrumental in helping Elmhurst achieve arboretum status.

Planning also began for a new hbrary that was designed to serve
2,000 day students and expected to cost about $2.3 million. Major funding
came from Mr. and Mrs. Albert C. Buehler, Sr., of Barrington, Ilhnois,
who in 1967 gave the College stock valued at $1,275,000, the largest gift
to the College to that date. Buehler was a trustee of the College. In addi-
tion, a federal grant of nearly $800,000 was approved in 1968.

Since construction of the new library necessitated the razing of the
President's House to the north of Irion Hall, the Buehlers bought and
gave to the College a large brick house. The new President's Home, built
around 1939, stands at 360 Cottage Hill Avenue.

204 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SC

In 1967 Elmhurst acquired the Hammerschmidt Lumber Company,
which included several old buildings on Walter Street. One building
became the Mill Theatre. At approximately the same time, the College
purchased a small apartment building north of campus on Prospect
Avenue, which was used to house several faculty and 26 men students,
plus three homesites also to the north of campus.

The College also began raising money for a proposed fine arts
building to be constructed on Alexander Boulevard. In September 1968 it
received notice of a $325,000 gift fi"om Herman Fleer of Chicago.
Fifteen members of Fleer's family had graduated fi-om Elmhurst in its
first 50 years. The Bulk Foundation also pledged $100,000. The Bulk
family had long been active in the Evangelical Church, and the Bulk
Foundation had given the College $50,000 over the previous 15 years.
Then late in fall 1969, Kleckner launched a new fund-raising effort,
called the Second Century Campaign, to raise $8.3 million to complete
funding for the library, to build a fine arts complex and a new gymna-
sium, to renovate Old Main and to buy more land near campus.

The fund-raising campaign was needed because, even with increased
revenues from tuition, major gifts, and federal loans and grants, the
College could not cover its expenses. After a number of years of balanced
budgets, the College was in the red by the start of the seventies. It had
deficits of nearly $135,000 in 1970 and $45,000 by the end of 1971. It
was clear that revenues had to be increased or expenses cut if the College
was going to balance its budget in coming years.

A New Curriculum

Late in 1966, after many years without major curriculum change,
the Elmhurst faculty adopted a new curriculum. The curriculum, which
went into effect with the 1968-69 academic year, included a common
course — a two-semester interdepartmental course to be taken by all
students; distributive courses in language and thought, foreign languages,
humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and physical education; a
major field; a related field; and elective courses.

K The Turbulent Sixties 205

Sandy Cent7ier providing therapy in the speech clinic, 1967.

Early in 1968 the faculty also adopted a new calendar based on the
4-1-4 system, under which students would take four classes in the fall
and spring semesters and one intensive course in January called the
Interim. The new calendar was implemented along with the new
curriculum in 1968.

A total of 56 new courses was offered during Elmhurst's first
Interim. Included were an opera workshop in which students presented
The MajTiage of Figaro and the first travel class, which went to Greece.
Seventy-five percent of Elmhurst's students enrolled in a class during the
first Interim.

The 1968-69 academic year saw the North Central Association
return to campus for one of its periodic accreditation re\dews. As part of
that accreditation, the College conducted a self-study that focused on its

206 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

aims and purposes. Among the positive comments the College received
when it was granted continued accreditation was praise for its abihty to
develop so many new Interim courses in such a short time.

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
(NCATE) visited campus the same year as the North Central reaccredi-
tation. Following its review, NCATE gave accreditation to Elmhurst's
teacher education program. Elmhurst was one of only eight schools to
apply that year for accreditation under NCATE's new and more strin-
gent standards. Elmhurst served as a pilot study, successfully testing the
new standards.

In the middle of the decade Elmhurst started an Honors Program
for students with high academic standing. The program included
interdisciplinary courses and independent studies. In its first year, 65
students participated.

The inaugural Niebuhr Lecture was held in October 1966. This
series, sponsored jointly by the Philosophy and Religion Departments,
has drawn many outstanding speakers to campus.

Elmhurst welcomed a Pulitzer Prize-winning visiting professor in
the second semester of the 1966-67 year when Gwendolyn Brooks taught
creative writing. In later years. Brooks would return to Elmhurst to teach
and present readings and seminars for students and faculty.

Late in 1970 the College approved the development of a four-year
baccalaureate program in nursing. Elmhurst had participated in the
training of nurses with other institutions, but this marked Elmhurst's first
program of its own. The College received a grant of more than $70,000
from the Illinois Board of Higher Education as well as smaller grants
from area hospitals to help start the program.

Politics and Student Rights Debated

All across America campus life became increasingly fractious in the
latter half of the sixties. In November 1966 rumors of a flag desecration
spread across campus. This fueled the impassioned debate over the war in
Vietnam. Also growing on campus were fears about changes in the

K The Turbulent Sixties 207

Student deferment policy. C^hants of "Hell No! We won't go!" were heard
on campus, as were taunts and jeers from supporters of the war.

In October 1968 the Student Senate supported a referendum calling
on the faculty to relinquish authority over student life. Shortly thereafter
Kleckner appointed a commission to study the College's governance. The
Commission included four administrators, four faculty and four students.
Part of their mission was to consider the responsibility of the faculty for
student affairs and organizations.

The Commission's first recommendation was that the Student
Senate take responsibility for recognizing student organizations, a task
that had previously fallen to the faculty. Following a Student Senate poll
of students that found that they wanted more power, the Elm Bark edito-
rialized, "Yes, student power does exist at Elmhurst. There is a long way
to go to meet the ideal, but at least Elmhurst will not become a Berkeley
or Columbia."

Early in 1969 the president's Commission proposed a new struc-
ture for the College called the Joint Governance Board, made up of
students, faculty and administrators, that would report to the president.
It would receive recommendations from a Student Affairs Council, a
Faculty Council and an Academic Council. Students would serve on all
of the councils.

Although the faculty declined to endorse the plan in fall 1969,
President Kleckner supported shared governance. Late that year the
Board of Trustees approved having students, faculty and administrators
on all its standing committees.

Shortly before graduation in 1967, a psychology instructor and eight
students w ere arrested in a house off campus by narcotics officers. The
Elmhurst Press called attention to the faculty member's leadership role in
area antiwar activities and printed a front-page photo of an antiwar poster
found in the house. This attempt to link drugs and the antiwar movement
provoked protests at Elmhurst and from area colleges.

The 1967-68 year saw an increasingly bitter tone to campus
conflicts. Angry letters to the editor and impassioned columns filled the
pages of the Elm Ba?'k. Teach-ins were held, and students protested
against corporate recruiters. While some Elmhurst students joined

208 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

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Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and called for student power,
others organized a campus chapter of Young Americans for Freedom.

Student and faculty opposition to the Vietnam War increased. Peace
vigils were held at noon on Thursdays. Elmhurst students were active in
area demonstrations, and a number of students went to Washington to
participate in national antiwar protests. In November 1967 the Student
Senate signed an open letter to President Johnson protesting his Vietnam
policy and caUing for an end to bombing and the beginning of mean-

K The Turbulent Sixties 209

Muhammad All (formerly named Cassius Clay) at the Black Arts Festival, 1969.

ingful negotiations. The letter was printed in major newspapers across
the county. The same year students and faculty participated in Vietnam
Moratorium activities including a teach-in on campus.

While Vietnam occupied center stage, other issues received atten-
tion on campus. Students fasted to support African famine relief. Others
organized STOP, Students to Terminate Overpopulation and Pollution,
and participated in campus and area-wide calls for women's rights.

Race relations became strained on campus as the sixties drew to
an end. It was only in the middle of the sixties that the first significant
number of Blacks enrolled in Elmhurst. They arrived at a time when
many students and faculty were deeply involved in the civil rights
movement. A regular column in Ehi Bark, written by an Elmhurst
graduate who was working in Mississippi, focused attention on the
struggle in the South.

The battie for civil rights was also fought in the North, in commu-
nities such as Elmhurst. By 1968, the Concerned Black Student

210 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Men's Glee Club, 1966-6".

Organization was active on campus and in the community. In December,
Black students submitted eight demands to President Kleckner. They
called for the College to support open housing in the Elmhurst commu-
nity, oppose the harassing of Black students, hire Black professors,
develop Black studies courses and recruit more Black men for the student
body. They also called for a meeting with Kleckner.

The College, determined to increase the number of Black students
on campus, increased its efforts to recruit minority students. Then early
in 1969 the Elmhurst College Committee on Racism addressed other
demands of the Black students by denouncing harassment, racism and
discrimination. The Committee backed an open housing ordinance for
the city of Elmhurst and agreed on the need for Black professors.

While one of die Black students' concerns was addressed by the devel-
opment of the Black Studies Program under Ray Jackson, which included
classes in Black history and theology. Black literature, and Black and African

K The Turbulent Sixties

211

art, other concerns remained. Soon questions were being raised about racial
issues in the athletics program. Tensions reached their peak in fall 1970
when President Kleckner and Coach Wendell Harris were involved in a six-
and-a-half-hour standoff with Black students in the Chapel.

Student Life

While protests became regular occurrences on the Elmhurst
campus, freshmen were still wearing beanies, and students and underpriv-
ileged children were attending the Women's Union Circus. Athletics also
continued to play a significant part in student life.

The Victory Bell, which, according to "Pete" Langhorst, had origi-
nally hung in the Old Main bell tower, was set up on the football field in
1965. The bell received a workout that season as the Bluejays football
team took up where it had left off the previous year, winning six and
losing only to Winona State and Carthage, for its third straight winning

^ Fresh?}ian Week, 1967.

212 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Hojuecoming, 1967.

season. Also for the third year in a row, the team had a perfect home
record, extending its home winning streak to 13. The Bluejays registered
their fourth straight Homecoming victory, defeating Illinois College
39-0, and Coach Harris ran his personal Elmhurst record to 20 victories
against five losses over three seasons.

When Carroll beat Elmhurst 14-13 in the Bluejays' first home game
of the 1966 season, the longest home winning streak in Elmhurst's
history ended. Although the Bluejays provided lots of excitement, the
team ended with a record of three wins, four losses and one tie. This was
Elmhurst's first losing season since 1962.

The 1967 football team returned to its winning ways, ending the
season with a 5-3 record. This was Elmhurst's last season as an indepen-
dent, since it joined the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
(CCIW) early in 1968.

Elmhurst's first year in the CCIW was disastrous, with the team
losing all nine games, but 1969 saw an upturn in football fortunes. After
losing their opening game to Augustana and succeeding games
to Illinois Wesleyan, Carroll and at Homecoming to Carthage, the
Bluejays defeated Albert Lea College in a nonconference game. This was
the first victory in two years and ended the Bluejays' losing steak at 13.

SS The Turbulent Sixties

213

The 1970 football season was marked with controversy. The Bluejays
defeated North Central, Augustana and North Park at the start of the
season. At the end of their first five games, they led the CCIW in both
offense and defense. WTien they beat Wheaton 12-0, it was their first
victory over their chief rivals in football in 30 years. The team finished the
season with three straight losses and ended fifth in the conference.

The sudden decline in Elmhurst's 1970 football fortunes was
prompted by the decision of 1 1 Black football players to quit the team in
protest of the College's failure to meet the demands of the Concerned
Black Students. This led to the confrontation with President Kleckner
and Coach Harris in the Chapel in November.

The wrestling team was successful in the late sixties and early
seventies, finishing third in the CCIW in 1969-70. The 1970-71 team
took first place in the North Central Invitational Tournament and
second in the CCIW meet. At the conclusion to the best wrestling
season in Elmhurst's history, three team members went to the NAIA
national tournament.

Mudfight, 1968.

214 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Women's Union Chriis, 1968.

The 1968-69 basketball team finished in fourth place in the confer-
ence and its captain, Jim Peters, was the first Bluejay to be named all
conference since Elmhurst rejoined the CCIW. At the final game of the
season at North Central, Elmhurst students organized a "Shout Down"
in an effort to generate support for the team. Fans of the two teams
squared off to see who could cheer their team louder.

While other teams had their ups and downs, the tennis team, still
coached by C.C. Arends, remained the most consistently successful of
Elmhurst's athletic teams. In 1968, its first year in the CCIW, the
Bluejays finished third in the CCIW tourney. Following this season,
Arends retired after 38 years of coaching.

"Pete" Langhorst retired in February 1969 after being honored at
the 1968 Homecoming by having the athletic field named "Langhorst
Field." In May 1971, Elmhurst won its division in the Elmhurst
Intercollegiate Invitational track meet. Also successful was the Elmhurst

K The Turbulent Sixties 215

baseball team. It finished second in the CCIW in 1971 and went to the
NAIA District tournament.

As folk music became increasing popular, the Harbinger Coffee House
opened in fall 1967 in the basement of Kranz Hall. It was run and main-
tained by students. Also in fall 1967 WRSE celebrated its 20th anniversary.

In March 1968 the first Midwest College Jazz Festival was held at
Elmhurst. Clinics were given for high school musicians, and college
groups competed to see who would be selected as regional champions.
Groups that won at the Festival went on to the national finals. National
winners were showcased at the Newport Jazz Festival, the nation's most
popular and prestigious jazz event.

Big-name entertainment came to campus with performers such as the
Lettermen, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Glenn Yarborough, Kenny Rogers,
Ferrante and Teicher, Peter Nero, and James Whitmore portraying Will
Rogers. Speakers included the theologian Martin Marty, socialist presiden-
tial candidate Norman Thomas, poet Mark Van Doren, senators Edward
Kennedy and George McGovern, civil rights leaders Julian Bond and
Andrew Young, Black activist Stokely Carmichael, conservative writer
William Buckley, Jr., and Chicago author Harry Mark Petrakis.

In 1967 the Brotherhood of the Praetors was organized with the
goal of enriching the social life of the College. After decades of opposing
any student group that remotely resembled a fraternity, the College
allowed first the Squires and then the Praetors to organize and select
pledges. The next year the Adelphae service organization was organized
for women. Starting in 1969, nationally affiliated fraternities and sorori-
ties were organized, and rush began in the 1969-70 school year.

A Second Century and a New President

Elmhurst marked its 100th anniversary in 1971, which was declared
the Centennial Year. The theme for the celebration was "Focus on Man's
Condition: Education for Humane Living." Many events were held to
commemorate the occasion, including a lecture series with speakers such
as Ralph Nader, Ashley Montagu and Paul EhrHch. A performing artist

216 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

series presented Carlos Montoya, Doc Severinsen, die Munich Chamber
Symphony Orchestra and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The
Centennial Homecoming welcomed a record number of returning
alumni. The College also took this opportunity to launch an Afro-
American Studies program and to establish a major in urban studies.

In March 1971, President Kleckner announced that he was
resigning after only six years as president. He left Elmhurst in August to
become president of Chapman College in California. Kleckner's presi-
dency saw farther expansion of the student body and a major building
program, but revenues failed to keep up with expenses.

Selected to replace Kleckner as the College's eleventh president was
Ivan E. Frick, the 43 -year-old president of Findlay College in Ohio, who
assumed the presidency in November 1971. After three presidents in 23
years, Elmhurst was on the threshold of more than two decades of
stability and balanced budgets.

217

Donald Kleckner
The Tenth President

Donald Kleckner, president from
1965 to 1971, was born near Clyde,
Ohio in 1910 and graduated from
Heidelberg College. He spent two
years in the U.S. Navy before earning
master's and Ph.D. degrees from the
University of Michigan and spending a
year in postdoctoral study in England.

