Howard and Pauline Vincent Endowment
– 65 Years in the Making –
14 | Heritage | SUMMER 2021
photo courtesy sunnyslope-history.blogspot.com
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lzan Vincent was ready to explore the world as a freshman coed. The country girl from Russell, Iowa, Howard and Pauline’s oldest of three, was anticipating the adventure of a lifetime. Enrolled at Harding College, she was leaving the family farm behind and headed to Arkansas… until Dale Larsen showed up at her house. Larsen was traveling around the Midwest telling anyone and everyone about the small Christian college in York, Nebraska, that was reopening its doors under the oversight of the Churches of Christ. He was both seeking funds and seeking students to get the fledgling college up and running. This visit was about the latter and Elzan’s father found the conversation appealing. A few years later, Larsen wrote in his dissertation—A History of York College: “The founders of the college, the first college in a vast underdeveloped area for the Church, envisioned what such a school would mean to the Church's growth. Students from small scattered congregations would attend, and in many cases, they would return to establish homes and assume leadership in the Church.” Howard was convinced and it was decided that Elzan would be enrolled at York College with the first freshman class under the new administration. On September 10, 1956, Elzan quickly found her place among the 89 students that took that first leap of faith. She became the first president of the newly established drama club, and in 1957, when a student council was organized, Ms. Vincent served as its secretary-treasurer. Elzan’s high school sweetheart, Roger McMurry, transferred in as a Bible major her Elzan Vincent sophomore year, and the two were married that winter. Howard and Pauline were committed to York’s mission and sent their second daughter, Dianne, to YC in the fall of 1959. Social clubs were established on campus during the year and Dianne joined Delta Chi Alpha as a charter member with Mrs. Gayle Napier as sponsor. However, a young man in Frater Sodalis, Harold Mitchell, a sophomore music major Dianne Vincent from Lawrence, Kans., caught her eye and captured her heart. When Mitchell graduated that spring and transferred to Abilene Christian, Dianne followed suit.
(above) Howard and Pauline stand outside the Sunnyslope church with their three children in the mid-forties. Howard was a lay preacher and teacher in the church. Until recently, his son-in-law Harold preached at the same country church near Russell, Iowa.
Howard and Pauline weren’t detoured; after all, finding a potential Christian mate was one of the main reasons for sending their children to a Christian college. So when it came time for their youngest son Jacob to make his decision in 1962, York was both theirs and his choice. Jake Vincent Jake made his own mark as a Vincent, chosen beau by the women of GATA, was president of the sophomore class, and voted by faculty in 1964 as Mr. York College Runner-up. That same year, his father was asked to serve on the YC Board of Trustees and gave the commencement address at Jake’s graduation. According to his sister Dianne, the title of their dad’s speech, “How High” was a reference to Jake sneaking out of the dorm and climbing the water tower that used to be close to campus. Jake denied any memory of that speech but did add with a chuckle that partner in crime Bob Stevenson ’64 made the climb with him. Jake has a vivid memory of making a trip with his father, then an Iowa State Senator, to visit Loy Hardesty, a prisoner at the Iowa State Penitentiary. Accompanied by classmates Jim Anderson ’64 and Lloyd Mansfield ’65, Senator Vincent wanted Jake and the other YC students to be an
