Ripon College Magazine Winter 2002

PON

The Church on College Hill 3

For 150 years, the First Congregational Church of Ripon and Ripon College have shared a history intertwined with people, issues, money, responsibility and relationships From the college's inception, members of First Congregational Church have been involved with the college on the hill. David Sakrison's story uses as a foundation a sermon given by Professor of Religion Brian Smith on the occasion of the church's Sesquicentennial celebration in November of 2000.

Family Ties Weave Through Ripon 9

Since the Board of Trustees was first named in 1855, members of a large number of families have helped direct the institution Some families have produced multiple chairs of the Board while others have offered steadfast guidance passed down from father to son, father to daughter, brother to brother and husband to wife to son.

By Haley Jorgensen

'Small Affair.· Large Influence

17

The Kennan family of Packwaukee, Wis., initiated its involvement with Ripon College when, in 1869, Kossuth Kent Kennan began studying in the Preparatory Department. The Kennan family's involvement contin ues today as Kent Kennan's grandson, Eugene Hotchkiss, pens this fami ly story of its love affair with Ripon College.

The Ripon College Presidents

27

There have been only 11 presidential leaders of Ripon College, all men dedicated to the enhancement of higher education. Their foresight, vision and determination have directed the College through wars, depressions, days of student unrest and declining enrollments. Their per severance is, perhaps, one of their strongest collective qualities.

By Maureen Perkins 'O1

For the Ages: 26 Who Made A Difference

35

Throughout Ripon's history, people have served in exemplary ways to help make the College a well-respected institution of higher education While their diverse stories vary from giving the land on which the College was built, to being a one-woman "mother" of Ripon, they all shared at least one common trait - commitment.

By Maureen Perkins 'O I

Student Life at Ripon College

A Sesquicentennial photo exhibit last spring captured some of the high lights of student life at Ripon over the decades. These 14 black and white photographs, enlarged to 24 x 30 and 30 x 40 inches, tell dramatic stories of campus life and traditions.

46

Students walk up the hill behind Harwood in the 1940s.

Ripon·s Soldiers 54

The military has been a thread through Ripon's history dating back to the Civil War. The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) has been part of the college culture since 1919 and the U.S. Army used college facilities during both World Wars. In the heyday of ROTC, every male student took two years of military training and from the 1920s to the 1960s it led the social life on campus. By David

Sakrison

Student Activism Peaks During Thompson Years 60

The Rev. Jerry Thompson, former head football coach and chaplain of the College, was the catalyst for students and others to speak their minds and to peacefully stand up for what they believed. While student activism has been visible at Ripon throughout its history, it peaked during the Thompson years. David Sakrison talks with Thompson about what led the well-respected coach to seek a life of pacifism.

The Houses of Ripon College 65

The grand old mansions are long gone from the college scene, but alumni still talk about how living in these off-campus houses influenced their lives. Alumni say living in these two- and three-story residences offered many highlights to their college experience.

By Maureen Perkins '01

Coeducational From the Beginning 77

While other colleges, like Beloit, initially offered single-sex education, Ripon has been coeducational from its inception. Although the founders flirted with the idea of becoming a women's college, more progressive minds prevailed and convinced others that coeducation produces better results.

By Maureen Perkins '01

Greek Life at Ripon College 79

Greek-letter societies at Ripon date back to 1895 and have, at times, involved as much as 80 percent of the student body. Lee Reinsch '89, an independent, recounts the history of these groups, their struggle for recognition and, later, even survival. Many groups had fleeting affairs with national organizations only to return to their local roots. Today's brand of Greeks, administrators say, are more conscious of the need for community service and take a heightened responsibility in the educational arena.

Athletics at Ripon Date to 1877 91

Organized athletics at Ripon date to 1877 when an association for men was formed, primarily around track and field meets. In the 1880s, the campus expanded to field days and, eventually, into intercollegiate athletics with area colleges. There have been hundreds of championships along the way as well as some of the most tested rivalries in the Midwest. Ryan Wilson recaptures some of the glory competition has brought to Ripon.

ipon College is pleased to present the Sesquicentennial issue of Ripon Magazine celebrating the institution's 150th anniversary.

This compilation of stories is centered on themes that have developed throughout the college's history. An extended timeline takes a look at the historical perspective of one of Wisconsin's oldest institutions of higher education.

In my 12 years at Ripon, I've listened to alumni talk about their undergraduate days and of the great pride they have in their alma mater and its history. As this Sesquicentennial publication developed, I relied on my memory of those conversations to guide us.

In visits with alumni, topics often turned to where they had lived, the daily requirements of college such as chapel and who the president was during their tenure on campus. Other discussions have focused on the role of the Reserve Officer Training Corps and campus activities like Ver Adest, formals, athletics and student publications. And other talks have led to alumni recalling memories of favorite faculty members, the role of fraternities and sororities in student life, the personal atmosphere at Ripon and about the large number of families who have had members in multiple generations earn Ripon degrees.

We hope these recollections of Ripon spark memories and, at the same time, perhaps, bring you a step closer to the College.

Loren J. Boone Director, College Relations Chair, Sesquicentennial Committee

RIPON

RiJJon Magazine (ISSN 1058-1855) is pub lished quarterly by Ripon College, 300 Seward Sc., Ripon, WI 54971-0248. Periodical postage paid at Ripon, Wis

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ri/J<m Magazine, P.O. Box 248, Ripon, WI 549il-0248.

Editor: Loren J. Boone

e-mail address: BooneL@ripon.edu

Writers: David Sakrison, Haley Jorgensen, Ryan Wilson, Maureen Perkins '01, Megan Ackerman '03, Lee Reinsch '89

Student Assistants: Alice Friend '04, Salomon De Los Angeles '05, Abby Williams '04

Editorial Assistants: Ric Damm, Sandi Koller

Layout design by the-graphics factory - Deba Horn-Prochno '74

Electronic imaging and printing by Ripon Community Printers Inc

Special Thanks to the Ripon College Archives and to George Miller, professor of history emeritus.

Ripon on the web: www ripon.edu

Cover scock for this issue of the Ripon Magazine is provided, in part, by the Sreen-Macck Paper Co. and International

Students ice skate down the sidewalk behind Harwood.

They were born together, Later that year, the Methodists

grew up together, and today stand together on College Hill in Ripon. November 2000 marked the 150th anniversary of the founding.of Ripon College (as the Lyceum of Ripon) and the founding of the First Congregational Churchthe city's oldest continuously oper ating church.

The first white settlers arrived in the neighborhood in May 1844. Followers of the French utopian philosopher-Charles Fourier, they came here to establish an experi ment in communal living. They called themselves the "Wisconsin Phalanx" and their utopia, "Ceresco," after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture They settled on the banks of Crystal Creek, which flows out of South Woods into Silver Creek. One of their communal "longhouses" still stands next to Ceresco Park, a few blocl<s north of the Rodman Center for the Arts. The future city of Ripon was platted in 1849 on land east of Ceresco village.

In that same month in which the first settlers arrived in Ceresco, the first sermon was preached there by an itinerant Baptist minister.

The Church on College Mill

formed the first 01:ganized church in the community.

Up the hill, in the tiny village of Ripon, a group of 11 men and women met on Thursday, Nov. 21, 185Q, in the Mapes Hotel on the village square and chartered the First Congregational Church of Ceresco. (The College w as char tered just two days later.)

Like the College, the First Congregational Church of Ceresco was born of high hopes and ve1y little cash. Capt. David Mapes, who platted the city of Ripon, donated an acre of land for the College. Tradition says he and Alvan Bovay staked out the first building in a snowstonn.

The church went without a home for two years, meeting in the Ceresco School. The congregation grew, attracting many of the leading fami lies of Ripon and Ceresco. William Brockway, the college's first name sake, was one of the earliest members.

Service to the community out side the church was, and is, a basic part of the Congregationalist credo. Besides supporting foreign and domestic mission work, the little congregation lent its support to the young College.

Erwin Breithaupt sketch Breithaupt was a professOT of an ai Ripon from 1962-83.

Ripon College Timeline

This timeline presents snip pets of Ripon College his tory. The timeline is car ried throughout this Sesquicentennial issue of Ripon Magazine but does not include all significant events in the col lege's history. An effort was made to avoid duplication with stories in this issue.

Brockway bought more than $300 in stock in the new College and, as the largest investor, won the right to put his name on it. The Lyceum of Ripon became Brockway College. The first building (now East Hall) was built in the summer of 1851 but stood empty for a year, for lack of funds.

students in

The Ceresco Phalanx is established by Warren Chase. Eventually, the com mune was absorbed by the more conser vative settlers in the valley who were developing what would soon become Ripon, Wis.

The Rev. Jeremiah Walcott, third pastor of the Congregational Church, agreed to finance and run the College until the Trustees could raise enough money. Walcott finished and furnished the college building, added 10 acres to the campus and hired the first instruc tor, Martha Adams, proprietress of a school for young ladies in Green Bay. In 1854, he paid off the col lege's remaining debt of $400 with his own funds and was given the deed to the property. He held chat deed until 1857, when he gave it back to the Trustees in exchange for a mortgage.

City of Ripon founded.

November 23

The foundations of Ripon College are

laid in a corporation organized under the name, ''Lyceum of Ripon." A seal is adopted and David P. Mapes is elected president and Alvin E. Bovay, secretary. The board of directors is authorized to contract for the erection of a building "of stone 50 feet square, two stories high."

December 18

Contract let for the new building esti mated to cost $800.

Sources: A Century of Building for Youth, 1951; Ripon College: A History; Faith and Courage, A History of the Reserve Officer Training Corps 1919-1991; Ripon Magazine; Ripon College Archives.

I

Congregationalists have always chosen high ground for their church buildings, and the Ripon congregation planted its flag on College Hill. In the summer of 1853, it built a small white wooden church for $900. A stone's throw to the southwest, the first classes were held that summer in what is now East Hall. In the only finished classroom in the building, the Ladies' Department of the College was dedicated on June 1, 1853, with a class of six young women. A short summer session saw 20 young women enrolled; the first male stu dents arrived on campus Sept. 1.

The Long House in Ceresco tuas built by the phalanx. It is now used as a rental property.

that first decade were schoolteach ers who needed training in basic primary school subjects.) A grow ing number of college students and faculty members attended the church each Sunday

A majority of the Trustees always favored full co-education. Walcott resigned from Brockway College over disagreements with some of the school's financial sup porters, but he continued to donate funds to the College for many years.

Like most Congregationalists, the members of Ripon's Congregational Church were, in the main, ardent Abolitionists. When the proposed federal "Kansas-Nebraska Act" threatened to extend the "peculiar institution" of slavety to new Western states, Ripon's anti-slavery faction was incensed. On Feb. 28, 1854, a paid notice in the Ripon Herald newspa per announced a meeting the fol lowing Wednesday at the Congregational Church, "co protest the Nebraska swindle." Those who attended resolved that, if the Kansas-Nebraska Act should become law, a new political party should be formed "under the single banner cry of 'Repeal! Repeal!' " One of the ringleaders at that meeting was Bovay, an original Trustee of Brockway College and a sometime instructor of mathemat ics there.

The "Kansas-Nebraska swindle" was enacted by Congress and, on March 20, 1854, another meeting was held in Ripon, in a white school house at the comer of Thome and East Fond du Lac streets. It was there that Bovay gave the name "Republican" to what would become the political party of Abraham Lincoln.

The historic school house was moved in 1860 and used as a pri vate residence until 1908, when concerned citizens bought it and

moved it to the college campus, on the present site of the student union. It was chased around the campus for four decades, moving several times to make way for new college buildings. In 1929, the Little White School House and Ripon College played host to the Republican Party's 75th Anniversary celebration. The event included a three-hour parade and endless speeches, and was attended by about 25,000 party faithfuls. The school house left the campus for its present home on Blackbum Street in 1951.

Ripon's Congregational Church has always been known for its activism, perhaps fueled in part by the many students and pro fessors who have been members. In 1856, the congregation resolved to deny fellowship to any person who held slaves. In 1859, the issue was high interest rates allegedly charged on loans by some of Ripon's wealthier citizens. Calling the practice "extortion," the con gregation went so far as to fire its own pastor on suspicion of usurious lending.

In 1861, as the first shots of the Civil War were fired, Brockway College was deeply in debt. With a new dormitory (now Middle Hall) under construction and no money, the Trustees suspended classes for a year. The war fueled an economic boom, which brought needed dona tions to the College. Classes resumed in the fall of 1862mainly college preparatory courses or primary school subjects for teachers.

With new faculty and more new students, the first college class was formed in September of 1863, marking the permanent establish ment of the college curriculum. Students moved into the new dor-

mitory, the Trustees broke ground for a new library (now West Hall), debts were retired, and by vote of the Trustees, Brockway College became Ripon College.

The first class (all women) who started in September 1863 graduat ed in the spring of 1867. There has been a graduating class at Ripon College in every year since.

Also in that spring of 1863, the First Congregational Church of Ripon began building a magnificent stone and wood church a few yards south of the white-frame church. It was finished a year later at a cost of $22,000. Today, like 10 of the buildings on the Ripon College campus, the

Over the years, the Co!Lege has held many events at the Congregational Church including commencement. Today, the baccalaureate services are held there each spring.

January 1

The college name is won with an auc tion bid by William Brockway.

January 29

The origi nal charter of Brock

church is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The wooden church was sold to Grace Lutheran, a new congrega tion that formed after a "wet-dry" dispute divided Ripon's First Lutheran church.

Grace Lutheran tore down the wooden church and built its own

brick

For the next 96 years, the twin spires of First Congregational and Grace Lutheran were a Ripon land mark, visible for miles. The Lutherans outgrew their church and sold it to the College. It served vari ously as a college theatre, a coffee house and a warehouse, then stood empty and neglected for several years way College as a coeducational insti-

tution of higher learning is approved by the state of Wisconsin.

Capt. David P. Mapes and others enlist in erecting the building known as East College. The ground is given by Mapes and subscriptions of $800 "pour in," payable in An obseroatory topped the original East Hall. goods, lumber, labor, lime and grain. The building is crowned with a roof and observatory before the snow falls.

The Rev. Jeremiah W. Walcott comes to the financial aid of the College and man ages it exclusively until 1855, holding reversionary rights until 1868.

\t'lRil,'l' AN tl \lGA'T A.10 G IJ } OFJll{)Jmi-; AND THUSTJmS , ,t)rcpnn1tmlormn! i\f,PAUUHNT1'

lfll,

Sixteen females attend the first preparato ry classes in June; male stu dents are admitted in September. , Anearly catalog.

The original Brockway ban,u;r is displayed in the Dahm Heritage Room.

edifice on College Hill in 1888. before it was demolished in 1984.

The First Congregational Church was constructed in 1867. To the right is part of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church which the College purchased in the 1950s and was used for a variety of purposes.

In 1868, the New England-based Society for Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West offered its endorsement to Ripon College. That promised to bring the College to the attention of well-heeled Eastern donors, but there was a potential hitch. Through its deal ings with Rev. Walcott, the College had become tied to the Winnebago Convention of Presbyterian and Congregational Churches In exchange for finan cial support, the Convention had gained the right to appoint several Trustees to the College. The Society would only give its endorsement if the College would sever all ties with any denomina tional groups. The Winnebago Convention quickly agreed to give up its right to appoint Trustees, "to remove obstacles in the way of [Ripon College's] growth." The Society endorsed the College and promised to raise a $50,000 endow ment from Eastern donors That put Ripon College on a solid finan cial footing and brought it to national attention

In 1884, a serious disagreement arose between college President Edward Merrell, who was a member of the First Congregational Church, and Rev. Stephen Newman, the church's pastor Merrell opposed the teaching of Darwin's Theory of Evolution and resisted The Rev. Stephen attempts to Newman reinterpret the Bible to fit Darwin's theory. The College, he argued, should uphold the Bible as literal truth

Rev. Newman, who also taught mathematics and astronomy at the College, believed that one could uphold the spiritual truth of the Book of Genesis without rejecting science He said that science offered another kind of revelation, by revealing the wonders and methods of God's creation, Pressured by Merrell's supporters to quit his posi tion as pastor, Newman did offer his resignation It was rejected by a majority of the congregation, which included active and former faculty members and several college Trustees. His oppo nents appealed to the larger church body and in the summer of 1884, a council of 18 Congregational min isters met in the church on College Hill. For two days, they heard from and talked with church members, col lege faculty, and college students. Then they voted

The First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ of Ripon, as seen between East and Middle halls. The College presented the church with the Founders' Day Award in 2001 in recognition of the 150-year relationship of the two institutions.

to support Rev. Newman. He stayed on at Ripon, for a while, then departed to serve as a pastor of the Congregational Church in Washington, D C. He later served as president of Howard University in that city.

Merrell wasn't finished. In 1888, he proposed to estab lish an official "college church." Controlled by a minister of Merrell's own choosing, it would provide lectures on "correct" Biblical interpretation, with atten dance required for all students and faculty.

Members of the Congregational Church denounced Merrell's plan as a threat to both academic free-

Ripon Commonwealth Press photo

March 20

1857 J,

February 21

Walcott deeds the college property to a Board of Trustees, who secure his claim of $6,977 by a mortgage on the entire real estate. The campus embraces about nine acres.

Middle College dormitory (now Middle Hall after a period as Smith Hall), without the portico, is begun, par tially com pleted and

dom and the integrity of the min istry Newman's successor, the Rev. Henry Richardson, stepped in to mediate and prevented a split between the College and the church. Shortly thereafter, Merrell's proposal died for good when the Trustees voted it into oblivion.

Rev. Richardson moved to Illinois. In 1903, he was among 588 people who died in a tragic fire at Chicago's Iroquois Theater. He was found in the ashes with the bodies of two small children, one under each arm. The coroner's report stated: "This man need not have died, if he had not endeavor'ed to save the lives of others." He was buried next to his wife in Ripon's Hillside Cemetery, adjacent to the College.

families from war-tom Latvia and Lithuania. By their efforts, 80 refugees from Europe found homes, jobs and hope in the Ripon area.

The ties remain strong between Ripon College and the First Congregational Church. The con gregation still counts faculty and students among its members The church has hosted performances of the Ripon College Choral Union, the Ripon College Chamber Singers and other groups and artists.

The church has also hosted a young adult fellowship for Ripon College students and is the site of baccalaureate services each spring. In recent years, the College and congregation have cooperated to bring noted speakers to campus including William Sloane Coffin

Middle Hall is ready for occupancy and Martin Marty Ripon College has always sought by female students a year later.

The first formal campus debate is held and is focused on "Resolution: A Bad Education Is Worse Than No Education At All." The campus is the rendezvous for the first Wisconsin Cavalry. Six hundred men are collected at Camp Fremont on the college grounds. Classes are sus pended for the year.

Ripon's First Congregational Church has always been a voice for peace, justice and activism - from Abolitionism, to peace efforts in both World Wars, to the Civil Rights Freedom Marches of the 1960s, to the Vietnam War, to present-day community-aid efforts in neighbor ing states and in Panama and Nicaragua. In the 1930s, as the Congregational Church expanded its mission work in Africa and China, the Ripon congregation invited Asian and African students from Ripon College and the University of WisconsinMadison to visit the church and be part of its circle.

After World War II, church members helped resettle displaced

to encourage activism and leader ship among its students and alum ni. The First Congregational Church of Ripon has always chal lenged its members to reach out beyond the church's walls, "in jus tice and love." Ripon College cele brates a century and a half of hop ing and striving, cooperation and disagreements, shared goals and independence, friendship and mutual respect with the church on College Hill.

- David Sakrison

David Sakrison is a professional writ.er and edir.or, and the co-author of the book A Portrait of Ripon-The First 100 Years in Photographs. His sister, Jeanie Sakrison Velarde, attended Ripon College from 1964 co 1967. David was accept.ed to Ripon in 1969 and regrets that he didn't come here.

Ripon's Congregational Church has always been known for its activism. perhaps fueled in part by the many students and professors who have been members.

The Little White School House.

This plaque commemo rates the founding of the College and its use by the Calvary dm·i11g the Civil War

The Republican party is born in a little white school house in Ripon.

Two chairmen of the Board of Trustees.

Nearly 70 years of continual membership on the leadership body which holds Ripon College's charter.

Family Ties Weave Through Ripon

hile other families have come close in demonstrating their loyalty and dedication to Ripon, the two descriptions above tell the story of the Samuel N. Pickard clan from the Fox Valley of Wisconsin and its involvement in the College.

Although nearly 40 years separate their terms as chair of the Trustees, Samuel N. Pickard held the top leadership post in the college's Centennial year in 1951 and his son, Samuel W. Pickard '55, is chair in its Sesquicentennial year. And, Samuel N.'s wife, Dorothea, served on the board for 13 years, including three years alongside her son, Sam W.

The Pickards are only symbolic, however, of many famjties who have provided leadership to the College for generations. There are others - like the Dawes family with roots to the founders; Wymans; Baldwins; Bumbys; the Hector Dawes ancestors; Farrs; Abendroths; and Lamberts - who have served in lead ership posts and sent their sons and daughters and grandchildren to Ripon along with brothers, sisters and cousins. There are still others whose family lineage isn't as deep but whose loyalty to the College is unwavering. They have all had an enduring faith in the liberal arts and in Ripon's educational mission.

Here, we profile some of the many families who have helped build Ripon with a mortar of dedication.

When Robert Lambert '52, left, stepped down as Trustee chair in 1998, Samuel W. Pickard '55 assumed the leadership role.

April 23

The Rev. William E. Merriman is elect, ed first president of the College.

The first college classes are offered; East and Middle buildings are completed and the debt of $20,000 is paid off.

September

The first freshman class enters the College.

April 11

The institution's name is changed to Ripon College

RIPON_ COLLl GI

An early drawing of the College.

The first class is graduated - four young ladies.

The "Ladies Course" is dropped. Construction begins on West College to accommo date increas ing numbers of students. The build ing is com pleted in 1876.

The Ahendroths

There's a story running among the Abendroths that a relative, John Frank Bruins, was kicked out of Ripon around the turn of the cen tury because of something he wrote about the president in the College Days. But, the event didn't hurt him much, says Trustee Tom Abendroth '81. Bruins "went on to finish at Yale with honors."

As many as 18 members of the Abendroth clan have attended Ripon College, beginning with John Frank and Ruth Brewer Bruins '05/'14. Robert Abendroth '51, a Trustee for 31 years, followed his parents, Clarence and Amy Vandervelde Abendroth '20/'17, to Ripon. Robert's first wife, the late Elizabeth Schmitter Abendroth '52, and many second cousins and children have also graduated from the College. There is a definite passion for Ripon within the Abendroths. During his tenure on the board, Robert saw the comple tion of the Storzer and Rodman centers, Todd Wehr and the president's house. "Volunteers are what make civilization work, and civic responsi bility is one of the values learned in the liberal

arts," Robert once said. His son, Tom, suc ceeded him as a Trustee in 1996. Tom says his father was a tremendous role model - as a lawyer, parent and volunteer. "I never heard him question what he did for Ripon," says Tom. "Those values rub off on you "

A lawyer himself, Tom served eight years

on the alumni board before taking on Trustee status. It's a great honor, according to Tom. "I owe Ripon a debt of gratitude," he says. "I felt I should give back to the extent that I could."

The Baldwins

Barbara Baldwin De Frees '29 served more than 20 years as a Trustee, from 1975-87. A music major, Barbara graduated in three years and served as an officer in various organizations on campus. As a member of the board, she worked to save Bartlett Hall from destruction by heading a letter-writ ing campaign that garnered support to save and renovate the building "My Aunt Barbara loved music first; Ripon next," says Trustee Suzanne Baldwin Lennox '67. "She

Robert Abendroth '51

Thomas Abendroth '81

West College

Barbara Baldwin De Frees '29

Suzanne Baldwin Lennox'67

was very interested in liberal arts education and in the intimacy of Ripon College in particular."

The Baldwin family boasts five generations of Ripon attendees, including Augusta Ellis Kennedy, a "student preparing for college" in 1868, and Mabel Kennedy Baldwin who graduated with a music major in 1895. Mabel's diary includes descriptions of activities at the Ripon Mill Pond, muddy coach rides to Fond du Lac, Wis., and playing "Tiddlie Winks" at Bartlett Hall.

A board member since 1994, Lennox has continued her family's legacy in her service as a Trustee. She says the Baldwins have faith in the liberal arts and in the institu tion's personal education. As a Ripon student, Suzanne met her husband, Robert Allan Lennox '67, and became a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. Today, she is engrossed in helping many organi zations in the Hinsdale, Ill., area, including the Hinsdale Center for the Arts, the Gateway Special Recreation Association and the Hinsdale Community House Antiques Show and Sale.

Her son, Rob '03, represents the

fifth generation of the Baldwins to attend Ripon.

The Bumbys

The Bumby family, full of business men and entrepreneurs, is also intertwined in Ripon's history. Since 1904, as many as 16 family members have attended the College beginning with May Bumby Severy '08. Both of her brothers, John Harold Bumby '23 (1936-51) and Horace Abram Bumby '12 (1951-59), served as Trustees. The May Bumby Severy Excellence in Teaching Award is given to several faculty members each year. It was established in 1957 in remembrance of May, a teacher, after her death in 1956.

Additionally, Edward Bumby '73, Horace's grandson, served on the board from 1991-93. Harold's daughter, Mary Jane Bumby '52, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation from Ripon in 2001.

The Bumbys have roots in Speed Queen, now Alliant Laundry Systems; Ripon Foods (home of Rippin' Good Cookies); and Admanco, a cloth promotions man ufacturing firm in Ripon.

The Dawes Families

Believed to be related, there are Daweses, and Dawes relatives, dat-

Bartlett HaU was saved from demolition by the efforts of Trustee Barbara Baldwin De Frees '29.

May Bumby Severy '08 Horace Abram Bumby '12

John Harold Bumby '23

1868

;

The College is freed from its partial affili ation with the Congregational and Presbyterian churches and from Walcott's rights of reversion. The Board of Trustees becomes self perpetuating.

The first issue of the College Days, Wisconsin's oldest contin uous college newspaper, appears.

The "Alternative Scientific Course," leading to a bachelor of The

1869

January 1

LLEGE DAYS.! I

d!ln t\!1i

511ontiinr., l

of the first issue of the College Days.

science rather than a bachelor of arts, was added.

-)

A department of music is established under Professor John C. Filmore.

1876

• ·_>

ing back to the very founding of the College in 1851.

1878

·_ t

The Economia Club is started.

1880

:

The fall academic calendar is altered to make winter break include Christmas

At the top of one of the Dawes lineage lines is A.H. Wilkinson, one of the original contributors to the establishment of the College, according to his grandson, the late Irving "Tris" Dawes. While their Ripon involvement skipped a gen eration, Wilkinson's daughter, Estelle, married Julius Henry Dawes and their son, Irving "Tris," served as a Trustee from 1974-83 when he became an Honorary Life Trustee. That line of Ripon involvement continues with a grandson, Michael Dawes Simmons '85 and a niece, Carol Kahn.err Andersen '52 who earned degrees from Ripon.

On another Dawes line, believed to be relat ed to Irving but where research hasn't provided a definite connection, are two former Trustees and a significant donor

George Dawes served as a Trustee from 1858-61 and his grandson,

William R. Dawes, served on the board for more than four decades, 1907-51, including an 11-year stint as chair from 1937-48. He was the first chairman of the board who was not also president of the College. William R.'s wife, Margaret Booker, was an 1884 alumna of the College and his brother, Frederic Ames Dawes, was an 1878 alumnus.

And, William Dawes, great uncle of Frederic and William R., gave the College the Dawes Cottage that once stood at the cor ner of Seward and Elm streets in Ripon, on the central part of cam pus just south of where Memorial

cOtJeT

This headstone for the Dawes family in Ripon's Hillside Cemetery includes names of Tni.stee George Dawes and traces the family's lineage to a William Dawes who rode with Paul Revere

The Rev Edward Huntington Merrell is named president of the College.

John G. Ingalls, class of 1876, donates the land that becomes Ingalls Field.

Irving "Tris" Dawes William R. Dawes, 1884

Hall stood from the early 1900s until 2000.

The Farrs

"The first woman of any real importance," and perhaps the first woman, to serve as a Trustee (1914-55) was Shirley Farr, accord ing to George Miller, professor of history emeritus. And, her father, A.G. Farr, preceded Shirley in this leadership role from 1897-1913. Between the two Farrs, they served 58 years on the Board of Trustees

Albert Farr was a parmer in the Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago, "a man of considerable stature in Midwestern financial cir cles," according to Ripon College: A History. A Chicago native, Farr spent the summers in the area and later married Alice Parkhurst of Ripon. Farr made significant con tributions to the College, both financially and through his push for modernization.