Kleckner was a professor and
administrator at Heidelberg College
and Bowling Green State University
before he became academic dean at Elmhurst College in 1962. When
Kleckner was selected to head Elmhurst in 1965, he was the first presi-
dent in the College's 94-year history who was not a minister.

During Kleckner's presidency, enrollment increased from 1,000 to
more than 1,700 in the day session. A new curriculum and calendar with
a one-month Interim in January were adopted, and the Schaible Science
Center, Stanger Hall and Buehler Library were built.

In 1971 Kleckner resigned to become president of Chapman
College in California. Five years later he moved to Redlands College,
where he expanded adult education programs. He was also a popular
speaker, performer and director of theatricals.

Kleckner was active in the Elmhurst community, including in the
Community Chest and Rotary. He and his wife Mary Coons are the
parents of three children.

chapter \ 2

K Two Decades of
Consolidation and
Stability

By the time Ivan E. Frick took over as the eleventh president of
Elmhurst College in late fall 1971, much of the passion of the
sixties was ebbing. The Vietnam War was winding down,
student activism was on the decline, and the era of burgeoning enroll-
ments was over. The curriculum had been revised and a new calendar
implemented. Now the College needed to adapt to the changing
demographics, which meant fewer students from which to choose as well
as increasing numbers of students who sought nontraditional college
experiences. The College also needed to balance its budget and assure its
future by securing a steady stream of students, increasing its endowment
and expanding its fund-raising.

President Frick was a graduate of Findlay College with theolog-
ical degrees from Lancaster Theological Seminarv" and the Oberlin
College Graduate School of Theology and a Ph.D. from Columbia
University. He had served as president of Findlay College for seven
years before coming to Elmhurst. His formal inauguration was held in
April 1972, but Frick assumed the presidency in November 1971.
Between the time President Kleckner left and Frick arrived, the
College was administered by Robert Clark, the academic dean, with

219

220 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

tmaff"

Students and faculty protest
Vietnam. War.

assistance from the dean of students, the vice president of development
and the business manager.

When Frick took over the presidency, he was faced with $900,000 of
short-term debt, which resuhed from the ambitious building program as
well as several years of deficit budgets. The College's endowment stood
at only $750,000. The first years of his administration were marked by
strong efforts to balance the budget — the 1971-72 year ended with a
small but welcome surplus — and to retire the debt. This marked the first
of 23 straight balanced budgets achieved under Frick's leadership. In
1973-74, the College managed to wipe out its debt. In addition, it began

Sfi Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 221

adding to its endowment, starting with a small increase in 1972-73. The
next year saw a $300,000 increase. The College continued to increase its
endowment, which topped the $1.3 million mark in 1975 and grew to $35
million by 1994.

Helping the College balance its budget was the new Illinois State
Scholars program set up by the state legislature. In its first year, 1971-72,
Elmhurst College received $164,000 through this scholarship program,
and 18 percent of the College's revenue came from government programs.

The Second Century Fund Campaign, which had been launched in
1969 to raise $4 million, fell considerably short of its goal and was
ended in Prick's first year. Also ending that year was the traditional
direct subsidy from the Synod, which had been so instrumental in
keeping Elmhurst afloat in its first 75 years. After the subsidy was
discontinued in 1972, the College continued to receive gifts from indi-
vidual churches.

In 1972, in an effort to generate new contributions and ensure
financial stability, President Frick established the Living Endowment
Program. Donors were asked to make five-year pledges and encouraged
to increase their contributions over time. In 1973-74 the College received
a challenge grant of $25,000 from an alumnus who matched the gifts of
alumni who had never contributed to the College. The College ended the
year with a record $76,000 from alumni.

Settling into the Seventies

In 1972-73 a Long-Range Planning Committee was established to
help chart the College's course. One of its first priorities was to expand the
College's services to new audiences. As the number of college-age students
shrank and junior colleges competed with four-year colleges for students,
Elmhurst sought to attract students who wanted nontraditional approaches
to education. Included were accelerated-learning and other programs
aimed at making education more flexible. New programs were also devel-
oped for adult learners through the Weekend College and the Center for
Special Programs that were initiated in the mid '70s. Among the popular

222 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Dr. Rudolf Schade, who
taught at Elmhurst
College fi'om 1946
to 1914.

courses offered by the Weekend College was one tided "Overcoming Your
Fear of Flying," which received nationwide publicity.

The 1973-74 year saw another new audience receive attention from
the College when the Elmhurst College Preschool opened in the base-
ment of Dinkmeyer Hall. For nearly 20 years, the preschool provided an
age-appropriate education to hundreds of children, assistance with child
care for faculty and student parents and community members, and
learning experience for Elmhurst students.

Tuition increased throughout the seventies — up to $1,085 a
semester in 1973-74, with total cost for a full year including room and
board at $3,480. Starting in 1973, a charge of $100 was added for the
Interim. By 1981, tuition was up to $1,569 a semester with Interim set at
$396 and room and board at $1,860.

In the seventies, Elmhurst received a number of grants, including a
National Science Foundation grant to fund a summer program of

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 223

research in physics for outstanding high school students. In 1974-75 it
received a two-year grant of $127,000 from the Lilly Endowment for
faculty development, which allowed more than 70 faculty members to
attend workshops and develop new teaching methods such as computer-
assisted teaching. The College also benefited from major grants from the
estate of Herman Fleer, the Buik Foundation and the Hummel
Foundation, all long-time supporters.

The new A.C. Buehler Library officially opened in 1972. Late in the
decade, a Learning Center with tapes, tutors and material was established
in the lower level of the Library with funding from the Lilly Foundation
and alumni.

In spring 1972 more than 500 students graduated from Elmhurst
College, but by the start of the 1972-73 year, the decline in students was
becoming noticeable on campus. For the first time in many years, there
were more than enough spaces in the dormitories. The College's enroll-
ment fell almost 8 percent fi-om 1971-72 to 1972-73 and then stabihzed
at around 2,550 for day and evening students through 1976. Despite the
stability, Elmhurst continued to plan for future declines as the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching reported that one in 10
colleges or universities might merge or close in the next five years. Small
private colleges were expected to be especially vulnerable.

The declining enrollment in the early seventies led to a cut in
faculty. In 1973-74 a total of 15 faculty positions were eHminated,
bringing the number of faculty down to 100 and saving an estimated
$200,000 a year.

Elmhurst entered into several cooperative relationships during the
seventies. Graduate courses were offered on campus in cooperation with
area universities. In 1973 the Cooperative Computer Center was set up in
Memorial Hall under the jurisdiction of the Board of Governors of State
Colleges and Universities of the State of Illinois. This arrangement
provided Elmhurst with both income and increased computer capabilities.

In March 1975 Elmhurst created the Center for Business and
Economics, which offered new courses and majors for day, evening and
nondegree students. Soon the Center was offering seminars to business
professionals throughout the Chicago area. In the same spring the first
Elmhurst College nursing class graduated 19 women and one man.

224 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

giving Elmhurst the only baccalaureate nursing program in DuPage
County. In mid-decade the Deicke Foundation contributed $100,000
for Elmhurst's nursing program. This was the first of a series of contri-
butions that totalled nearly half a million dollars by the mid '90s. In
recognition of this support, the program was named the Deicke Center
for Nursing Education.

In fall 1976 the College launched a new program to serve Hispanic
students in Chicago. The Latino Extension Project opened for bilingual
programs in the Edgewater, Uptown and Logan Square areas. A facility
was later opened in Little Village. The program continued until the end
of the 1981-82 academic year, at which time the facilities in Chicago
were closed due to lack of financial support.

By the middle of the seventies the College was in a stable enough
financial situation to begin major capital expenditures. While a number of
new buildings had been constructed in the past decades, older buildings
were long overdue for major repairs. In 1976 the Board approved a reno-
vation of Old Main costing nearly $1 million. Old Main, which is listed in
the National Register of Historic Places, was reopened in fall 1977.

The College financed the renovation of Old Main, as well as added
to the College's endowment, through a fund-raising campaign called
Forward Elmhurst. The campaign, which had a goal of $2.1 million,
kicked off with a pledge of $30,000 from the Keebler Company, whose
chief operating officer, Arthur Larkin, Jr., chaired the campaign. Two
major challenge grants of $75,000 each from the Joyce Foundation built
momentum. The campaign was completed in October 1978 when the
goal was reached. This was the first time in Elmhurst's history that the
College had successfully met a fund-raising goal. Larkin was awarded the
first Elmhurst College Founders Medal, which recognized outstanding
professional achievement, community service or development efforts on
behalf of the College.

Throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties, Elmhurst College
bought property on the north side of campus between Alexander
Boulevard and the Chicago and North Western Railroad tracks. On the
property are houses and apartments that the College rents to faculty and
townspeople. It was in this area that the linear accelerator was set up and
that the Physical Education Center would be built.

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 225

Dr. John Jmnp teaching
in the biology lab.

During the 1973-74 year the hnear accelerator, located on Walter
Street next to the Mill Theatre, was completed after six years of work.
The accelerator gave Elmhurst's physics students experience that was
generally available only to students at major universities. In 1978 a
second accelerator began operation. The Physics Department also used
four electron microscopes to offer electron microscopy courses through
the Center for Special Programs. Late in the seventies, Elmhurst became
the only Chicago-area college offering materials science courses at the
undergraduate level.

In 1973 James Cunningham replaced C. Neal Davis, who had been
dean of students since 1967. Then early in 1975 Robert Clark resigned as
dean of the College and returned to teaching in the Philosophy
Department. Theology professor Peter Schmiechen was appointed to
succeed Clark. Schmiechen held a bachelor's degree from Elmhurst, a
theology degree from Eden Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from
Harvard University.

226 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Rudolf Schade, who had taught Greek, philosophy, logic and history
since 1946, retired in 1974. He had succeeded Paul Crusius as chairman
of the History Department and served as chairman of the Social Science
Division. Schade continued to teach part-time for several years and was
appointed college archivist in 1977. The 1984 Homecoming was dedi-
cated to Professor Schade, and two years later the Rudolf G. Schade
Lectureship was created in his honor.

The foreign language requirement was eUminated in 1976 and the
number of students electing to take a foreign language fell sharply.
Enrollment in Spanish 101 fell from near 230 to 25 in one year, while only
12 elected to take German 101 as opposed to nearly 60 the year before.

The 1976-77 year saw enrollment up to nearly 2,600 in the day and
evening sessions — a five-year high — with fi^eshman enrollment the highest
since 1970. New highs were reached in bodi 1978-79 and 1979-80. By tht
final years of the seventies, the residence halls were once again overflowing.

In 1976 the College celebrated two anniversaries when both the
Speech Cfinic and WRSE turned 30. The Clinic continued to test and
provide therapy to many Elmhurst-area residents. Since 1963, WRSE
had been broadcasting in EM rather than AM. The station, which could
be found at 88.7 on the FM dial, concentrated on music, news and
Elmhurst College sports.

Elmhurst lost one of its longest-standing supporters in 1976 when
President Emeritus Robert Stanger died. For nearly his entire life, since
his birth on campus in 1900, Stanger had been a part of Elmhurst
College life. Matilda Langhorst, "Mrs. Pete" as she was known to genera-
tions of Elmhurst students, died the same year.

In 1978 the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
Education evaluation team visited campus and reaccredited the College's
teacher education programs. The next year Elmhurst was due for a reac-
creditation fi-om the North Central Association. To prepare for accredita-
tion, the College conducted a self-study. The accreditation team, which
visited campus early in 1979 and recommended accreditation, reported
that the College was strong academically and the faculty excellent. It
praised the clinical experience students received, the library resources and
the provision for faculty development. The detailed report recommended
improvements in recreational facilities and long-range planning; Integra-

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 227

WRSE gave 7'adio experience to many students, including Terri HeTnmert, now a well-
known Chicagoland DJ.

don of the distributive requirements; and clarification of the purpose of
the Interim.

Once work on Old Main was completed, the Board approved the
$2.4 million renovation of Irion Hall and improvements to the
Gymnasium. The work on both was finished in 1979, and the buildings
were rededicated during Homecoming.

The late seventies saw the expansion of courses and the addition of a
number of new majors, including computer science and an interdiscipli-
nary major in human resource management. The College began offering
nondegree graduate credit courses in education for public school
teachers. The Center for Special Programs developed a baccalaureate
degree-completion program for nurses, which it offered at 10 off-campus
sites. The 1979-80 academic year also saw the first 200 students enroll in
the Elmhurst Management Program, an intensive, upper-division
program for working professionals leading to a bachelor of science degree
with a major in business administration.

228 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

In the seventies, eighties and early nineties, many long-time faculty
retired. Among tiiose were John Jump and Joe Gorsic of tiie Biology
Department; Latham Baskerville of the Art Department; Royal Schmidt
of the Political Science Department; Rudolf Priepke of the Chemistry
Department; Frank Allen of the Math Department; Ervin Schmidt of the
Education Department; Gordon Couchman, Kenneth Bidle, Robert
Swords and William Barclay of the English Department; WiUiam Halfter
of the Philosophy Department; Robert DeRoo of the Psychology
Department; Don Low of the Speech Department; and Armin Limper of
the Theology Department.

Student Life in the Seventies

By early in the decade the Elm Bark had begun to worry about
campus apathy, and calls were heard for increased student involvement in
all areas of college life. One concrete sign of apathy was the demise of
the Eh?? Bark in December 1972, after 52 years. It was replaced in March
1973 by the El???hwst College Newpaper (sic). In February 1979, the
Elmhuj-st College Leader replaced the Newpaper.

Not all students were apathetic. Some continued to be concerned
about issues on and off campus, but the heat that had characterized many
of the disagreements in the last decade was dissipating. While Vietnam
was still a subject of debate, other issues were moving to the forefront.
Environmental concerns were growing, and STOP (Students to
Terminate Overpopulation and Pollution) began the first campus recy-
cling program in the early seventies. More women became interested in
women's issues, and Black Awareness Week was celebrated each year.

In an effort to increase student interest and to provide additional
activities, the Free University was organized early in the decade. It
offered a variety of classes ranging from sailing to chess.

While student pranks seem to have played less of a part in Elmhurst
life than they had in Proseminary days, the seventies and eighties were
not without their share. In March 1974, a new national fad came to
Elmhurst when the first streaker ran naked across campus. Many others

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 229

soon followed in his chilly footsteps. Near the end of the seventies, early
morning visitors to the Chapel were amazed to see that all the pews had
been unscrewed and reattached facing backwards. What took students
one night to do, took College workers considerably longer to undo. And
few alumni or faculty of the day will forget the time the Hammerschmidt
Memorial Chapel clock sprouted Mickey Mouse hands.

In 1972-73 Elmhurst was a contender for the CCIW football cham-
pionship, which was decided in the last game when the Bluejays lost to
Carthage 38-0. Among the highlights of the year was the 38-0 defeat of
Wheaton during which John Spooner rushed for 204 yards. The Bluejays
ended the season with a 6-3 record (5-3 in the CCIW).

Despite high hopes, the 1973 football team had a losing record. The
next year football coach Wendell Harris left Elmhurst, and the coach of
the successful wrestling team, Al Hanke, replaced Harris, while baseball
coach Jon Hawthorne became acting athletic director. Hawthorne would
serve as athletic director till 1976, when he was replaced by Ron Wellman.

