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| Redlands Through the Years |
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Furthering a Mission
The story of the University of Redlands years is the story of an institution
much changed from its founding, yet unchanged in spirit from its original
commitment to educate not only the mind but also the heart. A peculiar set of
circumstances led to the birth of a university in Redlands, California: the
devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed the hopes for success with
educational plans in the north; the financial failure of an American Baptist
college in Los Angeles; and the determination of businessmen in Redlands led by
the energetic vision of the Rev. Jasper Newton Field. Dr. Field sought "this
prize" for his city, urging first his parishioners at the First Baptist Church
and then the Redlands Board of Trade to convince the American Baptist site
committee to locate its new university in Redlands.
Weeks of intense work, lobbying and personal visits, a persuasive gift of land
from Baptist layman Karl C. Wells, and more than $50,000 from a city
subscription drive captured the site committee’s attention. Chartered on
November 25, 1907, the University admitted its first student in September 1909.
The intervening time was used to hone concepts, hire faculty, determine
academic policy and plan the campus.
A Campus Takes Shape
When surveying the present campus, it is difficult to imagine the humble
beginnings of the University. Indeed, an old winery and the decayed remains of
a brickyard marked the place where the University campus was to be. It was a
discouraging scene to the nine professors and 52 students who arrived to form
the first University community. Still, a hardy first graduating class of three
proudly accepted their diplomas in June 1910.
By 1913, Woodrow Wilson had replaced William Taft as President, income tax
became law, and an energetic band of undergraduates at Redlands began
construction of the huge "R" on a local mountain. That year, the City of
Redlands - its entire economy bound up in its world famous navel oranges -
experienced a devastating freeze which destroyed crops and many trees. The
University’s own income from citrus suffered greatly. But offers in the local
business community to extend credit, and continued faith by those who supported
the school led the young school through the crisis.
Prior to World War I, the completed Bekins Hall and the President’s Mansion
(now the Alumni House), along with the Administration Building began to give
form to the campus. Most evident during these years was the commitment to a
liberal arts education, and to the instruction of students who were sent forth
to do good and undertake service to improve the world.
Heady Days and Roaring Ways
With Field’s resignation in 1915, the problems of World War I, and the
recession of 1919-1920, University growth was constrained. Guiding the
University during the prosperous decade of the 1920s was Victor Leroy Duke, a
member of the original faculty. He and the trustees rejoiced in a Rockefeller
Foundation grant that enabled great strides to be made academically. Also, new
dormitories were added to the residential campus, additional classrooms were
built, a handsome Memorial Chapel anchored the north end of the quad, and the
Alma Mater’s Och Tamale became adopted. The famous Och Tamale, first introduced
by students in 1920, fastened itself as a tradition that is still practiced
today. The University had taken its place as a fine private undergraduate
institution by 1929.
Depression’s Gloom
The Depression of 1929 brought sudden change and challenge. President Herbert
Hoover was out and Franklin Roosevelt was in. In 1933 President Duke died
suddenly leaving a campus mourning but strong and vigorous. The 1930s brought
campus rapport between faculty and students and an influx of educated, bright
and able faculty. Clarence Howe Thurber became the third president, upgraded
the academic curriculum, but found himself confronted by many challenges. His
resignation in 1936 caused the University community to struggle within itself
for a sense of direction.
When he asked the selection committee, "Do you think I am the man for the job?"
it was clear that in Elam J. Anderson the University had secured a new
president of singular determination and will. He minced no words. He was aware
of the religious beginnings of the University, and he was also committed to its
academic excellence. He was not afraid of trustees, and he defended many of his
faculty in a sensitive transition from "regional" university to "university
with national outlook." No one knew that the 1940s would bring even more
calamity into a world already besieged with problems. World War II profoundly
changed the University. With Elam Anderson’s sudden death in 1944 and with V-12
military units swelling classes at Redlands, the school entered into a new
phase of growth.
Change and Growth
In 1945 with the arrival of a new president from the East - George H. Armacost,
a twenty-five year presidency began. It was a time of continuity, new social
life developments, vigorous building campaigns, and increased endowment. The
post-war years brought large numbers of veterans as students, and new dorms
nearly burst their seams.
During 1959, the University enjoyed its golden jubilee based on its founders’
commitment to the campus 50 years earlier. Enhanced and encouraged by a proven
capacity to change and improve, Redlands responded to the changing needs of
students. Academic and athletic achievements reached a new high.