Shirley Farr served as vice presi dent of the board. Like her father, she "wanted the College to grow in size and stature and was ready to use her substantial wealth to serve this purpose," according to Ripon College: A History It is believed that she, as someone who recog nized the importance of long-range planning, played a key role in hir ing well-known Chicago architect Thomas Tallmadge to plan the campus expansion. After attending the University of Chicago and doing graduate work, Farr briefly taught history at Chicago and Ripon. Unfortunately, poor eye sight forced her to stop teaching, but she went on to work on the editorial staff of the American Historical Review. She was also a prominent member of the American Association of University Women, and continued

to finance improvements to the College after she was no longer on campus. Farr Hall of Science was built largely with about $1 million bequeathed by Shirley Farr and dedicated to her father.

The Lamberts

When Robert Abendroth '51 stepped down as chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1989, Bob Lambert '52 took over. He, too, extends a family legacy of leadership at Ripon dating back 50 plus years.

It started with Gilbert Lambert,

Farr Hall of Science was constructed in 1961 with a $1 million bequest from Shirley Farr in honor of her father, A.G. Farr. The building was added to and renovated in a $4 6 mil- , lion project in 1997.

Albert G. Farr

Shirley Farr

Bob's father and a Trustee from 1949-64, who served 11 years as secretary of the board. As the pres ident of Ripon State Bank, "Gib" often gave business advice to Ripon President Fred Pinkham, who once asked for his support to buy 30 acres west of campus for $10,000. Additionally, Gib was part of the initial Farr Hall of Science fund-raising project and a supporter of ROTC and other col lege scholarship funds.

Bob Lambert stepped up co serve a decade after his father left the board and was voted vice chair in 1986 before serving as chair from 1989-97. He also served as alumni Trustee and as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

An economics major at Ripon, Bob received his master's in busi ness administration from Harvard University, and went on to become president of Aviall Inc., a Dallas based aviation-services company, president of Cooper Airmotive Inc. and senior executive vice president-aviation of Ryder System Inc. Today, he is an avia tion industry consultant.

During his term as chair of the Trustees, Bob saw the comple

at Ripon, "Securing the Vision," which generated more than $40 million and tripled Ripon's endowment, raising it to $24 million. A man committed to develop ment, Bob also worked co establish Partners in the Legacy, a plannedgift program, in 1995.

Shortly thereafter, Lambert helped select Ripon's 11th president, Paul B. Ran.slow.

The Pickards

The younger Sam explains that he didn't join the Board of Trustees to continue his father's legacy. He says he felt a loyalty to want to help the "small guy" in a competitive envi ronment. "It seemed to me," he says, "it was the right thing to do." His father, Sam N., a Ripon High School graduate, served more than 40 years (1932-73; chair, 195062) under three presidents - Clark Kuebler, Bernard Adams and Fred Pinkham. The senior Pickard, dur ing his tenure, helped build Scott Hall and renovate the gymnasium, Memorial Hall. Additionally, he and his wife, Dorothea Wilgus Pickard, worked to develop Ripon's fine arts program.

East Hall is enlarged with administrative offices housed in a new wing.

East Hall

Gilbert Lambert

Robert Lambert '52

The 1886 Commencement group is pictured at the College on the East Hall lawn.

Bartlett Cottage for women is erected.

Bartlett Hall

A detailed classification of the library's volumes is made under the Dewey Decimal system.

Ripon engages in its first intercollegiate athletic event with Lawrence College. Events include a baseball game in the morning and a track and field meet in the afternoon.

The Men's Glee Club is founded.

The first intercollegiate Field Day is held at Ingalls Field.

tion of the largest-ever fund-raising campaign

The Pickard brothers, Jim '49, left, and Sam '55,right, were joined by their wives, Mitzi, left, and Carmen at the 1999 Alumni Weekend. Carmen died in 2000.

At Ripon, the eldest Sam later chaired a national campaign in the 1970s to finance construction of the C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts, and during his tenure on the board, received Ripon's distin guished service citation and Founders' Day Award. Ripon's din ing hall, S.N. Pickard Commons, is also named in his honor.

A successful banker, Sam N. directed several Wisconsin corpora tions, including the Miles Kimball Co., OshKosh B'Gosh Inc., the Marine National Bank of Milwaukee and the Hoffmaster Paper Co.

When he died in 1973, Dorothea agreed to replace her husband as Trustee. But inside, she didn't feel she contributed as much as her husband once had, according to Sam W. A caring mother to five children, she authored several arti cles and short stories and, following her husband's death, wrote Call Me Sam - a book that chronicles Sam N.'s life and philanthropy. "Never did he waver in his stand or loyalty to the greatest good for the College, no matter what personal sacrifice had to be made at the moment," she wrote.

"She was helpful and loving," says Sam W. of his mother. "She was Scottish, frugal and completely immersed in family affairs." Dorothea served on the board until her death in 1986.

The younger Sam had been elected a Trustee three years prior to her death and became chair of the board in 1998. A retired vice president and general manager of First Interstate Bank in San Jose, Calif., he earned his master's degree in business

administration from Stanford University. His work on behalf of the College includes service as a class agent and leadership roles in "Securing the Vision" and "Sharing the Vision" fund-raising campaigns. In 1994, Sam received Ripon's Medal of Merit, the college's high est alumni honor, and was described as having "thoughtful dedication and honest compassion for his fellow human beings." His brother, James '49, who presented the award, is also a dedicated con tributor to the College.

Jim served on the Alumni Board from 1967-69 and retired in 1986 as senior vice president at Norwest Bank in Bloomington, Minn His

Students eat their meals in S.N. Pickard Commons which was constructed in 1962.

Samuel N. Pickard

Dorothea Pickard

Samuel W Pickard '55

daughter, Margaret "Meg" Pickard Harman, is a 1981 alumna and represents the third gen eration of Pickards at Ripon

The Pickards have greatly impacted and improved Ripon through their continuous service since 1932. The Pickard Family Scholarship,

established in 1989 by the estate of Sam N and Dorothea, is among the largest endowed programs at Ripon College.

The Wymans

Earl Wyman '17 was a friend of Sam N. Pickard and served on the Ripon Board of Trustees from 193578. Together, the two acquired Oshkosh Overall Co. in 1934 and renamed it OshKosh B'Gosh Sam was not as involved in the compa ny as Earl, and in the 1980s, the Pickards sold their remaining hold ings. Although OshKosh B'Gosh is publicly traded and not a family business, the company has had sev eral Wyman family members serv ing in leadership roles over the years. Ripon recently presented Earl's son-in-law, Douglas Hyde, an honorary degree for his work with Kids in Distressed Situations (K.l.D.S.), an organization of national retailers which donates products and clothing to children who are ill, living in poverty or the victims of natural disasters. Hyde is president at OshKosh B'Gosh.

Earl's son, Thomas Wyman '50, a retired vice chair for OshKosh B'Gosh, began as a Trustee at Ripon in 1974. Father and son served simultaneously on the board for four years before Earl became an Honorary Life Trustee in 1978.

Tom, who began his college years during World War II at the

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, later transferred to Ripon.

During his 23-year career as a Trustee, Tom served as vice chair of the capital campaign and executive committees, helping to significant ly increase Ripon's endowment. Today, he says, Ripon must main tain that focus. "Enrollment is also vital," he adds

Collectively, the Wymans worked 62 consecutive years for Ripon, yet another family to have greatly impacted the College.

Earl's grandson and Tom's son, William Frederick Wyman '80, is active in OshKosh B'Gosh today.

Molding Ripon's Future

Ripon has received "unabashed support" from families such as the Lamberts and Pickards, says President Paul Ranslow. Without their contributions, the College certainly would not have the schol arship, curriculum or endowment that it boasts today, Ranslow maintains.

These family members are among the many leaders whose civic duty and love for the College has made Ripon, Ripon. And their "vision is what molds the institu tion's future," he says.

Haley Jorgensen

Jorgensen is a freelance writer and editor who operates Public Image, a public rela tions firm in Ripon, Wis.

Earl Wyman '1 7 Thomas Wyman '50

Ingram Hall.

Ingram Hall is completed and named after one of its principal donors, O. H Ingram of Eau Claire, Wis. It is the main lecture hall and contains the library.

Mask and Wig plays begin.

Merrell's administration ends. He continues as a professor of philosophy until 1896. The Rev. Rufus Cushman Flagg becomes the college's third president.

Ripon and Lawrence meet on the gridiron to begin one of the greatest traditional college rivalries of the Midwest.

A gym floor is installed in the remodeled confines of the West College basement for physical education classes and activi ties.

n the 42 years between 1869 and 1911, five members of the Kennan family of Packwaukee, Wis., attended Ripon College. Their story is typical of the times reflecting on the hard work and sacrifices required to become a first;genera; tion college graduate in the period immediately fol; lowing the Civil War.

Eugene Hotchkiss, former president of Lake Forest College in Illinois, tells of his ancestors' experiences at the fledgling Ripon College with an emphasis on Kent Kennan, the first of the quartet to earn a degree from Ripon.

These stories of pioneer days at the College reflect much of what campus was like in those early years of small enrollments, few faculty, two buildings and lots of dreams on Eugene Hotchkiss behalf of students, their parents and the founders and leaders of the institution.

The stories told here also tell much of the founding of the College and exemplify the long;standing tradition of the family experience at Ripon that often extends to three, four and five

The Kennans of Ripon College: 1869-1911

'Small Affair,'. Large Influence

A drawing of East Hall, the first building on campus.

June 17

Shortly after the Civil War, a young man and his father traveled from Ashland to Packwaukee, two small Wisconsin towns. Along the way they stopped in the town of Ripon. There the father made inquiries about the College, renamed for the town but four years earlier, and visited with a Professor (Edward H.) Merrell (who would later become the col lege's second president) in the office of the Ripon Free Press news paper. The young man, more inter ested in the newspaper than the College, was oblivious to the con versation between Professor Merrell and his father He was, as he would lacer report, surprised by the visit's outcome.

The young man would later write, "When we resumed our jour ney, my father asked me what I thought of the College. I told him I did not think much of it, as it was obviously a small affair. Father said he was sorry I took that view ... as he had a1nnged for me to go there the following Monday.......Idid not raise any objection to this plan as I realized that I was much needed on the farm and that my father was making a real sacrifice in dispens ing with my services "

The year was 1869 The young man, Kossuth Kent Kennan, had been born in Portage, Wis., in 1851, and was named for the great Hungarian freedom fighter, Lajos Kossuth, who was then touring the United States in a triumphant visit Kent, as he would be known throughout his life, was 18 years old on that "following

Monday" when he found himself in Ripon, 41 miles from the Kennan farm in Packwaukee. The first in his family to attend college, Kent would be followed at Ripon by a brother and a sister and later by a cousin and a niece.

The story told here relates most fully to Kent's college experiences as reported in his own "Reminiscences" which he penned at age 83, available today in the college's archives and the Wisconsin Historical Society, and chronicled in the student newspa per, College Days. It does not stop with his graduation in 1875, for his relationship with the College extended a full generation beyond that ceremony And it relates to the experiences of others in his family who attended the College, all children of the Civil War. This is a story of times past when col leges were small and struggling and higher education was a privilege to be sought through hard work.

The school that Kent entered had been founded in 1851, the same year, by happenstance, in which Kent was born While the Preparatory School, the lyceum, attached to the College flourished with an enrollment averaging between 250 and 300 stu dents, the classes in the College were small.

The average size of the graduating class up to 1896 was but six, and one class had only two graduates. The two schools shared facilities and faculty, aver aging 12 in their early years, and were collectively referred to as the College....

TheCollege was

Hughes House is located to the left in this photo from the early 1900s

The former residence of the first presi dent of the College (Hughes House) becomes the property of the College and

The naming plaque for Smith Hall. Middle College, renamed Smith Hall in memory of the late Elisha D. Smith of Menasha, Wis., is opened as a dormitory for men.

Kossuth Kent Kennan, 1875

is the residence of each succeeding presi dent until 1967.

The Rev. Richard C. Hughes is inaugu rated as the college's fourth president.

The Women's Glee Club in 1901-02.

avowedly a Christian school, with the mission of serving the poor of central Wisconsin. On Sundays, students were required to attend two church services and expected to engage in serious contemplation, and there was a morning chapel service all other days

Accommodations were spartan, and every student was advised to bring "table linen, an umbrella, overshoes and plenty of warm underclothing." Nor could one escape, for no class cuts were allowed, even to make visits home. There was, this school advertised, one advantage to such forced isola tion in this small, Wisconsin com munity: the college catalog bragged of the healthfulness of its climate and absence of malarial disease

Eldest of Six

Kent was the eldest of six children of parents who had moved from Ohio and settled in Wisconsin in 1851, a year after their marriage. Hisfather, a farmer, first practiced law in Oshkosh and Portage and, following brief service in the Civil War terminated by ill health, took up residency in Packwaukee in 1862... It was from this farm that Kent would travel to Ripon, on occasion, as he would later recall in his "Reminiscences," even walking those 41 miles. Neither parent had attended college for Kent's father, in the custom of those times, had trained in the law in the offices of a lawyer uncle. Yet, they saw to it that all of their children would have the opportunity of a college education. Young Kent would set the example for his two brothers and three sisters.

Prior to the Civil War, while his family lived in Portage where his father practiced law, Kent had 'attended the public grade school

for several years but after the family moved to the farm in Packwaukee he was sent to a nearby town to continue his education in the home of the minister. There, in return for chores, he received room and board and was tutored by the minister's daughter. In his "Reminiscences" he comments dolefully on the long hours of work, the mornings filled with study and the hours of prayer which that minister's household,-' commanded. Nor was there time · for either play or study on Sundays, for he not only attended Sunday school and Church in the mornings, but also accompanied the itinerant minister to afternoon church services in a neigh boring town. Later, he boarded with another minister's family in Portage, where he attended high school.

With such an education, not to mention discipline, it is not entire ly surprising that at age 17, Kent took and passed an examination for a teacher's certificate. Shortly thereafter he began teaching for $35 a month, boarding at home, a walk of some three miles from the school. Thinking he had found his vocation, he spent the spring term of that year (1868-69) attending the Normal School at Whitewater. It was after he had spent the follow ing summer working on the Kennan farm that he visited that "small affair" - Ripon College

Kent entered the Preparatory Department at Ripon rather than the College, for, as he recalled, "there were sev eral studies in which I was not up to the requirements for entering the college course." Short of funds, he moved in with Professor Merrell. In return for room and

Kent Kennan, class of 1875, penned these "Reminiscences" when he was 83.

Kent Kennan walked the 41 miles between Packwaukee and Ripon to go to college.

1906 :/

The College receives a $20,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie on the condition that it be matched by other friends of the institution.

Sir Thomas Lipton visits campus.

Fred Luehring, director of athletics at Ripon from 1906-IO, is credited as being the first man to use the for ward pass in college football, in 1906. Apparently it worked. That year his team went unde feated. Wilbert "Izzy"

the price and leaving little money to support Kent's education. This may seem strange to those of us in the 21st century, for each term he faced fees of only $2 for tuition, or $6 per year, room bills of $3, inci dentals estimated at $2 and board charges of $2.50 per week. And, the Catalog noted, this included French and German instruction, while "washing (is) done at very low rates." Students did have to furnish their own fire and lights. (No wonder that a typical faculty annual salary during these years in American colleges was only some $600.) Unable to pay even these charges, Kent returned to the life of a teacher rather than a student, teaching music in a small school Smith

board, he did chores tending the cattle and maintaining fires in seven stoves. This arrangement would continue for his second year, when he entered the classical divi sion of the College as a first-year student. These were years of hard work and one must assume hard study, with vacations spent earning money or working on the farm. By his own admission, he had to deny himself a "boy's craving for fun and recreation," and confessed that "at times the 'Iron entered into my soul,' and I felt some bitterness at my hard lot." It was, fortunately for both the young man and the College, a bitterness that would in time be erased by happy undergrad uate experiences and a lighter

heart. near Neenah, Wis., even though, he admitted, "I did not know one

A Return to Teaching

First, however, after two years of school and two years of denying himself "fun and recreation," he had to return to teaching for he could not afford to remain at Ripon. His family had suffered reversals in the summer of 1871, when his father decided to grow hops on the family farm. It was, unfortunately, a decision made by so many other farmers that a bumper crop resulted, depressing

note from another."

Following the fall term, Kent obtained a position, perhaps with the same innocence with which he had just taught music, at Lawrence University teaching calisthenics, and where he als9 studied German under a distinguished professor. When, or where, he might have become sufficiently proficient to teach calisthenics is not known, for there was little free time in his daily schedule and one doubts that such skills were learned on the farm.Hewas apparently sue-

The Little Five Athletic Conference is organized with Lawrence, Beloit, Carroll, Northwestern and Ripon colleges.

West Hall dining facilities are opened.

Kent Kennan taught calisthenics to female students in the basement of West Hall.

The dining room in West Hall.

'10 is said to Fred Luehring

be the quarterback who threw the first forward pass in college football his tory. He passed the foot ball to Orin P. Ramsey '09. This "first" for Ripon was noted by Rich Pagano, a Folsam, Pa., sports columnist, in the mid,1990s

cessful for The Lawrence Collegian reported that the college had "a practical gymnast for a teacher, and the exercises thus far seem emi nently calculated to meet what we have long felt was needed in the University." Certainly, Kent's tim ing was perfect, even if one might question his qualifications. During the 1840s and 1850s, Gennan immigrants had introduced the Tumverein movement, or gymnas tics, to America, and by the 1860s American colleges were caught up in this new "extracurricular" activi ty As one historian has written of this period, referring to calis thenics and other activities: "On the whole, the curriculum would still be intact, and compulsory chapel was only beginning to give

way. But in the extracurricular area, the students erected within the gates a monster."

Kent brought this "monster" back to Ripon where he returned in the fall of 1872 as a sophomore. With money earned from his

teaching and with skills demon

strated at Lawrence, he was provid ed with a room in West Building,

and board as well, in return for teaching calisthenics, and no

ties, the same newspaper would report, with typical college humor, that "some of this (sic) gentlemen ... practice a peculiar kind of gym nastics, even during chapel exercis es, called gymnastics of the jaw

A Major in Languages

Occupied by teaching as well as study, and no doubt enjoy ing the recognition that this new activity brought him, Kent surely found his last three years at Ripon more to his liking than his previous two. He taught "light gym-

1/1/ nasties" for two years, /

Prize for which he received

$25. He was a member of

the Mendelson Society, a // group that played the

banjo, served on the staff of

the College Days and par-

ticipated in dramatics, per-

in

students inthe College during his senior year, and only 13 in his class, he

longer needed to board in a profes sor's home He persuaded the facul was, one suspects, what

ty to give up a room in the base ment of West for a gym, which was eventually fitted with parallel bars, trapezes, boxing gloves and other necessary equipment. And there this handsome young man taught a class "of about a hundred young ladies who met at 7 a.m. each day," where "I drilled them in light gym nastics." The College Days, the stu dent newspaper, reported that "gymnastics are raging," and then added, somewhat understandably, "It seems that Mr. Kennan don't

'

(sic) believe in coeducation of the sexes." Later, with the men still complaining of the lack of facili-

cts with the College would attest to his loyalty, spawned by what one must assume were happy under graduate years Into the Law

Kent graduated in 1875. Of the 13 in his graduating class, eight went into teaching, three became theol ogy students and two,1including Kent, would enter law! With a still uncertain map of his future, Kent first became a newspaper reporter, then worked for a political party

The Little White School House, where the Republican Party was formed, is moved to the campus where it would stay until 1951. It had been purchased through efforts by the Ripon Historical Society, city council and Commercial Club.

during the 1876 presidential elec tion and eventually returned home to study law. Admitted to the Bar in 1878, he worked for the Wisconsin Central Railroad where he would serve for the next 14 years, first as an emigration recruiter traveling extensively in Europe and then in Milwaukee dealing with tax matters. Following a marriage of four years, brought to a tragic end by the death of both mother and baby in childbirth and perhaps as an escape from these memories, he left the law and spent several years in Nebraska and Montana working on hydroelectric projects. Not until 1894 did he return to Milwaukee, and to the practice of law in which he would eventually gain a reputation for his successful efforts to set up a state tax commission independent of political influences

Siblings Follow

Two of Kent's siblings, a brother and a sister, followed him at Ripon.

In the fall of 1878, three years after Kent's graduation, his brother, Chester, the second of the six Kennan children, entered the College, one of the 11 students of that class in the science depart ment Although little is known of his early life, his Ripon record describes a bright, active and, as with his brother, also an indepen dent young man Hewas appar ently an able student, for he took first place in the James Prize com petition in his sophomore year, a prize worth $15, and the following year was awarded the James Prize for the best orator, worth $25. It is reported in the News Letter (which for a short time replaced the College Days as the student publica tion) that Chester left the campus on occasion, and toward the end of

his sophomore year that paper observed that "Kennan came back rather suddenly last week, just in time to blast the bright hope of ,(some) Athenians who had thought to take his place as first orator next commencement "

Loa Brown Kennan, number three of the Kennan siblings, and three years younger than Chester, entered the Preparatory School in 1879. She, too, was an able stu dent, attaining the highest average for those in her class, a grade of 98. Yet, she apparently had a spell of ill health, for the News Letter reports that Kent returned to the campus to visit his brother and sister and that he took Loa home because "she has not been well for quite a while." Whether-·for reasons of finances or health, or her own desires, Loa did not return the fol lowing year. In September of 1881, the News Letter reported that she had decided to drop out of school, but expressed the hope that "she will reverse this decision and return

A men's dorm room in 1908.

The first College Sing is held and becomes a tra dition contin ued until the 1930s.

The Ripon Alumnus pub lication begins.

Enrollment is 258 students with 81 fresh men.

One of the early issues of the Alumni Magazine.

Kossuth Kent Kennan, 1875, received an honorary degree from Ripon in 1911

History and Science clubs are organized. The Crimson, the student yearbook, is first printed.

111pon (tollege Ji\lumnl fflagazlne

to Ripon." A month later, she was reported to be teaching school in Ashland. Loa did not return to Ripon, nor attend any other college She was married in 1889, in a ceremo ny officiated by Ripon College President Merrell,

residence. He died Dec. 5, 1933, in San Francisco, three days before his older brother, Kent.

H. Merrell, Ripon College

Edward

Thomas Hutchins. A Cousin

Kent's example in attending Ripon would go beyond his two siblings. It will be remem bered that after spending two years at the College, he taught in whose home Kent had lived for two years, confirming once again the attachment of the Kennans to Ripon. After her marriage, she and her husband, who was German, returned to the Continent where they lived for a number of years.

President, 1876-91, officiated at the wedding of Loa Brown Kennan.

Meanwhile, Chester had contin ued to make his mark at Ripon, although he apparently lacked punctuality. The News Letter, ever eager to report on Kennan comings and goings, observed that as com mencement approached, he was late in returning to campus, "But he is ahead in his studies and so was not discommoded by his delay." The by now increasingly humorous College Days, giving sta

tistics for the graduates of the Class of 1881, noted that Chester's eyes were "drab," that his nose was "moderate," that his complexion was "peach," that hisfavorite word was "bee-you," that his hobby was joking and that his characteristic trait was "independence."

Following graduation, Chester would briefly join his father and older brother in working for the Wisconsin Central Railroad, and in time he, too, would study law, which he practiced for several years in Milwaukee. After a few years, he followed his brother's footsteps toward the West, where he became

interested in mining and took up in a school to earn monies for his future studies That school was located near Neenah, and the home of his Aunt, Jane Kennan Hutchins. A son in the Hutchins family, then but 10 years old, was likely impressed by his older cousin for in 1886 young Thomas Hutchins would leave his family farm and go off to Ripon for several terms, studying in its English Academy. He became a prosperous Wisconsin farmer.

One other Kennan relative attended Ripon, although some what later. Surely influenced by her own father, Gwendolyn, Chester Kennan's only daughter, entered Ripon in 1907 where she would spend two years. And there, on the Ripon campus, her paths would cross with her uncle's as Kent returned to court Louise Wheeler.

Romance On Campus

It was the fall of 1906 when Louise Wheeler arrived in Ripon and joined the faculty of the College to offer Latin, Greek and English, and to serve, too, as preceptress of the women's residence, Bartlett Cottage Born in 1873, she had grown up in Kalamazoo, Mich.

From there, she had attended the

Louise Wheeler

Louise Wheeler was preceptress in Bartlett Hall when she met Kent Kennan.

Generous gifts are announced by President Evans: $100,000 in pledges on condition that $250,000 be raised for endowment; an additional $45,000 is secured for college needs.

University of Michigan, from which she graduated with an A.B. degree in 1897, and had taught school, most recently, in Flint. Her college experience at Ann Arbor, combined with teaching assign ments elsewhere and travel in Europe in the summer of 1904, mark this young lady as one of adventurous nature and indepen dence. Perhaps it was a quest for adventure, as it was surely a sign of independence, that took her to the heart of Wisconsin and a new posi tion at Ripon College. And maybe, even, at the age of 33, she hoped for a romance, or perhaps she was escaping from an unhappy one; his tory does not recountShe was

warmly welcomed when, as the College Days reports, she "very delightfully entertained the young ladies of the College at a recep tion," a welcome which must have been particularly enhanced by the electricity recently installed in Bartlett Cottage.

By this time, 31 years after he had graduated from Ripon and now practicing law in Milwaukee, Kent Kennan was a widower with four small children from his second wife who died shortly after the birth of their lase child, in 1904. He was clearly well remembered at Ripon, and the fondness appeared mutual. The College Days reported on occa sion of his travels, and of his visits to the campus It even noted one occasion when he returned from the West to visit friends in Milwaukee, where he was "as jolly and full of esprit as of yore." It went on to say that "he was plan ning a Christmas present for each member of his class," with the fur ther comment that "it is so pleas ant co see so much loyalty in 'Old Ripon."' We know that chis loyalty prompted gifts to the Alumni Fund and occasional visits

to the campus, perhaps to see President Merrell and other friends

In the spring of 1907, toward the end of Wheeler's first year on campus, Kent spoke at Alumni Day following commencement. There may have been earlier visits co campus as well and it is not known when Kent first met Louise. However, as the 1907-08 year got underway, her second year at Ripon, the College Days makes note of Kent's increasingly frequent vis its to the campus. He surely visited his niece, Gwendolyn, then enrolled in the preparatory divi sion, and on occasion, it is noted, he spoke to the students as when he gave a chapel address "on the value of the study of modern lan guages." His talk was received with "seven rahs for Kennan." le was also reported that Kent "has shown an unusual interest (in the College) of late, and has made sev eral unlooked-for visits." And soon

The 1910 historical pageant.

The national forensic fraternity, Pi Kappa

at R1pon r.,,,.,,.largely through the efforts of Professor Egbert Ray Nichols.

Charles "Casey" Finnegan '13, a weak voiced quarterback, is known as the first ever to use the huddle in football.

The Rev. Henry Coe Culbertson becomes president of Ripon.

Ripon College offers its facilities to the government for use during war time.

Louise Wheeler Kennan, a member of the faculty from 1906-08, and her son, Kent Wheeler Kennan.

Memorial Hall

The gymnasium, later known as Memorial Hall before its demolition in 2000, is constructed.

The Rev. Silas Evans, a Ripon graduate of 1898, becomes president of the College.

Ripon's 1910 historical pageant, written and organized by Professor Phillips Boody, is produced on campus.

enough, in January, 1908, the word was out: "It is reported on excellent authority that he is soon to marry Miss Louise Wheeler." ...

Of course, the student paper had to have some fun. A suggestive ref erence is made concerning a Mr Parker, presumably Ira Parker '10 Referring to their classmate, Gwendolyn, the College Days asks, "If Miss Kennan's uncle marries Miss Wheeler, what is Parker?" Later, following the marriage, the College Days reported that "Parker, we hear, has been taking a course in genealogy, using 'The Kennan Family' (a book recently given the College by Kent) as a text." Was he a special favorite of Miss Wheeler? Not even the obviously curious College Days provides a clue.

The 1908 year opened at Bartlett Cottage with the announcement of Miss Wheeler's engagement to Kent Kennan. "Congratulations and best wishes were extended and 'seven rahs' were given for Mr. Kennan." Campus parties followed, but hur riedly, for Louise left campus on January 30. The wedding took place in Kalamazoo on March 26, and was attended by several faculty and staff of the College Kent was then 57, Louise 34. Three years later, in 1911, 36 years after he received his bachelor's degree, Kent was awarded a doctor of laws degree from Ripon College. Kent was then serving as president of the Alumni Association, of which Parker was a trustee It ''was a small affair," Kent Kennan remarked in 1869 when he first visited Ripon College. It would be no "small affair" for the Kennan family, however. For

some 40 years, Kent's life and that of other members of his family would be intermingled with the life of the College. Both College and family benefited. Kent found hap piness as an undergraduate and reclaimed happiness much later when he married Louise. She would be his wife and companion for the next 25 years. They would be the proud parents of a son, Kent Wheeler Kennan, who would become a distinguished and inter nationally recognized composer, a highly regarded teacher and author of music textbooks. Now in his late 90s, he lives in Austin, Texas, where he is professor emeritus of music at the University of Texas. International recognition was also earned by another of Kent's children, the youngest child of his second marriage to Florence James, George Frost Kennan, who is professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Studies and lives in Princeton, N.J. A diplomat and histori an, George returned to the Ripon campus in 1965 to speak to the college community and in 1978 to receive an hon-

The Kennan family includes Kent and Louise with their son, Kent, on their laps. Standing from left and seated at right are the senior Kennan's children by his second wife -from left are Frances; George Frost Kennan, the histori an and diplomat; Constance, and Jeanette, mother of Eugene Hotchkiss.