Tom Beck was appointed football coach in 1976. By 1978 Beck had
built a winning team, and the Bluejays were cochampions of the CCIW
with Millikin. This was the first football title in Elmhurst's history, and
the victories were enthusiastically celebrated by students and alumni
alike. The team, which had an 8-1 season (7-1 in the CCIW), set a
number of offensive and defensive records, including points scored, total
yards and fewest yards allowed to opponents. George Donald set a
record for rushing in one game with 231 yards. After he scored four
touchdowns against Millikin, Donald was named national NAIA
Offensive Player of the Week. At the end of the season Donald was
named to the NAIA Ail-American Team. The next season the Bluejays
set a record for total offense for the season and compiled an 8-2 record
(7-2 in the CCIW).

Cross country returned as an intercollegiate sport in 1971 with five
students — the minimum needed to field a team. The wrestling team vied
with many-time champion Augustana throughout the seventies and
finished second in the CCIW in 1970-71, 1973-74 and 1974-75. In 1975
it sent six members to the NAIA District 20 tournament. Wrestling
coach Hanke was voted NAIA District 20 Coach of the Year in 1974
and 1976.

230 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

The 1972-73 basketball team, which had a 15-11 record (10-6 in the
CCIW), was sparked by Claude White, who was the CCIW and District
20 scoring leader. White, who averaged 33.2 points a game, was assisted
by Calvin Saunders, who was an all-conference player for three years.
The 1974-75 basketball team was led by guard Bill Simpson, the second-
leading scorer in the conference, who was named to the All-CCIW and
All-NAIA District 20 teams. The 1980-81 team was led by Jim Cooney,
who became the NCAA Division III free throw champion, hitting 90.3
percent of his attempts for the year.

The baseball team, coached by Ron Wellman, won back-to-back
CCIW championships in the middle of the decade, first tying with
Milhkin in 1975 and then winning the championship outright. In 1975,
1976 and 1978 the team qualified for the NAIA District 20 playoffs. In
1979 Elmhurst began a string of four consecutive CCIW championships
and went to the NAIA national playoffs.

The Elmhurst hockey club, which was organized in 1970-71, won
its division in 1976-77 and finished third in the state tournament. The
next year the club won its second straight North Division title. The 1979
team compiled an 18-6-1 record and won its third division championship
in a row, but was barred from the championship because of the late
payment of the league fee.

Women's sports developed throughout the decade. In 1975 the first
fall-time women's coach was hired to build the women's programs. Terry
Rogers coached tennis, volleyball and basketball and led the tennis team
to a 6-1 record in 1975-76 following a 1-6 season the year before.

By mid-decade the student newspaper had launched a campaign for
a new gymnasium. In response, the trustees authorized a study of recre-
ational facilities and of the feasibility of renovating the Gymnasium or
building a new one. A report in 1977 detailed the shortcomings of the
current Gymnasium, but the Board determined that fimding was not
available for a new building or for a major addition to the Gymnasium.
Instead, it authorized improvements in the existing Gymnasium.

In the '70s, the Elmhurst College Jazz Band was beginning to make
a name for itself nationally. Also continuing to draw the attention of jazz
lovers was the Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, which celebrated its 10th
festival in 1977. Although Elmhurst's festival had originally been a

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 231

regional site for the American College Jazz Festival, the national festival
had ceased to exist, and Elmhurst's Festival continued independently.

The Festival of Fools, a new spring event, was added to the student
calendar each April. In early years, the Fool arrived on campus by heli-
copter, ambulance and stagecoach. A new spot for students to gather,
called the Coffeehaus, became the site of student theatricals.

Fraternities and sororities grew in popularity throughout the decade.
The Inter-Fraternity Council was organized in 1977.

Many prominent entertainers and national figures visited Elmhurst
during the seventies. The playwright Edward Albee came in conjunction
with the Elmhurst College presentation of his play A Delicate Balance.
Musical groups that appeared at the Jazz Festival or at other times
included the Charlie Byrd Trio, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Cannonball
Adderley, Muddy Waters, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Stan Kenton,
Maynard Ferguson, Carlos Montoya, Dizzy Gillespie and Blood, Sweat &
Tears. Other visitors included Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein; actors
Michael Redgrave, Vmcent Price and Jon Voight; and Chicago writer
Studs Terkel.

Throughout the seventies, there was growing concern about alcohol
on campus. In 1975 permission was given to students aged 19 or older to
drink beer and wine in students' rooms and at student-sponsored all-
campus activities. This change in the century-old policy prohibiting
alcohol on campus brought Elmhurst's regulations into line with the law
of the State of Illinois. The new pohcy remained in effect until late in the
decade when a new state law allowed cities to set a higher drinking age.
After the city of Elmhurst raised the drinking age to 2 1 , the College
changed its regulations to accord with the new legal drinking age.

A New Decade

Elmhurst had record enrollments in both 1981-82 and 1982-83.
Despite more graduating students than ever before in May 1983, the
1983-84 year saw an increase in total enrollment. Still, freshman and
transfer enrollment was down, and the number of day students fell by one

232 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

percent. While Elmhurst continued to draw heavily from transfers and
nontraditional students, the number of college-age freshmen was
shrinking, and in time this led to a decline in the total number of
Elmhurst students. For a while the increasing number of students in the
Elmhurst Management Program offset some of the decline, but by 1985
the number of freshmen and transfers was the lowest since 1972. Cuts in
government-supported financial aid also affected the enrollment.

The eighties saw college tuition skyrocket across the nation, and at
Elmhurst it increased by 13 percent in 1981-82 alone. The increases
leveled off after 1982 as Elmhurst's administration worked to keep tuition
in the middle range of all colleges that belonged to the Associated
Colleges of Illinois (ACI). Thus in 1984-85, when Elmhurst's tuition for
a year including Interim was $4,690, tuition at other ACI colleges ranged
from more than $8,000 at Lake Forest College to $3,600 at Illinois
College. Elmhurst ranked 19th in tuition among the 29 ACI colleges.
Tuition increases continued throughout the decade and into the nineties.
By the middle of the nineties, the cost of attending Elmhurst for one
year, living on campus and taking an Interim was about $14,350.

The Evening Session continued to draw traditional and nontradi-
tional students. Early in the eighties it was combined with the Summer
Session and the Center for Special Programs to form the Division of
Continuing Education.

Throughout the late seventies, a major controversy raged over
whether to tear down or renovate Kranz Hall. The razing of the oldest
building on campus had been discussed since 1915, but as the time for
decision neared the campus was split on whether or not the building
should be saved. Impassioned debates continued until 1981, when the
Board decided to tear down the 107-year-old building. It was razed in the
summer of 1981, and Founders Common, the redeveloped eastern
portion of the campus, and Kranz Forum were dedicated in spring 1982.

"PROJECTS FOR THE '80s," a master plan and development
campaign for the decade, was launched in January 1982. The first phase of
the campaign, which used as its slogan "In Search of Excellence," called
for construction of a new gymnasium, consolidation of administrative and
many faculty offices in Lehmann Hall, and continuing work on parking
and athletic areas. The goal for this phase was set at $10.2 million.

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 233

In total, the decade-long effort aimed to raise more than $18
million. Building the endowment, which was $4.3 million in 1981, to $10
million by the end of the decade was one priority of the campaign. In the
first step to fulfilling the plan, ground was broken for the new Physical
Education Center, which would accommodate 2,000 spectators and
include classrooms, faculty offices, basketball and racquetball courts, and
other facilities. The Center, which cost approximately $3.2 million,
opened in 1983. The nearby Mill Theatre was also renovated.

By May 1979 parents and friends of the College had met the
second $70,000 Joyce Foundation challenge grant, and shortly after-
ward the College was offered a third Joyce Foundation challenge grant.
This grant was targeted at increasing support from United Church of
Christ congregations and nonchurch alumni. The College more than
met the challenge.

Elmhurst received record levels of contributions from alumni, corpo-
rations, foundations and friends during the eighties. In preparation for
"PROJECTS FOR THE '80s," Elmhurst reorganized die Board of
Trustees' Development and Public Relations Council under Milton E Darr,
Jr., and established a new Planned Giving Committee to encourage gifts
through wills, annuities and trusts. The planned giving efforts paid off
when the College received the $2.7 milHon Schaible Trust, the largest gift
in its history, from Dr. Arthur Schaible, a member of the Class of 1929.

Gifts from the Willett and Coleman Foundations allowed Elmhurst
to establish its first endowed academic chairs in the Center for Business
and Economics. In 1982-83 George Thoma, Jr., was named to the first
three-year term as the Howard L. Willett, Jr., Distinguished Chair for
Research in Business and Economics, and Ann B. Matasar was the first
professor selected for The Coleman Foundation Distinguished Chair in
Business. Also endowed were the Niebuhr Distinguished Chair of
Christian Theology and Ethics and the Baltzer Distinguished Chair of
Theology and Religion. Theology professors Ronald Goetz and Armin
Limper were the first recipients of these chairs.

In the middle of the decade, the second phase of the "PROJECTS
FOR THE '80s" got under way. The goal of this phase was to raise
approximately $8.5 million, including $3.8 milhon for the Computer
Science and Technology Center, $2.2 million to renovate Lehmann Hall

234 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

and the Gymnasium built in 1928, and money for endowment and
endowed faculty chairs and scholarships.

In 1985-86 the College broke the $1 million level for gifts from
private sources. In the same year the State of Illinois awarded Elmhurst
more than $1 million to build the Computer Science and Technology
Center as part of the Build Illinois program, which aimed at improving
the economic health of the state.

The $4.5 million Center was located at the corner of Alexander
Boulevard and Prospect Avenue. The Center houses the Departments of
Mathematics, Computer Science and Information Systems, Foreign
Languages and Literature, Geography and Environmental Planning;
computer-enhanced classrooms, faculty offices, a music recording studio,
a foreign language laboratory, art rooms and a media center; and greatly
expanded computer laboratories and other facilities. The Computer
Science and Technology Center opened in summer 1988.

In 1985 the 1928 Gymnasium was closed due to the deterioration of
the basketball floor. Because of the facilities available at the Physical
Education Center, the Board decided to renovate the original Gymnasium
and convert it into administrative offices. When the building reopened in
1989, it was renamed Goebel Hall for the Peter Goebel family.

The second phase of "PROJECTS FOR THE '80s" ended on June
30, 1989, after having surpassed its goal and raising more than $10
million. In addition to funds for the Computer Science and Technology
Center and for renovating Lehmann and Goebel halls, money was raised
for two endowed chairs and seven endowed scholarships.

In Phase II the College received a number of grants, including ones
fi-om the Teagle Foundation, the National Science Foundation, The
Nalco Foundation, the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick
Charitable Trust, Lucille Franzen, the Amoco Foundation, the Wurlitzer
Foundation, the McGraw Foundation and Illinois Bell. Phase II of the
campaign, which had as its theme "Reaching to Enhance Quality," was
led by trustee Lloyd Palmer.

The Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education
offered a challenge grant to provide funds to clarify the College's
mission, goals and objectives and to develop enrollment. A major grant
was received from the Jepson Corporation and the Jepson Foundation of

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 235

Elmhurst to create the Genevieve Staudt Endowed Chair and the
Theophil W. Mueller Endowed Chair, which recognized teaching and
service to the College. The College also received a computer system and
other equipment from the Harris Corporation.

The College continued to receive major grants after the end of the
"PROJECTS FOR THE '80s" campaign. Included was a four-year grant
to total $1.18 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for manage-
ment of the United Church of Christ South Side Health Project.

John Bohnert, a geography professor at Elmhurst since 1967, was
appointed associate dean for academic administration in the fall of 1980.
Bohnert was a graduate of Concordia Teachers College with a master's
from Illinois State University and a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois
University. Afrer Peter Schmiechen resigned late in 1984 to become pres-
ident of Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, Bohnert was
appointed dean of the College.

Elmhurst's students and faculty won many awards during the
eighties. In 1981 Elmhurst student Oksana Didyk was awarded a presti-
gious Fulbright Grant to study in Germany. In 1984 Helen Pigage of the
Biology Department and Neal Blum of the History Department were the
first faculty members honored with the President's Award for Excellence
in Teaching, In 1988 English professor Robert Swords was the College's
first recipient of The Sears-Roebuck Foundation Award for Teaching
Excellence and Campus Leadership.

By the middle of the eighties Elmhurst was participating in the
nationwide debate over whether colleges should invest in funds that
supported South Africa. A number of Elmhurst faculty, students and
United Church of Christ ministers called for divestiture. Although the
Elmhurst Board of Trustees affirmed the College's opposition to
apartheid, it refused to divest itself of funds that were invested in South
Africa. Instead the College undertook several programs to raise awareness
of the needs of Black South Africans and raised funds to help them gain
higher education.

Much of the 1987-88 academic year was spent in a self-study to
prepare for the North Central accreditation visit that would occur the
next year. The self-study showed growing concern for student outcomes
as related to general education requirements. The North Central evalua-

236 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SS

tion team came to campus early in 1989, and in the fall President Frick
was notified that Elmhurst had been accredited again. The team noted a
lack of a "shared sense of mission" and the need to provide a diverse,
coherent and integrated liberal arts program.

The Black Student Union, which was involved in efforts to force
divestiture, was also concerned with the declining enrollment of African-
American students at Elmhurst. Enrollments were down all around the
coimtry, and by 1985 African-Americans made up less than two percent
of Elmhurst students.

Late in the decade Elmhurst instituted a new plan to recruit minori-
ties. The plan was so successful that minorities made up approximately 10
percent of the freshman class in 1988. That year the number of freshman
increased about 20 percent. The increase in freshmen was offset by
decreases in the numbers of other students, but the College's 1988
enrollment was down only slightly from the year before. Late in the
decade Elmhurst started a new financial aid program with scholarships
for students of high academic status.

Also late in the decade the College created a new strategic planning
body and began a program to improve students' writing ability. The
College Council of faculty, administrators and students set as the three
strategic goals the maintenance of stable enrollment, enrollment of more
students with greater academic preparedness, and competitive salaries.
The Writing Across the Curriculum program, led by the English
Department, encouraged written work in all disciplines. Faculty attended
workshops and monthly discussion groups before they introduced the
program to students throughout the College.

Students in the Eighties

The decade opened with Elmhurst enjoying unprecedented athletic
success. In 1980 the College joined the NCAA (National Collegiate
Athletic Association). That year's baseball team won its conference for
the fourth time in six years and went to the NCAA Division III Midwest
Regional, Winning seemed so routine that Elmhurst was not surprised

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 237

fiTw Quarterback Craig Groot,
1980.

when the 1981 baseball team won the championship for the third year in
a row and returned to the Midwest Regional.

The 1980 football team continued its winning ways, finishing with a
7-2 record and tying with Wesleyan for the CCIW championship. For
the third year in a row, the Bluejays were nationally ranked, reaching
ninth in the NCAA Division III ratings. Quarterback Craig Groot threw
for a school-record five touchdowns in Elmhurst's 57-9 victory over
Wheaton. George Donald, who was hampered by injuries, still set an
Elmhurst career rushing record with nearly 3,496 yards and a number of
other season and career records. Over the past four years, the Bluejays
had won 27 games while losing only 9.

The College established the Elmhurst Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.
Among the original 16 members was "Pete" Langhorst. In the same year
the Bluejay Backers was organized to promote athletics and raise funds.

238 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years 35

The 1982 and 1983 football teams were also successful, and the
1983 team was an offensive powerhouse, running up more than 500 yards
in total offense for six weeks in a row. At one point in the season, the
Bluejays were ranked 10th in the nation in Division III and led the nation
in total offense. The season included a heartbreaking loss to Augustana,
which scored with 25 seconds left to overcome Elmhurst's 16-15 lead.
Augustana went on to win the NCAA Division III championship.

