Page 11 - TheGoldBug1955-56

The Gold Bug, Oct. 25, 1955 3 HOMECO_MING , Western Maryland Shows Immense EdJcationa/, Social, Economic Progress In Third Of A,Century I To Professor of English, Emeritus, George S. Wills, the staff The year was 1922. Warren G. Harding was in the White House and the nation was finding out of the GOLD BUG respectfully dedicates this Homecoming issue, not the hard way what Prohibition meant. A Portugese airplane made the first (rossing of the South At- to commemorate any particular event in his most useful life, but lantic via Cape Verde and Natal. World War I was officially over, but the next year would bring an merely to show our appreciation for what he has done for our school. omen for the future when Ludendorff and Adolph Hitler led their unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. I • At Western Maryland College, the adminstration of Albert Norman Ward was in its third year, and it may have been with a touch of pride that he called into being the first Homecoming Day. If it was, his pride was justifiable, for his still young reign had already resulted in several important changes and improvements. These had reached their culmination in that year with the dedication of Hoffa Field and McDaniel Hall. , I Thus it was that an invitation was extended to all Alumni to visit again the pleasant scene of their undergraduate days, to meet old friends and make new ones, to see the improvements which had been wrought, and to be entertained with a reception and athletic contests. \ . rr:h~occasion .must have been a very successful one=-certainly the football game was, resulting as It did In a 33-0 Win over Gallaudat and beginning our tradition of never losing a Homecoming game. At all had to separate for at least twenty to ou~ school life which has not events, the Homecoming Day was minutes before resuming a: eonveesa, changed very much since the first scheduled again the n~xt year and tion. No dancing was allowed in any Homecoming, or if it has the change with the exception of the war years college building at any time. The ac- is not readily apparent. This is the has continued ever since. tivities which were probably looked field of athletics. In 1922 the inter- Homecoming is now thirty-three forward to the most, however, were collJgiate sports engaged in were sub- years old and these years have seen the occasional picnics, class dinners stantially the same as those played many changes here on the Hill. In and such at which more freedom ob- today. The single important exception the matter of the physical plant, there tained. These events, though, were is boxing, which was practiced then, have been additional acquisitions of generally limited to members of the but has been dropped since. land and the erection of· such build- Senior, and sometimes Junior classes. In football, tbe record of 1922 was: ings as Science Hall, Blanche Ward Nevertheless, some romances found three wins, six losses, and two score- Hall, Gill Gym, Albert Norman Ward devious ways to flourish, and it was less ties. Since then Western Mary_ and Daniel MacLea Halls, and Thomp- not unusual for a Commencement ex- land has risen to the top ranks in the son Infirmary. work is to commence ercise to be followed by a wedding or late nineteen-twenties and.early thir- next Spring on a new Baker Chapel. two in Baker Chapel. ties, and has subsided again to an liIr.~rnr!lr~. llillills The financial position of the college The period of Albert Norman average small college team. Many has been steadily enhanced and made Ward's presidency was the one in Alumni and some present day stu- One may, it is hoped, be pardoned always exerted some pull on him, for more secure as the value of the plant which the more obnoxious restrictions dents may regret this state of affairs, for a strange curiosity about the in 1922 he returned as head 'Of the has grown and the endowment fund were removed or at least moderated, but it is much more in keeping with thoughts which passed through the English department. It was during has been raised from about $300,000 but in general, this did not take place the school's objectives. mind 'Of George Stockton Wills on the this period that he gave his fullest to around $2,500,000, but we have no until after 1925. Basketball, baseball, track, soccer, day in 1898 when he first climbed the efforts toward improving the college doubt that the administratfon would Insofar as societies were concerned, tennis, and rifle teams were among Hill to take up his new duties as Pro- and its curriculum. It was during this like to see even further improvement the main ones of the time were the those available in 1922. All of these fessor of English at Western Mary. period, also, that so many young here. four literary societies: Irving and are available now, plus wrestling and land College. people came to enjoy the benefits of There are now many more courses \Vebster for men, and Browning and golf. ' He was then a young man of thirty- his guiding hand when they needed it of instruction than there were then, Philomathean for women. At the Homecoming has seen many changes two, who had just received his A. M. most, and thus he became known as from Harvard University, but even a very fine teacher. so, he was a year 'Older than the in- Time passes, and carries in its cur- stitution he had come to serve. He rent both joys and sorrows. In 1943, was horn on April 3, 1866, in a North it brought the death of the popular Carolina made poor by the Civil War and beloved Mrs. Wills. In 1944, Dr. and the period of "reconstruction" fol- Wills became Professor of English, lowing that wasteful conflict. Doubt- Emeritus, and retired from active less, he lived through times of great teaching, except for summer courses economic adversity, but he has mem- which he taught until 1949. But ories also of the near Heaven on earth though he no longer teaches, he is no which is possible only to people who stranger to the campus, and may be are reduced to a certain simplicity frequently seen at social gatherings, and closeness to nature, but who never exhibits, recitals, and the like; and lose hope. he still takes a very active interest in Most of his higher education was the affi\irs of the school, as behooves received at the University of North a man who taught under all the presi- Carolina, where he was awarded the dents of Western Maryland College degrees of Ph.B. and Ph.M. His right except the first, and who knew tha\ • be the title "Doctor" stems from an gentleman well. " honorary degree of Lit. D. awarded by Western Maryland in 1955. At the time when he was receiving his edu- An Early Homecoming cation the degree of Ph.D. was some- by Peg Whorton, '57 thing of a rarity, and was not re- Artist'IJ view of TV.MC campus a year or two before the first Homecoming. No McDaniel, no garded as necessary for even the high- While