As the 1960s evolved, one era came to a close and another took its place. A
national atmosphere charged with acrimony, debate, and confrontation over
Vietnam was upon the country. The University experienced little of the dramatic
travail which convulsed many institutions of higher learning, but major changes
came nonetheless. As George Armacost retired in 1970, national inflation began,
a gas crises developed, and then a recession. An experimental cluster college
known as Johnston had began in 1969. A special feature of the new college
centered on individualized learning.
Following Armacost, President Eugene E. Dawson’s tenure in the 1970s saw a
nation agonizing over its foreign policy, domestic goals, and economy.
Meanwhile, curricular changes, vocational shifts, and a declining student pool
began to affect American colleges. The University of Redlands was not
invulnerable to this trend and turned its attention from adding to its capital
facilities to addressing imperatives of increasing its endowment, providing
more student scholarships, and dealing with escalating tuition costs.
Curricular change provided positive new experiences and patterns for Redlands
in the 1970s: excellence in scientific programs and additional foreign study
opportunities. The University recognized the need to provide educational
opportunities for working adults with the establishment of the Alfred North
Whitehead College for Lifelong Learning. Whitehead, designed to offer
undergraduate and graduate programs for the mature student, addressed changing
trends in higher education and the needs of the workplace.
And, More Change
The end of the 1970s brought about intense discussions and a firm resolve to
secure the University’s future and keep undiminished its purpose of liberal
arts education. Following the retirement of Dr. Dawson in 1978, President
Douglas R. Moore inherited an institution facing challenges imposed on all of
private higher education: less money, higher costs, and fewer students. Under
Moore’s leadership the concept of "partnership" between the various elements of
the University became a priority. The operational priority became the
commitment to a capital campaign to enlarge the endowment dramatically. To
accomplish this important new thrust in direction, new alignments in the
structure of Whitehead and Johnston resulted in their designation as centers,
re-evaluation of academic priorities, the raising of the entrance standards for
students, and the re-shaping of the Board of Trustees.
By 1987, the first major new capital campaign in recent Redlands history
evolved with a plan, themes chosen and details completed. Then, Doug Moore
suffered a heart attack, underwent major surgery, and later died in March,
1987.
A saddened campus put many decisions on hold. A trustee selection committee
pushed forward the search for a new president. By September 1987, the committee
had centered upon one candidate. After interviews in which the campus
scrutinized the candidate and the candidate scrutinized the campus, a unanimous
consensus prevailed. James R. Appleton, vice president for development at the
University of Southern California, accepted the invitation.
How Far the Dream?
Dr. Appleton, with wide experience and an excellent background involving
university administration and an understanding of students (as a former vice
president of student life), both brought to the campus an energy and
determination to carry out past plans, but equally important, to create and
complete his own agenda. He joined the University community in November 1987.
In the 18 years of Dr. Appleton’s leadership, Hunsaker Center, Thompson Aquatic
Center, Farquhar Field, and the Stauffer Center for Science, including Hedco,
Gregory, Appleton and Lewis Halls were built. The Memorial Chapel was
renovated, the endowment increased, and $100 million centennial campaign
launched.
The university, beginning from Field’s vision, has never been content with
mediocrity, rather preferring to improve from its travails. The University
remained mindful of its role in the world, and committed to sending out
graduates who seek to enhance their world. The possibilities for the
University, for its staff, faculty, students, alumni, and friends are
limitless. The original resolve remains bright: "to serve the mind and the
heart."
Upon Dr. Appleton’s appointment to Chancellor, a presidential search committee
spent the spring of 2005 seeking a new president. By unanimous vote the
position was offered to Dr. Stuart Dorsey, an economist and academic vice
president at the University of Evansville in Indiana. He accepted. Arriving in
August of 2005, President Dorsey and his wife Michelle began quickly to
integrate themselves into the University and into the City of Redlands
community.
In March, during a warm and spirited inauguration inside Memorial Chapel, a
driving rain ruled outside. President Dorsey’s remarks included an observation
that faculty at Redlands were concerned less with what students brought with
them to Redlands, but valued more what they take from it. One hundred years
later, President Field would doubtless have nodded with pleasurable agreement.
-- Larry E. Burgess ’67, Ph.D.
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