Tom Beck resigned in 1983 to become a coach with the Chicago
Blitz in the United States Football League. In his eight years with
Elmhurst, Beck had compiled a record of 50-22 (48-15 in his last seven
years). Beck's teams accounted for nearly a fourth of all Elmhurst's foot-
ball victories up to the time of his departure.

Beck was succeeded by Bruce Hoffman, who led the Bluejays to a tie
for third in the CCIW in 1984 and a tie for second the next year. One of
Elmhurst's losses in 1985 was to Augustana, which won the third of four
straight NCAA Division III titles. Bluejay running back Bob Sanfilippo
rushed for 1,129 yards and seven touchdowns.

The 1982 Bluejays captured their fourth CCIW baseball crown in a
row and went to the Mideast Regional. Ron Wellman resigned as base-
ball coach and athletic director after the 1981 season to move to
Northwestern University, where he continued his successful coaching
career. Allen Ackerman, Elmhurst's track and field coach, was appointed
athletic director, a post he held until 1991, and Charlie Goehl was the
new baseball coach.

In the middle of the decade Elmhurst coach Al Hanke joined an
elite group of coaches who had notched 200 wrestling victories. Hanke
retired in 1990 after 17 years at Elmhurst and 40 in coaching.

Elmhurst Women Bring First National Championships

Women's athletics provided thrills for Bluejay fans. The 1980-81
basketball team was the best in Elmhurst's history and barely missed a bid
to the state playoffs. The next year the team received an at-large bid to
the state tournament and finished third. In just two years the team had

X Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 239

198S national chajtipionship volleyball team.

gone from 2-18 to 20-8. The 1981 softball team finished fourth in the
state tournament.

Bill Walton coached both women's basketball and volleyball, but his
volleyball teams put the Elmhurst women's athletic program on the map.
The 1980 team was second in the district and went to the state tourna-
ment. The next year the team was the state champion and third in the
midwest regional. The Bluejays were then invited to the Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women's (tALAW) national tournament in
California, where they finished fourth in the nation. In 1982 Elmhurst's
women's teams joined the Chicago Metro Conference and the NCAA at
the Division III level.

The 1983 women's volleyball players compiled an outstanding
record in winning their second Chicago Metro Conference championship
in a row. They breezed through the regionals and went to the NCAA
Division III Championship, where they dominated their opponents. The
Elmhurst team, which was ranked second in the nation, defeated number

240 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SC

one-ranked University of California-San Diego and won Elmhurst's
first national championship. Senior hitter Cathy Dulkowski was named
Ail-American.

The 1984 and 1985 volleyball teams won their third and fourth
consecutive conference titles. The 1985 team won the regionals before
going to the NCAA championship. In the championship game, which
was held at Elmhurst, the Bluejays beat the top-ranked University of
LaVerne team and won their second national championship in three
years. After the season. Coach Bill Walton resigned and was replaced by
assistant coach Jaye Flood.

Flood's first team won the CCIW championship with an 11-0
record and the first CCIW post-season tournament before going to the
Midwest Regionals, where they were defeated in the finals. They ended
the season one win away from the national finals.

In 1987 the Bluejays spent much of the season ranked second in
the nation in Division III and again won the CCIW After beating the
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for the regional title, they went
to the national finals, which were again held at Elmhurst. They were
defeated by the 1986 champion University of California-San Diego
team in the finals and ended the season second in the nation. Therese
Dorigan, a setter, was named to the Division III Ail-American Team
for a third year as well as selected for the Academic Ail-American
Team. In 1988 the volleyball team won its seventh consecutive CCIW
conference title.

The 1985-86 women's basketball team, coached by Debra Novgrod,
won the conference championship and hosted the NCAA Division III
regional tournament, where it finished third. The 1986 women's softball
team contributed to the successes of the women's athletic program by
winning the Chicago Metro Conference title and tournament.

The 1986 men's baseball team also did well, winning second place in
the CCIW Northern Division. The 1988 baseball team went to the
NCAA Division III Mideast Regional.

The only highlights of the 1986 losing football season were
Elmhurst's 0-0 tie of Augustana, the three-time Division III champion,
and the addition of a new Oliver M. Langhorst Press Box above the
south bleachers that was constructed with funds from the Bluejay

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 241

Backers. The tie ended Augustana's 37-game winning strealc. In 1987 the
Bluejays broke the .500 level, but for the next four years football teams
had losing records. Charlie Goehl replaced Bruce Hoffman as football
coach in 1989.

Two track and field stars brought attention to Elmhurst when John
Dabrowski won the men's high jump at the NCAA Division III National
Indoor Championship in 1988 and Laura Marchant was second in the
women's high jump. Dabrowski and Joe Klim competed at the NCAA
Division III Outdoor Championship. Both Dabrowski and Marchant
were named to NCAA Division III Ail-American Teams in 1988 and
1989. The same year Alex Wojtiuk became the first Elmhurst cross
country runner to qualify for a national cross country meet.

Regularly throughout the decade, campus leaders worried about
student apathy and sought ways to increase student participation in
campus activities. Calls for increased student involvement in campus life
increased late in the decade when The Elms, the student yearbook that
had been in existence since 1916, did not appear.

While some students worried about apathy, others worried about
security on campus, parking and tuition increases. The military buildup,
the arms race and the El Salvador situation were also causes of concern.
In the middle of the decade the Leader called for the investigation of
asbestos, a known carcinogen, in campus buildings and heating tunnels.
The College would spend much money and time over the next decade
removing asbestos from the library and elsewhere on campus. Before
the end of the eighties, new student concerns surfaced about AIDS and
date rape.

As the federal government poured money into the military, the
Reagan administration cut federal student aid, which had a heavy impact
on Elmhurst students. Also the amount of scholarship assistance fi-om the
Illinois State Scholarship Commission shrank.

While athletics w^ere popular, so too were Elmhurst's musical orga-
nizations. Most well known w^ere the Elmhurst College Choir, which
accompanied admissions and alumni officials on trips around the Alidwest
and appeared on television; the Jazz Band, which toured Romania,
Greece, England, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany; and the
new Vocal Jazz Ensemble, w hich would tour widely.

242 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years S5

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, actress Cicely Tyson, political
leaders Adlai Stevenson III and Andrew Young, musicians Woody
Herman and the Thundering Herd and Paul Simon, and poet Nikki
Giovanni came to campus early in the eighties, but by the end of the
decade fewer big-name entertainers and speakers appeared on campus.
Chief entertainment came from the Elmhurst College Jazz Festival,
while the most notable speakers were presented as part of College
lecture programs.

In 1979 WRSE had applied to the FCC to increase its wattage
from 10 to 100 watts, but it took until 1985 for the station to gain
approval for the change. With the increase in wattage, the station
could reach a wide area in DuPage County. Technical problems
plagued the station, and it wasn't until 1987 that the station was
finally up to full power. The next year the station began to broadcast
in stereo.

Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, 1988.

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 243

^ President Frick speaking at
dedication of Goebel Hall,
1989.

Into the Nineties

As the new decade opened, the College continued to seek ways to
serve nontraditional students. Over the previous 10 years, in the face of
the shrinking number of students and declining government financial aid,
Elmhurst's enrollment had fallen 10 percent, a considerably smaller
decline than at many similar colleges and universities. In the same period,
both the number of students receiving federal financial aid and the
amount of money they received decreased. While in 1980 approximately
680 Elmhurst students received $780,000 in federal aid, in 1990, 420
students received $636,000.

244 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Evening student.

In spite of inflation and the cuts in aid, the College was able to
balance its budget each year while maintaining a healthy enrollment, which
was up slightiy in 1993-94 to a daytime total of 1,718. The budgets were
balanced in part because of increasingly stringent budget monitoring.

Major renovations of campus buildings continued, including renova-
tions at the Schaible Science Center; renovation and asbestos removal at
the Buehler Library, which was completed in the fall of 1993; and a reno-
vation of Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel completed in 1994.

To pay for these renovations and other needs, the College launched
"THE EXCELLENCE CAMPAIGN" in November 1990. The goal of
the campaign was $10 million for capital projects, endowment and opera-
tions. One of the first major donors was Roland Quest of St. Louis, a
member of the Class of 1936, who gave stock worth $360,000 as a chal-
lenge for new and increased alumni gifts. A major gift of more than
$100,000 in an annuity trust came from Lloyd and Thelma Palmer of
Oak Brook. Palmer was a long-time trustee and chairperson of the Board.
Another early gift was from Joy Rasin, a trustee from Hinsdale, for the
Holocaust Education Project.

In addition to individual gifts, Elmhurst received several large
corporate and foundation grants, including a $725,000 grant from the
National Science Foundation to train faculty from 12 Chicago-area high
schools in technology-based math instruction. "THE EXCELLENCE

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 245

CAMPAIGN" ended in June 1994 when it topped $11 million in gifts
and pledges.

Early in the nineties an Elmhurst professor and students participated
in history-making experiments when they were among students around
the nation to test space seeds. The seeds were sent into orbit in canisters
in the middle of the previous decade by astronauts aboard a Challenger
space shuttle. The seeds were supposed to be picked up a few months
later by another Challenger mission, but this mission exploded shortly
after takeoff. The seeds remained in orbit for six years before they were
picked up by astronauts on the Columbia space shuttle.

Elmhurst biology professor Frank Mittermeyer and his students
reported that the first crop of space tomatoes was similar in size, quality
and percent of germination to a control group planted by Mittermeyer
and his students. By the second year, though, there was a decline in the
size of plants and in the number of ftuits grown from seeds saved from
the previous season's crop of space tomatoes. Further study failed to find

Homecoming 1993 pai-ade.

246 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Elmhurst College sttidents Debora
Utley and Ethan Lauer in the Mill
Theatre production o/Hedda Gabler,
December 1991.

any statistically significant differences between space tomatoes and those
from the control group.

Occupying the attention of the Elmhurst faculty during much of
the early nineties was consideration of a new curriculum, the first major
change since 1968. The curriculum review was prompted by the 1989
North Central accreditation review, which reported that Elmhurst had
a "bread and butter" curriculum that hadn't been changed in more than
20 years.

After three years the Academic Goals Committee presented the new
curriculum to the faculty in fall 1993. The new plan replaced general
education requirements based on specific disciplines such as English and
science with 1 1 categories of study. Most of the new categories included
several disciplines, such as writing and reading; Western culture; human
behavior; the natural world; people, power and pohtics; Judeo-Christian
heritage and religious faith; and issues in science and technology. The

a Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 247

categories were based on 10 academic goals, which included taking
delight in language through reading, writing, speaking and listening;
understanding membership in the diverse but interdependent multicul-
tural global society; and being sensitive to the disparity of human circum-
stances and having respect for all individuals. The curriculum was
adopted to go into effect for new students in fall 1995.

At the same time the faculty was putting the final touches on the
new curriculum, it was also debating changes in the calendar. As had
often happened over the previous decade, discussion focused on whether
to keep, change or abolish the Interim. After heated debate in fall 1994,
the faculty recommended that the Interim be made optional, that courses
taken during the Interim meet general education requirements and that
there be no separate fee for it.

Also occupying the attention of faculty, administration and students
was an increase in racial tension, sparked initially by a fraternity program
that was viewed as racist. The incident led to a number of campus activi-

Computer Science and Techfiology Center, built in 1988.

248 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Monica Farina in
the chemistj-y lab.

ties aimed at improving race relations, including two Healing Forums.
Tensions flared again when an African-American student's car was vandal-
ized on campus in 1991. Another forum was held to Respond to Hate, a
task force on human relations was formed, and faculty and Black Student
Union members met at the President's Home to discuss ways to improve
relations on campus.

The campus celebrated the 25th anniversary of the College's
arboretum in 1991. The campus includes some 500 species of trees and
shrubs, a major increase from the 65 or so varieties on campus when the
arboretum was designated. Much of the growth and beauty of the
arboretum has been due to the efforts of biology faculty; Ragnar Moen,
the College's long-time head groundskeeper, and his crew; and Herbert
Licht, who had helped establish it.

In November 1991 Ivan Frick celebrated 20 years as president.
February 1992 saw the 25th anniversary of the Elmhurst College Jazz
Festival, which is the second oldest collegiate jazz festival in the
nation. In 1993 Kathleen Simons was appointed dean of student
affairs, and in the fall of 1994 the Mill Theatre marked its 25th
anniversary with a performance of Guys and Dolls, which had been the
first musical it had presented.

K Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 249

Victor E.
Bluejay.

Greek Games,
April 1995.

Commencement
exercises, 1991.

Spring Fling, 1995.

250 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Students in classivojn,
1990s.

Elmhurst's sports teams brought thrills to Blue] ays fans in the
nineties. In 1991 quarterback Jack Lamb broke the Elmhurst College
career record for passing yardage and number of completions. The
1991-92 basketball team received a bid to the NCAA Division III cham-
pionship tournament for the first time in history and advanced to the
second round before being defeated. The 1992 women's softball team, led
by pitcher Laurie Hesson, won the CCIW championship, and the 1992
women's volleyball team once again won the CCIW tournament champi-
onship and earned a trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs. In 1991
Christopher Ragsdale replaced Al Ackerman as athletic director.

In Februar)^ 1992 the College reinstituted the midyear graduation.
This was the first midyear graduation since the World War II years.

A President for the 21st Century

In 1993, with the College on a firm financial footing, Ivan Frick
announced that he would retire from the presidency in July 1994. A
search committee was organized to seek a successor.

Frick's presidency was the second longest in Elmhurst's history, second
only to the 32 years of Daniel Irion. Frick and his wife, Ruth Hudson Frick,
who helped reshape the role of the College president's spouse fi^om a cere-

a Two Decades of Consolidation and Stability 251

President Bryant L. Ciii'eton's inauguration, 1994.

monial figure to an active representative of the College, had been closely
involved in the campus and community since their arrival in 1971. Among
Ruth Frick's many accomplishments was her leadership role in the founding
of the Elmhurst: College and Community organization. In honor of the
Fricks, the College Union was renamed The Frick Center in 1994.

Much of the final year of Frick's presidency was spent in a farewell
tour of alumni. Having completed his 23rd fiscal year with a balanced
budget, with the endowment standing at $35 million and the new
curriculum adopted, Ivan Frick retired and was named president emeritus.

On July 1, 1994, Bryant L. Cureton succeeded Ivan Frick as the
twelfth College president. Cureton, who holds an undergraduate degree
in music from Maryville College, a master's degree in international rela-
tions from American University and a Ph.D. in political science from the
University of Pennsylvania, had been a professor and administrator at
Hartwick College in New York since 1971. In addition to teaching polit-
ical science, he had serv'ed as associate dean for programs, vice president
and dean of the college, and provost of the Oneonta college. He was
inaugurated in November 1 994.

252 An Ever- Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Ivan E. Frick
The Eleventh President

Ivan E. Frick served as president
from 1971 to 1994, the second longest
tenure in College history. He was born
in New Providence, Pennsylvania in
1928. Frick earned a degree in biology
and chemistry from Findlay College in
Ohio, theological degrees from
Lancaster Theological Seminary and
the Graduate School of Theology at
Oberlin College, and a Ph.D. from
Columbia University. He served as
professor of philosophy and assistant to
the president, and then president of Findlay College, until 1964 when he
came to Elmhurst.

During Frick's presidency, the College had 23 consecutive balanced
budgets, built the endowment from $750,000 to $35 miUion, constructed
two new buildings while renovating several others, and developed new
programs for nontraditional students. Frick led the College during a time
of unparalleled fund-raising success.

Frick was also active in many national, state and local organizations.
He served as chairman of the Nonpublic Advisory Committee to the
Illinois Board of Higher Education and chairman of the Federation of
Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities.