Ira Parker '10

October 1

January 27

472 students are enrolled.

orary doctor of laws degree, as his for his work in tax law, and sons, to father had over a half-century earli er. On the former occasion, while residing in a college dormitory, George reflected on his father's experiences at Ripon as he stared out the window on a snowy night. "He must surely have stood, on just such a night, at one of these win dows in his shabby farm-boy cloches, and looked out at the storm," George Kennan wrote, "conscious, as I am now, of the land falling away from the hill into the darkness on every side and of the great snowbound countryside beyond......"

Kent Kennan's experiences at Ripon College most likely did include contemplating his future while peering out a dormitory win dow on a snowy night, as his son describes, for his "Reminiscences" reveal an introspective individual of serious demeanor. Could chis young man, "in shabby farm-boy clothes," have imagined then that he would one day return to the campus, with memories both of hard work and of some play, to court a member of the faculty who would become his wife? And could he have then imagined that his long life would bring him accolades

carry on the family name with international distinction? His was a life enriched by Ripon College, by its training and by its community, and surely by memories of happy undergraduate days as well. While students on more than one occa sion applauded Kent for his acade mic honors, his thespian accom plishments, his calisthenics instruc tion and most certainly his talks as an alumnus, with a rousing "seven rahs, for Kennan," it is fitting chat one also gives "seven rahs for Ripon College." For the "small affair" that Kent described would have a large influence upon his life and the lives of others in his family.

Eugene Hotchkiss Hotchkiss served as president of Lake Forest College in Illinois from 1970-93 and as interim president of Eckerd College in Florida in 2000. He is the grandson of Kent Kennan.

A fully annotated copy of this article is available in the Rip-on College Archives. Major sources of information have come from Ripon College: A History, various Ripon College catalogs, the student news• paper, the College Days, the Lawrence University Collegian, George R. Kennan's 1996 An American Kennan Family: 174419I 3, George F. Kennan's Sketches from a Life, Kent Kennan's ''Reminiscences," sev eral other Kennan publications and The American College and University: A HislOT).

The College is filled with men of the Student Army Training Corps, forerun ner of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).

The government inaugurates its Senior Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program and the Ripon unit is born.

George Frost Kennan, son of Kent Kennan, received an honorary degree in 1978 from Ripon President Bernard Adams.

First Famous Artists Course opens. Ripon wins the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Track Meet. Dr. Silas Evans returns to Ripon for his second administration.

The Delta chapter of Alpha Chi Alpha, national journalism sorority, is estab lished at Ripon.

The 1921 members of Pi Kappa Delta, the national honorary forensic fraternity, included, in the front row, from left, Harold Haun '20, Paul Rodewald '21, Clemens Lueck '23, Ethyl Williams '21, Harold Bumby '23, Bruno Jacob '22 and Arthur Filbey '21. In the back row, from left, are Frederick Prosser '24, Sylvester Toussaint '23,Curtis MacDougall '23, Clarance Rinehard '21 and Professor H.P. Boody.

hey have led Ripon College for nearly 140 years, these 11 men called presidents. Their backgrounds were pri; marily in the ministry during the College's first 100 years and in higher education administra; tion since the 1940s.

Each president had his strengths and some had major weaknesses but all took seriously their job of leading Ripon. Their responsibilities sometimes meant leading Ripon out of debt accu; mulated as the College made every attempt possible to keep itself "near to the poor." And, most often it seems, they did their job with too few students enrolled as the College tried to balance its desire to offer a first; rate personal education in,)the liberal arts with the need to remain financially sound Small by design, perhaps its greatest strength has often been its greatest weakness.

The stories of these 11 are important to Ripon College for they have been the tangible and visible leadership of the institu; tion. Collectively they have offered - in varying degreesforesight, vision and determina; tion to help the institution thrive.

The Ripon College

Presidents

William E. Merriman, 1863--76

Edward H. Merrell, 1876.-91

Rufus C. Flagg, 1892--1900

Richard Cecil Hughes, 1901--09

Silas Evans, 1910--17

Henry C. Culbertson, 1918--20

Silas Evans, 192{..43

Clark G. Kuebler, 1943--54

Frederick 0. Pinkham, 1955--65

Bernard S. Adams, 1966--85

William R. Stott Jr., 1985--95.

Paul B. Ranslow, 1995...

Ripon becomes a member of the Midwest Debate Conference.

Preparatory courses for nurses' training are offered and an affiliation is estab lished with Columbia School of Nursing in Milwaukee.

William E. Merriman, 1863-76

Ripon College's first President, the Rev. William E. Merriman, is known as the Father of Ripon. He graduated from Williams College (where he studied under Mark Hopkins, one of the coun

August

fawin Trantow '24

January

College Men's Glee Club plans a 17-day tour of 25 cities.

A $600,000 goal is announced for an endowment fund drive.

Board of Trustees recognizes Greek-letter societies.

Sigma Pi Alpha, local journalism fraterni ty; and Sigma Delta Psi, national athlet ic fraternity, organize.

April

Ripon has the nation's largest chapter of Pi Kappa Delta.

June

Ripon wins the Midwest Conference track title with only four Crimson ath letes who score 34 points. Three track men, Ralph Christofferson '25, Erwin Trantow '24 and Earl Ellison '26, repre sent Ripon at the Olympic trials.

October

The college's department of education meets all state requirements.

1925 )':.

John McCormack, world-famous tenor, appears in Ripon's Famous Artists Course.

June

A 10-week summer school opens on the Ripon campus, offering 11 courses. It is the only summer school in Wisconsin.

William

try's great college teachers and administrators) and Union Theological Seminary Originally from Massachusetts, Merriman was serving as acting pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Green Bay when he became active in the affairs of the Winnebago District Convention and developed a strong interest in then Brockway College, as Ripon was originally

known. Merriman's annual salary as president stood at $1,000. One of his first acts as president was to relinquish this salary (except for living expenses) to help bring the College out of its $20,000 debt. Other immediate challenges fac ing Merriman included two unfin ished buildings (East and Middle colleges) and a two-professor facul ty, including himself. Within a year Merriman had brought the build ings to completion, liquidated the debt and obtained a new charter, which named the institution Ripon College.

"By any standard of measure ment, William E. Merriman was an exceptional college presi dent, one of the genuine 'greats' in Ripon College his tory," according to Ripon College: A History. Well liked by the community, he was keyed in to demographic changes and sought to

E. Merriman

attract students of varied back grounds. Merriman also soundly endorsed coeducation. He "was a man of com mon sense, vision and liberality of spirit who was able to raise the College

above the narrow sectarianism of the time," the history noted. Merriman is remembered on cam pus through Merriman House, built in 1940. The current president's house is located at One Merriman Lane

The Rev. Edward H. Merrell could be considered Ripon's godfather. His affiliation with the College dates from 1862, when he was appointed principal of the Preparatory Department and pro, fessor of languages while still in his 20s. A classics teacher from New York, he graduated from Oberlin College and Oberlin Theological Seminary. Skilled at public speak ing, he traveled all over the coun try, making the names of Brockway and Ripon well known. Merrell oversaw numerous improvements to the College during his 16-year tenure. A new chemism laboratory did away with the outdated instruction method of exclusive text book-lecture; East Hall was expanded to twice its origi·

Edward H. Merrell, 1876-91

Erwin "Tiny'' Trantow '24, Ripon athlete, fin ishes fourth in the decathlon in National Amateur Athletic Union meet at Detroit.

nal size; the College acquired its first ath letic field; and the original $50,000 endowment was mul tiplied several times.

While he "may well have been a more effi cient administrator" than Merriman, "he was certainly a less

Rufus C. Flagg

states before being elected by Ripon's Board of Trustees in 1892.

Flagg demonstrat ed his skills in financial management early on Within one year of assuming office, he raised $50,000 in pledges, thereby quali-

fying the College for an $80,000 gift. He also launched a program for modernization by adding men like O.H. Ingram and Albert G. Farr to the Trustees and by gently bringing about the retirement of several of the more conservative board members.

"Flagg was in a tough position," according to George Miller, profes sor of history emeritus, because his predecessor, Merrell, was still on the faculty, teaching courses the current president was meant to teach. "It wasn't really fair?" Yet

the last year of his administration. In short, Flagg provided "a neces sary balance between innovation and stability."

However, Flagg was not highly popular with the community. Perhaps too liberal, he "may have been a bit of a snob, comparing both the College and the commu nity unfavorably with those of New England." Some of the Trustees felt it was time for a change, so Flagg resigned in December 1900. After leaving Ripon, he returned to the East for further church service, but

Flagg dealt well with the variety of challenges he faced. More liberal than Merrell, he began the transi tion from "a frontier missionary school" to "a modem provincial liberal arts college." A greatly expanded natural sciences program demonstrated this modernization trend, and "the crowning achieve ment of Flagg's administration was the construction of Ingram Hall" in inspirational and flexible leader," noted Ripon College: A History. Reports describe Ripon's first presi dent as genial and approachable, while Merrell came across as dour and forbidding. "Merrell was ill equipped" to cope with events of the changing times, such as the rise of a new state university and the growing secularity of higher educa tion. He disagreed with his own church in that he was reluctant to "accept the new scholarship of the post-Civil War era," ideas like Darwinism or a less-literal interpre tation of the Bible. Ripon citizens, on the other hand, were in tune with national trends and ready for

college changes. After long-lasting disagreements with some of his fac ulty, Merrell resigned in 1891, cit ing ill health, but remained profes sor of mental and moral philosophy for another 10 years. All of his seven children attended Ripon College.

Rufus C. Flagg. 1892-1900

The Rev. Rufus Cushman Flagg, a graduate of Middlebury College in his home state of Vermont and of Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, was a well-known biblical scholar and Congregational

Who Was the Greatest President? Who Accomplished the Most?

Choosing from Merriman through Kuebler (excluding those still living), George Miller, professor of history emeritus, selected three "greats," men who shaped the College in different yet important ways. Merriman "launched the ship " He had what it took to get the school started, no small feat considering that of all the colleges started at that time, 80 percent of them failed. Merriman was also "a nice guy, not a cold fish at all," says Miller.

Hughes modernized the College and set it on a new course. It would've been good for Ripon if he'd stayed on as president for a decade or more, according to Miller. The school would've been a very different place.

minister. He served as reverend in aseries of churches in those two George Miller

"If it was a popularity contest," Evans would be the winner. He was extremely popular, yet he wanted a very different Ripon than Hughes did. Passing up the purchase of property along the shores of Green Lake is a good example of how Evans wanted to keep

April

Ripon debaters establish outstanding record at national Pi Kappa Delta tour, nament at Estes Park, Colo.

Harold

The "Spirit of Ripon," an historical pageant, is presented, marking the 75th anniversary of the College.

returned to Wisconsin in 1917 as dean of religion at Northland College in Ashland.

Richard Cecil Hughes, 1901-09

The Rev. Richard Cecil Hughes, Presbyterian cler- R1 ' ch ard C ec1•1H gyman ancl teacher of psy-

h es

Athletic Association (now NCAA), formed in 1906. Hughes' resig nation came sud denly and without much explanation. He had found a job opportunity in Madison with an insurance compa

January

The first issue of the Alumnus magazine is published as a college bulletin. Alumni office records started.

June

Elizabeth B. Bintliff resigns after 18 years as director of the school of music.

September

The third annual summer school gradu, ates four students. Eli:rabeth B. Bintliff

October

Led by Donald "Red" Martin '30, the Ripon College football team defeats Amos Alonzo Stagg's University of Chicago 12-0. Carl Doehling is the coach.

chology, was the first experienced college administrator to be elected Ripon president. He was also the first Presbyterian and the first west erner. An Ohio native, Hughes attended the College of Wooster and Princeton and McCormick Theological Seminaries. He came to Ripon after a successful term as president of Tabor College. Hughes completed the modern ization process begun by Flagg. Under Hughes' direction, a colle'ge curriculum for the 20th century was designed and implemented. Hughes oversaw the reduction of preparatory classes and the expan sion of the educational program to include most df the subjects com prising a modJm liberal arts cur riculum. In 1906, Hughes obtained a $20,000 matching gift from Andrew Carnegie, which resulted in a total gain to the College of $40,000.

"Hughes' previous experience as college teacher and administrator enabled him quickly to identify Ripon's needs and make changes to meet them," according to the Ashley/Miller text. He oversaw much-needed remodeling of build ing interiors as well as the rigidity of the curriculum and religious obligations of students. Hughes also played a leading role'Ql forming the Wisconsin-Illinois Athletic Conference and made sure Ripon joined the National Intercollegiate

ny. After his term at Ripon, Hughes returned to church service Hughes Walk, the path leading to Middle Hall, is named after him, as is Hughes House at the comer of Woodside and Seward streets

Silas Evans, 1910-17, 1921-43

The Rev. Silas Evans was a gradu ate of Ripon College (class of 1898), Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary. Born in Pennsylvania, he grew up in Wisconsin. Evans attended Ripon beginning at age 15, spend ing three years at the Academy and four at the College. A natural cam pus leader, Evans participated in football and showed talent in clas sical languages In 1901, he gradu ated from Princeton with both master of arts and bachelor of divinity degrees. Evans became a philosophy professor at Hastings College in Nebraska as well as assistant pastor of the church there.

To accept the presidency of his alma mater, Evans resigned in 1910 as teacher of Greek and Hebrew at the University of Wisconsin.

During the nextd2 years (except for a stint as president of Occidental College in California from 1917-21), the name of Silas Evans was virtually synonymous with Ripon College. Under his leadership, the College grew to full

The Men's Glee Club went on tour again in 1926.

Osborn, star of the 1924 Olympics, is a guest on the Ripon cam pus.

maturity; preparatory class es were dropped for good in 1913. In spite of the Great Depression, he con tinued to build the col lege's physical capacities by adding Lane Library, the Tri-Dorms and the Harwood Memorial Union.

ate "He never really had a chance," Miller admits. "People were very glad to see Evans return.

Culbertson suffered by comparison."

Evans' "policies and per sonality, even in his absence, dominated Ripon for nearly

controversial subjects without being himself controversial."

Upon his retirement in 1943, Evans was honored by the Board of Trustees with an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters. Three of his children also attended Ripon. A Ripon endowed scholarship, established by Evans' son, Harry '38, and other alumni, honors the service of leadership of Evans and his wife.

Henry C. Culbertson. 1918-20

ing and after the war." He returned to the ministry in 1921, and went on to an outstanding career as a pastor and preacher in California and Ohio.

Clark G. Kuebler. 1943-54

Culbertson obtained raises for underpaid women faculty members, but "was unable to solve Ripon's severe financial problems aggravated by inflation dur35 years," the history book says. The College increased from 240 to 540 students, 10 to 20 buildings, and with his "thrifty" attitude dur ing both terms, from a $200,000 endowment to one of $600,000. "Despite two world wars and the Great Depression, the Evans years were a period of amazing growth and stability," the Miller-Ashley history says. In the 1930s, Ripon had the chance to buy Lawsonia, which is now the Green Lake Conference Center of the Southern Baptist Church, to serve as a new campus on lakeshore, but Evans feared it would change the charac ter of the College, which he want ed to keep small and rural. But the country was becoming more urban and Evans avoided change.

If we took a poll of all the stu dents who ever attended Ripon, says Miller, Evans would probably be the favorite. But the College may have paid a price for his popu larity - enrollment was down after World War I and Ripon had few recruiters in urban areas.

Evans, however, was respected and loved by generations of Ripon students, faculty and friends. A skilled public speaker, he often addressed church meetings and was even broadcast on radio. Evans was "always ready to speak on current political and international affairs and had the knack of discussing

The Rev. Henry Coe Culbertson, a student of law and divinity and previously president of Emporia College in Kansas, served as Ripon's president briefly between the two terms of Silas Evans. In his first encounters with the Ripon community, his skill in public speaking made a strikingly favor able impression Unfortunately, however, his health and personal problems seemed often to interfere with his duties. To make matters worse, "Evans was a tough act to follow," wrote Ashley and Miller. Although Culbertson did very well with the resources he had, his term is hard to evalu-

Dr Clark G Kuebler came to Ripon in 1943 after a brilliant career as a scholar, lecturer and teacher He was a professor of clas sics at Northwestern University, his alma mater, and also studied at Princeton and Munich before earn ing his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1940. Although Kuebler served as presi dent of the Episcopal Church's National Council of Churchmen for several years, he was Ripon's first president without a ministerial background, as well as the first bachelor.

Compared to Evans' "folksy and low-key" approach, Kuebler came across as "cosmopoli tan and dynamic " The two men's visions for Ripon were also very different. Kuebler was determined to trans form Ripon into a modern, prestigious institution with a national reputation

Silas Evans, 1898

Henry C. Culbertson

Clark G. Kuebler

June

October

Honorary degree of doctor of music is awarded to operatic sopra no Amelita GalliCurci.

Ripon gridder

Donald "Red" Martin '30 is honored on one of Knute Rockne's All American teams.

He began this quest with a variety of pro jects. A spell binding speaker, Kuebler conduct ed lecture tours across the United States and abroad.

"When Kuebler Frederick 0. Pinkham entered a room,

you knew he was there," says Miller. Kuebler also sought students from diverse backgrounds, expand ed and improved the faculty and established local chapters of national organizations at Riponmost notably, Phi Beta Kappa, the national, and most prestigious, honor society. The college's Centennial was observed during his administration with a Second Century Program which expanded the physical plant and added to the endowment.

An ambitious man, Kuebler believed "provincialism" was stand ing in the way of improving Ripon Although he astutely assessed the college's needs, he couldn't pull off the solutions, according to Miller. A number of older faculty, alumni and community members disliked Kuebler, and were therefore reluc tant to grant the money for pro jects that would change their famil iar school. To bring the College into the mainstream, Riponites realized they needed a leader "as dynamic and aggressive as Kuebler," wrote Ashley and Miller, but unfortunately, senior members of the College and community felt alienated Kuebler, "the most con troversial president in Ripon's his tory," had many critics and many admirers. He left Ripon to become president of the University of California-Santa Barbara, but his stay there was short.

Frederick 0. Pinkham,

1955-65

Dr. Frederick 0 Pinkham is a graduate of Kalamazoo College and Stanford University. Before coming to Ripon, he served as assistant to the president of George Washington University and as executive director of the

National Commission on Accrediting. An experienced teacher and lecturer, Pinkham applied his personable brand of leadership to help strengthen college relations with the local community and with alumni. During the Pinkham years, the student body, faculty, administra tion and physical plant were all expanded and administrative proce dures were modernized.

Early in his term, Pinkham seemed in favor of a proposal to establish on campus a School of Conservative Thought, saying it would keep one party (Democrats) from gaining too much control, but he had to relinquish the idea due to protest. Pinkham launched a Long-Range Development Program which added the John Storzer Physical Education Center, a clinic and infirmary and new campus heating facilities. It was a period of tremendous growth. "You could say Pinkham rebuilt the campus," said Miller. Pinkham was also instru mental in the 1958-59 formation of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, of which Ripon is a member.

Following the unrest of Kuebler's term, Pinkham "mended fences" by restorl;;_g the support of alumni, as well as raising faculty salaries and morale. During this time, in a somewhat controversial move, the College purchased a large tract of land west of Union Street, which now houses Storzer,

The GOP celebrates its Diamond Jubilee.

The Diamond Jubilee of the Republican Party is celebrated on campus. Gov. Walter J. Kohler and Secretary of War James W. Good are speakers.

DoMld "Red" Martin '30

Rodman, the athletic playing fields and the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy.

Pinkham's resigna tion came as some thing of a shock, but he felt 10 years was suf ficient for any college president. The stu dents, with whom he Bernard S. Adams was very popular, "were

- overseeing the addition of off-cam pus, independent study, self-designed and interdisciplinary programs The flexibility of Ripon's educa tional program enabled it to effect the change from an era of unprece dented growth in American higher edu-

his term was very successful, but 1973-74 marked a turning point. Adams had handled student protests and sit-ins very well, but other problems were beyond his expertise. After the baby boom generation, the rush of students ran out, leaving schools all across country struggling. Enrollment, which had reached 1,000, declined over the next 10 years The gov ernment had provided money to awfully sorry when he left," said Miller Having accepted a job else where, Pinkham told the Trustees it was time for a change. Faculty as well as students held farewell ban quets for him and his family Pinkham had good timing; he arrived just as the College was beginning to grow and left just as student problems of the 1960s were beginning.

After he left Ripon, Pinkham went on to become a vice president at Western Publishing in New York and later worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Population Crisis Committee in Washington, D.C.

Bernard S. Adams, 1966-85

Dr. Bernard S Adams assumed his duties on Oct. 10, 1966. Previously thedean of students at Oberlin College, Adams had graduated from Princeton University, Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh. His earlier experience included teaching English literature and a wide range of administrative responsibilities at Princeton, Pittsburgh and Oberlin. Between Yale and Pittsburgh, he served as an officer in the Air Force during the Korean War.

In his years at Ripon, Adams continued the modernization of the administration and the curriculum

cation to an era of consolidation. Adams expressed hope that Ripon become more diverse, "in personality types, in socioeconomic backgrounds, and geographical ori gins." A believer in change, Adams "played a more active role in cur ricular innovation than any of his predecessors." In February 1967, the school adopted a four, four credit class system, after much dis cussion and some department over hauls (the system was later modi fied to grant departments more flexibility). About that time, anthropology and sociology joined the curriculum.

The campus saw many physical improvements under Adams' administration. The Wehr Leaming Resources Center addi tion to Lane Library was completed in 1974 and the new C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts finally provided a permanent home for the fine arts.

Todd Wehr Hall was built and Ingram Hall razed; Storzer replaced Memorial Gym; Kemper Clinic became the com puter center while the nurse's office opened in Bartlett; East and West halls were refurbished.

The first half of

help schools deal with more stu dents, said Miller, but now that the College had so many new build ings, it suddenly lacked students to fill them. Despite its downturn, "the Adams administration was one of solid achievement," wrote Ashley and Miller. His "chief lega cy was a greatly expanded, diversi fied, and enriched curriculum." After 18 years, Adams was ready to move on "to new challenges and a new environment."

Adams became president of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., and later was one of the vice presi dents at Goodwill Industries in Colorado Springs.

William R. Stott Jr., 1985-95

Tenth president William R. Stott Jr. is a graduate of Columbia and Georgetown universities. Before coming to Ripon, he served for nine years as vice president and dean of students at Georgetown. The first Roman Catholic president, Stott had an intriguing combination of interests, including ornithology and English literature. He was the only president in more than 50 years to regularly teach courses -

William R. Stott, Jr.

January

July

May

June

Lane Library is dedicated.

an English class each semester. Stott also led several popular tours and lectures for the general public on topics such as Shakespeare, the Globe Theatre and bird watch ing. When he assumed his role as president, he showed a dedication to

get to know the school and com munity by interviewing students, administrators and faculty to deter mine needs and suggestions The Stott trails were planned during his term.

Stott was perhaps the most suc cessful fund-raiser of all presidents of the College. "He probably raised more money than all the previous presidents combined," said Miller. "Ripon would have been in serious difficulty without him." During Stott's tenure, the college's endow ment nearly tripled. He was responsible for several major reno vation projects on campus, includ ing Tri-Dorms, Bartlett, Scott Hall and Farr Hall of Science. Unfortunately, Stott's fund-raising kept him busy, Miller said, and he didn't have a strong base of support with students or faculty and enroll ment began to decline. His wildlife art, photography and poetry were published and exhibited at the Caestecker Gallery in 1995. A "Renaissance Man," Stott, who retired when he left Ripon, will be remembered for his unbounded energy, many areas of expertise and leadership in creating a positive and lively image of Ripon College.

Paul B. Ranslow. 1995-

Dr. Paul B. Ranslow was inaugurat ed as the eleventh president of Ripon College on Sept. 29, 1996,

after more than a year on campus

President Ranslow came to Ripon after serving as executive vice president for admission at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif. When he arrived at Ripon, Ranslow had more than 22 years of

higher education administration experience, including service as interim president at Pitzer in 199192. In his first year at Ripon, Ranslow and his wife, Stephanie, made their mark on campus by their participation in activities, their friendliness and approachabil ity, and their sunny, positive approach to the task of leading a small liberal arts college to a better understanding of its strengths and of potential areas for growth and exploration

Enrollment was the biggest chal lenge facing Ranslow and the situa tion faltered further before it got better. When Ranslow arrived in 1995, fall enrollment was at 769 By the fall of 1998, it had dropped to 653, its lowest in a quarter of a cen tury. New enrollment initiatives, however, reversed the trend and Ripon returned to an 866 enroll ment in the fall of 2000 and 906 in the fall of 2001, the first time above the 900 mark in 20 years.

Enrollment issues, and their attendant budget implications, have shaped much of Ranslow's adminis tration. He has worked to imple ment the growth projected in the planning process began in 1996 and formalized in a five-year compre hensive plan adopted by the Trustees in 1998,

Information from Ripon College: A History by George Miller and Robert Ashley, is used extensively in this story. In addition,Miller provided background and information fromhis years of research as a historian

Paul B. Ranslow

speech tournament is held at Ripon College under the auspices of the National Forensic League with Bruno E. Jacob '22 as secretary.

The Men's and Women's Glee Clubs are combined

Rollin B. Lane gives $100,000 for a new library.

Athenian Hall is moved to Ingalls field and converted into a field house.

Memorial Gymnasium is remodeled

Rollin B. Lane, class of 1872, lays in the cornerstone of Lane Library in May.

The will of George A. Whiting of Neenah, Wis., bequeaths $62,500 to Ripon.

Mask and Wig plays ended in Little Theatre, East Hall, after many success ful productions.

A Girls' Orchestra is organized. At right, fire causes $50,000 damage to Smith Hall in January.

The first national high school

For the Ages: 26 Who Made a Difference

uring Ripon College's first 150 years, hundreds of people have left legacies to the institution with their tenacity, dedication, generosity, teaching excellence and coaching abilities.

In addition to others listed elsewhere in this Sesquicentennial issue of Ripon Magazine, the 26 people profiled here have had profound influences on Ripon College. Their impact dates back to 1844 when the con cept of an institution of higher learning in Ripon, Wis., was only a glimmer of hope and promise.

To help us pare a long list of people who had played sig nificant roles in Ripon's history, Maureen Perkins '01 went to Professor of History Emeritus George Miller, for guid ance. And, she used Ripon College: A History by Miller and Robert Ashley, former dean of the College. Miller provided insightful commentary on the role many of these Ripon patriots played in establishing the College, helping it gain a national reputation and in moving the College to new heights while always remembering that a personal education in the liberal arts and sciences was the key goal.

This group of diverse people has provided a broad spec trum of support to the College whether it be with land, money, political power, teaching expertise, administrative direction or the foresight and fortitude to tread where oth ers had not yet gone.

In many ways, these 26, and so many others, are Ripon's true pioneers.

John Scott Horner

Capt. David P. Mapes

Warren Chase

Alvan E. Bovay

Jehdeiah Bowen

The Rev. Jeremiah W. Walcott

William S. Brockway

Clarissa Tucker Tracy

Orrin H. Ingram

Samuel M. Pedrick, 1891

Phillips Boody

Bruno Jacob, 1922

Rollin B. Lane, 1872

William Harley Barber

Grace Goodrich, 1906

Clark Graham

Clifford Moore

Leone Oyster, 1919

Carl Doehling

Daniel Q. Thompson

William E. Tyree

Robert P. Ashley

John Storzer

Lester O. Schwartz

Kermit "Doc" Weiske, 1950

Elaine Coll

October

Secretary

John Scott Horner: The First Citizen

Homer was considered "the first citizen" of the village of Ripon, Wis. "He was an important man and the head of an important family," says George Miller. A Virginia native and John

March 3

Students and faculty observe Silver Jubilee Day by honoring Silas Evans on his 25th anniversary as president of the College.

southern Democrat, Homer gradu ated from Washington (now Washington and Jefferson) College in western Pennsylvania. President Andrew Jackson appointed him secretary and acting territorial gov ernor of Michigan and subsequent ly of Wisconsin.

Horner was the original owner of the land on which much of the city of Ripon is located, which he claimed around 1837 while on his way to head the federal land office in Green Bay.

Throughout his life, Horner was known for his determination and courage According to Ripon College: A History, Homer's role in the city was of more consequence than his relatively brief influence on the founding of the College

Capt. David P. Mapes: True Founder of the College

August 26

Wilson

October 29

The 20th annual homecoming is highlighted by the pour- Wilson Robb ing of the first conWoodmansee crete on the site of the new dormitory for men - Shaler, Evans and Wright Halls.