the world began to feel the Science Hall, wilderness beyond the Seminary. Could those cani.ages be horseless? est educational positions, thus he did first effects of the great depression, not study for it as he doubtless would Homecoming Day at Western Mary- and they cover more of the important meetings of these groups, topics of through the years, but because of or land College was observed Sunday, fields of contemporary life. The fac- current interest were discussed and despite these, the college has grown have, later. November 10, 1929. Hundreds of tor- ulty has been so expanded that even debated and readings and orations and is continuing to grow. The one- When Dr. Wills arrived on the Hill, mer students and the parents of the with the new courses its work load were given. The best thing about third of a century which has passed the college was very small and poor. present students attended the gala has been reduced and the instructors them was the "Bull sessions" which since 1922, has served to unite the As a result, his pay, like that of all affair. Approximately two thousand are able to function at more nearly could always be expected. school and its Alumni in ever tighter the school's staff, was likewise very invitations were sent out to alumni- their actual capacity and therefore In 1894, four woman students or- bonds of affection and loyalty. Here small and poor, and ctrcumstences not only from Maryland, but also from function better. The academic ranking ganized a club of women known as we must mention the Homecoming tna- soon required that he seek better other states. A day of unusual enter- of the faculty has also improved the J.G.C. It was tolerated' but ditions which have arisen: the Alum- fortune elsewhere, for he married the steadily as the percentage of Masters frowned upon by the faculty because ni reception and the games with which former Georgia M. Chidester in 1903, tainment was in store for all who were and Doctors degrees on the staff has of its secret nature. In 1922, were or- it all began, the parades and floats, and left the Hill a year later. } on the Hill that day. shown a tremendous increase. ganized two new clubs: W.W. for the exhibits on the campus, and the Dr. Wills afterward taught at The Green Terrors defeated Mount In the field of social relations, also, women, and Gamma Beta Chi for Homecoming Queen and Court. These several other schools, his longest St. Mary's 21-0 in the game that day. there has been' very significant prog- men. J.G.C. is now Iota Gamma Chi, have evolved gradually. It is odd that tenure during this period being at Many parents and alumni hadn't seen ress. In 1922, the social atmosphere and W.W. is Sigma Sigma Tau. Fac- the first Homecoming Queen was not Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, from the present team in action; therefore still showed Western Maryland's Vic- ulty resistance began to break down, elected until 1936, when it was de- 1907 to 1922; but the HilI must have the game was a great thrill for every- torian heginnings to an extent that and after the founding of "Just Us scribed as an "innovation." The first one present. we would now regard as intolerable. Girls," (now Delta Sigma Kappa, and Queen was Mary Alice Wigley of the Think It's Bad Now? Later in the day, a "Black and The sexes were strictly segregated. the men's Alpha Gamma Tau, and class of '37, who was also May Queen White" Banquet was held. The ban- They ate at the same time in the same Black and White Club, (now Pi Alpha in her Senior year. Many other lesser quet was designed to create a greater dining hall, but the men's and wom- Alpha), sorority and fraternity recog- customs have arisen, too numerous to Coed Rat Rules, 1932 fellowship between those who had been en's tables were on opposite sides of nition was obtained. Delta Pi Alpha mention. 1. Freshmen must make Hindu bow and were at present connected with the room with the faculty tables be, followed in 1925, and Phi Alpha Mu before all sophs and repeat the fol- the college in one capacity or an- tween them. They attended the same in 1926. Now it is time for Homecoming lowing in Hindu dialect: "0' wha ta other. religious services five times a week These organizations gradually dis- 1955. As we look back, we see the goo Siam." Various organizations associated and on Sunday evenings, but were placed the literary societies and the things which have happened in the 2. Freshmen shall wear hair parted with the college also made arrange- separated here too. This custom, as latter passed out of existence in the last 'thirty-three years. What Will the in the middle, pulled down over fore- ments to observe the day. Many of the we know, has hung on 'til the present nineteen-thirties. next thirty-three bring.? The Alumni head, and held there by a wide green social clubs planned a type of open time. What was worst of all, perhaps, The Young Men's and Young Wom- of the future look forward to 1988, band, which is pinned with a large house. The day was climaxed by the was that the campus was divided into en's Christian Associations were al- with great anticipation. The events of safety pin. Homecoming Dance. sections reserved for each sex and ways strong on the campus, and later, the future are ours to bring about. 3. Freshmen shall also wear low with a "No Man's Land" separating when the rules segregating the sexes heels, odd stockings, green dresses In later years many different activi- them. This segregation extended even were relaxed, there were merged into with no belts. Clothing rules shall be ties were added to the order of Home- to the classrooms, with only one sex the present Student Christian Asso. Editor's Note: This page was com- disregarded only on special occasions, coming Day. Class reunions were being taught at a time wberever it elation. The work of these groups piled and edited by Charles D. Bur- as at Alumni Hall and on Sundays. among these activities. was practical to do+so. should never be underestimated when ton, '58, assisted by Peg Whorton, 4. Freshmen shall have no men's This year the students are planning There were "Parlor Nights" once a an enumeration is made of the forces '57. "ChUlJk" dug into old AWHA'g pictures in their rooms. a Homecoming Day which should month at first, and once each week which have been instrumental in help- and GOLD BUG's for most of his 5. Freshmen shall report to the prove to be the best ever. Students later on, at which parties of two or ing to build a better Western Mary- material and at this point is probably hockey field at 6:45 a.m. for setting- and administration alike are looking m~re were allowed to talk for twenty land College. the only student expert on WMC h.is- up exercises, first signing on bulletin forward to a great day on November minutes at a time, after which they And now we come to the one facet tory on the campuB. boards. 5.