Frick married Ruth Hudson, who was very active in College and
community affairs. She served as the College's representative to many
community and campus groups, participated in public relations and fund-
raising activities, and hosted countless receptions, open houses and
luncheons for Elmhurst faculty, staff, alumni, students and friends of the
College. She was instrumental in the founding of Elmhurst: College and
Community, an organization that links the College and community for the
betterment of both. In recognition of her many contributions, Ruth Frick
was awarded the Elmhurst College Founders Medal in 1992.

The Fricks have three children, two of whom graduated from
Elmhurst College. They now live in Oak Brook, Illinois.

253

Bryant L. Cureton
The Twelfth President

Bryant L. Cureton became the
twelfth president on July 1, 1994. He
was born in 1938 in Hammonton, New
Jersey, and holds a degree in music from
Maryville College, a master's in interna-
tional relations from American
University, and a Ph.D. in poHtical
science from the University of
Pennsylvania. He was also a visiting
scholar at Harvard Divinity School.
Before coming to Elmhurst, Cureton
was a professor of poHtical science at
Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. There he also served as vice
president and dean of the college, associate dean for programs and provost
from 1 986 until he assumed the presidency at Elmhurst.

At his inauguration in November 1994, President Cureton chose as
his theme "Designing the Doors of Learning." Characterizing education as
"the door through which we move into new understanding and new oppor-
tunities [and] a way through the wall of ignorance and incompetence," he
challenged Elmhurst College to assume leadership in the search for "a new
integration of liberal learning and professional preparation." He continued:

Let us imagine a college where each academic program, indeed
each course, challenges students to address the larger questions of
meaning and purpose that have always been the marks of liberal
learning, while also guiding students toward issues of application
in their personal and professional lives, a college that takes a
liberal approach to professional preparation and a professionally
relevant approach to liberal studies.

Cureton's wife, Jeanette Smith, has been a college administrator
and researcher at Curry College and Harvard Graduate School of
Education. The Curetons have tw^o daughters.

Afterword

As a newcomer to Elmhurst College, I have read the preceding
chapters with special interest. They tell a truly remarkable story. At one
level, it is a fascinating montage of strong and interesting people,
complex interactions, and the ups and downs of campus life. But under-
neath are some basic themes that say profound things about the
College. As I reflect on Elmhurst's history, I am struck by several
outstanding themes:

• The tejiacity of its leaders and siippoiters. There are long periods where the
story reads like a litany of reasons why a college would be expected to
disappear. On the very first day, the baggage car carrying all the luggage
and equipment needed to start the school failed to arrive. At countless
points through the following decades, expected financial support failed to
materialize and precipitous enrollment declines shattered plans. Then
there is the image of President Niebuhr devoting ever\^ bit of his energy
to his dream of a Greater Elmhurst — and being told that there was
exactly 2 1 cents left in the till. With astounding fortitude, courageous
people again and again picked up the pieces and went on anyway.

• The periodic renewal of the institution from withiji. All surviving colleges
change over time. But Elmhurst has regenerated itself in some striking
ways — creating an "Americanized" college out of an insulated, German-
speaking school; changing a high school based on the gymnasium model
into a four-year baccalaureate institution; becoming coed; and opening
itself to commuters and adult students long before that was a common
pattern. Some of these transformations were hard won, and the resis-
tance to change has been powerful. But the long debates and the
frequent rejection of proposed reforms make the eventual reformations
even more striking. And as the title of this volume suggests, there has

255

256 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

been an overall pattern to these transformations, as new constituencies
have steadily been embraced by the "ever-widening circle."

• The commitment to a sense of mission. Such perseverance and regeneration
are not achieved casually The people who, over the years, have built
Elmhurst College have been driven by a sharp sense of purpose. The
particular ways this purpose has been expressed have been influenced
by the developing history of American higher education as well as by
changing definitions of church relatedness within mainstream
Protestantism. But an underlying purposefulness is woven into each
chapter of Elmhurst's history.

• The important role of students in the College's develop?nent. It was students
who developed the first library for the College, built the first athletic facil-
ities, and organized the first musical group. Students and recent alumni
campaigned vigorously for the transformation of Elmhurst into a four-
year college in the student fiterary magazine Keijx. This long tradition,
which still lives at Elmhurst, speaks not just to the energy and initiative of
Elmhurst smdents through the years but also to the willingness to take
students seriously as people and as parmers in the learning enterprise.

• The linkages between practical pujposes and liberal learning. From the
beginning, Elmhurst College defined its mission in terms of profes-
sional preparation — at first for pastors and teachers to serve the
church's pulpits and schools. But this was always in the context of an
education firmly grounded in the classical tradition. Thus Elmhurst was
never either an ivory tower where the world of work was disdained or a
vocational school cut off fi-om the great heritage of liberal arts educa-
tion. It has always been a place where preparation for meaningful work
and liberal learning have enriched each other.

• The importance of the religious dimensio?i. As the German Evangelical
Synod merged into the Evangelical and Reformed Church and then
into the United Church of Christ, so the relationship between the
sponsoring church and the College moved from a focus on serving "our
own" — that is, as a place solely for children of denominational fami-
lies— to an emphasis on the College as a "gift" from the church to the
larger society. But through this process of change have run significant

K Afterword 257

threads of continuity — a commitment to moral values, an educational
environment of intellectual integrity and open inquiry, support for
personal spiritual growth, and an emphasis on service to the world.

For me, these strands woven into the fabric of the Elmhurst years
define a college of character and significance. The assembling of so much
of the history of the College into this volume will, I am confident,
contribute to our collective sense of who we are. And yet, in the last
analysis, we recognize that histories are made to be rewritten. At some
point in the future, someone will craft a new version in which those of us
who now love and support Elmhurst College will in some sense be added
to the story. The question for us — as members of the College community,
alumni and friends of the College — is how we will contribute positively to
the history yet to be written.

Ultimately, the quality and importance of our College will depend
upon the sense of mission shared by all those responsible for its future —
the conviction that Elmhurst has something special to contribute to a
world in need. President Niebuhr's words from seventy years ago will
continue to challenge us in the decades ahead: "the most urgent need of
the present generation ... is light and warmth, the light of knowledge
and the warmth of high idealism."

Bryant L. Cureton

President and Professor of Political Science

Index

Academic Council, 207
Academic Goals Committee, 246
Academy, 98, 99, 112, 125. See also Elmhurst
Academy and Junior Colleger; Junior
College
accreditation, 45-47, 128, 165. See also NCATE;
North Central Association

of Elmhurst College, 104, 108, 110

endowment and, 1 14, 128 (see also
endowment)

of Junior College, 99, 100, 139, 144

obtaining, 141-145

precarious period following, 146-147

preparation for, 126, 139-140
Ackerman, Allen, 238, 250
Adelphae service organization, 2 1 5
administration, 5, 46, 167

growth of, 94, 147

mandatory retirement rule and, 186
administrative services, 94
admission requirements

ability testing, 140

Academy, 80, 82

adoption of, 166

four-year college, 105, 140, 144

open, 140, 145, 166

Proseminary, 19-20, 21, 47

selective, 184-185
African Americans, 193. See also Black Studies
Program; Negroes

apartheid, 235

demands of, 210

enrollment by, 172,209,236

quitting of football team, 2 1 3

race relations and, 248

student-facult}- exchange program and, 193

Italicized page numbers indicate illustrations.

Agricola, Ewald, 18, 34, 47, 48, 53, 56
AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

for Women), 239
Albert, C.J., 30, 35
Albert Lea College, 212
Aleck, Adolf, 6S
Ali, Muhammad, 209
Allen, Frank, 228
"Alma Mater," 94
Alpha Lambda Kappa, 73
alumni

coeducation concerns, 114, 133, 134

curriculum and, 45, 46, 47

discontent of, 47, 59, 62, 137, 147

fund-raising by, 44, 108

Homecoming and, 152

publicit}' campaign for, 149

relations with, 137-138, 180
Alumni Association, 137. See also Elmhurst

Alumni Association
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), 136
American College Jazz Festival, 231
American Himgarian Studies Foundation, 171
American Neutralit)^ League, 74
Amoco Foundation, 234
Annex, 162

.\nnual, publication of, 70
Annual Catalog {\925 -26), 102, 107
arboretum, 203, 248
Arends, C.C, 136, 152, 165, 186, 190, 196,

198,214
.Aron, A.W., 83

Asian-American students, 155-156
Associated Colleges of Illinois (ACI), 232
Association of American Colleges, 61
athletic advisorv board, 73

259

260 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

athletics, 73-74, 108, 155. See tilso individual
spoits

big-time, 134, 136-137

enrollment and, 62, 92

facilities for, 50, 94, 111

Greek Games, 249

intercollegiate, 62, 173

intramurals, 94, 153 {see also intramural
sports)

programs, 152, 158

racial issues in, 211

role of, 152,211

scandal in, 141-142

success of, 158, 164, 236

support for, 5 1

team name, 136, 153

ups and downs in, 195-198

victor)' celebrations, 189

women in, 153 {see also under women)
Aufsichtsbehoerde, 5

Augustana College, 197, 212, 213, 229, 238,
240, 241

Bachelor's Holiday, 188
Baeckersenio?; 15
Baltzer, Frederick

books and, 26

on English language, 21-22

on lockup, 18

on seminary life, 16

as singer, 18

on teaching, 23

on walking, 1 7
band, 51-52, 71, 108, 150. See also

orchestra
Barclay, William, 228
Barracks, 162, 203
Barry, Carol J., x
Barrels, Ken, ix
baseball

coach of, 229

field, 50-51, 164

men's, 108, 240

at Proseminar)', 18, 48, 73

success/failure of, 173, 198, 214-215, 230,
236-237

teams, 49, 151
Baskervilie, Latham, 228

basketball, 61,73, 196, 198

competitive, 108, 195

success/failure of, 62, 136, 158, 164, 173,
214,230,250

team (1909-1910), 50

women's, 230, 238-239, 240
Bates, Alben, Sr., 202
Bauer, Carl, 35
Beck, Tom, 229, 238
Bergheger, Brian, x
Berlin Society for the German Evangehcal

Mission, 22
bicycling, 53
Bidle, Kenneth, 228
Binner,Wilhelm, 2-3,4
Black Arts Festival, 209
Black Awareness Week, 228
Blacks. See African Americans; Black Student

Union; Black Studies Program; Negroes
Black Student Union, 236, 248
Black Studies Program, 210-211,216
Bluejay Backers, 237, 240-241
Blue) ays. See under individual spoits
Blum, Neal, 235

Board of Directors, 148, 166, 167, 168, 169, 183.
See also Board of Trustees; Supervising
Board
Board of Governors of State Colleges and

Universities of the State of Illinois, 223
Board of Trustees

apartheid and, 235

autonomy of, 116-117, 118, 138-139

faculty sabbaticals and, 104

financial crises and, 125

reorganization of, 148, 233

reports to, 103, 105, 230

student councils and, 207
Bohnert, John, 235
bonds, 125, 168. See also Fund-raising
Boria, Marilyn, x
Breitenbach, (Mrs.) H.L., 72, 86
"Bricklayers," 51
Brodt, Herman, 30
Brooks, Gwendolyn, 206
Brotherhood, 91

Brotherhood of the Praetors, 2 1 5
Bruhn, F, 55
Bryan, Jennie, 4, 8

K index

261

Brj'an, Thomas, 4, 8, 128

book gift by, 26

bust of, 26

Episcopal chapel of, 8, 1 7

tree planting and, 9
Buck, Eunice, 129

Buehler, Albert, Sr. (Mr. and Mrs.), 203
Buehler Library, 26, 127, 217, 223, 244
Bulk Foundation, 204, 223
Build Illinois program, 234
building program, 100, 161, 232-233, 244

deficit after, 220

dining hall and, 39

under Dinkmeyer, 168-170, 176

endowment for, 1 10

funding for, 110-111, 125, 162-163

under Kleckner, 202-204, 216

Main Building and, 27

under Meusch, 28

at Proseminan,', 23, 61-62 (see also
Proseminar)^)

under Stanger, 178, 182, 187
Burdick, Walter E., Jr., x
Byrd's Nest, 8, 87

calendar, 205, 217, 219, 247
campus. See also building program

barn on, 49

buildings on, 50-51

in 1880s, 36

in 1890s, 5P

life on {see student life)

Olson's drawing of, 109

updated, 182
campus activities. See also extracurricular activi-
ties; student life

Bachelor's Holiday, 188

dances, 133, 145, 152, 153, 155, 188

Festival of Fools, 2 3 1

free time, 70-71 (see also free day)

freshmen and {see Freshman Week; hazing;
initiation)

involvement in, 158, 228, 241

lecture series, 70, 80, 115, 173, 190 {see also
lecture series)

mudfight, 21 S

prom, 152, 155, 188, 191

regulation of, 195

Sadie Hawkins dances, 173

Seminarfest, 33, 52, 139

Spring Fling, 249
Campus Chest, 191
Campus Choir, 150
Campus Christian Fellowship's Winter

Retreat, 190
Campus Committee on Civil Rights, 193
campus groups. See also imder various groups

abolition of, 33

Alpha Lambda Kappa, 73

athletics {see athletics)

Brotherhood, 91

Brotherhood of the Praetors, 215

Chapel Choir, 190

College Choir, 241

College Glee Club, 33, 110

debating club, 21,32, 152, 190

£/wy staff', 108

Fellowship of the Squires, 190, 215

fraternities, 83-84

French Club, 150, 152

German Society, 82

Glee Club, 108

Goethe Verein, 152

governing of, 207

growth in, 73

history club, 152

Inter- Era temit)' Council, 231

International Relations Club, 108

Jazz Band, 230, 241

letterman's club, 152

Masque and Buskin Club, 108, 150

Men's Glee Club, 150

Meusch Societ}- {see Meusch Verein Societ\')

orchestra/band {see band; orchestra)

Orpheus Men's Chorus, 3 3

Philo-Biblicum, 73

PolyhvTnnia, 173, 190, 191

Pre-Theological Club, 150

radio station {see WRSE)

Reading Circle, 73

Schiller Society, 33

sororities, 215, 231

STOP 209, 228

Student Athletic Association, 51, 72, 73

Student Christian Association (Club),
150, 190

262 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Student Defense Council, 155

Student Refugee Committee, 155

theater, 150

Wanderlust Club, 73

Women's Glee Club, 150

WTRSE, 163, 182, 226, 227, 242

YMCA {see YMCA)

Young Men's Society, 33

YWCA, 150, 152
Carlson, Karl H., 142, 161, i 62, 186
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of

Teaching, 223
Carroll College, 212
Carthage College, 211, 212, 229
Catalog, 30, 45, 76, 83

course of study in, 21, 27

of 1884, 30

language used for, 75-76
CCI. See College Conference of Illinois
CCIW. See College Conference of Illinois and

Wisconsin
Center for Business and Economics, 223, 233
Center for Continuing Education, 49, 89
Center for Special Programs, 221, 225, 227, 232
Centner, Sandy, 205
Challacombe property, 110, 147
chapel, 61, 106, 229. See also Hammerschmidt
Memorial Chapel

daily, 14, 172

language in, 71-72,88-89
Chapel Choir, 190

Chicago and North Western Railroad, 7
Chicago Federation of Evangelical Women, 95
Chicago Fire, 6, 8, 9