In 1849, David Mapes, the city's founder, persuaded Horner to coop erate in developing the land, which included the area where East Hall and part of Middle Hall stand today. In return, Mapes gave Horner naming rights for the city and several main streets, many of which bear the names of Horner family members and friends: Watson, Blackburn, Jefferson, Cass, Houston, Washington, Hennie, Spaulding and Doty. Ripon was named after a city in England, which was the home of Homer's ancestors.

In November of 1850, Horner chaired the meeting that formed the Lyceum of Ripon and was named one of the first nine direc tors. Before moving to a large home on Scott Street, where he lived until his death in 1883, Horner lived on a farm on the south shore of Green Lake.

Mapes was "undoubtedly," accord ing to Ashley and Miller, the most important contributor to the found ing of Ripon College. Mapes was originally from New York, where he had served two terms in the state legislature and operated a steam boat and a line of stage coaches.

After his boat and business sank, Mapes headed West. In 1845 he found the perfect location to build a town, the only impedimenLl being that the land he needed was owned by John Scott Horner and the Ceresco Phalanx. He eventual ly worked out terms, however, which allowed him to found the city of Ripon using both parcels of land. Mapes gave the ground for a college, a square acre on the high est point of College Hill, according to Ripon College, A Historical Sketch by Edward H. Merrell, president of the College from 1876-91.

Mapes was a booster who relent• lessly promoted the city's growth. In conversations with

of War Patrick J. Hurley opens the Hoover presidential campaign from the steps of the Republican Party birthplace on campus.

Clemens E. Lueck '23 becomes field sec retary and editor of the Alumnus magazine.

Scott Horner Capt. David P. Mapes

The 1938 debate squad went to Florida.

Robb Woodmansee, 65, former head of the department of mathematics and registrar at Ripon for 23 years, dies.

Ripon enters a cooperative arrangement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offering a combined five- or six-year program leading to bachelor's degrees from both institutions.

commune was disbanding (1850) but Mapes persuaded him to become a part of the development of the village of Ripon. Bovay pur chased land and began developing "Bovay's Addition," about 10 blocks of land just south of the College.

As the village's first lawyer and a political reformer with strong Whig Party ties in the East, Bovay was a leader in the famous meeting lies, he used the potential of estab lishing a college to help him lure "big fish" as citizens (Alvin Bovay was one of these). Mapes also offered land and, as a result, says Miller, "didn't get rich in the process." Under Mapes' guidance, however, "the College never became much more than a promise," serving more to attract desirable newcomers to settle in the town Mapes had founded.

Mapes wrote an autobiographi cal and historical account, History of Ripon, which is available in Lane Library.

Warren Chase:

Leader of the Phalanx

Originally a New Englander, in 1844 Chase led a small group of men from Southport (now Kenosha, Wis.) to a valley which he named Ceresco, after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.

This Southport group had decid ed to implement the teachings of the French social philosopher Charles Fourier and, according to Miller, established the Wisconsin Phalanx, an experiment in commu nal living. The community lasted six years (1844-50) until it was dis banded because of social concerns - such as need for private family space - rather than for economic reasons.

Chase was, according to Ashley and Miller, "the most colorful" of the nine directors who launched Brockway College - he believed in utopian socialism, spiritualism, abolition, women's rights, and, most scandalously at the time, free love. However, Chase was a suc cessful leader and politician. He helped write the Wisconsin consti tution, served a two-year term in the first state legislature and ran for governor under the Free Soil Party in 1849. He was "briefly" one of the first Trustees of the College

His autobiography, The Life Line of the Lone One: or an Autobiography of the World's Child, gives further insights into his beliefs. After leaving Ripon, Chase became a traveling preacher giving lectures throughout the country.

Alvan E. Bovay: Perhaps the Driving Force

Bovay was one of the nine elected directors who launched Brockway College. He was a teacher in New York City where he joined the National Reform Party. He and David Mapes were in the same area at the same time, but no evidence exists that they knew each other Bovay had read about Warren Chase and the Wisconsin Phalanx in the New York Tribune. Bovay arrived in the Ripon area just as the

in 1854 in the Little While School House, at which the name Republican Party was given to a new political movement.

Bovay's handwritten records of the early days of the College still survive. He was a director, one of the first official Trustees and also a member of the faculty. Ashley and Miller describe his involvement: "he played a relatively brief but dominant role in the making of the College.......Itis quite possible that he was the driving force behind Mapes' plan for a school."

Jehdeiah Bowen: Successful Businessman

Born in Wales, Bowen came to the United States in 1830. He clerked in a store in eastern Pennsylvania owned by Mapes and in 1850 fol lowed Mapes west. A successful businessman, Bowen was the owner of one of the first big industries in Ripon, a knitting works which stood where Ripon Drug does today and which survived until the 1960s, according to Miller. Bowen, a politician, was aerive in forming the Republican Party, served as mayor of Ripon and was a member of the state legislature. Of the orig inal Lyceum directors, he served the College the longest, until 1886, during which time he twice served as treasurer, 1855-61 and 1865-82.

Warren Chase

Alvan E. Bovay

Jehdeiah Bowen

The Rev. Jeremiah W. Walcott: Savior of Ripon College

Walcott could be called the savior of the fledg ling Ripon College. He served as principal of two preparatory schools before coming to Wisconsin. Walcott

College,

The College builds a new heating plant. Ingalls Field is sold to the city to be used jointly by the College and the city school system.

September 18

June, 1936.

Grace G. Goodrich, professor of classics

after its founding. In need of funds, the Trustees had first appealed to local public support, then the state and finally the Congregational Church but had no success in gen erating financial assistance. Then Walcott appeared on the scene. "He had the education, the

merchant attending his first board meeting. He won the auction and essentially bought a college for $300. The official date of the founding of the College came later in the month, Jan. 29, 1851, when the state of Wisconsin granted a charter to Brockway College. The since 1913 and dean of women since experience, and, most importantly, Brockways were a family of bankers 1935, dies.

the money to take over a school," according to the Ashley/Miller book. Walcott did take over, paying off the debt and running the College at his own expense, includ ing making sure rooms were fur nished for classes to start in the spring of 1853. When the school

who were important to the town's economic development. However, because they had a disagreement with the college Board of Trustees, the school's name was changed from Brockway to Ripon in 1864.

Miller says he has never seen a photograph of Brockway and none

Commencement. was back on its feet in 1854, it was available in the college archive

A new $30,000 Merriman House is

bought back the upper campus property Walcott owned, named new Trustees and drafted a new charter, which still governs the

or at the Ripon Historical Society.

Clarissa Tucker Tracy: completed. College today. "Without Walcott, The Mother of Ripon College

June Spencer Tracy '24 returns to receive the honorary degree of doc tor of dramatic arts. Edward J. Roberts, for mer chief

the College would never have got ten off the ground," says Miller.

William S. Brockway: The First Namesake

In January of 1851, the directors of the Ripon Lyceum ("a corporation for mental improvement and the

Tracy, known as the "Mother of Ripon College," came to the College in 1859 at the age of 40 and was an important presence until her death-at 87 in 1905.

Over the years, she had many roles: superintendent of the ladies' department; teacher of biology, math, English, composition and he

The Rev. Jeremiah W. Walcott Clarissa Tucker Tracy became involved with Brockway time was to sell the right of naming Dreamer," is unveiled near Ingram Hall; an earlier College at a financially tough time the school to the highest bidder statue, "Genesis," had been unveiled in for the

just a year or two That person was Brockway, a local

Tri-Donns is dedicated at

engi neer of con struction of

Spencer Tracy '24, right, is congratulated by Ripon President Silas Evans.

the Great Northern Railway, receives an honorary degree.

promotion of education") voted to apply for a charter for the College. A fairly common technique at the

specialty, botany, in the Preparatory Department; head of the housekeeping department and

the food service (where she person ally prepared meals for more than 100 people every day); proctor in the dormitory where she lived; counselor; nurse; and equivalent of a dean of women.

Like Bowen, Tracy came to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania, where they had mutual friends. She began teaching at the age of 14 and later served as instructor at several academies for women in New York and Pennsylvania. In 1859, after the deaths of her husband and the younger of her two children, Tracy accepted Bowen's offer to come to Brockway College as teacher and matron of the new dorm (now Middle Hall).

As a botanist, Tracy researched wild flowers and in 1889 published a"Catalogue of Plants Growing Without Cultivation in the Ripon Area." She hand painted careful reproductions of many of these plants on china, which she fre quently used for entertaining and which are currently displayed in the president's house.

Orrin H. Ingram: Science Hall Changes College

Ingram served on the Board of Trustees from 1892 until his death in

1918. A wealthy lumber baron from Eau Claire, Wis., "Ingram was to become the most generous contribu tor to the College of his time; his challenge grant of $15,000, success fully matched by an additional $25,000, made possible the construc tion of the new science building named in his honor," according to the Ashley-Miller history. The build ing of Ingram Hall was an important step for the College, according to Miller, marking the change to a mod ern college from a religious academy.

Samuel M. Pedrick, 1891: 'Mr. History'

Miller characterizes Pedrick as "the kind of person who was into every thing " Born in Ripon, the youngest of three boys, Pedrick's career is one of long service to the College and community: as an attorney, member of the Board of Trustees, college administrator, his tory expert and one of the founders of the Ripon Historical Society in 1899. At the College, Pedrick played on the first football team. In the city, he practiced law until 1962, two years before his death at age 95.

"Pedrick was a truly remarkable man," write Ashley and Miller. "A

fine family man, and popular with everyone in town." Pedrick served on the school and library boards, the hospital commission and the Fond du Lac County Board.

Pedrick was secretary or treasurer of just about every organization in Ripon at one time or another.

Pedrick was also business manager and six-year treasurer of the College, and secretary of the Trustees for 21 years. He "devot[ed] his energies to turning Ripon into a modern city and strengthening the College at same time."

Pedrick was also known as "Mr. History," or a "one-man historical society," because he collected and authored significant documents about Ripon and Ripon Collegeenough to fill 87 scrapbooks. Pedrick was often consulted on his torical or genealogical questions, information filling 41 notebooks. Pedrick willed his collection of his torical papers to Ripon College In 1999 his papers were re-housed in a climate-controlled area of the Ripon Historical Society.

Phillips Boody: Attracted the Best Debate Students

Boody taught English literature, dramaturgy and speech for 31 years at Ripon (1915-46). A successful professor, he attracted the best high school debate students in the state to Ripon Boody, along with Spencer Tracy '24 (a student of Boody's) and Bruno Jacob '22, helped make the name of Ripon well known in the Midwest and beyond, when the debate team traveled east to challenge - and hold its own against - some of the oldest and strongest schools in the

Orrin H. Ingram

Samuel M. Pedrick, 1891 Phillips Boody

June 21

Badger Boys State, an American Legion, sponsored program in citizenship, meets for the first time on campus.

December 7

Japan declares war on the United States

Enrollment surpasses 500 - at 540.

country. Boody founded the Mask and Whig Club, which produced more than 100 plays before he retired in 1946. He published col lege texts in all three of his fields: two in speech and one each in English composition and acting. According to Miller, Boody was also "a great writer of pageants," large-scale plays about grand themes that were performed out doors. His daughter, Betty Boody Blodgett, is a 1939 alumna of Ripon.

Rollin B. Lane, 1872: Permanent Home for the Library

All students in the advanced ROTC course voluntarily enlist in the Enlisted Reserve Corps and are inducted the fol lowing year into active military service.

The Frank J. Harwood Memorial Union is opened.

The Ripon College Crimson, edited by John Bodette '43, wins AllAmerican honors.

October

Registrar and Physics Department Head

W. H. Barber, ranks second among all col lege physics teachers in the country for numbers of students who did their under graduate work with him and then contin ued for advanced degrees in physics.

Bruno Jacob. 1922: National Forensic League Jacob, of Valders, Wis , was one of the debate students Boody drew to the College. Jacob, who served as student manager on some of Boody's most successful speech teams, published a book while still in college, Suggestions for the Debater. It was Jacob's idea to take the debate team beyond the Midwest, a proposal made in 1921 and followed by two years of east ern trips After graduating, Jacob became assistant coach and manag er of debate trips and also taught in the speech department. He is most known for founding the National Forensic League in Ripon, serving as its national secretary until his retirement in 1969.

Lane, who grew up about seven miles from Ripon in Pickett, Wis., was a former Ripon student (class of 1872) who left before graduating to study law in the East. He returned to Ripon to practice law but later moved to Milwaukee and then to California. In Hollywood, Lane accumulated a fortune through banking and real estate. Lane Library, built in 1930 with his $100,000 contribution, solved a major problem of the campus, according to Miller. Before this, "the library had been kicked around from one building to anoth er.......Ingram housed the collection for a while, but the space was need ed for other things," says Miller.

Thanks to Lane, the library found a permanent home.

William Harley Barber: Nationally Respected Physics Professor

Dean of the College, Barber served as acting president for more thana year between Evans' first term and the arrival of President Henry Culbertson. Barber taught at Ripon High School in the early 1900s but left after four years to find a more

Bruno Jacob, 1922

Rollin B. Lane, 1872

William Harley Barber

Badger Boys State delegates hold their mock political convention in Memorial Hall.

The 1942 track team.

Ripon Trustees approve the construction of a new commons and student center at an estimated cost of $150,000.

Ripon is placed on the eligible list of uni, versities and colleges of the University Club of New York City.

satisfying career and became a lab assistant at the Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C.

In 1906, President Hughes called Barber back to Ripon, where he became a physics professor at the College, serving for the next 40 years. An impressive number of Barber's students gained national recognition in industry, education or government service. Barber, in

tum, gained national respect for his skill as a teacher. His fame led to Ripon's being asked to join in a cooperative program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and 19 of the country's most distinguished small liberal arts colleges. Through the program, students attended Ripon for three years and M.I.T. for two earning bachelors degrees from both.

Barber also served on the Ripon City Council, as mayor of the city and as registrar and business man ager of the College, still maintain ing his standards of excellence under a regular teaching load. He received an honorary degree in 1958. In 1973, Harrison Farnsworth '18, a physics professor at Brown University, established the William Harley Barber Distinguished Professorship in honor of Barber, his former profes sor. The award recognizes senior professors for outstanding teaching in the sciences

Grace Goodrich, 1906: 'She Made the Classics Live'

Goodrich was one of the college's best teachers. After graduating from Ripon, she studied at the American School of Classical Study in Rome and Bryn Mawr

College before receiving her doc torate from the University of Wisconsin. She joined the Ripon faculty in 1913 and taught Latin, Greek and archaeology until her unexpected death in 1939. Goodrich became dean of women in 1933, an announcement that was hailed with cheers in the col lege chapel. "By sheer force of her personality," write Ashley and Miller, "she made the classics live." President Evans called her the "most beautiful spirit to grace the halls of Ripon College." Goodrich enjoyed holding class outside and was known to take entire classes out for ice cream. One student said, "she had that rare quality of mak ing each of us feel singled out for special interest."

Clark Graham: Eventuaily a CoHege President

Graham served as dean of the College (1925-45) during President Silas Evans' second term. Graham had joined the Ripon faculty in 1916 as an English professor. He taught composition, creative writ ing, journalism, drama (Spencer Tracy '24 was one of Graham's stu dents), forensics and education. A strong supporter of the liberal arts and a "college with a personal

touch," Graham also believed in equal opportunity for women in extra-curricular activities like drama, forensics and athletics. In 1945, he left to become president at Yankton College in South Dakota. "Graham probably should have become president of Ripon College," says Miller.

Clifford Moore: Much-Admired Faculty Member

Moore, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, taught history and political science at Ripon from 1918-54. He was chair of the history department during much of that 36-year period. "He was a much-admired faculty mem ber," Miller says of his predecessor. "A very nice guy and a tough act to follow." Moore had "a folksy style and was very popular with stu dents."

During the Depression, when enrollment fell, "the College sent faculty out to beat the bushes for new students," Miller says, "on top of their regular responsibilities." During Moore's service as tempo rary admissions officer in the south western part of Wisconsin, he helped contribute to a later increase in enrollment.

Grace Goodrich, 1906

Clark Graham Clifford Moore

The College opens with four distinct courses in operation: civilian, Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), returned ROTC cadets and Army Specialized Training Reserves (ASTR). The student body included 484 military and 177 civilian students.

Professor J. W. Becker, head of the for eign language department for 22 years, retires.

June 5

Dr. Clark G. Kuebler is elected seventh president of the College.

Leone Oyster, 1919: Beloved Chemistry Professor

Ripon's ASTP unit is disbanded.

March 20 Wendell L. Wilkie appears on the campus for the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Republican Party.Wilkie addresses GOP gathering.

May30

Ripon enters a cooperative program with Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University for a five-year journalism course, giving students a bachelor's degree from Ripon and a mas ter's degree from Northwestern.

Sgt. Arthur Peters, U. S. Army, is retired after 54 years of military service, 24 years of which were with Ripon.

After Ripon native Oyster earned her master's degree at the University of Wisconsin, she returned to her alma mater to teach chemistry from 1930-62. Oyster is known for teaching excel lence and was the first recipient of the Uhrig Foundation's award for outstanding performance in the classroom She was also among the first five recipients of a similar award from Ripon's Harold and May Bumby Severy Fund. A memorial scholarship and prize in Oyster's honor is given to a chem istry student each year.

Oyster "was cheerful and upbeat, expressed herself well and had a great sense of humor," says Miller. She was known to have especially enjoyed teaching fresh men. She usually found them "scared to death of science," but looked forward co caking the mys tery out of organic chemistry by making a tough subject fun and presenting solid principles students could grasp.

Oyster was "quite an athletic woman," active with tennis, swim ming, skiing and ice skating much of her life. Yet Oyster "was con stantly falling and breaking bones," during activities like tobogganing on Merriman Hill. "If the sled went

shooting off' and Oyster was injured, "in just a few days she'd be back, on crutches, teaching her classes."

Oyster, who walked around town in all kinds of weather and rarely missed a college football or basketball game, was not ready to retire at 65,

Ripon's retirement age at the time. State schools, however, allowed professors to teach until age 70, so Oyster accepted a chemistry appointment at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point ("bird watching and knitting bore me," she commented). When she reached her "second" retirement age, Oyster returned to Ripon and resumed her active role in affairs o/ the College, church and community.

In 1983, Oyster died at age 86. That year she received the Medal of Merit, the highest award given to alumni, posthumously.

Car1 Doehling: Ripon's Builder of Athletics

During his 37-year tenure at the College (1924-61), Doehling esta lished Ripon's modem programs in health, physical education and intercollegiate and intramural ath• letics. He also served as athletic director, coach of football, basket• ball and track (one year), acting dean of the College and assistant the president inhe administratioo of student aid. Doehling was "President Evans' right-hand man in many respects," says Miller. "He built the physical education and athletic department at Ripon."

Before coming to Ripon,

Leone Oyster, 1919

Carl Doehling

A historical mural painted by Lester Schwartz; is completed and placed in the rotunda of the new union building.

Doehling had been a successful high school coach in Minneapolis. During his tenure at the College, Doehling established an infirmary and introduced a major in physical education. He also expanded the varsity sports program to include tennis, golf, wrestling, cross-coun try and baseball, making his motto a reality: "A man for every sport and a sport for every man."

Ultimately Doehling established programs for women, including them in the academic major, intra murals and intercollegiate schedules.

Doehling showed he was a musi cian and scholar as well as an ath lete by playing the violin to help fund his education. He also occa sionally taught a section of English composition at Ripon. He was elected to the Wisconsin Football Hall of Fame as well as the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame. A large trophy bearing his name and that of Bernie Heselton, long-time Lawrence University coach, is given annually to the winner of the Ripon-Lawrence football game. The football practice field on Union Street was dedicated to Doehling during Alumni Weekend 2001.

Daniel Q. Thompson: Ripon's First Ecologist

Thompson was "our first ecologist," according to Miller. Also a biologist of national reputation, Thompson taught at Ripon from 1955-62. He had been one of Aldo Leopold's students at the University of

Wisconsin. Leopold had high regard for Thompson, who shared his teacher's environmental con cerns. An excellent teacher, Thompson taught Ripon Biology Professor Bill Brooks '60, who says, "Daniel Q Thompson was the one who first taught me there was a name (ecology) for what I was interested in, encouraged me and set an example for me. He was my advisor in just about everything, including my first published research paper." Brooks calls Thompson "one of the best field biologists I ever knew." He kept in touch with Brooks for decades after he graduated from Ripon

Thompson also knew William Tyree in the Navy Tyree, who liked and admired Thompson, said, "we had a winner here with Thompson." After Ripon, Thompson went to Cornell and later to Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, conducting research at both schools for the department of fish and wildlife.

"He identified Bowen's Woods as something we shouldn't monkey with," says Mary Brandt, Ripon res ident, widow of late college Librarian Bill Brandt and friend of Thompson and his wife, Edith. During the construction of Scott Hall, says Brandt, Thompson

checked the deed for the land and found that Bowen's Woods had been given to the College and was to be left as it was.

Thompson, who Brandt calls "a significant part of what was excit ing about Ripon at that time," was famous for leading spring trips to see the mating dance of prairie chickens Interested students trav eled to a site near Westfield, Wis., Brandt says, where they hid behind blinds before dawn to watch the birds.

Thompson died in 1997.

William E. Tyree: Inspirational Professor

Tyree, professor of philosophy, joined the Ripon faculty in 1950 and spent his entire teaching career here, retiring in 1983 Two scholar ships carry his name: the Tyree Graduate Scholarship and the Tyree Scholarship in Philosophy. A longtime supporter of the College, Tyree received an honorary degree in 1989. Alumni and friends con tributed more than $65,000 to establish and endow the Tyree Scholarship in Philosophy in 1995. Tyree's former students came from around the country to pay tribute to their beloved professor.

Pegi Bisson Wheatley '63 speaks for hundreds of alumni when she notes her admiration for Tyree "for his lessons and support (in and out of the classroom) that were critical to my confidence and subsequent career and personal satisfaction "

Tyree was the first to hold the Helen Swift Neilson Professor of Cultural Studies title, from 196983. Francis Neilson established this humanities professorship, in honor

Daniel Q. Thompson William E. Tyree

June

July 3

October

A department

of vocational S.S. Ripon Victory guidance and placement is instituted.

January

A $60,000, three-manual organ is pre sented to the College from the estate of the late Helen Swift Neilson, former Trustee.

February 23

The 101st presentation of Mask and Wig is given.

of his late wife, in 1958. Helen Swift Neilson of Chicago, a lover of the arts all her life, served on the Board of Trustees from 1935 until her death 10 years later.

Noted actor and former student, Harrison Ford '64, made reference to Tyree in his 1989 movie, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," saying, "You want truth, go down the hall to Dr. Tyree's phi losophy class."

Robert P. Ashley: Good at Three Jobs

Ashley served as dean (1955-74), professor of English (1955-82) and varsity tennis coach (1956-64). "He was successful at all three jobs," says Miller. Ashley led his tennis team to the Midwest Conference championship, served as Midwest Conference commis sioner from 1960-64 and still plays tennis in his 80s. Ashley Tennis Courts, next to Kemper Hall on Thorne Street, were dedicated in his honor in 1996.

From 1974-78, Ashley held the William Harley Barber Distinguished Professorship - the first English professor to receive the honor. In 1985, Ripon awarded Ashley an honorary doctorate. He is author of 16 books and approximately 40 articles.

retired colonel.

A 1937 Bowdoin College gradu ate, Ashley earned his advanced degrees from Harvard and arrived in Ripon in 1955 from West Point. He had taught at a number of insti, tutions early in his career and cites a love of Ripon students as incen tive for staying in one place so long.

John Storzer: Perfect Coach for Liberal Arts College

Storzer coached football at Ripon longer than anyone except Carl Doehling. During his 16 years, Storzer built an impressive 88-40-4 record, including four consecutive conference championships and a total of five in the 1960s. "Storzer was a fine person and successful coach," says Miller. In the days of Saturday morning classes, when Storzer's football players had a game that afternoon, they would be at their 11 a.m. classes - "no messing around," Miller says. "Storzer was a rough, tough guy in some ways, but he had a scholarly quality as well. He was the perfect coach for a liberal arts college." Storzer died suddenly two weeks before the end of the 1973 season.

Ver Adest, Ripon's annual musical show, stages its first production in May.

The semester system is adopted.

October 27

A memorial service honors 57 college war dead. More than 1,000 Ripon students and alumni served during World War II.

November 19

A mace from the ancient city and col legium of Ripon, England, signifying the continuity of tradition between the new world and the old, is presented to Ripon. It is carried by the faculty marshal at all

Ashley's military record includes both Navy and Army service. He was a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II and a major in the Army during the Korean War. He is a

formal ceremonies. Robert P. Ashley

The College's annual Commencement, its 79th, is held for the first time in the First Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Badger Boys State returns to the Ripon campus after a lapse of two years because of the war.

In Richmond, Calif., a cargo ship is launched and christened the S.S. Ripon Victory.

John Storzer

Lester 0. Schwartz: Founder of the Art Department

Schwartz, who served as professor of art and artist-in-residence from 1944 until his retirement in 1977, 1s considered the founder of the college's art department. A gradu ate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and student of the Imperial Art School in Tokyo, the Colarossi Academy in Paris and the American Academy in Rome, he is recognized as one of Wisconsin's most distinguished artists.

"He brought an already-made reputation with him," says Miller. Schwartz came to Ripon during World War II, "when there were so few men left on campus that the school nearly had to shut down." To boost falling student numbers, President Clark Kuebler began hir ing faculty he felt would attract more female students, including Schwarcz.

"He was a very socially oriented guy who spent a lot of time with students," according to Miller. "He also served as advisor for campus decor brightening up the walls of Ingram Hall, for example, which had been known as a dreary build ing. He was a prominent faculty member right from the word go."

Two murals of the founding of the city and the College originally dis played in the rotunda of Harwood Memorial Union, are displayed in the Dahm Heritage Room of Pickard Commons, gifts of Nancy and the late Jack Livingston '49 Schwartz was awarded an honorary degree in 2001.

Kermit "Doc" Weiske. 1950: Five Men's Basketball Titles

Weiske reestablished Ripon's win ning streak in basketball. With an undergraduate scoring record of 1,188 points, Weiske, as a coach, won three conference titles between 1958 and 1966. After a six-year interim, Weiske returned to coach for eight years, gaining two more titles in 1978 and 1980, for a total record of 203-148. "He was a fine athlete in basketball and football," says Miller, and a great coach. Weiske played professional basketball for a short time before coaching high school and then col lege basketball at Ripon. He also coached golf, which Weiske calls "therapy after the basketball sea son." Weiske "was a successful coach and Ripon booster. And still is."

Doc serves as a Ripon Trustee, generous donor to the College and athletics and sometime golf coach.

Elaine Coll: Created Modern Women's Athletics

Coll has been the leader in the development of women's varsity athletics at Ripon. Currently a pro fessor emerita and adjunct professor of physical education, Coll created the modern women's intercolle giate sports program in basketball,

volleyball and track. She joined the Ripon faculty in 1973 on a pare-time basis - hired by John Storzer - to teach physical educa tion and coach volleyball, basket ball and men's and women's track. At the time, women's sports com peted on a club level, but by the lace 1970s, basketball, volleyball and tennis were recognized as varsi ty sports.

During her 20 years on the Ripon College athletic staff, she led teams to two conference cham pionships in women's basketball, four in volleyball and four in women's track. During more than 20 years as head volleyball coach, Coll compiled a 264-178 record with 17 winning seasons. Until her resignation as women's basketball coach in 1990, she had been the sport's only coach at Ripon.

Coll continues to teach on a part-time basis since her 1993 retirement.

Maureen Perkins 'O1

Perkins was a student writer in the Office of College Relations as a junior and senior.

Ripon College: A History by George Miller and Robert Ashley, is used extensively in this story. Tn addition, Miller provided more background and information from his years of research as a historian.

Lester 0. Schwartz Kermit "Doc" Weiske, 1950 Elaine Coll

Student Life at Ripon ., College

the pole.

GREASED POLE

The greased pole was an annual homecoming event on the morning of the game, pitting freshmen against sophomores. The sophomores would defend the flag while freshmen tried to reach the top of

strong academic rep, utation is what has drawn students to Ripon College for 150 years. Beyond the classes and the studying, it is the col, lege's social network that binds it together as a community. A Sesquicentennial photo exhibit last spring highlighted both the academic and social aspects of student life at Ripon.

The exhibit, organized by Marc Boucher, former systems officer at Lane Library, and George Miller, history professor emeritus, featured a sampling of events that may have had a lasting impression on those involved. Culled from the col, lege archives, the exhibit did not "pretend to represent all experiences Ripon students may have had" at the College.

The photos were enlarged to 24x30 and 30x40 inches and are now displayed in Lane Library and the refurbished col, lege museum in West Hall.