Chicagoland Independent Conference, 198
Chicago Metro Conference, 239, 240
China, refugees from, 155
chorus, 33, 131, 173. See also under various

musical groups
Christian education, 101, 178

commitment to, 126-127, 166

mission of college, 63-64

Niebuhr, H. Richard, and, 105

and scientific study, 103
Christian laymen, training of, 1 , 62
Church of the Prussian Union, 2
Church Society of the West, 2
Chworowsky, Karl, 87
Cincinnati, Ohio, 3, 5, 19, 22

civil rights, 193, 194, 209-210
Clark, Robert, 201,219, 225
classes

of 1874, 2-^, 33,57

of 1884, 33

of 1897, 79

of 1902,34

of 1903,48, 50, 51

of 1912, 79, 100

of 1914, 70

of 1916, 67

of 1917, 77

of 1918, 78

of 1936, 244
classical education, 21, 41, 76, 256

alumni dissatisfaction, 45, 46, 59

limitations of, 20, 31-32, 43
coeducation, 85-86, 112-115, 131-134, 165, 255
Coffeehaus, 231
Coleman Foundation, 233
College Conference of Illinois, 152, 164, 173,

195, 196, 197
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin,
212-213, 214, 215, 229, 230, 237, 238,
240, 250
College Council, 236
College Glee Club, 33, 110
College News Bureau, 131
College Union, 9, 170, 182, 199, 251. See also

Frick Center
College View, 175
Commencement, 25, 163

centennial, 202

midyear, 158,250

in 1957, 114

in 1959, 181

in 1991, 249
Commons, 39, 50, 147, 189

College Union and, 182

construction of, 11, 39-40, 43

food quality in, 48, 164

renovation of, 118
commuter students, 132, 133, 255
Computer Science and Technology Center, 1 1,

233,234,247
Concerned Black Student Organization, 209-

210,213
Concordia College, 164, 197, 198
Concordia Society, 32

K Index

263

conditio abeiindi, 1 8

Congregational Christian Churches, 2
Congregational churches, 178, 182, 183
Consortium for the Advancement of Private

Higher Education, 234
Cooney, Jim, 230
Coons, Mary, 2 1 7
Cooperative Computer Center, 223
costs, 19, 25, 84, 99, 1 14, 118. See also financial

problems; fijnd-raising; tuition
Cottage Hill, 6-7
Couchman, Gordon, 228
Council of Business Associates, 202-203
course of study, 19-25, 80, 98. See also Catalog;
curriculum

class lengths, 22

expansion of, 227

five-year, 21,31 {see also fifth year course of
study)

for women, 132
Crane (high school), 51, 94
cross country team, 136, 197-198, 229
Crusius, Paul N., vii, 5, i27, 140, 145, 147,
161, 162

Academy and, 80, 112

as administrator, 123, 128, 145, 161

on change, 79

chapel and, 71-72

on classical education, 46-47

on course of study, 2 1

on curriculum extension, 40

on daily schedule, 14

deadiof, 186

on demerit system, 18

on direction of Proseminary^ 66

on faculty, 3 1

as faculty adviser/sponsor, 73, 108

on financial needs, 85

on four-year college, 66, 67, 78, 94

on junior college, 66, 82, 83, 94

librarj' and, 72, 86, 89

marriage of, 57, 80

on Meusch, 2 5

and name change, 79

on Old Main, 27

quality improvements by, 105

retirement of, 1 86

sabbatical of, 130

on school purpose, 101

on sports teams, 5 1

subjects taught by, 99, 226
Cunningham, James, 225
Cureton, Brj'ant L.

afterword by, 255-257
biography, 253, 253
inauguration, 251, 251
curriculum, 80, 102. 143. See also course of
study

accreditation and, 45-47, 139-140

advanced placement, 185

changes in, 31-32, 35, 45, 82, 95, 140, 161,
170-171, 178

classical, 20 {see also classical education)

electives, 47-48, 83, 98, 99, 115, 204

Evening Session and, 167

expansion of, 69, 116, 126, 139, 166

fifth year in, 3 1 {see also fifth year course of
study)

foundations of, 47

for general course, 98, 99

honors program, 104, 206

of Junior College, 82-83

Keijx on, 67-68

liberal arts, 20, 165, 178, 187, 192, 236

new, 204-206, 217, 219, 246-247

nursing, 170, 206, 223-224, 227

pretheology {see pretheology)

reform of, 22

refusal to modernize, 32, 41

required, 47-48, 82

sixth year refusal, 40

in World War n, 154-155
Cutright, Melitta J., vii, x

Dabrowski, John, 241

Darr, Milton E, Jr., 233

Davis, C.Neal, 201,225

Davis, Loyal, 136

debating societies, 21, 32, 152, 190

DeBruine, Harvey, 161, 186

debt, 204

accreditation and, 149

Executive Committee and, 124-125

pa\Tnent of, 127-128

reduction of, 78

removing, 139, 216, 220, 244

Sv-nodand, 118, 130, 150, 168
Decade of Development, 182

264 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SS

Deicke Center for Nursing Education, 49,

89, 224
Deicke Foundation, 224
DeKalb (college), 136
Demosthenes Society, 32
Denman, William, vii, 5, 84, 132, 186, 201

on enrollment, 62, 92

on financial support, 44
Department of Music, 140
Depression, 87, 155, 160

fund-raising problems and, 128, 148, 165

recruitment during, 139

student body composition and, 133

student life during, 150-153

Synod support and, 146
Der Friedensbote (magazine), 51-52
DeRoo, Robert, 288

Development and Public Relations Office, 180
Diamond Jubilee, 159, 162-163
Didyk, Oksana, 235
Dining Hall, 1 1. See also Commons
Dinkmeyer, Henry, 51, 55, 169, 200

biography of, 176, 176

building program of, 168-170, 174, 176

death of, 174-175, 176, 177

flind-raising by, 166, 169, 176, 178

as president, 51, 166, 178

recruitment under, 172

relations with Synod, 167, 168
Dinkmeyer,J.H., 3, 22, 23
Dinkmeyer Hall, 169, 176, 203, 222
Directorium, 5, 21, 40
directors. See presidents
discipline, 99, 107-108, 117

changes in, 78-79

demerit system, 18

Irion and, 35

lockup, 18
Division of Continuing Education, 232
Dobshall, Carl, 30
Donald, George, 229, 237
Dorigan, Therese, 240
Dormitories, 67, 90, 111. See also housing

building of, 89, 168-169, 180, 203

conduct in, 133

enrollment and, 114, 172

first building, 10-11

open, 195

room in (1926), 113

supervision of, 107

women and, 1 14-1 15 {see also women)

Women's Auxiliary and, 80
drama. See theater
Dulkowski, Cathy, 240
DuPage University, 119

Earlham (college), 198

Eastern Illinois University, 195

Ebmeyer, G.A., 30

Eden Theological Seminary, 2, 64, 88, 116

Brotherhood, 91

Elmhurst as feeder to, 43, 62, 80, 85, 101,
114, 147, 158, 178

financial problems of, 60

fraternities at, 83

fundmgfor, 125, 127-128
Junior College compared to, 83

Keryx, 59

neutrality club, 74

presidents of Elmhurst at, 63, 95, 100, 120,
122, 160, 166, 176, 177,200

Washington U. and, 92
Elections

national, 192-193 {see also politics)

student body, 72, 91 {see also student
government)
Elgin Academy, 6 1
Elm Bark (newspaper), 93, 150, 182, 208

athletic program, 153, 164, 196-198

campus mood, 91-92

chapel attendance, 190

civil rights, 193,209

fund-raising and, 1 10

honor roll publication, 104

initiation activities (hazing), 84, 164

Negroes and, 156

politics and, 153-154, 192-193, 194, 195, 209

Schick's dreams, 100-101

student life, 228

student power, 207

student rights, 195,207-208

women's hours, 195

YMCA, 84, 88, 108
Elmhurst, Illinois

college relations with, 80, 106-107

community in (1871), 6-9

K Index

265

economy of early, 7-8
farms in, 6, 7

fund-raising in community, 128
Gennan residents during First World War, 75
naming of, 6, 7
in 1920s, 86-87
in 1930s and 1940s, 156-157
in 1950s, 175
Synod land purchase in, 4
town in 1896, 37-38
village presidents of, 30
Elmhurst: College and Commuity, 251, 252
Elmhiirst: DrcelopTttent Study of a Church-Related

College, vii
Elmhurst: Trails fiv?/; Yesterday, \ai
Elmhurst Academy and Jimior College, 79-86,
87-94. See also Academy; Junior College
Elmhurst Alumni Association, 40, 137, 184
Elmhurst Athletic Hall of Fame, 237
Elmhurst College

accreditation of {see accreditation)
administrative staff and board (1900-1910), 46
Bryan's land and, 4, 8
building campaigns, 89 (see also building

program; Proseminary)
centennial of, 182, 200, 215-216
charter of, 5, 117, 138, 150
church ties and, 178, 182-183, 187, 193 (see
also Evangelical and Reformed
Church; Evangelical S\Tiod)
coeducational, 111-112, 131-134,255
constitution of, 117, 150
demographic changes in, 219
Diamond Jubilee of, 159, 162-163
early years of, 13-27
expansion to four-year college, 66, 69, 98,

104-108, 145, 161,255
financial needs of, 126
first building in, 9-11
funding for Eden by, 1 2 5
guarantee of sun'ival, 146
image of, 180,234
isolation of, 80
Olson drawing of, 109
predates communit)', 7
purpose of, 100-101, 187, 257
recruitment at, 130-131, 134, 136, 139, 166,
196,202,210,236,243

roots of, 5, 101-102 (see also Evansville,

Indiana; Proseminary)
70th anniversar}' celebration of, 149
survey (study) of, 141, 143-144, 145, 148-

149, 184, 205-206, 226-227
use of name, 13, 45
"Elmhurst College: The First One Hundred

Years," vii, 200
Elmhurst College Archives, 5, 27, 1 19, 200
Elmhurst College Bulletin, The, 76, 93, 102, 1 10,

116, 137
Elmhurst College Choir, 241
Elmhurst College Committee on Racism, 210
Elmhurst College Founders Medal, 224, 252
Elmhurst College Jazz Festival, 230, 242, 248.

See also music
Elmhurst College Leader, 228, 241
Ehuhurst College Newpaper, 228
Elmhurst College Preschool, 222
Elmhurst College Speech Clinic, 170,

205, 226
Elmhurst College Theatre, 150, 164-165, 190,

190, 246
Elmhurst Eagle, The (newspaper), 3 8
Elmhurst-Eden Advance, 127-128
Elmhurst Festival, 139
Elmhurst High School, 62
Elmhurst Intercollegiate Invitational Track
and Field Meet, 152, 158, 163, 188,
198,214
"Elmhurst Leseverein," 26
Elmhurst Management Program, 227, 232
Ehuhurst Memories (Class of 1914), 70
Ehnhui'st Pi-ess, 207

Elmhurst Proseminar\'. See Elmhurst College;
German EvangeHcal Proseminarj^;
Proseminary
Elmhurst Welfare Association, 157
El?ns, r/;e (student annual), 108, 150, 182
on accreditation, 99
apathy about, 241
on athletic program, 136
on enrollment, 1 59
first publication of, 70
on hazing, 164
"In Memoriam," 158
on quality of education, 101
Elv, Lois, 176

266 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

endowment, 148, 182, 251, 252

accreditation and, 99, 128, 144, 145

bond issues and, 125, 128

chairs of, 2 3 5

establishment of, 108

fimd-raising for, 163, 182, 219, 220-221,
233-234

Ten- Year Plan and, 110-111
EngHsh language, 19, 32, 88-89

chapel services in, 71-72

instruction in, 21, 35, 47-48, 82
Enlightenment, 2
enrollment, 73, 92, 98, 130-131, 160, 187

accreditation and, 139

from Chicago, 147

decline in, 29, 43-44, 156, 223, 232, 243, 255

dormitory limitations on, 1 14

growth in, 26, 36, 161-162

increase in, 44, 60, 62, 146-147, 174, 202,
217,219,226

Korean War and, 167, 168

in 1980s, 231-232,236

open, 140, 145, 166

problem of increasing, 167

recruitment and (see under Elmhurst College)

too few teachers, 24, 26

World War II and, 155, 157, 158, 159
entertainment, 18, 33, 191, 215, 231, 242. See

also extracurricular activities
Episcopal chapel, of Bryan, 8, 17
Evangelical and Reformed Church. See also
Evangelical Synod

college funding and, 146, 148, 163

merger of, 148, 182, 256

pacifism in, 153

student body composition and, 166, 171
Evangelical Church, 2, 17, 79, 105, 119-120,
133, 204. .S>e also German Evangelical
Church
Evangelical Church Society, 2-3
Evangelical Herald, 1 1 5
Evangelical Leadership Training School, 62
Evangelical Synod, 62

colleges of, 67, 85, 112, 114, 148

control by, 117, 138

Elmhurst College and, 66, 137-141

end of subsidy fi-om, 178, 221

financial support by 44-45, 84, 98, 118, 125,
126, 127, 139, 146, 149, 150, 167

fund-raising and, 60, 110, 128

investment management by, 1 67

Irion and, 57

religious movements and, 62

tensions with, 88, 125, 167

War Welfare Association, 74
Evangelical Synod of the Northwest, 4
Evangelical Synod of the West, 4, 1 2
Evangelical Teachers' Seminary, 22
Evansville, Indiana, 2, 3, 4-5, 12, 19, 22
Evening Session, 106, 167, 183, 186, 202,

232, 244
EXCELLENCE CAMPAIGN, THE, 244-245
Executive Committee, 123-125
extracurricular activities, 53-54, 195. See also
campus activities; campus groups

athletics {see athletics)

chess club, 53

Concordia Society, 32

Demosthenes Society, 32

Free University, 228

in Goebel era, 32-33

grades and, 108

hootenannies, 191

Owl Club, 32-33

Pedagogical Club, 32

photography, 53

politics, 192-194 {see also politics)

in Proseminary days, 18, 53

theater, 52-53
Eaculty

advanced degrees among, 83, 116, 144, 184,
186, 202

awards to, 235

changes in, 161

and coeducation, 113

critical assessment of, 144

cuts in, 168,223

development of, 30-32, 223

in 1885-86, 31

expansion of, 94, 1 16

first women as, 107

Goebel and, 31-32,41

growth of, 147, 202

hiring of, 117

K Index

267

housing for, 1 1, 45, 80, 1 19, 124, 170,
177,224

under Irion, 35-36

in late 1870s, 29

new curriculum and, 246-247

pension plan for, 167

quality of, 184

racial tensions and, 247-248

ranking system of, 104

reform plan of, 66

religious requirements of, 106, 127, 172

retirement and, 186, 228

sabbaticals of, 104, 130, 140-141, 143, 184

salaries of, 30, 45, 80, 104-105, 141-142,
167-168, 182, 183-184,202

salary cuts and, 139

strengthening, 140

student groups and, 33

student relations with, 174

study retreat by, 186-187

teaching load of, 22, 23, 24-25, 34

turnover in, 30
Faculty Council, 207
Facult)' Firesides, 174, 190
famulus, students as, 14-15, 48-49
Farina, Monica, 248

Federal Emergency Relief Administration, 139
Federation of Illinois Colleges, 137, 252
Fellowship of the Squires, 190, 215
Festival of Fools, 2 3 1
fifth year course of study, 21, 22, 3 1, 41, 43-44,

47, 60-61
financial aid

declining, 241, 243

enrollment and, 232

governmental, 180-182, 202, 221, 243

scholarships, 144, 146, 180, 196, 236, 241

tuition and, 202
financial problems

accreditation and, 141, 143 (see also
accreditation)

curriculum extension and, 40

debt reduction and, 78 {see also debt)

endowment and, 108, 110-111 {see also
endowment)

enrollment and, 60

fifiii year and, 43-44, 60-61

music and, 107

needs and, 73, 85

revenues and, 118-119

Synod contribution and, 44-45, 78, 125-128,
130, 139, 146 (see also Evangelical
Synod)
Fleer, Herman, 204, 223
Flood, Jaye, 240
food, 138

complaints about, 48, 164

at Proseminary, 15-16

quality of, 48, 71
football, 51, 74, 134

field, 50, 94

first coach, 94

in 1920s, 106, 108, 136

scandal in, 141-142

success/failure of, 136, 158, 164, 173, 195-
198, 211-213, 229, 237-238, 240-
241,250

V\ctovY Bell, 2 1 1
Forward Elmhurst, 224
Founders Common, 232
four-year college, 78, 98, 104-108
Four- Year Plan, 1 10
Franzen, Lucille, 234
fi-atemities, 83-84, 215, 231, 247
fi-ee day, 18-19, 53
Free University, 228
French Club, 150, 152
Freshman Period, 134
Freshman Week, 188, 190, 211
Frick, Ivan, x, 245

biography of, 252, 252

fund-raising by, 220-221

inauguration of, 219

aspresident, 216, 219, 236, 248

retirement of, 250, 251
Frick, Ruth Hudson, 250-251, 252
Frick Center, The, 9, 39, 170, 200, 251. See also

College Union
FriedH, Alft-ed, 166, 171, 177, 183, 185, 186
Friesleben, Julie, 28
Fumatorium, 53-54

ftmd-raising, 23, 60, 108-1 1 1, 127-130, 148,
219,252

authorization of, 110

268 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Campus Chest, 191

in Chicago, 128

Decade of Development, 182

for expansion, 162-163

Forward Elmhurst, 224

gifts and, 168, 182,234,244

government assistance and, 180-182

grants, 89, 203, 222-223, 234-235, 244-245

by Niebuhr family, 89, 1 10-1 1 1

in 1990s, 244-245

PROJECTS FOR THE '80s, 233-235

for Proseminary, 44-45, 51-52

Second Centun' Campaign, 204, 221

Seminarfest, 33

by Women's Auxiliary', 80

General Board for Educational Institutions,

116, 117, 120
General Conference of the Synod. See also
Evangelical Synod

Academy and Junior College, 97

athletic scandal, 142, 143

buildings and, 26, 39

coeducation and, 112, 114, 115

endowment and, 144

fifth year program, 60-61

four-year college, 69, 78, 98

Four- Year Plan, 110

government system, 116, 117

Keryx and, 64

loans and, 117, 118

sixth year program, 40

trustees of College, 138
General Council, 200
George, E, 55

German culture, 8, 66, 101-102, 153
German Evangelical Church, 1, 2, 29, 33
German Evangelical Proseminary, 2, 23, 29. See

also Proseminary
German EvangeUcal Synod, 19, 23, 26, 256. See

also Evangelical Synod
German Evangelical Synod of the Northwest, 5
German immigrants, 2, 7-8, 13, 38
German language, 8, 19, 35, 47-48, 77-78, 102

First World War and, 21, 75-76

instruction in, 75-76, 82

opposition to, 88-89

vs. English, 20-21

German Society, 82
Getschow, Reuben, 136
Giesecke, Raymond, ix
Gieselmann, Frederick, 3
Gieselmann, WE, 22, 23
Glee Club, 108, 136-137, 173. See also College
Glee Club; Men's Glee Club; Women's
Glee Club
Goebel, Peter, 30, 31, 234

biography of, 41, 41

death of, 41

as president, 30-34

resignation of, 3 3
Goebel Hall, 125-126, 234, 24i
Goehl, CharHe, 238, 241
Goethe Verein, 152
Goetz, Ronald, 233
GoldenJubilee(1921), 89
golf team, 198
Gorsic, Joe, 228
government. See financial aid; student

government
graduation requirements, 82, 98-99, 102, 140, 185
Groot, Craig, 237, 257
Guertler, R, 55
gymnasium

barracks adjacent to, 162

building of, 125-126,232

funding for, 124

fund-raising and, 110, 111

need for, 108

pool in, 170

renovation of, 227, 230, 234
Gymnashnu, in Germany, 20, 21, 30, 255

Hale, Robert, 94
Halfter, William, 228

Hammerschmidt, Louis, 169, 170, 178-179
Hammerschmidt Lumber Company, 204
Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel, 170, 176,
119, 180,200,203,211,220, 229,244
Hanke,Al, 229, 238
Harbinger Coffee House, 2 1 5
Harris, Wendell, 198, 211, 212, 213, 229
Harris Corporation, 235
Hartmann, Joseph, 4
Haiissenior, 15
Hawthorne, Jon, 229

K Index

269

hazing, 54, 84, 164, 188

Mealing Forums, 248

health service, 180

Helmick, Homer, 94, 123, 130, 161, 162, 186

Hemmert, Terri, 227

Hennigern, Frederick, 24

Hesson, Laurie, 250

Hill Cottage Tavern, 6-7

Hispanic students, 224

history club, 152

hockey club, 230

Hofftnan, Bruce, 238, 241

Holocaust Education Project, 244

Homecoming, ix, 94, 152, 158, 188, 227

Centennial, 216

dedication of, to Schade, 226

football victory at, 194, 197, 212

Jubilee, 163

in 1967, 272

in 1993, 245

program for (1931), 135

women at, 134

WRSE broadcasts at, 163
hootenannies, 191

Horstmann, J.H., 15-16, 18, 20-21, 23
housing, 48, 61, 82, 89, 147, 163-164. See also
dormitories

expansion of, 161-162, 180

for faculty {see facult)')

overcrowding in, 10, 28, 29, 48, 61-62, 89, 226

for president, 119, 123, 124, 125, 127,
203, 248

shortage of, 139, 161-162, 167, 202

for women, 114-115, 133
Hiielfsseiiioi; 15
Hughes, Bob, 196
Hummel Foimdation, 223
Huston-Tillotsin College, 193

Illinois .Association of Colleges, 137

Illinois Bell, 234

Illinois Board of Higher Education, 206

Illinois College, 198, 232

Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

(Little 19), 136, 142
Illinois State Board of Education, 1 1 5
Illinois State Scholars program, 221, 241
Illinois Weslevan, 198, 212, 237

Immanuel Church, 1,17

initiation, 54, 84, 164, 188

inspectors. See presidents

Institute on the Liberal Arts and Religions, 163

Inter-Fraternity Council, 231

International Relations Club, 108

Interim, 205, 217, 222, 227, 232, 247

intramural sports, 94, 136, 158

Irion, Daniel, 3, 24, 29, 30, 31, 61, 76, SI

band and, 51-52

baseball and, 51

biography of, 57, 51

death of, 34, 57, 79, 147

diphtheria epidemic and, 34

enrollment under, 43

female students and, 129

at Golden Jubilee, 89

gymnastics and, 73

holiday speeches of, 48

new students and, 34, 47

as president, 18, 21, 33, 34-36, 250

resignation of, 34, 35

retirement of, 79, 86

Silver Jubilee and, 39
Irion, Paul, 26
Irion, Paula, 57, 80
Irion Hall, 61, 68, 82, 127, 180, 195, 203

libraryin, 26, 61,86, 89

renovation of, 89, 227

women in, 133

Jackson, Ray, 210-211

Japanese-American students, 155-156

JazzBand, 230, 241

Jeffers, Gwendol\Ti, 172

Jepson Corporation, 234-235

Jepson Foundation, 234-235

John, Rudolph A., 16, 33,40

Johnson, Maude, 153

Joint Governance Board, 207

Josephson, Clarence, 167, 177, 186

Joyce Foimdation, 224, 233

Jump, John, 225, 228

Junior College, 57, 66, 78, 79-86

accreditation of, 99, 100, 139, 144

curriculum of, 82

function of, 85

student body chnges in, 133

270 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

Kajfeekiichen, 15
Kaneyjohn, 77-78, 87
Kastrinos, William, 164
Kaufinann, Professor, 29, 30
Keebler Company, 224
Keller, Emmanuel, 63
Kellogg Foundation, 235
Keryx (magazine), 73, 256

Academy fature, 97-98

building needs, 85

discontent, 91

educational reform and, 59-60, 64-66,
67-69

languages, 82

recruitment, 92

school name change, 79

World War I and, 74, 75
Kleckner, Donald C.

African-Americans and, 210, 211, 213

awards by, 202

biography of, 217, 217

as dean, 186,201

fund-raising by, 204

as president, 201

resignation of, 216

student government and, 207
Klim,Joe, 241
Kommes, Carl E., 185
Korean War, 167, 168, 171, 172
Krankensetiioi; 15
Kranz, Auguste Sophia, 12
Kranz, Carl E, 1, 3

biography of, 12, 12

early years in Elmhurst, 4-5, 6, 9, 12

first building and, 9-11

Lenten services of, 17

resignation of, 12, 25, 27, 28

as teacher, 22
Kranz Forum, 232
Kranz Hall, 215

as dormitory, 48, 67, 82

location of Irion Mall and, 61

as Music Building, 23, 29, 39, 40, 56

as Proseminary's first building, 12

tearing down of, 67, 100, 232
Kresge Foundation, 182

laboratories, 21-22, 116

biology, 225

chemistry, 71, 116, 185,2^5"

first, 67

improved facihties, 46, 90, 1 1 1, 1 16, 180

physics, 225
Ladies' Auxiliary. See Women's Auxiliary
Lake Forest College, 198, 232
Lamb, Jack, 250
Lane (high school), 5 1
Lang, Elfi-ieda, 94
Langhorst, Matilda, 143, 226
Langhorst, Oliver M. "Pete"

as athletic director, 143, 151, 152

as coach, 143, 151, 152, 158, 197, 198

in Elmhurst Hall of Fame, 237

retirement of, 186, 197,214

Schiller Society and, 53

Victory Bell and, 2 1 1
Langhorst, Oliver M., Press Box, 240
Larkin, Arthur, Jr., 224
Lathrop, Jedediah, 9
Latino Extension Project, 224
Lauer, Ethan, 246
Leader. See Elmhurst College Leader
Learning Center, 223

Lecture series, 70, 80, 115, 173-174, 190, 193,
215, 226, 231, 242. Sec ///i-o Niebuhr
Lecture
Lehmann, Martha, 1 3 1
Lehmann, Timothy

accreditation and, 145, 160

athletic program and, 134, 136-137, 142-
143, 153

biography of, 160, 160

coeducation drive of, 131-134, 160

community activities of, 137, 157

consolidation and development under,
126-130

death of, 160

Elmhurst Welfare Association, 157

fund-raising by, 123, 127-128, 130, 162-
163, 165

Glee Club and, 137

inauguration of, 121, 125-126

internal improvement and, 149

military draft and, 154

K Index

271

as president, 53, 121, 123, 137, 147

relations with board, 130

relations with Synod, 128, 137, 165

resignation of, 165, 167

on scholarships, 146
Lehniann Hall, 169, 176, 180, 232, 233-234
Leonhardt, Robert, 94
letternian's club, 152
Liberal Arts College Movement, 137
hbrary, 25-26, 61, 72, 106, 145, 149, 180. See
also Buehler Library; Irion Hall;
Memorial Library
Licht, Herbert, 203, 248
Lilly Endowment, 223
Limper, Armin, 228, 233
Lira, Emil "Pat," 173
Literary societies, 32
Little 19 Conference, 136, 142
living conditions, 13-19, 48. See also

student life
Living Endowment Program, 221
Long Grove, Illinois, 4, 5
Long-Range Planning Committee, 221-222
Low, Don, 288
Loyola University, 61
Lueder, John, 30
Luternau, Professor, 29

Main Building. See Old Main

Marchant, Laura, 241

Marthas\nlle Seminary, Missouri, 2, 4, 5, 23, 26,

28,30,41,57
Masonic Hospital, 1 70
Masque and Buskin club, 108, 150
Matasar, Ann B., 233
Mayer, Theodore, 1 1 1

McCormick, Robert R., Charitable Trust, 234
McCormick Seminar}', 51, 95, 122
McGraw Foundation, 234
Meaning of Rroelation, The, ix
Melanchthon Seminary, 4, 10, 39, 177
Memorial Hall, 49, 223
Memorial Library, 26, 89-90, 95, 170
Men's Glee Club, 150, 158, 190, 210
Menzel, Martha, 160
Menzel, Paul, 40
Merkel, Professor, 29

Meusch, Philip Frederick, 19, 22, 25

biography of, 28, 28

death of, 26, 28, 30
Meusch Library, 52

Meusch Verein Society, 26, 28, 32, 33, 72
Midwest College Jazz F"estival, 215
Millikin College, 173,229,230
Mill Theatre, 204, 225, 233, 246, 248
Missouri College, 3
Miter, J., 24

Mittendorf, Florence, 122
Mittermeyer, Frank, 245
Moen, Ragnar, 248

Mueller, Theophil W., 61, 79, 94, 105, 123,
124, 162

accreditation and, 144-145, 166

administration by, 128, 130, 137, 147

athletics and, 142

curriculum and, 116, 166, 171

on debt, 124

grades and, 108

resignation as dean, 165-166

retirement of, 166, 186

student orientation, 134
Music. See also School of Music; Stanger,
Christian

folk, 191,215

groups of (see under various musical givups)

jazz festival, 215, 230-231, 242, 248

performers on campus, 191, 215, 216

popularity of, 241

at Proseminary, 47
Music Building. See Kranz Hall

NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate

Athletics), 195, 213, 215, 229, 230
Nalco Foundation, 234
National Science Foundation, 222-223,

234, 244
NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic

Association), 236, 237, 238, 239, 240,

241,250
NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of

Teacher Education), 206, 226
Negroes, 156. See also African Americans
Neucks, Wilhelmine, 41
Newport Jazz Festival, 215

272 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years X

newspapers, 32-33, 38, 53, 230. See also Elm

Bark; Ehnhurst College Leader-; Ehthurst
College Neirpaper
Niebuhr, H. Richard, ix, 55, 6/, 100, 123, 161,
255,257
annual report from, 117
biography of, 122, 122
on Christian commitment, 103, 105
on coeducation, 112, 113, 114-115
death of, 122

dreams of, 119-120, 124, 131, 145
educational improvement by, 100, 104-

108, 116
fund-raising by, 110-111
on General Board, 117-1 18
on German roots, 101-102
on heritage, 103
Keijx and, 64-65
on music, 107
plans of, 108, 119, 182
as president, 62-63
resignation of, 120-121
on scholarship, 101
on school purpose, 102
Niebuhr, Reinhold, 60, 62-69, 76, 120, 123,
178, 192,200
coeducation and, 115
death of, 62
fund-raising by, 89
on future of Academy and Junior College,

97-98
on future of Proseminar}', 68-69
Institute on the Liberal Arts and

Religions, 163
on quality of education, 63-64
reform and, 59-60
World War I and, 74-75
Niebuhr Hall, 180,200
Niebuhr Lecture, 206
North Central Association

accreditation by, 47, 99, 100, 104, 141, 143-

144, 145
requirements of, 111
review by 184, 205-206, 226-227, 235-
236,246
Nortii Central College, 173, 196, 213, 214
North Central Invitational Tournament, 2 1 3

Northern Illinois Junior College Athletic

Conference, 94
Nordi Park (college), 94, 213
Northwestern College, 198
Northwest Synod, 3 -4. See also Evangelical

Synod of the Northwest
Novgrod, Debra, 240
NSA (National Student Association), 193