Boucher says that the images "are not mere photographs, but time machines" taking the viewer back to the moment each photograph,represents.

LETTER TO A SOLDIER

These Lyle Hall coeds are writing to a serviceman during World War II. Due to the college's mandatory ROTC program, a higher proportion of men from Ripon served than from most colleges

RIPON 10, LAWRENCE 8

The 1910 team shows off the game ball after their hard-fought victory over their fiercest rival. Notice the coach in the upper left comer wearing the Wisconsin "W." During the early years, Ripon often employed a recent Wisconsin grad with football experience as a coach.

CHEMISTRY LAB

Jack Powers, professor of chemistry, instructs two sttuients in the wonders of science. Ripon

traditionally has put a strong emphasis on the sciences - a tradition that continues to this day. •• •• •••• ••

. . ••.,. . • \

VER ADEST 'THIS IS IT' - 1951

THE CAR NAMED 'CAROLINE'

This 1927 (or perhaps 1925) Moclel-T which showed up on the steps of the First Congregational Church as a Halloween prank in 1934 (right photo) has a storied history having been passed on from one Omega Sigma Chi (Duffie) president to another for several years.

Carl Griffin '35 recalls that he bought the roadster in 1934 from Myron "Doc" Scheid '35 for $ I0. The car "had been put together in a junkyard from pieces of many different Ford cars."

The Duffie men had two engines for the old Ford, Griffin recalls, so that "while one engine was being used and abused

in the car, we would be working and rebuilding the other one in the basement of the fraternity house."

Griffin sold the car to William Grant '37, the next president of Duffie, for $18 "because the license plates (I bought) were still good."

Following Halloween in 1934, the car greeted students arriv ing for vespers at the church. The students in the car, below, are believed to be 1935 alumnae from Bartlett Hall (Kappa Sigma Chi) - the late Dorothy "Pat" McDonald Bricker and, perhaps, Harriet Hager Pfiffner and Ruth Chase Maley.

FORENSICS

Iver"Bud" Christensen '41, above, never used the starter on his car "Caroline," he just let it roll down the hill, then kicked it in gear with the ignition on.

1938-39

H.P. Boody, third from right, professor of English and dramaturgy, built upon the already strong Ripon Forensics Team to make it one of the strongest in the country Bruno Jacob '22, second from left, assistant coach of debate, founded and headed the National Forensic League which is still based in Ripon.

HOMECOMING PARADE CIRCA 1920

Looking north down Watson Street on the square toward the Grand View Hotel, you could watch Ripon College students marching on parade prior to the homecoming game.

HOLLY BALL

Holly Ball was one of the many formal dances held on campus during the Big Band era. Held in the college dining hall, now Great Hall, Holly Ball was a pre-Christmas social event.

MILITARY BALL

The Military Ball was one of the biggest social events of the year. Men wore their ROTC uniforms and women wore formal dresses. This picture shows the Grand March which was led by the highest-ranking student in the ROTC program.

Doc GROVES' CLASS

Biology Professor Doc Groves holds class outside. Note all the freshmen wearing beanies.Whenever a sophomore passed by, freshmen were required to touch the button on top of the beanie.

COLLEGE DAYS 1937-38

The longest-running student newspaper in the state, the Ripon College Days was founded in 1868. Over the years, the content has changed from a combined newspaper/Literary and humor mngatine, which even included news from other campuses, to primarily a campus news and editorial forum.

COLLEGE BOWL 1963

The Ripon College Bowl Team made it through four rounds on the popular television quiz show, eventually losing in the fifth round to Bowdoin College. Returning to campus, they became instant local celebrities. From left are Stephen H. Peters '65, Robert C. Schneider '64, the late Sandra M. Miller '65 and David G- Stankow '65.

COMMENCEMENT

Dean of Faculty Bob Ashley congratulates Colin Smith'65 as he receives his diploma. The ceremony has been held in many locations over the years. Since the building of the Harwood Merrwrial Union in 1944, its steps have been the favorite location in good weather.

PAJAMA PARADE - FALL OF 1948

The night before homecoming, the freshman class would parade in their pajamas to the ceremonial bonfire. Often, a distinguished alumnus from one of the early football teams would address the crowd to stir up some pep. The pep rally event, widely attended, included both students and community members.

ACTION IN THE TRENCHES

This photo shows a football game circa 1950 at Ingalls Field. Judging by the size of the crowd, this is probably a homecoming game. Behind the crowd one can see St. Wenceslaus Church school building.

Ripon's Soldiers

The "Redmen Battalion"Ripon College's unit of the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)was established in 1919 and became one of the region's and nation's best-rated ROTC pro grams. Competing against much larger schools with much bigger ROTC budgets, Ripon won ROTC's "Distinguished College" award, not once but several times. Ripon's ROTC rifle teams brought home regional and national tro phies. Its Pershing Rifles unit ranked# 1 in the country. Over the years, the program has often been noted for its ability co produce out standing leaders. For its size, Ripon's ROTC unit has produced more future generals (seven) than any other school in the nation except the Army's own West Point.

From the 1920s to the 1960s, ROTC led che social life of the College. Through that period, membership in ROTC was a source of prestige and the unit shaped the very character of student life at Ripon. Through the turmoil of the 1960s and the Vietnam War, ROTC enjoyed far more support at Ripon than at many ocher colleges. Today, the ranks of ROTC soldiers at Ripon are leaner and less domi nant but they still graduate out standing officers and leaders. Its story is one of challenges, persever ance and triumph.

The Roots of ROTC. 1900-20

The Morrill Act of l862, which cre ated state land-grant colleges, also charged chem with teaching, among other things, military science. The idea was largely ignored until the early 20th century when two social factors gave it new credence. First, growing militarism in Japan anJ Europe brought to national attention

the dismal unreadiness of America's armed forces. Second, social critics, including a great many college and university presidents, were wringing their hands over the declining con dition of America's young men. The idyllic myth of the shining American youth - strong and moral, nurtured by farm and frontier - was a sacred belief to many who decried the reali ty - the weak, lazy and undisci plined youth they saw on city streets and college campuses. Military train ing, it was argued, would be the cor• rective medicine. War in Europe sparked a call for universal military and reserve offi cer training. Universal military training hit a wall of public opposi tion, but the idea of using colleges and universities to train a reserve officer corps found widespread sup• port. Congress created ROTC in 1916.

In April 1917, two weeks after the United States entered World War I, Ripon College began its own program of military training required for all male students. The twice-a-week drills were mainly a show of patriotism and enjoyed strong support from students and local citizens. With their wooden rifles and threadbare surplus uni forms, the drill unit marched in the town's Loyalty Day parade that spring.

In the fall of 1918, the War Department created the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) to give enlisted men basic military training and a college education with the prospect qf.becoming Army officers. Ripon's SATC had a roster of 175 men.

Most SATC programs were hastily created and badly run. When the SATC was shut down, no one at Ripon College missed it much. But it had boosted college enrollments in 1918 and Ripon's

The Army Specialited Training Program (ASTP) brought 400 soldiers to campus for training in 1943 and 1944.

Trustees liked the physical training and discipline the program had offered. When the War Department announced an expand ed ROTC program in 1919, Ripon applied, and was one of juse two Wisconsin colleges to be accepted as ROTC sites.

ROTC was at first unpopular among Ripon students, and it took almost a year to get the minimum 100 students enrolled. The two year Basic Course (required for all male students) included physical drill and the care and use of a rifle. The one-year Advanced Course was voluntary and covered "mili tary arts" - tactics, field orders, map maneuvers, administration and military history. On May 21, 1921, Ripon's ROTC held its first Military Ball.

"The West Point of the Midwest," 1921-41

ln the fall of 1921, a new ROTC instructor, Capt George T Rice, and his assistant, Capt. Frank Addington, arrived on campus. Both were young veterans of the war in France and they were deter mined to make ROTC an impor tant part of Ripon College's acade mic and social life. Their approach was threefold:

First, ROTC sponsored several popular social events - Halloween parties, town-gown minstrel shows, patriotic vesper services, tea dances and an annual military tournament. The unit formed its own choir, marching band and sports teams, and its weekly full-dress drill parade became a popular diversion for college and town. In the 1920s and '30s, Ripon was still a small, isolated college and fraternities and sororities were not a major social force on campus. ROTC's social calendar won the loyalty of the stu dents and the town.

Second, the unit's rifle team, founded in March of 1921, was molded into a world-class competi-

tive unit. A new women's rifle team and intramural competitions made marksmanship a major sport on the Ripon campus.

Third, while other ROTC pro grams stressed technical military knowledge, Ripon's curriculum stressed leadership skills. With all the social events to be organized, there were plenty of opportunities for cadets to lead. The emphasis on leadership won continued support from the faculty and Trustees and helped draw some of Ripon's best students into the unit.

On many campuses, ROTC did not integrate well into campus life, even in the patriotic decades between the World Wars At Ripon, ROTC's social activities and its success in rifle competitions made it the most important social organization on campus in the mid1920s. le was enthusiastically sup ported by the college administra tion, faculty, students and townies. The rifle team continued to win national honors and was invited to West Point for a match against the Army's own cadets. People in the wider ROTC community were beginning to characterize Ripon College as "the West Point of the Midwest."

In the fall of 1924, Ripon's ROTC was one of only 21 units invited to compete for ROTC

In 1930, Ripon ROTC cadets moved 50,000 books from Ingram Hall to the new Lane Library. Above, college coeds give the cadets doughnuts during a break.

The Ripon ROTC insignia was adopted in 1942, originally designed by Bob Dittberner '43. Above is a 1969 version, according to Faith and Courage.

A 15-year, Second Century program is inaugurated at a four-day campus cele bration. Meetings and panel discussions are followed by the presentation of cita tions to nearly 60 Ripon alumni for out standing work in their fields.

684 students enroll at Ripon.

Lt.

While identifications were available on this photograph, the exact order of their appear ance isn't clear. Those with positive identifications are noted. Pictured are Harold F. Seeber '33, Dalton B. Chapman '33, Frank M. Clark, '35, Karl F. Moessner '32 (third from right in the front row), Harry A. Cody '33, Alvin Griese '35,Charles N. Lloyd '36, Henry A, Berg '34, Milo G. Phelps '34, Clarence W. Huffman '34 (second from right in the back row), Willard T. Loomis '34 and Douglas C. Hargrave '32. Manager Arent O Wiken '32 is believed to not be included in the photograph.

September 1940. At Ripon, ROTC

"Distinguished College" recogni tion. Competing mainly against larger, more prosperous land-grant universities, Ripon did not win the recognition but the invitation itself was no small honor The Ripon battalion was invited to compete again in 1928, and in the 1929-30 year it achieved Distinguished College status. It would win that recognition again nearly every year during the 1930s.

At the same time, ROTC began to lose its social prominence at Ripon. The Military Ball was still a premier social event but many other ROTC-sponsored activities disappeared and other campus orga nizations and athletic teams were moving to the fore. Ripon's cadets began to see their unit and them selves as standing apart from the rest of the student body. ROTC's emphasis shifted from marksman ship to academics and the rifle team stopped winning trophies.

World War, 1940-45

Much of the world was at war in

1931 MEN'S RIFLE TEAM

The members of Alpha Phi Omega (Phi Delta Theta) take great pride that Spencer Tracy '24 belonged to their group. (See photo on the mantle.)

The 1950 track team.

Col. Roland L. Kolb '39 becomes Ripon's only alumnus to serve as com manding officer of the ROTC Unit at the College when he's named professor of military science and tactics.

enrollments soared when it was sug gested that ROTC cadets might be exempt from a military draft. After the United States officially entered World War II in December 1941, the students formed a War Council to find ways to support the war effort. Women students took first-aid train ing or enrolled in the Women's Military Training Course. The Women's Rifle Team was discontin ued. The ROTC Basic program was suspended in June 1942, the Advanced Course a year later, though not before the rifle team captured second place in a regional meet.

The huge expansion of the mili tary draft in 1943 nearly sank the College financially. Most young men who would have been in col lege were on active military duty. Admissions got a much-needed boost from the Ar Specialized Training Program (ASTP), a course designed to increase the Army's pool of college-educated officer can didates. Under ASTP, selected 18to 22-year-old soldiers were given accelerated college courses Ripon's 400 ASTP students took over much of the living and dining space on

campus, along with the wooden bar racks (later known as "Siberia") built along Thorne Street.

The women students found themselves shoehorned into cramped and temporary living quarters but their initial resent ment soon faded as the young sol diers were swept into the college's social life.

ASTP lasted a little more than a year Revenues from the program had saved the school from financial disaster and many of Ripon's ASTP soldiers would return to the College after the war.

Postwar Ups and Downs. 1945-65

The war ended in August 1945 and Ripon reinstated its ROTC pro gram in January 1946. Most of the male students were veterans, a little older and a lot more mature than typical college students and with little interest in ROTC. With just 18 cadets, the ROTC Advanced Unit still did very well in inspec tions and was highly rated in the Sixth Corps area. By the fall of 1949, most of the veterans had graduated and mandatory male enrollment in the Basic Course swelled the ranks of Ripon's ROTC. The first postwar Military Ball was held in 1947 and Military Week was restored in 1948. That year, the men's and women's rifle teams, again under ROTC sponsorship, won five of nine matches for the men and five of five for the women. Through the 1950s and '60s,

Ripon's ROTC unit struggled to regain its pre-war prominence. It

was still a major force in shaping the character of the campus, and membership in the Advanced Course was still a source of some prestige among students. But stu dents were no longer dependent on ROTC for social activities and events. Upperclassmen, especially, turned to the fraternities and soror ities as the focus of campus life.

Like many small colleges, Ripon failed repeatedly to meet the Army's quota for officers commis sioned by the unit. Year after year, only ardent appeals by the college president prevented the Army from closing Ripon's ROTC program, once and for all.

Under Fire, 1965-70

Faced by growing opposi tion to the Vietnam War and anything military, many ROTC programs were forced to drop mandatory enrollment or were driven off campuses altogether. Fearing a negative impact on admissions, Ripon cut mandatory participation for male students from two years to one in 1967. Opposition to the Basic Course remained strong and in 1969, 210 of the 250 freshmen cadets signed a petition demanding an end to mandatory ROTC. The requirement was dropped in early 1970. The ROTC commissioning ceremony was traditionally part of

Ripon's commencement exercises. Under pressure

These wooden barracks were built along Thome Street to help accommodate about 400 Army Specialized Training Program Soldiers. The Ashley Tennis Courts are now located on the site.

A military review was a part of each semester's ROTC activities - rain, shine or snow. Above, the 1964 review also captured some snow.

January 29

The College celebrates its Centennial. Off-campus celebrations are held in

Milwaukee and Chicago later in the year

April 25-28

The college theatre presents its ic production, "The Tragical Faustus.'' John Carradine, famous

May 9-12

Outstanding

from the faculty, it became an entirely separate event in the spring of 1970. Though opposi tion to mandatory ROTC was strong on the Ripon campus, the unit itself was still well-respected by much of the student body. ROTC students remained integrated in campus life and students and facul ty were far more accepting and sup portive of the ROTC program than was the case at many other colleges and universities.

June 9

Volunteer ROTC. 1970-2001 and Beyond

When Ripon College ended manda tory ROTC, many students and fac ulty saw it as a rejection of the whole ROTC idea. ROTC enroll ments were very low among fresh men and even lower among sopho mores. ROTC students became increasingly isolated. A military sci ence committee sought ways to iden tify Ripon's ROTC program more fully with the liberal arts. One result was the admission of women to ROTC. In 1977, Denise Nicholls McDonald '77 became the first

Ripon ROTC Highlights

■ In 1955 and 1956, Ripon's Men's Rifle Team took second place among 70 colleges and universities in the National ROTC Intercollegiate Indoor Rifle Meet.

■ Carleton W. Voltz '58 led the nation in collegiate marksmanship shooting an unprecedented 199/200.

■ William Kramer '68 was chosen from among 20,000 senior cadets to represent ROTC at the Celebration of India's National Repubic Day.

woman commissioned at Ripon College.

By 1975, the Vietnam War was over, enrollment.s in ROTC were rising and much of the tension and isolation that had sur rounded Ripon's ROTC unit were fading. The unit performed very well in inspections and drill competi tions but quotas were still a prob lem Only once in the 1980s did Ripon meet its quotas for officer commissions. Ardent appeals and promises kept the Army from clos ing down the unit.

All during the 1980s, the College and its ROTC worked to build the strength and visibility of ROTC. ROTC scholarships helped raise enrollments. New ROTC sponsored sports teams and extracurricular activities (canoe and whitewater raft trips, rock climbing and cross-country skiing classes) helped increase the unit's popularity among students and helped build spirit among the cadets. Between 1985 and 1990, these efforts paid off in higher enrollments and growing support among the students. In 1989, the Redmen Battalion ranked number one in the nation among the 125 Pershing Rifle ROTC units. Still, Army quotas dogged the program and the axe finally fell in 1991. Under pressure from shrink ing defense budgets, the Army moved to close many smaller ROTC units, including Ripon's. Eleventh-hour negotiations led to a compromise: ROTC programs at Ripon College, St. Norbert College and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh would be combined intoa single unit - the Fox Valley Senior ROTC Instructor Group, headquartered at UW-Oshkosh. On May 18, 1991, Ripon's Redmen Battalion commissioned its last officers and cased its unit colors for the last time.

Under the Fox Valley group, ROTC instructors commuted from

professional actor, appears as

John Carradine

features from previous shows make up the Centennial program for Ver Adest.

Sen. Robert A. Taft, Ohio, son of the 27th president of the United States, is guest speaker at the 85th commence ment and receives an µonorary degree.

Memorial Gym is remodeled.

Helen C. White, Senate member of Phi Beta Kappa, presents President Kuebler the official charter for Ripon's chapter. By meeting Phi Beta Kappa standards, Ripon joined the top eight percent of the nation's colleges.

Oshkosh to Ripon for classes. That and other factors precipitated a drastic decline in unit commis sions, from 25 to 30 officers in the 1960s to fewer than five in 1992. In 1997 the new commander of the instrnctional group assigned a full time officer to Ripon to try to revive ROTC. Capt. Todd Gentry arrived that fall to find no fresh men enrolled in ROTC. By October, he had signed up four stu dents. Over the next two years, Gentry worked with the adminis tration, faculty, students and alum ni to rebuild the program. New four-year scholarships, a recruit ment program by alumni - includ ing several career military officers - and building bridges to faculty and students helped raise enroll ments. Strong and active support from President Paul Ranslow, Vice President and Dean of Admission Scott Goplin, then-Dean of Faculty David Seligman, then Professor of History Bill Woolley and others helped restore acceptance and

respect for ROTC at Ripon. After an all-time low of nine cadets in 1997-98, the roster has grown rapidly under Capt. Gentry and his successor Maj. Brian Maijala: 19 cadets in 1999, 24 in 2000-01 (including five women), and 29 projected for 2001-02.

The end of mandatory ROTC enrollment, followed by bud get cuts at the Department of Defense, sounded "Taps" for dozens of ROTC programs at small col leges all over the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But at Ripon, the ROTC program is growing and boasting enrollments not seen since the mid-1970s. With strong leadership, the active sup port of the college administration, an enthusiastic and committed cadre of cadets, and a solid 81-year tradition of excellence, the future looks promising for ROTC at Ripon.

David Sakrison

Ripcm's ROTC Unit commissioned sizable numbers of officers. Above, in 1969, 27 cadets were sworn in as second lieutenants in the Army. In front, at the right, are two Marine commissionees.

Ripon's Generals

Since its founding in 1919, Ripon's Reserve Officer Training Corps program has produced seven generals including:

Maj. Gen. Gerald H. "Jerry"

Bethke '57

Maj. Gen. William H. Blakefield '39

Maj. Gen. Ralph J. Olson '26

Maj. Gen. Rudolph].

Ostovich III '63

Brig. Gen. James H. Banville '23

Brig. Gen. James N. Hall '41

Brig. Gen. Harley S. Jones '26

*Ranks go up in this manner: lrrigadier general to major general to lieutenant

Student Activism Peaks During Thompson Years

''P

acifism," says the Rev. Jerry Thompson, "is not an especially popular philosophy in a nation which spends most of its resources to destroy people It's not a suc cess story in human endeavor, but compared to a violent style of liv ing, it is a success." As a man who came to embrace pacifism after a long spiritual journey, Thompson cautions others chat pacifism is not a philosophy for cowards, that liv ing nonviolently requires more courage than living violently. Moreover, pacifism is not "pas sivism." It requires active resistance to violence and social injustice.

Thompson is the former Ripon College football coach who left the playing field to become the col lege's first chaplain. As a coach, teacher, chaplain, counselor and friend, he left his indelible mark.

Thompson grew up in Cameron, Wis., a small town near Rice Lake. A star athlete in high school, he attended Sc. Olaf College in Minnesota, where he met his future wife, Marguerite ("Muggs"), and then the University of Wisconsin Madison. As a Badger halfback, he was a leading ball carrier and received the Westem Conference Medal, a merit award for excel lence in scholarship and athletics. He also played second base on the 1946 Big Ten championship base ball team.

Thompson graduated Summa Cum Laude from UW-Madison in 1946 with a double major - physi cal education and history - and a minor in English. He first taught and coached in high school and then at Upsala College in New Jersey and Augustana in South Dakota.

Back in the high school ranks as

a football coach, this time in Neenah, Wis., from 1951-56, Thompson compiled an impressive record of 30-6-3 and won a confer ence title in 1954.

Thompson's record at Neenah brought him to the attention of Ripon College officials who were seeking a replacement for retiring coach Carl Doehling. Thompson came to Ripon in 1956 as a physi cal education instructor. His two year record as Ripon's head football coach (1956 and 1957) was 12-1, with football squads numbering only 19 and 24 players. Under Thompson's leadership, the 1957 Redmen, despite being the Midwest Conference's smallest varsity squad, won the champi onship with an 8-0 record. End Pete Kasson '59 was a Little All American and running back Dave Smith '59 went on to play for Houston in the American Football League. Of the 11 players named to the Midwest Conference "frst team" in 1957, six were ff(J>m Ripon. During that season\ the Redmen scored 270 points - a new conference record- rwfiile giving up only 77. That sa e year, the National Junior Cham e of Commerce named Thompson one of Wisconsin's five "Outs ,anding Young Men."

In the spring of 19'58, with a suc cessful college coaching career off and running, Thompson made a decision that caught many p_Jei(e by surprise. He resignedRu:,oii to attend Luther Theological.,,_ Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. Wny resign at a point of such success!In

"Here we are. Lord. Take us and use us..."

The Rev. Jerry Thompson

his letter of resignation, Thompson assured President Frederick Pinkham that he was "not leaving Ripon College or the coaching pro fession because of any dissatisfac tion with either." He wrote that he and Muggs "have made the deci sion to go all the way in the full time work of the Christian church. My wife and I have merely said, 'Here we are, Lord. Take us and use us as You desire.' It's that simple."

In 1976, Thompson told the Ripon Commonwealth Press that he gave up coaching out of "disillu sionment with playing a role I never was really comfortable with. As I grew older, I grew away from football as a vocation. I was tired of my ability to teach people to knock down other people. I wanted to use my talents in other ways."

Accepting Thompson's resigna tion, President Pinkham wrote: "No college ever lost a better coach or a finer friend and no ministry ever gained a better candidate for the Lord's work."

That fall, Thompson entered divinity school. To support his fam ily of four children, he taught phys ical education part-time at nearby Bethel College and officiated at high school and college football and basketball games.

Thompson finished his seminary studies and was ordained in June 1961. President Pinkham asked him to return to Ripon as its first chaplain, a post he would hold until his retirement in 1985.

He taught and helped develop the curriculum for a religion minor and an interdisciplinary religion major at Ripon. One of his most popular courses was "Nonviolence and Pacifism," which he began teaching in 1970. Also popular was his "Contemporary Theologians," a course created in 1968 at students' request. He co-authored, with Ripon Dean of Faculty Robert Ashley and Physics Professor William Harley Barber, The Bible as

Literature, a textbook for senior high schools.

As an instructor and counselor, Thompson was popular on campus. Former students recall that his classes were lively and intellectual ly challenging, and that he pre fened to be addressed as "Jerry" or "Jer." Though he no longer coached the Redmen, he didn't turn his back on the game of foot ball. He was commissioner of the Midwest Conference from 1966-82, interpreting the conference consti tution, ruling on team and player eligibility and settling disputes. He remains an enthusiastic fan. His son, Steve '69, was one of the team's best players from 1965-68.

Freedom MarchSelma, Alabama

In 1965, Thompson's concern for civil rights for Blacks and his emphasis on peaceful demonstra tions led him to Selma, Ala. At the time, voting laws in many southern states effectively denied Blacks the right to vote. Blacks and Whites were marching in Selma in peaceful protest against those and other seg regationist laws. As their struggle came to national attention that spring, and as non-violent demon-

In this news photo taken by the Ripon Commonwealth Press in March of 1965, the Rev. Jerry Thompson patiently explains to angry students why it's essential for him to go to Selma, Ala.

March 15

strations were met with increasingly brutal vio lence from state and local police, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called on White ministers and citizens from all over the United States to come to Selma and join in the non-vio lent protests there.

"I had to go,"

Thompson explained afterwards. It was "the moral thing to do." It did n't occur to him until later that he was part of a historic movement in the struggle for civil rights.

Those who answered King's call that March knew they would be entering a whirlwind. A murder and beatings of peaceful civil rights activists had already happened.

Some Ripon students opposed the Student Senate's decision to allocate $400 to help pay for the trip. On the morning the group left campus, a crowd of about 250 stu dents was on hand, some angrily protesting the Senate's action, some carrying signs that said "Selma Yes." Most of the students, faculty and administration appear

walking from Selma to the capitol at Montgomery. There were peace songs and protest songs, hecklers who swore, hissed and insulted the marchers, and soldiers on motor cycles who rode along the edges of the col

umn to keep the peace. After walk ing 13 miles in seven hours, the Ripon group left the Freedom March and returned by train to Selma.

Days later, on the long trip home, their bus paused at a small rural depot somewhere between Jackson and Selma. Someone out• side the bus pointed at them and yelled, "We've got four of them right here."

"We knew how alone we were," Thompson later told the Oshkosh Northwestern, "and when no one pulled us off the bus, we were relieved and thankful."

Back in Ripon, Thompson and other members of the group received hate mail related to the to have supported the trip. The Selma trip, and Thompson, himself,!

group who went to Selma from Ripon included Thompson, Assistant Dean Pat Hunt and stu dents Richard Grimsrud '65, Gary Yerkey '66 and Noel Farrell Carota '67.

Selma was an occupied city. The Alabama National Guard and offi cers from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division were there to protect the marchers. On the way from the bus station to the black neighborhoods where they would stay, Thompson and his compan ions from Ripon were repeatedly stopped by police and threatened with arrest The next day, they heard a stirring speech by Rev. King, then joined the Freedom March - more than 10,000 people

was, he says, "persona non grata" at his church for about two years. But his conscience demanded that he go to Selma - that he translate his Christian faith into activism.

"After an experience like that, you're never the same," he told the Northwestern. "Answering Dr. King's call sensitized me to the inequities in our society and inspired me to do whatever I could to make a difference." In particular, he felt compelled to help create equal opportunitieS'rn education. That commitment led him to the project he still considers his most important work at Ripon - the nation's first Upward Bound Program for Native Americans, established at Ripon in 1965, a

Jerry Thompson today.

Theta Chi and Sigma Nu are the first two national fraternities at Ripon. Above, Theta Chi receives its national charter.

Fred O. Pinkham, 34, becomes president and with him comes a stage of much prosperity and growth.

Students gather at the Union Grill during the 1950s.

WRPN, student radio station, established.

Lynn Holden Noakes '58, center, is named Miss Wisconsin in 1957. At left is Don Weise '57 and at right is Marian Shaughnessy Glunz '60. Natalie Lueck Richter '59 is the state's Miss Universe entry.

Trustee Shirley Farr bequests $613,495 to the College.

Upward Bound

Upward Bound was a six-week summer course sponsored by the federal Office of Economic Opportunity It was designed to encourage and help minority stu dents finish high school and to pur sue further education.

The students were Menominee lndians from north-central \Visconsin and African Americans from Milwaukee. Most had finished eighth grade. The program gave 1hem cross-cultural exposure, helped them with basic academic skills and knowledge and gave them a taste of a college environ ment. A few students, those who had finished high school, attended college and college-preparatory courses at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wis.

By 1970, Upward Bound was serving more than 50 students a year at Ripon. Thompson ran the program for eight years before handing it over to students from Menominee County. When the program left Ripon in 1972, it was one of 17 Upward Bound pilot pro jects nationwide and the first American Indian Upward Bound program in the United States. It had become a model for Native American programs.

Thompson told the Northwestern in 1985: "Our purpose was to keep them in school. Dozens graduated from college... . It was the most unique part of my career. It occupied a good share of my energies and enthusiasm, as well as any creativity I could muster."

Making a Difference

Thompson continued to work with Native Americans and disadvan taged students. In 1974, he was instrumental in starting the Ripon College Educational Opportunity

Program. Now called "Student Support Services," this federally funded program provides academic, personal, career and financial assis tance to students who are first-gen eration college, low-income or have disabilities. The program now serves about half the students on campus and, according to Director Dan Krhin, is "one of Ripon's best kept secrets."

On sabbatical in 1977-78 to study Native American religion, Thompson spent time with Ojibway Indians near Ashland, Wis., and traveled throughout the United States. Back on campus in 1978, he introduced an "Native American Religion" class.

In 1980, he became a "lecturer, counselor and friend" to Native American inmates at the Fox Lake Correctional Facility, 30 miles south of Ripon. He also led train ing sessions for prison guards and social workers who worked with Native American prisoners.

After retirement, Thompson organized a Native American speakers bureau and was recognized as an expert on their religion and customs. Thompson's son, Steve, took part in a federal program that placed young teachers in poor and minority schools. After his two year stint in a Menominee Indian

Baccalaureate Benediction May 12. 2001

The Rev. H. Jerome Thompson

Yes, Dear God, we believe that in these graduation ceremonies, the Class of 2001 is becoming safely ensconced in the brilliant 150-year flow of Ripon College history, a history of service to humankind, nature and you,0 God. Help each member of this class to make her/his own unique contribution to that everwidening river. Give them the urge to bring compassion to the suffering and oppressed; to live in oneness with all humanity and nature; to practice accep tance of diversity, to be agents of peace, love and nonviolence.

Paradoxically this parting is a moment of great joy and piquant sadness. Walk with us,0 God.

Walk with our beloved Ripon College

We summarize our prayers, our hopes in the spirit and name of all your uncondi tional loving sons and daughters Amen

Jerry Thompson and a group of Upward Bound students pose for pictures at Harwood Union. Thvmpson says Upward Bound was his most important work at Ripon.

Administrative offices are moved to Smith Hall (Middle).

The Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) is formed, originally consisting of 10 colleges, and enabling members to sponsor off-campus programs that they could not afford singly.

Enrollment is 607, including 228 new students.

1959 . ,;·

South Hall (Mapes) and North Hall (Smith) are built as men's dorms.

April 1

Ripon's graduation requirements are changed, adding six to eight more hours of science (non-laboratory), six hours of philosophy, six hours of fine arts and six hours of social science. President Pinkham believes it is the " biggest thing that has happened to Ripon in 15 years."

Center Hall (Brockway) is built.

Nationalization of Ripon fraternities and sororities, starting in 1952, is complet ed, leaving Merriman as the only local fraternity.

Enrollment hits 700 after nearly a decade of steady growth. For the next decade, the student body continues to grow to 851 in 1963, 921 in 1964 and 981 by 1968.

Jerry Thompson was involved in numerous Ripon efforts seeking peace including this 1969 march through downtown as part of the nation's Vietnam Moratorium activities. About the same time, he talked with stu dents who were protesting Ripon's compulsory ROTC program.

Farr Hall of Science is constructed.

A guest professor program is initiated.

Johnson Hall is opened for women.

School in northern Wisconsin, Steve stayed on and has been teaching there for 24 years. After the Selma march, Thompson became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War and of ROTC's presence on campus. He once described his own evolution into pacifism as "a slow and tedious one" that came to maturity in his support for Steve's application for a military draft exemption as a con scientious objector. When the draft board denied the application, it "impelled" Thompson to "a pacifist stance " Thompson, Muggs and Steve fought the denial in the courts for two years, eventually winning the case by default in 1970. That year, he began teaching his "Pacifism & Nonviolence" course at Ripon. Thompson retired in 1985 after 24 years at Ripon. In 1992, the College celebrated his career and awarded him an honorary doctorate

in religion. In 1998, Thompson was

Ripon Commonwealth Press photos

inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame.

He and Muggs still live in Ripon, where he remains a "pas sionate tennis player." He has been one of the top-rated players in his age group in Wisconsin and he has won matches against some of the top 10 players in the United States.

Jerry Thompson continues to make a difference. He travels each week to Fox Lake to work with Native American prisoners, keeps in touch with graduates of Ripon's Upward Bound Program, volun teers at the Ripon Thrift Shop (a kind of local Goodwill Industries), organizes church services for adult group homes in Ripen, preaches at least four times a month and writes and speaks about inequality and injustice.

He remains a man inspired by the flame of faith and nonviolence - by a way of life founded on the conviction that "God is love."

David Sakrison

or much of the first half of the 20th century, Ripon stu dents lived in a variety of facilities, not the least of which were a number of grand old mansions purchased by the College. Many of these homes, which housed first local and then national fraternities and sororities, are long gone but their impact remains.

Alumni who lived in some of these homes describe college life at the time as almost utopian - as simple and controlled with curfews in force, bed checks taken often, men allowed only in the first floor lounges of the sorority houses and midnight serenades. There are other stories about how students got around the rules. One alumna tells of regularly meeting curfew at 10 or 11 p.m. only to check in and go right back down the house's fire escape.

The houses, and that college student lifestyle, went by the wayside with the construction of Johnson and the Quads resi dence halls. Fraternities and sororities, with the exception of Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman House) now have wings of rooms and a chapter room, all in the residence halls. A look back says both styles of living have their benefits.

The Houses of Ripon College

Tracy House stood at the corner of Ransom and Thome streets.

From 1876-1930, Athenian Hall stood just east of the present site of Lane Library. In January of 1930 it was moved to Ingalls Field. The house is named for the Athenian Society (a men's literary group), which met there in the early 1900s. Also known as the Observatory (for its telescope and skylight), Transit Building, the Laboratory, and Chem Lab, Athenian Hall housed lab facilities from 18761900. For the next 19 years it was a recreation hall, including club rooms for the Athenian Society. From 1919-30, the hall provided offices for ROTC. Once the build ing moved to Ingalls Field, it was converted into a fieldhouse for use as locker rooms, then was later

demolished when Ingalls Field was redone in January of 1983.

Before the existence of S.N. Pickard Commons, where today's students eat their meals, the comer of Elm and Congress streets was home to Barker House and the men of Lambda Delta Alpha frater nity beginning in the fall of 1953. Richard Threlkeld '59 resided in this house, which was also known as Lambda, until 1958, when he and the fraternity moved to the newly built Quads.

According to Threlkeld, his great-grandfather, Benjamin Thayer, was the second owner of the house. Thayer was mayor of

Athenian Hall, east of Lane Library, was home to a men's literary group. President Fred Pinkham welcomes Ripon's College Bowl team back to campus.

The televised General Electric College Bowl, featuring Ripon's team of Sandra Miller '65, Stephen Peters '65, Robert Schneider '64 and David Stankow '65, reached as many as 20 million viewers each week.

Pickard Commons is dedicated.

Harrison Ford '64 gets his start in acting at Ripon. At left, he relaxes backstage at the Red Barn Theatre.

Harri.son Ford '64

Red Barn Theatre, where Harrison Ford '64 and Frances Lee McCain '66 starred in productions, burns.

Barker House, located where Pickard Commons is today, was home to Lambda DeLta Alpha.

The United Church of Christ gives $100,000 for Lane Library improve, ments and renovation.

Richard Threlkeld '59

Ripon around 1915, state sen ator and "rock ribbed Republican," Threlkeld says. As for Barker House, "It was common," Threlkeld recalls, "for fraternities to live in houses by themselves, with no housemother or father " This was not the case for the sororities.

"Each fraternity house had a faculty advisor, but he was not live-in and seldom consulted. The LDAs were on their own," says Threlkeld. "This was the Fabulous Fifties."

Barker House was "not in great shape, but we didn't really notice. It was adequate for us." Threlkeld says, however, when they moved, the Quads were "much less person althan Barker House, although the rooms were much nicer and bigger and newer, of course - and even though the fraternities were sec tioned off, we envied the Merriman

fellows. They owned their own house and didn't have to move then." \

Also called Merrell-Barker, Barker was built in 1862 by Professor Edward H. Merrell, sec ond president of the College (1876-91) Barker House was the residence of Augustus Lawrence Barker, professor of chemistry (and dean of the College in the early

It was located on the comer of Elm and Seward streets, just south of where Memorial Hall once was. The building received its name from William Dawes, Chicago busi nessman and member of the Board of Trustees, who presented the building to the College in 1887. That year, female students used the cottage as a co-op to cook their own meals. It also served as a cof fee house and provided meeting rooms for several student groups, such as the Women's Interest Organization (later the Women's Self-Government

Association) and the Ripon Scholastic Honor Society, which sponsored cultural events on cam pus, giving the house its other name, Dawes Cultural Center. It was demolished in 1975.

Duffie House was locat

1950s) and his wife. Ripon College ed on the corner of

purchased the home from the Barkers July 1, 1953. The building was razed in 1962-63 to make way for the Commons.

Built in 1876, Dawes Cottage was owned by the second college presi dent, Edward H. Merrell, and his wife, Ida. Primarily a women's resi dence hall, Dawes also provided living quarters for college mainte nance and dining-room employees.

Woodside Avenue and Seward Street. Also known as Hargrave House, it was built in the

1850s by Walter Hargrave, who lived there prior to the build ing's primary namesake, George C. Duffie, class of 1868. Duffie, whose fami ly name was actually McDuffie (the name he used after leaving

Red buildings designate those no longer standing.

Sanlo,d ;;i t A_ll-'ey -1

Ban-ac.ks Lowe House

Dawes Cottage, at the comer of Elm and Seward streets, was a women's residence hall.

Scdbn":i

Ripon joins Upward Bound program. Bovay is built, completing what is now called the Quads.

Brand

David Schwarz '65 becomes Ripon's first Marshall Scholar. The second would be Julie Sikkink Lee '88.

Professor Jerry Thompson leads a group to Selma, Ala., to march with Martin Luther King Jr. and 12,000 other people.

The College purchases 127 acres west of Union Street.

Ripon), served briefly as a Ripon College instructor. He sold the house to the College in 1918, dur ing President Culbertson's term, under an agreement entitling Duffie and his family occupancy of the house, which later became "Duffie Hall."

Until 1940, Omega Sigma Chi resided here - a fraternity orga nized prior to World War I, which began life as The Hilltopper Club. Duffie next housed the women of

Kappa Sigma Chi (later Alpha Phi sorority) and later served again as a men's dorm. In 1967, Duffie was converted into temporary class rooms, studios and offices for the art department. It was razed in June of 1972.

The Elms, named for the trees in the yard, is located at 206 Hall Street, on the northeast comer of Tygert and Hall streets. Prior to

Two paintings by Flemish Master Sir Anthony Van Dyck are pledged to the College by Mr. and Mrs. Marc B. Rotjman of Milwaukee and New York City. The paintings, includ ing "Princess Amalia of the House of Orange," arrive on campus in 1977 and become the cen ter of Ripon's permanent art collection.

The tables in the Brand Rex Coffee House were donated by a wire company At right are Jim Boarditch, an English teacher, and Dena Willmore '67.

Rex Coffee House opens in the church building next to the Congregational Church through the efforts of Professor Seale Doss and others.

The Elms was a men's dormitory prior to World War II.

Duffie House was home to Omega Sigma Chi fraternity.

World War II, it served as a men's dormitory before being sold.

Hall House, on the west side of Woodside Avenue, between Harwood House and Scribner House (the former dean's home on campus), was named for Dr. Sidney Storrs Hall, former owner of the house, physician, veteran of the Civil War and alumnus of the College. After being the home of Dr. Hall, the men of Theta Sigma Tau lived here (this group was later Sigma Nu, then reverted back to Theta Sigma Tau). It was demol ished in June of 1972.

Originally the home of Ripon College's third president, Rufus C. Flagg, who built it during the 1890s, Harwood House was locat ed at the corner of Woodside Avenue and Thorne Street and served mainly as a women's resi dence hall. In the 1920s, it housed the Delta Phi Sigma sorority (later Kappa Delta). Marilyn Fortnum Briese '43, a member of Delta Phi Sigma, recalls

and Parkhurst, moved to new loca tions such as Merriman Briese was aware that women "weren't sup posed to be living in Merriman because that fraternity owned their house."

A city of Ripon resident, Briese did not live in the sorority house, but noted that "Harwood seemed to get all the professors' daughters," listing three children of various professors and three of the then dean. Briese mentioned Harwood's front and middle parlor, its "nice front porch," and two downstairs bedrooms plus several upstairs. Her initiation in 1939 was the last one that lasted a full week.

Following a brief period as a men's dorm, Harwood was known in the early 1970s as La Maison Franc;:aise, or the French House The female French majors who

Marilyn Fortnum that over the lived there spoke only French and Briese '43

years, women of the sorority had collected, or received from alumnae, elegant items to use when entertaining guests, including silver tableware and a piano. During World War II, however, when "the fellows were almost all gone - and we played a lot of bridge," Briese says, the sorority lost many of those items when students were required to change dorms. Because the College couldn't afford to keep all the resi dence halls operating, occupants of several houses, including Harwood

were headed by a French national student teaching assistant. Evelyn Colucci Suzdak '73 lived in Harwood in 1970-72, times she calls "such sweet memories. We were a tight groupdrawn together by our love of French. La Maison was always one of my favorite places at Ripon." Harwood

"was the most gorgeous old house I've ever lived in," Suzdak says, "an architectural gem, with leaded glass windows in the living room and a few

Harwood House was built by Ripon's third president, Rufus C. Flagg. It was purchased in 1916.

The girls of Harwood play bridge in the '40s

October

with posters of the Eiffel Tower and the French countryside."

Macleod also describes a kitchen intended for serving tea to other French students, "but quite often it was a gathering spot on weekends for impromptu dinners. It was a riot to try to cook and tell what we were

doing in French " Visitors were often puzzled by the house full of women speaking French. "It was funny to see the expres sions on their faces," recalls Macleod. "The

October 31

Ripon's football team gets unexpected national coverage after a group of 33 fans from Rochester, Penn., completely unaffiliated with Ripon, included the 1963 Ripon-Coe game in a football pool as a gag. After Ripon won, the men founded the Pennsylvania Subway Alumni Club of Ripon, and remained loyal for many years. Sports Illustrated covered the story in its Oct. 31, 1966, issue. The club's president, Joe Mundo, drove to Ripon to see the campus and was treated like a celebrity.

The College undergoes major changes: Tri-Dorms are remodeled, Johnson and Scott Halls receive additions and con struction is begun on Kemper.

Thomas Wulling '66 earns an NCAA Scholarship for post-graduate study fol lowing Phillip Steans '65 and preceding Ludwig Wurtz '78.

bedrooms. It was also as close to off-campus living as you came in the days of in loco parentis and all those Victorian ideas."

Katie Parish Miller '73, who shared a set of bunk beds with a roommate in an upstairs room, says Harwood "was a neat old house, always warm and welcoming." It had a porch and "downstairs was a small living room with a comfy couch." The walls were "greenish or yellowish." Miller admits "it was tough speaking French - I think we cheated sometimes - but with continual trying, I learned a lot."

After a year of study in France, Miller became fluent and "then it was fun to visit La Maison Frarn;:aise!"

Jan Petrovski Macleod '74 describes the furnishings at Harwood as "early college cast offs," decor "that looked like it came from old offices, flea markets and things other students had left behind." While the rooms upstairs resembled most dorm rooms, with metal beds and scuffed dressers, "La Maison was like no other place on campus," Macleod says, "and that's why we loved it. We decorated it with our own questionable taste and budgets, so the common areas had a bit of all of us in them, along

pizza delivery guy was used to us, but everyone else - young men coming for their dates, parents picking up their daughters, even the UPS man making deliveriesthought they had stepped through the looking glass!"

In 1972-73, Bartlett became the French House for economic rea sons, according to Suzdak. Harwood was named for Mary C. Harwood, much-respected dean of women and professor of German and French from 18951914. It was razed in 1975 and is currently a parking lot, which Suzdak calls "paving paradise."

In 1901, the College traded Harwood House for Hughes House (at that time the home of T.S. Chittenden), but reacquired it in 1916 for use as a women's dorm.

Hughes House was built in 1863 by Ripon's first president, William Merriman. It was also known as the President's House, since Merriman lived there until his resignation in 1876. Located on the corner of Seward Street and Woodside Avenue, Hughes House was named for Richard Cecil Hughes, the col lege's fourth president (1901-09). After passing to several private

Bernard S. Adams becomes Ripon's -...,ninth president.

The women of the French House, La Maison Frallfaise, lived in Harwood in the early '70s. In front, from left, are Janine Roumain '73, Deborah Evans Clem '74 and the late Patricia Lewis '74. In the back are, from left, Shakuntala Jayaswal '74, Janet Lindow Callear '74, Evelyn Colucci Suzdak '73 and Micheline Gosset, director of La Maison Frarn;aise.

The Pennsylvania Subway Alumni Club of Ripon.

owners, the College reacquired Hughes House in 1900, when it served as President Hughes' resi dence. During the Culbertson administration, the building housed women under the name of Parkhurst Hall. Until 1967, Hughes House again served as the presi dent's home, then was converted to a women's dorm. Between 1974 and 1980 Hughes House served as the dean's home and was refurbished.

Hughes is currently used for meetings and social events of the Hughes House Society, originally called the Ripon Society of Scholars. Receptions, faculty talks or Friday afternoon gatherings take place there.

In 1967-68, 15 first-year women were chosen to live in an experi mental living group, a "college within a college." Professors came to Hughes House to teach classes, but the experiment ended because of a fire shortly after the start of second semester.

Plans now call for Hughes House to become an alumni center. An $800,000 renovation project is slated to be part of a future capital campaign.

Lowe House, at 515 Thome Street, was constructed in 1880. When Ripon College purchased the building in 1957, it had served as a mortuary. The school adapted it for rental property for faculty and administrators, housing Dean Robert Ashley and later Professor and Mrs. Ralph Wickstrom. The Wickstroms bought Lowe House in 1974 and later sold it to the cur rent owners who converted it to the Thome Apple Inn, a bed and breakfast which caters many col lege functions and periodically houses guests of the College.

Lyle House, also known as the Big

Ave., at the intersection of Woodside Avenue and Oak Street. Built in the late 1800s, it was named for Catherine and Williman Lyle, who donated the home to the College during the Hughes admin istration (1901-09). Lyle, sold when Johnson Hall was completed in 1962, is currently the residence of Col. Leo Eberhardt, a former professor of military science at the College. The Lyle Girls, members of Alpha Gamma Theta (later Alpha Chi Omega), made their home here.

Mary Jane Bumby '52 remembers that the house full of women had only two toilets, one of which was frequently out of order. Residents con sidered it "a big joke to flush the toilet while girls were in the shower," Bumby recalls. She was once awakened in the mid dle of the night by "carousing" boys out side singing an impromptu (and risque) song to the Lyle girls. Other Lyle memories included a Christmas party where the girls served waffles to the invited

Hughes Hause was built in 1863 by Ripon's first president, William Merriman.

Mary Jane Bumby '52

Red Barn, stands at 602 Woodside

Lowe House on Thorne Street is now a bed and breakfast.

February 14

April 14

was the biggest and only Vietnam inspired incident on campus.

faculty, and a spot on the second floor hall that was sinking in. "We sometimes climbed in and out of windows," Bumby admits, "just to gee a hamburger or hot dog from a downtown bar." Along with curfew

floor sleeping quarters were later added to accommodate more students.

Built during the early 1880s, Ripon's history are granted.

and signing in and out of the dorm, girls announced "man on second." "Boys didn't just run all over the house," Bumby says, but visited more formally, usually coming to one of the two living rooms in Lyle.

Warren Burger's "Tough on Crime" speech at Ripon's commencement led to his being nominated as a justice of the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon. Burger later became Chief Justice.

During the 1967-68 school year, three seniors - Tom Reinecke, Merline Thoma Lovelace and John Kristy - win Woodrow Wilson Fellowships following James Reed '67 who earned one the previous year.

'68

a

Bumby recalls walking with sev eral friends to breakfast in what is now Great Hall, noting that they did not have book bags and instead used the "carry and cling" method. Meals in Great Hall were served family style. Many students earned money working there under the direction of Miss Hawkinson, or "the Hawk," as students called her. "She saw we were fed. We learned how to shave just the right amount of sugar from the bowl because there weren't any sugar spoons."

At one time, Lyle housed 19 students and a housemother. Third-

Parkhurst House stands at 121 W. Thorne St., at the southeast corner of Thorne and Ransom streets. It was named after the original occu pants of the house, the family of Albert Farr's wife, Alice Parkhurst. Ripon acquired Parkhurst in 1919 during the term of President Culbertson (1917-21) who also lived there. After 1921, Parkhurst was used as a dormitory for the women of Pi Delta Omega (later Alpha Xi Delta).

The house's builder, Mr. Parkhurst, was station agent for the railroad, according to Barbara Scott, who currently lives in the house with her husband, Earle Scott, professor of chemistry emeri tus. Parkhurst had only one child, "so I'm not sure why he needed all that space," says Barbara Scott,

The Student Senate abolishes hazing by fraternities or sororities by a 12-10 vote.

Lyle House at the comer of Woodside Avenue and Oak Street was known as the Big Red Barn. It was purchased in 1919.

The Storzer Center opens for athletics.

The first sabbatical leaves in

During demolition, the side of Ingram Hall became a magnet for graffiti.

Patricia Nevers

earns

Fulbright Scholarship.

The President's Home is built at One Merriman Lane, replacing Hughes House.

During the annual federal inspection of ROTC on Upper Sadoff, two cadets in fatigues seized and destroyed signs car ried by three anti-war demonstrators. It

who bought the house for her fami lyof nine after Johnson Hall was built in 1962.

The Scotts found a clause in their title to the house: Shirley Farr, who gave the house to Ripon, stipulated that the College could use it for school purposes, provided that it never become a men's dormitory

Parkhurst, had already been repainted with what Barbara Scott called "cosmetic" work before the family purchased it. However, some fish netting remained in an upstairs room, which may have been a screened sunroom where the major ity of women sorority pledges slept. It housed 15 students and a housemother.

The father of Samuel Pedrick, class of 1891, college benefactor and Trustee and lawyer, constructed this house in the 1860s. Located at 523 Watson St , Pedrick House was the long-time home of Ripon resident Elaine Heatley and her family. Pedrick's family, according to Heatley, used the original bath room as a sewing room - there was no running water at the time. After the College bought the home from Pedrick, it was used from 1947-53 as a fraternity house for Lambda Delta Alpha In the '50s, the fraternity moved to Barker House and then the Quads.

The Heatley family had some refurbishing to do once they pur chased the house. The kitchen had been dismantled and made into a shower for students. "We couldn't stand it," Heatley says of the room. "The floor was all rotted and had to be replaced," so the family used the dining room for a kitchen. The house also included a parlor, a maid's room at the back of house, a cupola that had been made into a sky light and porches on both floors

that had been added in the 1930s An alumnus who returned for a

visit told the Heatleys that Pedrick had housed 40 students at one time. Heatley has found tracks for sliding doors, evidence that students could close off rooms. She also described several old-fashioned items, such as ornate metal colonnades in the center of the dining room and along the walls where they meet the ceiling. Unfortunately, says Heatley, not much was saved during the refurnishing. Her son now owns the house.

At one time, Pedrick House had a picket fence and a two-story barn out back. Heatley discovered stovepipes, narrow closets in which clothes hang sideways, and old fashioned tile in the upstairs bath-

Parkhurst House, now a private residence, housed the Pi Delta Omega sorarity (Alpha Xi Delta).

Pedrick House on Watson Street housed Lambda Delta Alpha fraternity in the 1940s and early '50s

December 5

The sale of beer is approved for certain college events. This act is undone in the mid-80s when Wisconsin's drinking age is changed.

Tom Reinecke '68 becomes Ripon's second student to be named a Rhodes Scholar. The first was Latimer Johns '11 who died in World War I before he could complete the use of the scholar ship.

Computer use began through time-sharing.

The Bonn, Germany, program is initiated.

1969

Ripon's enrollment hits an all-time high of 1,065 students. It stayed above 1,000 for four years before falling to 933 in 1974-75.

September 9

The Pub serves beer for the first time.

The Ten O'Clock Scholars is established.

A computer center is established in Farr Hall.

ROTC becomes completely optional after a reduction in military science gradua tion requirements from four to two semesters in 1967.

room. Pedrick students never had curtains or used the storm win dows, Heatley notes. "It's not a warm house - I wondered how the kids kept warm," she says, "espe cially with people coming and going all the time." Before buying Pedrick house, the Heatleys lived one door to the south, a location which afforded them some interest ing sights. One fall homecoming, Heatley's three-year-old son alerted her to activity in front of the fra ternity house: students were rolling a beer barrel from the street to the front door. Because it was difficult to maneuver the barrel up to the level of the raised door, students probably spilled some of the beer; Heatley admitted to sniffing suspi ciously when they bought the house the next year.

tury. At 120 Blossom St., it was named for its location on the cor ner of Ransom and Blossom streets. The house was used for a variety of purposes: as a fraternity house for Merriman, a freshman women's dorm and a college and city infir mary. It was also known as Bartlett Annex and the infirmary.

Beginning with the construction of Todd Wehr Hall, Ransom House served as classrooms and offices for the anthropology, sociology and economics departments. In 1976 the College sold the home to Kenneth Lay, former director of public relations, who in turn sold it to Duke Lehto '81, a former admis•

Tom Reinecke '68

Ransom House across from East Hall was a fraternity house and, at one time, the infirmary. It was bought in 1920.

College perform at the Congregational Church.

IRansom House was constructed in the late 19th or early 20th cen-

Sanford House used to sit on Congress Street where Merriman House does today. It was purchased in 1919.

sion staff member of the College, in the 1980s. Ransom House, with one apartment upstairs and two downstairs, is currently rented to students by private owners.

Sanford House, located on Congress Street where Merriman House now stands, was built during the late 1800s. Acquired during President Culbertson's term, (191721), Sanford House was also known as the Economia Club, an eating cooperative for men. Mary Bessett, who owned the home, served as matron for the co-op Sanford was later used as men's dorm and frater nity house for Theta Sigma Tau (later Sigma Nu before reverting back to Theta Sigma Tau) It was razed in 1939 to make room for Merriman House.

Scribner House, at 416 Woodside Ave., was bought in 1920 and became the residence of the dean of the College. Also known as the Dean's House and Scribner Hall, the home was named for the five Scribner sisters who lived there most of their lives. Scribner House later served as rental property for faculty It was razed in the mid-1990s

Taintor House, at 616 Ransom St , was named for resident Jesse Fox Taintor, class of 1873 and a profes sor of English literature at Ripon. Taintor's daughter, Mary, class of 1911, also taught at the College. Taintor House was used in 1938 for overflow housing and again during the 1955-56 school year as the Pi Tau Pi sorority house.

At the comer of Thome and Ransom streets, one block from the southeast comer of the campus, Tracy House was built about 1864

by John Corbett, a tailor and Canadian emigrant.

The house is named for Clarissa Tucker Tracy who served the school from 1859-1905 in many different roles including the equiv alent of the dean of women.

Tracy was originally a dorm for the men of Lambda Delta Alpha (later Delta Upsilon fraternity, and then LOA again) After World War II, it housed the speech department, the radio station and the National Forensic League, which had been founded at Ripon. Art and speech classes were held at Tracy, which also served as resi dence and studio of Artist-in Residence Lester Schwartz.

The Scribner House on Woodside Avenue was home to the dean of faculty after being bought in 1920.

The Taintor House was used for overflow housing in 1938. HaleyJorgensen phow

Sit-down meals, dress codes and "hours" for women are eliminated.

February 23

The Adams administration was known for its collegiate attitude, but on this day, 30 students walked in on a faculty meeting demanding to have a say in their own fate.

The first annual Liberal Arts Symposium is held.

First issue of Parallax is published.

The first varsity soccer season is held.

Mark Conrad '73 is elected Ripon's mayor in his junior year. He is the youngest mayor ever in Wisconsin and maybe the only one elected while still in college.

This building was actually the second Tracy House. The first one, owned by the College and located on Ransom Street (about three houses down from the intersection with Blossom Street, across from Todd Wehr), had been Mrs. Tracy's home. After her death, the house served as a dorm for men, who orga nized the Lambda Delta Alpha fra ternity. When this fraternity moved into the much larger house on Thorne Street, they took the name Tracy House with them, and the original Tracy House was sold by the College, and later demolished. In 1958, the newer Tracy House

became home for the women of Pi Tau Pi (later Alpha Delta Pi sorori ty). It was sold to William Hannon, college business manager, after the completion of Johnson Hall.

Woodside House was named for its location near Bowen's Woods, at the present site of Scott Hall on Thorne Street. Built in the 1800s, Woodside House was once the home of Jehdeiah Bowen, a founder of the College. The men of Alpha Omega Alpha lived there in the 1920s and '30s before its destruction in 1939

Maureen Perkins '01

A 24-hour visitation policy is adopted.