Old Chapel, 68

Old Hall, li.See also Kranz Hall

Old Main, 204, 211

baseball nearby, 50

construction of, 28

dedication of, 27

as dormitory, 40, 48, 82

Fumatorium in, 53-54

Hbrary in, 26

Main Building, 27, 29

pipe organ in, 39

renovation of, 52, 67, 90, 204, 224, 227

student orientation, 47

telescope in, 35
Olson, Benjamin Franklin, 170

campus design by, 110, 170, 182

drawing of campus, 109
Operation Foreign Student, 172
orchestra, 90, 108. See also band
Orpheus Men's Chorus, 33
Otto, Emil, 34, 35
Owl Club, 32-33

pacifism, 74-75, 153

Palmer, Lloyd, 234, 244

Palmer, Thelma, 244

Pedagogical Club, 32

Peters, Jim, 214

Philo-Biblicum, 73

Physical Education Center, 224, 233, 234

Pietism, 2

Pigage, Helen, 235

Pinch, Trevor, 186

Planned Giving Committee, 233

politics. See also student life; students

debates in 1960s, 206-21 1

interest in, 192-194, 241
Polyhymnia, 173, 190, 191

K Index

273

postsecondary year, 61. See also fifth year course

of study
pranks, 17-18,54, )5, 229
presidents. See also under each president

Cureton, Bryant L., 253, 253

Dinkmeyer, Henry, 176, 176

Frick, Ivan E., 217, 277

Goebel, Peter, 41,^7

Irion, Daniel, 57, 57

Kleckner, Donald C, 217, 277

Kranz, Carl E, 12, 72

Lehmann, Timothy, 160, 760

Meusch, Philip Frederick, 28, 28

Niebuhr, H. Richard, 122, 722

Schick, Herman J., 95, 95

Stanger, Robert, 200, 200
President's Commission, 207
Pre-Theological Club, 1 50
pretheology

course, 98-99

role of, 102

students, 19,21-22,24,26, 132

tuition for, 146, 167, 168
Priepke, Rudolf E, 185,228
Principia (college), 197, 198
Progressive Literar}' Association, 2 1
PROJECTS FOR THE '80s, 233-235
Proseminary, 1, 36. See also Elmhurst College

admission to, 19-20, 21, 24

athletics at {see athletics)

band (1916), 77

buildings at, 9-11, 23, 29, 39-40, 61

charter of, 5

"college" students at, 20, 3 1-32, 36, 43

conversion into four-year college, 57, 59, 63, 78

costs of, 19, 25, 44

course of study at, 19-25

Elmhurst College as, 7, 13

end of, 44, 57

in Evans\'ille, Indiana, 3

extracurricular acti\ities at, 32-33

financial problems of, 44-45 {see also finan-
cial problems)

first aimual, 70

first graduates of, 23

food at, 15-16

German Evangelical, 2

impact of World War I, 74-76

interim conversion plan for, 78

living conditions at, 16-17

Melancthon Seminary, 4, 10, 39

name change, 79, 95

Niebuhr, Reinhold, and, 62-69

in 1917,77-78

pioneer days of, 13-27

presidents of {see presidents)

Silver Jubilee of, 16,39,40

student life in, 12-19, 69-74

transfer to Elmhurst, 4-5

in 20th century, 43-47

upheaval at, 78
Protestantism, 2, 256
Prudentia (newspaper), 33

qualit}' of education, 46, 104-108, 183-187
Quest, Roland, 244

Ragsdale, Christopher, 250

Rahn,John, 30, 35

Rasin, Joy, 244

Reading Circle, 73

Recher, Professor, 30

recruitment, 92, 130, 139, 202. See also under

Elmhurst College
reform

calls for, 59-76

curricular, 83 {see also curriculum)
Reformed Church, 2, 119-120, 146, 148-149
Reformed Synod, colleges of, 148
refugees, 9, 155-156
registration. See enrollment
Religion in Life Week, 190
Respond to Hate, 248
Rockford Invitational, 198
Roefer, Bett>-, 729
Rogers, Terry, 230
Rosche, Professor, 29
Rose PoHtechnic Institute, 197, 198
rules and regulations, 54-56, 95, 99

changes in, 162, 171

curriculum, 140

decreasing, 18, 107-108

drinking, 231

enforcement of, 56

274 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years SC

off-campus activities and, 195

violation of, 17,55-56,78,88
Russell, Don, vii
Russell, John Dale, 148

St. Mar}''s Cemetery, 4

St. Paul's Church, 4, 33

St. Peter's Church, 17, 33, 38, 57, 79, 87

St. Procopius, 94, 197, 198

St. Vmcent's, 5 1

Sandburg, Carl, 82

SanfiHppo, Bob, 238

Sauerbier,W.K., 22,29, 30

Saunders, Calvin, 230

Schade, Rudolf G., x, 161, 222. 226

Schaible, Arthur, 233

Schaible Science Center, 1 10, 203, 217, 244

Schaible Trust, 233

Schick (Schick), Herman J.

on accreditation, 99-100

biography of, 95, 95

death of, 95

dreams/hopes of, 101

on piety, 100

as president, 79-80, 8U 88-89, 106

resignation of, 95, 100
Schick, Louise, 80
Schick Hall, 90, 95, 127, 169
Schiller Society, 33, 52-53, 52, 72, 108
Schilkrbote, 53
Schmale, Professor, 68
Schmidt, Ervin, 228
Schmidt, Royal, 228
Schmiechen, Peter, 225, 235
Scholl (Dr.) Foundation, 234
School of Music, 107, 115, 116, 118, 140
Schroeder, Paul, 65-66
Schousen, Walter, 173, 195
science building, 182
Science Center, 147, 182, 202, 203. See also

Schaible Science Center
SDS. See Students for a Democratic Society
Sears-Roebuck Foundation, 235
Secondary school

closing of Academy, 112, 125

as competitors, 20

continuance as, 78, 79-86

enrollment and, 92

Proseminarv accredited as, 47

Second Century Campaign, 204, 221

Seller, Don, 164, 173

Seminarfest, 33, 52, 139

Seminar)' Board. See Supervising Board

Senior Lodge, 147, 155

Senior Men's Dormitory, 169, 176

Silver Jubilee (1896), 16, 39-40

Simons, Kathleen, 248

Simpson, Bill, 230

Sir, Bill, 196

Smith, James P., x

Smith, Jeanette, 253

smoking. See Fumatorium

soccer, 51,62, 72, 73-74

Softball, 239, 240, 250

Solinsk)', Robert S., 202

sororities, 215, 231

Sorrick, George A., 35, 67, 86

Soutii Hall, 169. See also Schick Hall

Souveniiir Album, 1 0 1

Speckman, Wesley, 94

Speech Clinic. See Elmhurst College Speech

Clinic
Spooner, John, 229
sports, 173, 198, 250. See also athletics
Spring Fling, 249
Stanger, Christian G., 35-36, 47, 48, 50, 53, 79,

90, 147, 162, 177,200
Stanger, Frederike, 57
Stanger, Robert, vii, 63, 87-88, 226

biography of, 200, 200

building program of, 178, 187, 200

community activities of, 200

death of, 200, 226

development under, 178-182

fund-raising by, 178, 180

on Irion, 35

on mission, 178

on open dormitories, 195

as president, 35, 177-178, 190, 194

retirement of, 161, 182, 187,200

study retreat and, 186-187
StangerHall, 203, 217
Staudt, Genevieve, 132, 133-134, 147, 166, 177,

185, 186
STOP (Students to Terminate Overpopulation

and Pollution), 209, 228
Strauss, J., 10-11, 14, 15, 17
Streich, H.L., 65

X Index

275

Student Atf;iirs C.ouncil, 207

Student Athletic Association, 51, 72, 73

student body. 'SV{' also students

changes in, 146-147, 171-172

makeup of, 36, 133

in 1911,5/
Student Christian Association (Club), 150, 190
student council, 72, 91. See also student

government; Student Senate
Student Defense Council, 155
Student EmplojTnent Bureau, 147
student-facult)' discipline committee, 107
student government, 90-91, 107, 195
student health service, 180
student life

changes in, 78-79, 192-195

decreasing regimentation of, 107-108

in Depression, 150-153

in early 20th centur\', 47-54

at Jimior College, 133

model for, 83

in 1950s, 172-175

in 1960s, 188-191,211-215

in 1970s, 228-231

in 1980s, 236-238

postwar, 163-165

in the Proseminar\' era, 12-19, 69-74

race relations in, 209, 210, 247-248

rules and regulations, 54-56. {see also rules
and regulations)

student concerns and, 241

World War II and, 154-156
student organizations. See campus groups
Student Refugee Committee, 155, 172
students, 250, 256. See also Student Hfe

ages of, 20, 47

as bakers, 57, 49

changes in, 171-172

drinking by, 54, 23 1

drug use by, 207

in 1890, 32

faculty relations with, 1 74

German- vs. American-bom, 20-21

jobs of, 14-15,49,70

pranks of, 17-18, 55. See also pranks

protests (activism) of, 88, 100, 156, 191,
194-195,206-211,219

racial tensions of, 247-248

relations with administrators, 194-195

religious makeup of, 147, 171-172

rights of, 195,206-211

social life of (see campus groups;
student life)
Student Senate, 207, 208. See also student

government
student services, 144, 166, 186
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), 208
Student Union, 9, 107, 111
Summer Session, 156, 183, 202, 232
Supervising Board

administration of, 5, 66

athletics and, 5 1

curriculum changes, 31-32

fifth year program, 3 1

four-year college, 69

fraternities and, 83

fund-raising and, 52

language stipulations of, 75-76, 89

Meusch recommendations, 25

oral examinations by, 5, 22

overcrowding and, 26

rules and regulations, 88

sixth year program, 40
surplus, 161, 167, 176, 220. See also debt;

financial problems
swim team, 152, 198
Swords, Robert W, x, 186, 228, 235
Synod of the Northwest. See Evangelical Synod
of the Northwest; Evangelical Synod of
the West; Northwest Synod
Synod of the West, 2, 3-4

Teachers' Seminary, 3

Teagle Foundation, 234

tennis, 51, 94, 108, 136, 152, 165, 196, 198,

214,230
Ten Point Program, 187
Ten-Year Plan, 110, 111-112, 119, 182
Teutonic Male Quartet, 1 8
theater, 52-53. See also Elmhurst College

Theater
Thoma, George, Jr., 233
Thompson, Robert "Bob," 164
track and field, 51, 73, 94, 152, 241. See also

cross country team
Tuition, 84, 99, 118, 142, 146, 167, 168, 183,

202, 222, 232, 241. See also costs
Twent\'-five Club, 162

276 An Ever-Widening Circle: The Elmhurst College Years K

United Church of Christ, 2, 178, 182-183, 193,

202,233,235,256
United States National Student Association

(NSA), 193
University' of California-San Diego, 240
University of Chicago, accreditation by, 47
University of Illinois, accreditation by, 46-

47, 141
University of LaVeme, 240
Universit}' of W'isconsin-Whitewater, 240
Untersenioi; 70
Utley, Debora, 246

Mctor E. Bluejay, 249

Alctorv' Bell, 2 1 1

Vietnam War, 194, 206-209, 219, 220, 228

Vocal Jazz Ensemble, 241

Volker, William, 89

volleyball, 230, 239-240, 239, 250

Wadepuhl, Weaker, 186

Wadhams, Seth, 9, 86

Wagner, Louise, 95

Walton, Bill, 239, 240

Wanderlust Club, 73

Washington University, 92

Waukegan, Illinois, 4, 5

Weber, Richard, x

Weekend College, 221-222

Weisse, C.A., 35

Wellman, Ron, 229, 230, 238

Weygold, Friedrick, 22, 24

Wheaton College, 61, 136, 153, 156, 158, 173,

197,213,229
White, Claude, 230
Whitehurst, Kristin E., x
Wieboldt, WA., 1 1 1
Wilder Park, 9, 17,38,86, 152
WiUett, Howard L., Jr., 233
Willett Foundation, 233
Winona State, 198,211
Wochenseniot; 15
Wojtiuk, Alex, 241
Wolf, Juel, 200
women, 17, 54, 80. See also coeducation

admission of, 85, 86, 111-112, 129, 131-134

choral group of, 131, 173

church affiliation of, 133

dormitory for, 112, 114, 131, 133,203

at Homecoming (1931), 134

regulation of hours, 195

rights of, 209, 228

service organization, 2 1 5

sports teams, 153, 230, 238-240, 250

in student body, 147
Women's Auxiliary, 80, 95
Women's Glee Club, 150
Women's Union, 152
Women's Union College Circus, 152, 155, 158,

163, 190,211,2/4
World War I, 192

English at Proseminary and, 21

enrollment and, 44

impact of, 74-76
World War II, 149-150, 192

blood donors during, 154, 155

end of, 157-159

impact of, 153-156, 160, 161, 165, 172, 175
wrestling, 198,213,229,238
Writing Across the Curriculum, 236
WRSE (radio station), 163, 182, 215, 226,

227, 242
Wurlitzer Foundation, 234

Year Book, 62 . See also Eh/is, The

for 1919-20, 80, 82

for 1923-24, 98, 99
YMCA, 72, 84, 88, 91, 108, 115, 150
York Community High School, 86-87, 106,

108, 146
Young Americans for Freedom, 208
Young Men's Society, 33
YWCA, 150, 152

Zimmersenior, 1 5

Continued from front flap

along with Th. Mueller, made many
decisions that would shape the College
of today; and the presidents and others
who led Elmhurst through the perilous
Depression and World War II years,
the turbulent sixties and the seventies,
eighties and early nineties when many
other colleges failed in the face of
mounting financial problems and
declining enrollments.

Also instrumental in widening
Elmhurst College's circle were the
generations of students who studied,
worked and enjoyed college life
at Elmhurst.

Today the tiny school that began
with one professor and one building in a
community of 300 is a major college
Avith a diverse student body of approxi-
mately 2,700 full- and part-time students
in day and evening programs, 126 full-
time equivalent faculty and 22 major
buildings in a thri\dng suburb of more
than 40,000.

This book is a social history^ of
Elmhurst College — the faculty and staff,
the students and the community' that
housed and developed along with it.

Melitta J. Cutright, Ph.D.,
holds degrees from the Universit}' of
Illinois and Northwestern University
and has taught histon^ at Northwestern
and Eastern Illinois Universit)'. She is
the author of two books, Gro'iVing Up
Confident: How to Make Your Child's
Early Years Learning Years and The
National PTA Talks to Parents: Hoiv to
Get the Best Education for Your Child,
plus more than 40 articles.

Cutright heads a foundation in
Chicago and lives in Elmhurst with her
husband James P. Smith, who chairs
the Sociology' Department at Elmhurst
College, and their daughter Elisabeth.

President Bryant L. Cureton's inauguration, 1994.

"The history of the College is a fascinating story — one
that needs to be known by all who have a relationship to
its life. This book has a vital message for all generations."
— Rudolf Schade

Professor Emeritus
Elmhurst College

"Anyone interested in Elmhurst College or local Elmhurst
history will be delighted with this book. It captures both
the spirit of the College and its home community in a
bright and insightful way. It blends the people, the times
and the events that have shaped Elmhurst College and
made it a beloved and distinctive place."
— Ken Battels

Vice President for College Advancement
Elmhurst College

"In a narrative filled with detail — the 'stuff' of Elmhurst
College Hfe — this history becomes the vivid portrait of a
dynamic institution responding after its unique fashion to
the demanding currents of American higher education."
— Bob Swords

Fofyner Chair Department of English

Elmhurst College