$1,054,000 is received for an addition to Lane Library.

The Wehr Learning Resource Center addition greatly increases capacity of Lane Library.

Enrollment stands at 954 students.

Tracy House was named for Clarissa Tucker Tracy, the "Mother of Ripon College."

Mark Conrad '73

Woodside House was near Bowen's Woods on Thorne Street.

Ripon College has been coed ucational from the very on certain community issues but not others.

beginning. First President the Rev. William Merriman said, "experience has satisfied us that this is every way the best We think it (coeducation) requires bet rer conditions, and produces better results, than the education of the sexes separately."

"It's interesting that the College was so gung-ho about coeducation," says George Miller, professor of his tory emeritus. "At the time, it was not a very well-accepted idea, but the early settlers were in favor of equal rights and opportunities for women."

A number of people argued against coeducation, instead favor ing the idea of Ripon as a women's college. These included the church benefactors who took over financial support of the College about 1855 (the Winnebago District Convention of Presbyterian and Congregational Churches), the Trustees and even the president of Beloit College (then a men's school). The townsfolk in Ripon, however, were eager to start a col lege, which they insisted be coeducational.

Why were Ripon residents more progressive than most? It might have had something to do with the local Wisconsin Phalanx (an experi ment in communal living estab lished by Warren Chase), whose members believed that women were equal - in theory, if not in prac tice, Miller says. Women could vote

Coeducational From the

But coeducation might have had as much to do with practicality and the immediate situation as it did with equality. There was no reason to exclude either men or women from the College; men were scarce during the Civil War and women wanted the opportunity for educa tion - so it made sense to accept both. A coeducational school was actually not as pioneering as an all-female one in a time before the elite women's schools opened in the East. Although coeducation pre, vailed, the first years at Brockway College did not appear particularly integrated. After solving early financial difficulties, the school, which began as an academy to pre pare students for college, opened for classes in the spring of 1853

Martha J.Adams became the first instructor, heading the ladies' department with six students The men's department did not open until fall, when three more profes sors were added. From then on, men and women were taught together. By 1855, four faculty members taught 72 men and 72 women. The first college class was admitted in 1863.

Ripon College's first graduating class of 1867 was all from Wisconsin and all women, since men were engaged in the Civil War. All Wisconsin residents, Luthera H. Adams of Omro, about 20 miles from Ripon, is the most well-known of the first graduates because she outlived her three classmates - Harriet H. Brown of Lamartine, Susan A. W. Salisbury of Metomen and Mary F. Spencer of Poy Sippi. These first graduates had the choice of taking a three year "Ladies' Course," which the College offered for a short time. It eliminated some of the classical studies but had the

Harriett H. Brown

Susan A.W. Salisbury

Mary F. Spencer

Seale Doss of the philosophy department proposes a leadership studies program. In March 1977 it is accepted, making Ripon probably the only small liberal arts college to support a full leadership program.

same senior year as the "full Collegiate Course." The assumption was that the full course was "too strenuous intellectually for women," says Miller. "But the women said, 'Nothing doing. We're taking the longer course.'" The first four gradu ates and other female students pre ferred to complete the full Collegiate Course; consequently, the Ladies' Course was dropped in 1867 Adams was both a student and instructor at Ripon. She attended classes for more than seven years, interrupting her schooling to earn tuition money by teaching.

At age eight, Adams came with her parents from New York to Wisconsin. Her blacksmith father was one of the first Omro settlers. At the time, most children learned from their mothers rather than attending school, so Adams' one year at a girls' seminary school in Rockford, Ill., was more preparation than many of her college classmates had received.

describe as "a bit of a male chauvin ist," wanted the school to consist largely of "Wisconsin farm boys." During his term, the male-female ratio approached three to one and Ripon came to be known as a men's college.

Evans' successor, Henry Culbertson (1918-20), however, "was quite progressive" and "wanted more equal treatment of men and women," according to Ashley/Miller. Culbertson recom mended the addition of more women to the Board of Trusteesthere had never been more than one or two - and secured raises for some "notoriously underpaid" women faculty members. (The eventual result was acceptance in the membership of the National Association of Collegiate Alumnae.)

Enrollment

Several years after graduation, Adams returned to Ripon as head of the department of Greek and Latin, but was later forced to leave when her mother died; she kept house for her father until his death 14 years later. Adams coached students in her home for many years, helping them prepare to enter college and was instrumental in sending many to Ripon.

While coeducation has been Ripon's mission from the start, its male-female ratio hasn't always been close to equal and has varied somewhat through out the college's history.

Coeducation was never exactly in jeopardy - changes generally mirrored the events of the time or the bias of the current president. President Silas Evans (1910-17 and 1921-43), according to Miller, "favored a ratio of two men for every woman, which probably reflected the available pool of stu dents anyway." But Evans, who Robert Ashley and Miller in their book, Ripon College: A History,

During World War II, "there were so few men left on cam pus that the school nearly had to shut down," Miller says. At the same time, Evans "made little effort to enroll civilians of either sex, fashioned both the curriculum and the extracurricular program ming to suit male needs and desires, and reduced the admission staff while Ripon's competitors were expanding theirs, especially to attract women."

But the next president, Clark Kuebler (1943-54) quickly took action to solve these problems. He hired more admission counselors to boost student numbers and began to improve and expand housing, course offerings like art and activities to attract women. Lester Schwartz, artist-in-residence, and Marjory Lyons, instructor in women's physi cal education, joined the faculty in an effort to attractmore students.

In the past several decades, Ripon has had a student body of nearly equal men and women. Today, however, women represent about 53 percent of the students and men about 47 percent which reflects national trends.

Maureen Perkins

Sigma Chi member Jeff Wilcox '86 helps out at Adams School in Ripon. Communi.ty service begins to gain more emphasis for Greeks.

A long-term capital funds program is authorized - ''Foundations for 2001."

The College converts from a five-point to a 12-point grading system, considered to be more fair. East Hall undergoes renovation.

West Hall interior and Memorial Gym are renovated.

falls below 900 with 883 stu dents. During the '80s and early 1990s, the number of students ranged from 827 to 883.

reeks at Ripon College have persisted for more than a century through heyday years when their activities were the primary focus of campus life to days of turmoil which included being banned from campus. Originally started as places for students to live, Greeks have evolved into groups that offer an extension of the educational process outside of the classroom.

While alumni may differ in their views about Greeks at Ripon, few would discount the role - often positive but, at times negative - that fraternities and sororities have played in campus life. Greeks have often led activities in the college's social life and have turned out a sizeable num ber of both campus and alumni leaders.

The evolution of Greeks at Ripon tells much about the history of the College itself. Initially, small and local in stature, national affiliation was eventually encouraged just as the breadth of the academic reputation and geographical distribution of the student body were increased.

From a high of 80 to 90 percent of the student popula tion having Greek affiliation in 13 groups, today's five fra temities and three sororities attract between 30 and 50 per cent of women and men, respectively. A mixture of groups with local affiliation and others with national ties creates choices for those interested in Greek membership.

Greek Life at Ripon College

Delta Sigma Psi was one of several fraternities which occupied then Smith HaU (now Middle Hall). The fraternity, founded in 1926, affiliated with national Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 1958 and disbanded in 1980.

The sisters of then Alpha Gamma Theta gather in the foyer of Lyle H01,se in 1940. The sorority, founded in 1904 and still active today, affiliated with national Alpha Chi Omega in 1959. It is the oldest sorority on campus.

March 15

William R. Stott Jr. becomes Ripon's tenth president.

Tri-Dorms are renovated and Kemper is converted into a computer lab.

Enrollment drops to 82 7 - the lowest since 1964.

The Advance College Experience, a sum mer program for students in grades 412, is started

First Alumni Weekend held in June.

August 23

Fifteen new faculty members were intro duced at the first faculty meeting of the academic year.

September 15

Renowned speaker Gerda Lerner Ph.D., helps kick off Ripon's Women's Perspectives Project with a presentation on women's history (or rather lack thereof).

Sororities and fraternities are a timeworn part of college, like tuition, tests and commons food. Right?

Wrong.

September 21

Greek-letter societies on the Ripon College campus have endured a bumpy ride dating back more than 100 years. Like tuition, tests and food in the Commons, they've been the object of scrutiny and the sub ject of controversy. But unlike them, the presence of Greek societies on campus hasn't been as solid or as constant as younger generations might assume.

integral part, and many times, pri mary focus, of campus life.

In their heyday in the 1950s and early 1960s, 80 to 90 percent of students belonged to a sorority or a fraternity. For anyone graduating from Ripon in the past 20 years, the Greek arrangement on campus has stayed fairly static, although the percentage of students involved has bounced around.

Pat Florence '89 talks with a television reporter abcmt student concerns issued in the demonstration that included, according to the Crimson, 700 faculty and students Among the issues raised by We Want A Say were police involvement on campus, prob lems with washers and dryers, the Commons, the alcohol policy and student apathy

In the first half of the 20th cen tury, Greek-letter societies were subjected to strict and arcane rules in an effort to stifle them. They were shuffled around, forbidden to affiliate with national organizations and deemed useless and elitist. At one point in the college's history, they were even banned. Despite the controversy, and maybe even because of it, Greeks have persisted and have been an

With the exception of Merriman House, the college's only current, literal fraternity house, most members of fraternities and sororities live in regular rooms in regular residence halls centrally located in various parts of upper campus.

Basic Survival

In the beginning of Greek life at Ripon, living groups formed for basic survival reasons, according to George Miller, professor of history emeritus.

"If you wanted a place to live

The women of Tracy House (Pi Tau Pi/Alpha Delta Pi) hosted the men of Lambda DeLta Alpha for this Indian Summer Social.

Ripon is selected by Apple Computers to participate in a pilot program test.

Thomas E. Caestecker gives $250,000 to endow a fine arts series.

Bartlett Hall is renovated and now houses student affairs offices and meeting rooms.

and sleep, you joined a fraternity or asorority and lived in the house," Miller says.

Those were the days before the College had sufficient dormitory buildings "People lived in houses near campus, or they rented apart ments off campus."

In 1855, Ripon College - then Brockway College - built its first dormitory. The College at the time consisted of two buildings on the hill atop what is now Ransom Street - first the classroom build ing, now East Hall, and second, Middle Hall, the school's first dor mitory which initially housed women.

Students, both men and women, who didn't live on campus rented rooms with "good families" for $1.50 per week.

At the time, the student popula tion at the still-new college con sisted of 72 women and 72 men.

As the College expanded, many upper-class students continued to rent rooms from Ripon families or live in off-campus rooming houses.

Fraternities, Sororities By Default

These living arrangements often became fraternity- or sorority-like groups by default Their abodes often had real living rooms, with grand staircases, chandeliers and leaded-glass windows, high ceilings and window seats, study rooms and bedrooms separate from the com mon living area A rare few of these houses exist today as single family dwellings.

Those grand staircases didn't look so grand to Marilyn Fortnum Briese '43 at 3 a.m. when she and her fellow freshman women were herded down them during initiation week which included hazing. Briese, a member of the former Delta Phi Sigma, known at the time as the Harwood Girls and eventually Kappa Delta, recalled being awak ened in the middle of the night, shuttled up the front staircase and

herded down the back stairwell. All the while, an upper-class member timed them. Part of the ritual test of wills for those aspiring Harwood Ladies was to "check" the house for evil intruders.

"We'd say, 'It's 3:20 a.m. and all's well. All is clear of mice and men,'" Briese says.

Despite being robbed of that beauty rest, Briese says her years as a sorority member were invaluable to her. The friendships she made within her sorority have lasted more than five decades after graduation.

Under the Microscope

In their early years, Greek organi zations were under the Trustees' microscope, a subject of seemingly endless study and controversy, judg ing by a chapter on Greek-letter societies in Ripon College: A History by Robert Ashley and Miller. The very concept of an elitist society bothered the Trustees and others the most.

Silas Evans, class of 1898 and fifth president of the College, was among the Greeks' detractors, despite his serving as an officer of the very first Greek society docu mented at Ripon while he was a student.

In 1895, a group called Sigma Pi Phi organized and elected officers - one of whom was Evans, the

Theta Sigma Tau created this float for the 1947 homecoming parade. The fraternity affiliated with national Sigma Nu, reverted back to local status and has been a coed group since 1980.

Ripon hosts an "Ethics and Public Policy" conference in Washington, D.C., with a grant from the Joyce Foundation.

Seventeen pan elists and Ripon faculty dis cussed political news reporting and advertising on television focusing on the 1988 election campaigns.

A College Museum is installed in the

RIPON

John ChancellOT, then senior commentator for CBS News, was among the media professiona who spoke at the ethics conference.

faculty lounge area of West Hall. An opening ceremony is held during Alumni Weekend.

For the first time since 1972, two Ripon teams (baseball and men's tennis) win championships in the same season. Also, the women's tennis team won in fall of

1988, making three championships in one academic year.

Three Ripon faculty members earn Fulbright grants in one year.

"Sharing the Vision," a $13 million capi tal campaign, concludes as the college's largest fund-raising effort to date.

Playing frisbee golf for charity in 1989 are, from left, Deb Winter '92, Carol Huegy Manahan '92, Deb Jensen '93 and Lori Flaws Foust '92.

future college president. The group lasted only two years.

Around the end of the 19th century, many groups of students with similar interests formed liter ary societies and drama, singing and foreign-language organizations.

In 1904, six years before Evans became Ripon's president the first time, seven women moved into Lyle House forming Ripon's first official sorority, Alpha Gamma Theta. The Lyle House, 602 Woodside Ave., was the first off campus house that the College bought in an effort to accommo date increasing enrollment. In their book, Ashley and Miller say this purchase of off-campus housing may have gotten the ball rolling for many Greek groups to establish themselves. Alpha Gamma Theta is the first officially approved Greek-letter society at Ripon, according to Ashley and Miller. About the same time, eight men wanted their own group. They'd been meeting on the hush above a downtown grocery store. They wanted secrecy and the right to

own their own house and to make their own meals there. After secur ing a faculty adviser, the College officially recognized the group as Alpha Omega Alpha in 1906. But school policy forbade secrecy Why or how the Alpha Omega Alphas planned on maintaining a low pro file was not clear.

Alpha Omega Alpha existed for nearly 50 years and its members became known as "the Smith Boys" because they were housed in Smith Hall, which is now Middle Hall, on upper campus. Alpha Omega Alpha later went national and became Theta Chi which is still active in 2001.

Two more sororities set up shop: Kappa Phi in 1907 and Delta Phi Sigma in 1909. Dean of Women Mary Harwood gave''these two groups meeting rooms in Bartlett Cottage.

It rankled the college men that the women had three sororities to choose from and the men only had one. So 24 of them lobbied to form a second men's group. They won approval from faculty but had a dif-

The Ripon sororities put on shows during pledge week. Above, the women of Duffie House (Kappa Sigma Chi/Alpha Phi) perform a dance routine in about 1948. From left are the late Elizabeth Schmitter Abendroth '52, Carol Kahnert Andersen '52,Geraldine Gray Shea '51,Virginia Hirschberg Storgaard '52, Evelyn Bernahl Black '52, Sally Nissen Gross '52, Jane Peterson Krampert '50 and Patricia Hoffman Parker '52.

History of Fraternities at Ripon

Pi Phi 1895

Alpha Omega Alpha 1906 Theta Chi

Residence - Bartlett Hall, Wright, Woodside House, Smith (now Middle) Hall, Bovay Hall

Theta Sigma Tau 1909 Sigma Nu 1954 Theta Sigma Tau 1976 Organized Coed Living

Residence - Hall House, Elms Club, Sanford House, Mapes Hall

Omega Sigma Chi 1915 Sigma Chi

Residence - Shaler, Duffie House, Smith (now Middle) Hall, Brockway Hall

Alpha Phi Omega 1919 Phi Delta Theta 1960

Residence - West Hall, Mapes Hall

Phi Kappa Pi 1920

Residence - Merriman House

Lambda Delta Alpha 1924 Delta Upsilon 1959 Lambda Delta Alpha 1984

Residence - Pedrick House, Tracy House, Barker House, Brockway Hall

Delta Sigma Psi 1926 Sigma Alpha Epsilon 1958

Residence - Smith (now Middle) Hall, Smith Hall

Beta Sigma Pi 1964

Residence - Bovay Hall

Phi Epsilon Chi 1969

Residence - Bovay Hall

ficult time persuading the adminis tration, despite the fact that Alpha Omega Alpha had already paved the way for them.

The year 1909 saw the launch ing of what would come to be Theta Sigma Tau. It began on the Ripon campus that year, under the name the Elms Club and later, Zeta Tau, as a chapter of a national fra ternity called Sigma Nu. The group, co-ed since 1980, shares Mapes Hall with the Phi Delea

Theta fraternity Theta Sigma Tau claims actor Harrison Ford '64 as one of its most famous members during its tenure as Sigma Nu.

In his inaugural term as presi dent at Ripon (1910-97), Evans called Greek letter societies "snob by" and "elitist."

'Yes or No?'

Faculty and Trustees during Evans' first term disagreed on whether Greek societies should be allowed at all. Faculty tended to be pro Greek and Trustees opposed Greek

Charter Revoked by National 1980

groups The faculty saw Greek letter societies as fostering responsi-

ding "elitism" and as going against the ideals of the College. The Trustees decided fraternities "served no pur pose other than affording an oppor tunity for club life." They said Greeks "cost more money than they were worth," and "diverted time and interest from the students' legitimate college work, with no corresponding compensation." A drinking problem in the men's dorms didn't help the public-image problem The Trustees decided fra ternities ought to be "dissolved as quickly as possible." The same went for the women's organizations.

Anyone familiar with the spirit of the young might have predicted what would happen next. The stu dent groups simply renamed them selves as clubs with non-Greek names and operated under the counter.

So in 1912, the Trustees banned even these non-Greek clubs alto gether. Five years later, Trustees cracked down on off-campus room ing houses. Their inhabitants

A lighted clock added to the tower on Harwood Union, a gift from the classes of 1987 and 1988. Chimes were added by the class of 1995.

Douglas Northrop, vice president and dean of the faculty, and George Miller, professor of history emeritus, served terms in two of Wisconsin's largest orga nizations for cultural events: the Wisconsin Humanities Committee and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, respectively.

Robert Otis takes sabbatical to study killer whales. Since his initial trip he has expanded his whale project, and his course, "Ethnology of Killer Whales," is a wellknown and popular course.

couldn't serve meals, use Greek letters, house stu dents from the dorms, pledge members or even wear club pins.

But students continued to form groups and these groups continued to exist as they had except that, due to assigned housing, they couldn't choose their own members.

This randomness in the housing arrangement had both positive and negative results. Because students of all races, creeds and colors were thrown together arbi trarily into living quarters, it resulted in a diversity of sorts, albeit by default.

"Since there were no freshmen dorms, new stu-

dents, except for a few who had pre vious contacts and made their own choices, were distributed more or less arbitrarily among the various houses and usually became members of their assigned fraternity or sorori ty. Thus, virtually the entire student body, including the 'townies' so inclined, lived in Greek-letter units. There seemed to be little or no dis crimination based on race, religion, wealth or social background, a tradi tion that survived the shift to nationals in the 1950s and '60s," reads the Ashley/Miller text.

Hazing Continues

Even though, technically, the Greek-letter societies were out lawed, the age-old tradition of haz ing continued - a test of wills for new students enforced by upper classmen as a Greek tradition. According to Ripon College: A History, incoming (or "green") freshmen in the early part of the 20th century were made to wear green beanie caps and to salute upperclassmen by touching their beanie buttons. (This was called "buttoning" the upperclassmen.)

"Freshmen women had to tie

their hair in green bows and adorn their evening gowns with green rib bons. Their male classmates were required to wear green ties and were allowed to smoke only corn cob pipes and nowhere but in their rooms," according to the book. Punishments for any slip in the rules sometimes got out of hand. In 1917, the College tried to control hazing by stipulating that house presidents issue the punishments, rather than upperclassmen. (It wasn't until the 1960s that Ripon outlawed hazing.)

Briese recalls a similar endurance test several decades later, during her Delta Phi Sigma's "Hell Week." By day, the women dressed up in hats, heels and gloves for classes, to live up to the name of "Harwood Ladies." But after classes, the rushees suffered the "humiliation" of becoming the "Harwood babies.".,-

"We had to wear long men's nightshirts, with a toothbrush hanging around our neck and a baby rattle too. We were 'babies' outside of class," Briese said.

Briese's two elder sisters, Ferne Fortnum Haensgen '25, and the late Vilo Fortnum Utter '35,

Evelyn Bemahl Black '52, a Duffie girl, demonstrates proper use of the freshman beanie Bob Rashid '37 pfww

Carolyn Nash Lathrop '10 plants a tree near Harwood Union to commemorate her 80th reunion in 1990 when she's 102 years old. From lefe are Vikki Bleise '73, president of the alumni association; Peggy Stott; La throp; and President Bill Stott. When Carolyn died July 23, 1997, at age 109, she was Ripon's oldest alum.

History of Sororities at Ripon

Local Founded National Date

Alpha Gamma Theta 1904 Alpha Chi Omega 1959

Residence - Lyle House, Johnson Hall

Kappa Sigma Phi About 1907

Delta Phi Sigma 1909 Kappa Delea

Residence - Harwood House, Johnson Hall

Delta Delta Beta NA Theta Upsilon

Residence - Bartlett Hall

Pi Delta Omega 1922 Alpha Xi Delta

Residence - Parkhurst House, Johnson Hall

Kappa Sigma Chi 1928 Alpha Phi 1959

Kappa Sigma Phi & Kappa Gamma Chi joined to form Kappa Sigma Chi

Residence - Duffie House, Johnson Hall

Pi Tau Pi 1945 Alpha Delta Pi

Residence - Tracy House, Johnson Hall

Pi Delta Xi 1990

Residence - Johnson Hall

Delta Psi Delta 2000

Residence - Johnson Hall

Information in this chart is taken from Ripon College: A History and the college archives.

recruited her while she was still in high school to become a "Harwood Lady." Briese's experiences were just part of the progression of initi ation rites placed upon new stu dents 30 years or more before she ever entered the school.

Evans Gives In

By 1924, Evans had given up on trying to stop students from going Greek. He told his Board of Trustees that every dorm on cam pus had Greek-letter societies, as did practically every college in the nation. He cold them he saw no way to stop them. By then, 13 Greek groups had sprung up on campus - eight fraternities and five sororities. Most of these remained in existence as local groups with no national affiliation until the 1950s.

The controversial nature of the Greek issue didn't die simply because the president of the College had decided to legalize sororities and fraternities. More controversy followed the next year,

in 1925, when the Bartlett women

his was the college's first brush with the national groups and Evans believed they were even more onerous than local groups. National groups, he believed, brought "objectionable features" to the College - evils like rushing, pledging, hazing, excess drinking and initiating.

The dean of women at the time believed that the nationalization of the sorority would bring a "more attractive class of young women to Ripon College" and would "improve the moral tone of the campus" by making the group more public rather than secretive Part of the allure of affiliating with a national organization was to create a more sophisticated cosmopolitan feel to the small-town campus, an argument another president (Clark Kuebler, 1943-55) would make again a few years later.

To everyone's surprise, Evans agreed to let the Bartlett women go national for a two-year trial period. The Bartlett women, however, decided they liked the indepen-

Ed Asner ("Lou Grant" from the Mary Tyler Moore Show) talks about censorship.

June 11

The Thomas E Caestecker Wing for the Fine Arts is opened.

Ripon's ROTC unit is decom missioned. Ripon is grouped with Marian College, St. Norbert and UW-Oshkosh. The entrance t-0 the Caestecker Wing

dence of their local sorority better than being at the whim of the national group. They reorganized under a new name: Kappa Sigma Chi and took back their local status in 1928.

Living-group member selection continued to be problematic. The ladies, especially, felt hemmed in by not being able to choose which freshman women lived in their houses, according to the Ashley/Miller text.

were not Greeks."

Kohl says she became very close to her 16 or 18 sorority sisters. All pitched in to create formal evenings, teas and parties for friends on campus and to provide each other with an active social network.

Ripon's International Student Center in Bonn celebrates 26 years. Founded by James Hyde, professor of German, in 1966, it is the third oldest foreign stu dent program in continuous existence in the United States.

Ripon drops wrestling as a varsity sport.

Enrollment dips below 800 students where it will stay until 2000.

Several decades later, the oppo site situation would arise: a prob lem of too much selectivity rather than not enough. Instead of not being allowed to choose their own members, some national groups in the 1940s and '50s encouraged their members to choose new mem bers belonging to certain nationali ties and religions and to exclude others.

Kohl recalls her sorority's house mother who was in charge of mak ing sure everyone was securely home by curfew, the doors were locked and nobody sneaked out the windows. The housemother had her own small apartment at the back of Lyle House. She often served as a confidant. "The girls could go talk to her if they had a problem," Kohl says.

Olympia Ogilvie, art professor and first woman to earn tenure, retires.

Doug Light, biology professor, receives a National Science Foundation grant for $150,000, the largest grant ever received by an individual faculty member.

The "Joy of Music" sculpture adorns the front of the Rodman Center for the Arts. It is a gift from Mike, Penny and Matthew Mihaly in memory of their son and broth er, Peter,

An earlier alumna recalls that the vast majority of students belonged to fraternities and sorori ties. Janet Hansen Kohl '46, joined Alpha Gamma Theta (in Lyle House) because it was the thing to do. "Everybody did, then, you know. You just belonged," she said. "They rushed the students, and you went to live wherever you liked. It was very much a part of the cam pus. All the men belonged to fraternities. Very few people

Kohl recalls many men on cam pus her freshman year, but by her sophomore year at the start of World War II, many either enlisted or were drafted into the service As their part in the war effort, the Lyle House women rolled bandages and sent them in to an area military base.

"Before and after the war, we had dances and fraternity and sorority parties," she recalls Entertainment and social life were "pretty slim" during the war

War Years Are Lean

The war years were lean ones for Greek societies. Briese, too, spent her senior year, 1941-42, all but dateless. "My senior year we played a lot of bridge in the sorority house," Briese says.

When she came back to visit her sorority sisters after graduation and during the war, Briese found even fewer men on campus and a much more relaxed attitude among the women. "Girls were wearing blue jeans," she says. "The girls had to do everything together because there just weren't any fellows."

Had Briese been around yet

another year, she would have

"Joy of Music." who died in 1987.

Ripon students, including fraternity and sorority members, ate their meals in the dining hall locat ed on the first floor of West Hall from 1905-42.

seen a campus much different than the one she had left In June of 1943, Ripon received its first batch of more than 400 soldiers through the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP).

At one point, the ASTP took over the campus dining room in Harwood Union. Students then had to again eat in West Hall. Sororities and fraternities gave up their housing to shelter the ASTP

members. Fraternities disbanded as they were forced out of their build ings. But sororities managed to hang onto their group names and identities, according to the Ashley/Miller text. ASTP was can celed less than a year later.

In summer of 1945, after the end of World War II, returning vet erans swamped the College. Greeks wanted their houses back, and the College had to come up with a plan to accommodate the influx of students. The school bought a number of houses around campus for students and faculty, resulting in big remodeling expenses.

Four sororities and three frater nities reclaimed their off-campus houses in Duffie, Harwood, Lyle, Parkhurst, Merriman, Smith (Middle) and West. When Miller arrived to teach history in the 1950s, Middle Hall housed two fra ternities and West housed one. Merriman housed a fourth.

Among the displaced fraterni ties, Alpha Omega Alpha was in Bartlett, Omega Sigma Chi and Delta Sigma Psi in Smith, Theta

Checking on construction of Merriman House, completed in 1940, are, from lefe, Trustee J. Harold Bumby '23, President Silas Evans, class of 1898, and Dean of Faculty J. Clark Graham.

Sigma Tau in Hall House on Woodside, Lambda Delta Alpha in the Pedrick House at 523 Watson St., and later, in the Barker House (originally President Merrell's home) on the present site of Pickard Commons. Tri-Dorms now housed freshman women.

The College began adding clas sic cubicle style dormitories in the 1950s and '60s. Brockway and Smith halls were constructed in 1958 and, three years later, the College added Mapes; in 1962, Johnson; and in 1965, Bovay. Greek groups found new homes in these residence halls and the demo lition of the older homes began.

Around chat time, the percent age of students in Greek-letter soci eties began dropping. One factor may have been the population of veterans on campus: they "dis dained college hoopla, which they considered trivial and juvenile," according to the Ashley/Miller text. They formed their own groups within their huts and started the movement of "independents."

errima House, home of Phi Kappa P1, remains the only free-standing fraternity house on the Ripon cam pus. The rest of the fraternities and sororities have occupied wings of resi dence halls since the late 1950s and early '60s. The Merriman House was built at a cost of $27,000 paid jointly by the College and fraternity alumni. It was built to house 35 students.

Technological advances at the college: e mail capabilities are added and the College has access to other libraries' collections.

Scott Carpenter '94 goes 17-0 on the mound during the conference baseball season and helps Ripon to a champi onship. He is the first Ripon player in 15 years to go on to the minor leagues, the LaFayette Leopards.

Independents Win Spring Sing in '58

Although he was not a war veter an, Bill Jochimsen '61, was among those who chose not to join a fra ternity. But as an "independent" he and others enjoyed an identity based on that very concept. He managed to have fun as a member of a group, anyway.

The Scott Hall addition is at the left.

Scott Hall's $4 mil lion renovation and addition is complet ed. Originally built in 1951, an addition called New Scott, was built in 1966.

After 17 years serv ing as a faculty member, and 17 more as dean of fac ulty, Doug Northrop returns to fulltime teaching in English.

"Every year there was a Spring Sing, where the fraternities as well as the independents competed for a trophy. I believe it was in 1958 that the independents won the trophy, something totally unheard of," Jochimsen says. The secret to their success, in his estimation? Get a soon-to-be Grammy awardwinning singer on your side. "Al Jarreau '62 was an Independent. The rest of us just got behind him and hummed," Jochimsen says. "He carried the whole show. And we won!"

Miller says the drop in Greek participation might have been in part due to the Greek groups' los ing their private off-campus houses. The building of the dorms and the loss of their houses had a negative effect on some students, especially the women. "When they moved

out of their houses and into the dorms, the women were particular ly unhappy. They loved their hous es. The men weren't all that disap

Spring Sing was a popular allcampus event for Greeks and Independents for many years.

(Bartlett-Alpha Omega Alpha) in 1954 Sigma Chi (Smith) followed in 1955, Sigma Alpha Epsilon (also in Smith) in 1958, Delta Upsilon (Barker-Lambda Delta Alpha) in 1959 and Phi Delta Theta (West) in 1960, according to Ripon College: A History.

For sororities, Alpha Xi Delta (Parkhurst) was chartered in 1958, Alpha Chi Omega (Lyle) and Alpha Phi (Duffie) in 1959 and Alpha Delta Pi (Tracy) and Kappa Delta (Harwood) in 1960. (Alpha Xi Delta, Alpha Phi and Kappa Delta have all since closed their doors).

This left Merriman as the only local Greek organization and after the Quads and Johnson Hall were built, Merriman was the only one

The forensic team is back for the first time in 15 years. After winning second place at the state level, nine students qualified in 21 events for the national tournament.

October 4

The Mildred Thiel Memorial Organ in Demmer Recital Hall is dedicated. The building of the organ began in 1946 with a donation from music instructor Mildred Thiel '25. Only 20 of the 30 pipes could be afforded with her gift and construction was put on hold until a recent donation made the completion possible by Ripon resident Lucile B. Grams. The inauguration ceremony fea tured the music of the famous Guy Bovet.

pointed because their houses weren't all that fancy. At the same time, they were in the process of going national, so they had that to look forward to."

Ripon Goes National

President Kuebler was eager for more Greek groups to affiliate with national organizations because he believed Ripon was too parochial. Affiliation with national groups would add a bigger city feel to the College, and at his suggestion, the Trustees approved nationalization in 1952. The first national fraterni ties were Sigma Nu (Hall House Theta Sigma Tau) and Theta Chi

with its own separate chapter house.

In a report to President Fred Pinkham, David L. Harris, dean of men, defended nationalization. He said, "Ripon College already had most of the so-called evils of Greek-letter groups i.e., develop ment of cliques within the student body, the pressures and disappoint ments, the inconv,enience and embarrassment of initiation hazing ... without securing for itself any of the attendant advantages ... such as the enhanced prestige of nation al groups, the additional control over the activities of the chapters, the opportunity to break out of the provincialism that necessarily

David B. Seligman is named the new dean.

The north side of Scott Hall includes this tower withan elevator.

Ripon, after giving up the "Redmen" mascot name, becomes the "Red Hawks."

accompanies local groups, assis tance in securing larger numbers of applicants for admission "

Exclusionary Clauses A Concern

But some people believed national ization would lead to its own evil: several national organizations had

Dave Minor '68

"Merriman House ... was local, founded by Ripon alum ni and friends (and) did not have these bar riers to mem bership," Minor says. "They charters chat excluded Blacks and non-white Anglo Saxons. Ripon Greeks sometimes, by default, had been color blind and diverse from their inception which had been among their strengths.

In January of 1963 the education committee of the Board of Trustees passed a resolution banning exclu sivity clauses. The resolution stated: "The Board of Trustees ... will endorse and support the action of its local chapters to select new members regardless of race, nation ality or religion Thefaculty stands opposed to any fraternity or sorority, which contains in its char ter or its national charter an explic it or implicit exclusion clause. That the administration will actively support any living group that chooses to challenge, on principle or with a test case, the National Exclusion Clause, and will guaran tee the right of that living group to remain on campus. That within two years of this date no living group with an explicit or implicit exclu sion clause in its local or national charter is allowed to remain on the Ripon campus."

Dave Minor '68, who is African American, says he chose Merriman House fraternity because he felt especially at home in that organization.

"Most local chapters of national organizations had clauses that dis criminated on the basis of race, religion and ethnicity or would limit participation to 'social mem ber,'" Minor says. Although such clauses were outlawed by the time he got to Ripon, he was aware of them. Merriman, he says, never excluded anyone.

prided themselves on diversity, recruiting students other than white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants. This was the case in the 1950s. Merriman valued campus leader ship and participation and attract ed students in ROTC and athletics. So I joined because they were wel coming and it was a good fit for me," Minor, who majored in psy chology, says. "For me and for oth ers, the fraternity was a three-year, cross-cultural experience, which along with other aspects of college life certainly gave me a facility in interpersonal relations that I don't think I would have obtained otherwise."

In 1966, the College had five sororities, all national, and eight fraternities, five nationals and three locals, for a total of 13 Greek groups.

By 1970, the percentage of those in Greek organizations had fallen to 65 percent. Ashley and Miller attribute some of that apa thy to the distraction of the Vietnam War and the preoccupa tion of students with more worldly concerns of blood, war and protests. The Ashley/Miller tome suggests that students were bored with "frivolous" things like fraterni ty parties and pledging.

By the late '70s, only 40 percent of the women belonged to a sorori ty and 55 percent of men belonged to a fraternity.

Since 1984, when Chris Ogle '80, current vice president and dean of students, came to Ripon on the student affairs staff and began keeping records, the highest per centage of women in sororities topped out at 42 percent in the

The women of Alpha Delta Pi sorority helped Ripon celebrate its Sesquicentennial by purchasing a bench for the trailhead of the Ceresco Prairie Conseroancy. Above, the sorority presents a check for $575 which represents gifts fr()m alumni as well as the national sorority tvhich became the first to celebrate its Sesquicentennial. In front, from left, are President Paul Ranslow, sorority president Corryn Siegel '02, Kntheryn Johnston '03 and George "Skip" Wittler, director of the conseroancy. Ric Damm /1hc10

July 1

Paul Ranslow becomes the college's 11th president.

Opening and dedication ceremonies are held for Francis Field, the new baseball diamond given by Trustee Chris Ogle '80

spring of 1985. For fraternities, the high reached 65 per cent in the fall of 1987. Memberships have been lower since then, Ogle says.

terly bonding over rituals, I did plenty of that at Bender's," a local tavern.

Now More Concerned With Others

But, Ogle says since he arrived back on campus as an administra tor, Greek groups have become Patricia Parker Francis and her hus, band, Bob. Also added to the college's athletic facilities were two new soccer fields, a varsity women's softball diamond, six new tennis courts and a football practice field, a gift from anoth er Trustee.

Ripon holds its first Maymester with a total enrollment of 30 students.

The plant department begins an energy conservation plan which is estimated to save $135,000 annually.

In 1985, 10 Greek groups were left: three sororities, all national, six fraternities (three national, three local) and one local co-ed fra ternity. Among sororities, Alpha Phi and Kappa Delta had gone defunct, leaving Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi and Alpha Xi Delta, which disbanded in fall of 1986. In the spring of 1987, Alpha Xi Delta became the local Kappa

Theta which operated until spring of 1989 when they again disbanded.

In fall of 1990, Pi Delta Xi formed as a local sorority and func tioned until the spring of 1998. A new sorority, Delta Psi Delta, formed in the fall of 2000, Ogle says.

much more concerned about others and conscious of their role in the big picture of life. "One big change in Greeks is that they are more ser vice oriented," Ogle says. "They arc a lot more active with other groups, national events and in con temporary issues. More Greek peo ple have gotten themselves in lead ership positions elsewhere on the campus." The Greeks, and other living groups "are an integral part of the Ripon College experi ence," he adds.

Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman) celebrates 75 years on campus. From left are, Rudolph "Rudy" Ostovich III '63, President Paul Ranslow, Ryan Amacher '67 and the chapter president, David DuBois '97.

Ripon is named as the site for the nation al Pi Kappa Delta, forensic honor society, Hall of Fame. The first plaques are hung in East Hall Kresge Little Theatre in February 1996.

Among fraternities, by 1985, nationals Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Upsilon and Sigma Nu were gone, with Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi and Theta Chi left. The last three remain today and Sigma Nu is the coed Theta Sigma Tau. Delta Upsilon is the local Lambda Delta Alpha to which it returned in 1984. Phi Kappa Pi retains the local status from its inception in 1920. Another fraternity, Beta Sigma Pi, which was founded as a local in 1964, closed its doors in the 1993.

Some students, like Amy Rosner '89, chose not to join a Greek letter society because of Ripon's size "I didn't join one because it was a small campus and easy to get to know a good portion of the stu dents without being in a formal group and the sororities didn't do much in the way of community ser vice," Rosner says. "So I didn't see that my dues would be buying me anything but the ability to live in a certain part of a dorm. As for sis-

The last three Student Senate presidents have been GreeksJosh Kind-Keppel '00 is an alumnus of Phi Kappa Pi (Merriman House) and both Kyle De Witt '01 and Jake Creecy '02 are members of Sigma Chi.

Today's Greek community ser vice involves efforts with and rais ing money for disadvantaged chil dren in need of costly operations, the Leukemia Society of Wisconsin, the Children's Miracle Network, fire safety awareness, domestic abuse shelters and educa tion programs, the Ripon Food Pantry, the American Diabetes Association, Headstart, a Ronald McDonald House and local animal shelters and schools

In 2001, around 36 percent of upper-class students belong to a Greek organization - 28 percent of the women and 44 percent of the men. Ripon currently has five fraternities, three sororities and a coed fraternity.

Lee Reinsch '89

Reinsch is a writer for the Reporter of Fond du Lac, Wis., and a frequent con tributor to Ripon Magazine and other publications.

Throughout the history of Ripon College, there has been any number of suc cesses and failures on ath letic playing fields. However, to truly appreciate what role athletics has had at Ripon, one must go back to the year 1886 when chapters of both the Young Men's Christian Association and Young Women's Christian Association became part of the Ripon community.

While the "Y" organizations were a far cry from the athletic centers they have become in today's society - both were focused mainly around religious ideals in the late 19th centurythey gave extracurricular activities a boost at Ripon College, leading to more organized groups such as literary and musical societies

Today, getting students involved in athletic ventures at the College has become a way of life. Approximately 40 percent of all students attending Ripon during the 2000-01 academic year were involved with the athletic program.

"I think it's really healthy here - the way athletics works with academics," says Athletic Director Bob Gillespie. "What we have here are true student-athletes. Examples include Zach Morris '02 (first-team Academic All-American in base ball in 2000 and named a Rhodes Scholar in December 2001) and Julie Kacmarcik '02 who earned the Midwest Conference's Ruth Peterson Award for the top two sport athlete (cross country and track) with the highest grade point average in her junior year. Problems that you find in Division I, like poor graduation rates, aren't here. I think this is the purest form of sports, and that's not exclusive to Ripon, that's all of Division Ill." The beginnings of athletic com petition at Ripon were humble. There was an Athletic Association begun in 1877 "for gentlemen." That first athletic club was built mainly around track and field meets. Other clubs would follow, and in the proceeding years base ball and football would take hold.

Athletics at Ripon Date to 1877

Zach Morris '02

Julie Kacmarcik '02

The1906 baseball team is pictured a year before records were kept

The Venerable Lobsang Samten puts the fin ishing touches on the

The Venerable Lobsang Samten, former Tibetan monk, spent five weeks at Ripon creating a sand mandala that rep• resented the three-dimensional home of someone who is at perfect peace. One of three personal assistants to the Dali Lama, much of the sand mandala he cre ated was distributed among an audience at the closing ceremonies and the rest was poured into Ripon's millpond demonstrating the impermanence of life.

Ripon College gains a presence on the World Wide Web (www.ripon.edu).

Lane Library is fully automated. All books owned by the library are entered into an electronic card-catalogue-type system called ROSLIN (Ripon's On-line System for Library Information) that can be accessed via www.ripon.edu.

Women's basketball wins the Midwest Conference championship.

Seventy high school guidance counselors from 26 states visit Ripon as part of a week-long "Celebration of Ripon College" which concluded with the inauguration ceremonies for Paul Ranslow.

The $40 million challenge set forth in "Securing the Vision" concludes, the largest fund-raising effort in college history.

Ripon gains its first Midwest Conference football title in 14 years.

Baseball would be the first sport to catch on, however, without varsity status. Following the Civil War, the College featured several teams made up of students and town players. The teams would face off against other clubs from towns in the Ripon area and against other teams made up of stu• dents from area high schools. The earliest records of baseball at Ripon date back to 1907, one of two sports sponsored by the College at the time, the other being football. From 1918-22, there was no baseball team and no expla nation was given as to why the pro gram disappeared. Strangely enough, it re-appeared during the spring of 1923 and then disap peared altogether from 1924-55.

Ripon College Football Championships

1906, 1908, 1915, 1916, 1919, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1948, 1950

Coach Jerry Thompson: 1957

Coach Carl Doehling: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968

Coach Bob Giesey: 1977, 1978

Coach Larry Terry: 1982

sand mandala.

The 1891 football team from Ripon College.

Coach Ron Ernst: 1996, 2001

Ripon College Men's Golf Championship 1936

In 1955, baseball was again instituted as a varsity sport because of an overwhelming

request of the students. Athletic Director Carl Doehling concurred and it has been a varsity sport ever since.

There have been three distinct eras in Ripon baseball coinciding with the head coaches during those times. In all three eras, the program demonstrated exceptional success. From 1958 John Storzer coached the baseball teams to unparalleled success, winning five conference championships and compiling a 133-76 record. In 1980, Bob Gillespie took over the program

and led Ripon to two conference titles and 10 divisional champi onships in his 15 years at the helm.

Beginning in 1996,.eurrent coach and the father of :Bob, Gordie Gillespie, has raised the bar again, leading the Red Hawks to four con secutive conference championships and bringing Ripon to within one game of the NCAA Division III World Series during the spring of 2001, marking the farthest Ripon

had ever gone in post-season play.

While the history of intramural baseball at the College reaches back into the 1800s, many of the recognizable names from the sport don't begin to sprout up until the early '60s when all-conference mentions began and records became better organized Dick Zuengler '64, Sid Frame '63 and Marv Carlson '62 all were named to the first team in all-conference vot ing in 1962. Others followed, yet most of the current school records are held by today's players, in many cases due to the greater number of games today's teams play.

Another sport that grabbed hold of the imagination of the Ripon students early on was football. While the sport did not have the same rules as we know today - in the late 1800s it was more like rugby - it was still very competitive at Ripon.

The sport began to develop at eastern colleges during the 1860s, but its rules were so changeable that each game had to have its reg ulations, including the shape of the ball, decided on before the kickoff No record was kept of the rules of the game first played at Ripon in 1881 - an affair featuring mem-

Ripon College Women's Volleyball Championships

Coach Elaine Coll: 1976, 1981, 1982, 1983

bers of the Economia Club and another organization known as the Spartans. However, the following year, the College would begin a rivalry that still exists today as it competed against Lawrence University. The rivalry, which cele brated its 100th game during the 2000 season, is the oldest college football rivalry in the Midwest.

The Ripon football team was made up of 11 starters and two sub stitutes, and made the trip to Appleton to face Lawrence. The first game was played on Nov. 18, 1882 The Ripon squad was shocked to find that the Lawrence men were playing with an oval ball instead of the round one Ripon typically used, and found the field

Ripon College Men's Basketball Championships

1908, 1912, 1916, 1939, 1940

Coach K.G. "Doc" Weiske '50: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1980

Coach John Weinert: 1972

Coach Bob Gillespie: 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998, 1999

Seven NCAA Tournament appearances

The predecessor to modern-day athletics at Ripon was an annual spring Field Day. This 1888 photo shows some of the partici pants in the event which featured mostly track and field events and a bicycle race.

In 1931, Ripon beat Lawrence 24-0 in Appleton. The Ripon-Lawrence rivalry in football dates back to 1882 with Ripon holding a 48-46-7 edge in the series

June 28

As part of the "West Campus Project," Stott Wetlands Trail is dedicated and the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy is formed.

Marriott

Al

The College receives $2.2 million for scholarships from the estate of Harry W. Knop Jr. '42, the Al

more serious note in 1889 when men from Lawrence invited Ripon to take part in a joint session that would include a track meet and a baseball game. When Ripon agreed largest single gift in college history.

A $4.6 million addition to Farr Hall of Science is completed.

to be nearly one-third the size of the field it practiced on in Ripon. Still, Ripon held a "2-1" lead before the game was called because of rain. A game was scheduled for

the next year, but never took place.

The football program would have games off and on until 1891 when more formal play was inaugurated under different rules.

In U.S. News & World Report, Ripon is listed as a ''Best Value."

The Philadelphia Phillies choose Matt Denure '98 as their 17th round pick making him the first Ripon athlete to be drafted by the major leagues.

A high-tech lighting system is installed in Matt Denure '98 Benstead Theatre.

Enrollment dips to 653 students.

A five-year comprehensive plan is adopt ed by the Trustees addressing enroll ment, finances, a personalized education, enhancement of student success, leader ship and technology.

Abig happening each year during the early years of the College was the annual spring Field Day sponsored by the Athletic Association. Initially, this was an intramural track meet made up of foot races, bicycle races and a few field events called "running jump," "sledge throw" and "vault ing with pole." Other events, such as a "Siamese Twin" race, added to the fun. The aftemoon was typical ly topped off by a tug-of-war. While all of these events were fun, the Field Days took on a much

Ripon College Women's Basketball Championships

Coach Elaine Coll: 1976, 1985

Coach Julie Johnson: 1996

NCAA Tournament: 1996

to the event, an annual Field Day was inaugurated that took place either in Appleton or Ripon, or perhaps on neutral ground in Oshkosh. Relations between the student Athletic Associations from each school reached a point that an agreement was signed in 1892. Some of the sillier events were dropped, but the social side was never overlooked.

Although women were not allowed to participate in the games, · they were invited to cheer their men on to victory with carefully

This sign marks

Corporation begins man agement of food services. the trailhead. The forensics team earns Division I status for Ripon.

Jarreau '62, a five time Grammy winner, is inducted into the Wisconsin Performing Artists' Hall of Fame.

Earl Wyman '17 holds the state championship basketball for the 1916 Ripon team.

Jarreau '62

Bob Gillespie, at lefe, celebrates his 300th basketball victory Jan. 29, 1998. Above, his predecessor, K.G. "Doc"Weiske '50 presents Gillespie with the game ball.

Ripon College Men's Tennis Championships

Coach Robert Ashley: 1964

Coach Chuck Larson '65: 1971, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001

rehearsed "yells "

All of this early athletic activity coincided perfectly with the Richard C. Hughes era as president of Ripon. Hughes was the most ardent supporter of athletics of all of the college's early presidents, mainly because, as is found often at the College today, he believed ath letics drew students.

Despite the fact that football was being criticized for being too brutal. Hughes thought it could be made safe and clean through ade quate supervision Consequently, he played a leading role in forming the Wisconsin-Illinois Athletic Conference that featured Beloit, Carroll, Knox, Lake Forest, Lawrence, Marquette, Northwestern (of Watertown, Wis.) and Ripon. In addition, he made certain that Ripon joined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) upon its for mation in 1906. Playing by the new NCAA rules, Ripon won its first state football championship that same year with a record of 5-0-1.

As time passed, football con tinued to be the most popular varsity sport at the College, but basketball also made its mark. Men's basketball began play in 1898-99, and that first year the team went 0-4 The team would eventually win state championships in 1907-08 and 1911-12 and won a

Ripon College Women's Tennis Championships

Coach Chuck Larson '65: 1988,

conference called "The Little Four" during the 1915-16 campaign.

Much of the success the men's basketball program has accumulated can be attributed to its last two head coachesKermit "Doc" Weiske '50 and Bob Gillespie. Gillespie is the winningest coach in the history of the College with an overall mark of 360-137 by the end of the 2001 season. Weiske ranks second on that list with 203 wins in 16 years as head coach Gillespie has also led Ripon to seven NCAA Division III tournaments, advancing to the second round three times

Weiske, who actually had two stints as coach - from 1958-66 and from 1972-80 - also played for the Ripon team during his days as a stu dent. In fact, his point total throughout his career as a player1,188 points - was a record that stood for 28 years.

Current Chair of the Physical Education Department, Chuck Larson '65, joins Weiske as a former student-athlete who has coached at the College Larson returned from graduate school to become the most successful tennis coach in

1989, 1990, 1991

The 1979-80 men's basketball team won a conference championship in "Doc"Weiske's '50 last year as head coach. Kneeling at center court are co-captains Chris Ogle '80 and Tim Barnes 'BO. In the back are, from left, Kent Timm'Bl, student manager; Bob Gillespie, assistant coach; players Jeff Kjos '83, Terry Cramer '81, Chris Schnell 'Bl, Ashley Cooper '82, Mark Franzen '83, Brian Rindfleisch '82, Tom Edwards '80, Steve Hopp '83, Jim Mendyke '83, Bruce Moriarty '83, Chris Shepard

Ripon's history Besides tennis, Larson also coached swim ming and was the college's athletic director for a time. Today, he remains in his role as both the men's and women's tennis coach.

Students used markers aml spray paint to decorate a temporary Berlin Wall.

The fall of the Berlin Wall's 10th anniver sary was celebrated with special panel discussions, and most notably, a tempo rary wall outside of Pickard Commons.

Enrollment increases to 749 with a first• year class of 283 students

2000 .,:t

Dick Bennett '65 leads the Wisconsin Badger basketball team to the NCAA Division I Final Four.

Opening convocation kicks off the col lege's Sesquicentennial celebration.

Enrollment climbs again to 866 with a first-year class of 280 students.

Ripon wins its first conference men's All Sports Trophy.

2001 · j

Enrollment grows to 906, the highest since 1982. A smaller first-year class, 201 students, is registered but improved retention over the last several years helps build the student body.

As it has done many times in its history, the College faces financial challenges. Its $30 million endowment isn't large enough and the 12-1 student-faculty ratio is too low.

Ripon concludes its Sesquicentennial cel ebration as the Choral Union sings the "Alma Mater" accompanied by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

Ripon is named a "Best Value" by U.S. News & World Report in its "Great Schools at Great Prices" listing. Ripon also moves up to tier two in the national liberal arts rankings, putting the College among the top half of 218 colleges listed.

December

Zach Morris '02 becomes Ripon's third Rhodes Scholar and the first since 1968.

Of course, after years of hav ing only men's varsity ath letics, women's teams began to make a mark on Ripon during the 1970s. With the appointment of Elaine Coll as part-time coach and assistant professor of physical education in 1973, the College ini tiated a full-scale intercollegiate program for women, opening doors for young female athletes that, up to that point, had been closed.

For one year, the women's athlet ic teams belonged to two leagues - the state league and the Midwest Conference But since 1985, Ripon's women's teams have only been asso ciated with the Midwest Conference. While volleyball, bas ketball, tennis, track and softball were the first sports to obtain a var sity status for Ripon, others fol lowed. After being a club sport briefly, women's soccer went varsity in 1985, while cross country, swim ming and golf came later.

Ripon's top female athlete is undoubtedly track star Lori Oleson Krug '82, who in 1982 finished fifth nationally in the 1,500 meters and seventh at the 800 meters. The

Ripon College Baseball Championships

Coach John Storzer: 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967

Coach Duane Ernst: 1974

Coach Bob Gillespie: 1989, 1994

Coach Gordie Gillespie: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001

Three NCAA Tournament appearances

Ripon College Men·s Soccer Championships

Coach Borislav Sucevic: 1997, 1998

Coach Billy Swartz '98: 1999, 2000

Two NCAA Tournament appearances first qualified her as an All American; her time of 4 minutes, 34 seconds is likely to remain a Ripon record for many years. The college's other female All American is Tracie Kinard '90, who earned the honor as a soccer player in 1986 and 1987.

In the summer of 1988, Linda Secor '78, a three-sport athlete, became the first woman to be inducted into the Ripon College Athletic Hall of Fame. Lori Stich Zimmerman '91 became Ripon's first conference champion in cross country in 1989 and also the first to qualify for the national meet.

Athletics have gone handin hand with Ripon's past, and will continue to go forward with its future. From the start of the "Y" clubs in 1886 to today, ath letics - and the athletes - of Ripon are one'5f the school's prized possessions.

Wilson, of Fond du Lac., Wis., is a for mer sports information director at the College and now writes for Fox Cities Newspapers out of Appleton.

Chuck Larson '65 Lori Oleson Krug'82

Linda Secor '78 Lori Stieb Zimmerman '91

RyanWilson

Celebrating 150 Years of Education. Leadership. Service

For 150 years, Ripon College has offered an outstanding personalized education in the liberal arts and sciences to a diverse population of stu dents, many of whom have become first-genera tion college graduates. The college's year-long Sesquicentennial commemoration celebrates the best of a Ripon education - small classes, personal interaction among faculty and students and the development of critical-thinking and problem-solving skills among its students. Students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends will reflect and celebrate the college's place in American higher education and its role in the history of the city of Ripon, the state of Wisconsin and in the United States and the world.

SESQUICENTENNIAL ACTIVITIES:

EVENTS:

2000

August - Sesquicentennial Opening Convocation

2001

January 29 - Ripon founding day and 150th birthday

February 16 - Sesquicentennial Founders' Day

April 5-September 1 - Sesquicentennial Photo Exhibit: Student Life at Ripon College

April 7 - Sesquicentennial Day of Service

April 27 - Sesquicentennial Day in the Life of Ripon College in Photography

May 13 - Sesquicentennial Commencement

June 22-24 - Sesquicentennial Alumni Weekend

September 20 - Sesquicentennial Lecture by Dr. William Cronon of the University of Wisconsin, a noted environmental historian

September 28 - "A Night on the Town"

September 28 - Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMITTEE

HONORARY Co CHAIRS

Robert Ashley, professor of English, dean of the College (retired) and William Harley Barber Distinguished Professor Emeritus

George Miller, professor of history and Ralph Hale Rupert Distinguished Professor of American History, Principles and Traditions Emeritus

CHAIR

Loren J. Boone, director of college relations

MEMBERS

Marc Boucher, former systems librarian

Danika Grandkoski '01, student representative

Judy Enestvedt Karlson, director of ASAP and special admission programs

Pam Klinger, administrative assistant to the president

Charles Larson '65, professor of physical education and chair of the department

Larry Laux '78, alumni association representative

Douglas Light, associate professor of biology

Ken Pinckney '81, alumni association representative

Stephanie Ranslow

Sarah Reeder '02, student representative

Jannan Roesch '87, director of alumni and parent relations

Jessica Rosen '02, student representative

Susan Angell Schmidt '80, alumni association representative

Lisa Smith '01, student representative

Eric Tammes, former director of student activities and orientation

Teri Tomaszkiewicz, senior development officer

Vida Vande Slum, secretary/technician, West Hall

The orchestra accompanied the Ripon College Choral Union in the singing of "The Alma Mater" at the conclusion of the concert

OTHER PROJECTS:

■ Ripon College Museum Restoration

■ Sesquicentennial Trunk (to be opened in 2051 at the college's Bicentennial)

■ Sesquicentennial issue of Ripon Magazine

■ Sesquicentennial pins

■ Sesquicentennial banners

THANKS, TOM CAESTECKER

Ripon College offers a special thank you to Trustee Thomas E. Caestecker for his gift to support the college's Sesquicentennial celebration.

Mr. Caestecker has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1985 and has been a generous benefac tor of the College for many years.

Like the founders of Ripon, Mr. Caestecker has identified needs and stepped forward to leave his mark on the institution.

His most well-known gift to the College is an endowment he creat ed in 1988 to establish the Caestecker Fine Arts Series which brings outstanding performers, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, to campus each year. The Caestecker Wing to the C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts also carries his name and he underwrote the inauguration of President Paul Ranslow in 1996.

Mr. Caestecker received his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1953. He holds two hon orary doctorates in humane letters - one from Spring Hill College, presented in 1996, and one from Ripon College, presented in May 2001.