Cycads, Gateways, the Campanile, and Big Money

Citation: "N.E. Campus Entrance," undated, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box: CAM 4-6 folder: Gateway, College + University, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

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Introduction

College students often develop a special affection for certain professors, facilities, features, or groups on their campus. As graduation approaches, students try to think of ways in which they can show their appreciation to their school and also leave a reminder of their class on the campus. In the early days of the University of Northern Iowa, class gifts were solely student-run enterprises, typically organized by a few senior class leaders. They would decide upon a gift and then attempt to extract a dollar or two from each of their classmates to pay for the gift. However, in the last fifty years or so, class gifts have become enterprises associated with the well-organized, professional assistance of development and advancement staff, who help to construct a list of appropriate gifts and then organize and assist with the necessary fund-raising.

This essay will focus on the gifts that classes have made to the University of Northern Iowa over the years. It will concentrate on gifts delivered at the time of or fairly soon after graduation rather than on gifts donated by classes long after they graduated, perhaps at a golden anniversary reunion.

For some class gifts there is good documentation of the amount of money raised, the nature of the gift, and the current whereabouts of the gift. For other class gifts, there is little or no existing documentation.

Beginnings

Professionally organized class gift efforts were not the norm in the past. Over a century ago, students at the Iowa State Normal School, now the University of Northern Iowa, took care of the process on their own. In the earliest days of the school, students' affection for their alma mater seemed to be particularly strong for a number of reasons.

• The school had a simple, unified mission: the preparation of teachers for Iowa schools. All students studied a common teacher education curriculum taught by a small faculty.
• The school itself was small: in 1890, for example, the enrollment was just 529 students. Everybody knew just about everybody else.
• There were few distractions. The campus was relatively isolated. Tranportation and communication were limited. Students tended to stay close to campus for both their studies and their recreational activities.
• The late Victorian era could be characterized as being sentimental.

However, a small enrollment and limited funds restricted what students could do for their school in those early days. The earliest gifts were probably small tokens of appreciation, such as a fine fountain pen for the penmanship professor, or a nice volume of Shakespeare for the literature professor. The Class of 1881 was responsible for what was likely the first significant class gift. According to Eliza Rawstern Wright, the Class of 1881 secured a large granite boulder and had the year "1881" deeply inscribed on it. It was dedicated at the time of the dedication of Old Gilchrist Hall, on July 8, 1883, and then placed on the lawn in front of what is now Lang Hall. The stone was still there in 1933, but its current location is unknown.

Evidence for another fairly early formal class gift appears in the student newspaper, the Normal Eyte, in 1895. In May of that year the newspaper announced that the various sections of the Class of 1895 were having difficulty in deciding upon a gift. At that time in the school's history, degrees were different from those awarded today. In those days students might have been completing a short-term diploma course, a two year course, a three year course, or even a four year course of study. All students who were finishing their course of study in 1895, no matter how long or short, would have been considered members of the Class of 1895. The Normal Eyte reported that there was considerable friction among the class sections. Apparently each section had its own idea of an appropriate gift and was unwilling to compromise. The difficulties of this class, as described in the newspaper, would be echoed many times in later years when classes attempted to come to a gift decision:

It is difficult to come to a satisfactory decision on any subject at a large meeting. The majority of the students do not have time to sit down and consider just what they desire in regard to the many matters that come up during the last term of the senior year. It is, therefore, necessary to have some who have made a decision, to make plans. There are always a few who object to everything and yet have nothing to present.

In any event, by the time of Commencement in June, the sections had come to agreement. On June 19, 1895, during Class Day exercises, the seniors presented "two beautiful etchings" intended to be hung in the school's new library that would be housed in the Administration Building to be completed in 1896. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of what was depicted in those etchings, which had apparently been purchased by an assessment of the graduating classes.

In May 1897, committees from the sections of the Class of 1897 met to consider a class gift, but, due to limited finances, decided not to make a gift. The Normal Eyte reported that the class wished to present "the best and most creditable gift that moderate means would allow." However, the class believed that it could not ask its members for additional funds at that time. They did not have any money to spare, and, as teachers, the prospects for substantial disposable income in the near future were not bright.

The Class of 1898 did make a nice gift. And they started the process earlier in the school year than their predecessors had done. Already in February 1898 the newspaper reported that the fourth year class was raising money to purchase a cycad fossil that had been found in South Dakota by Professor Thomas Houston MacBride, the renowned botanist on the faculty of the University of Iowa. Cycads are large plants similar in appearance to ferns and palms. They have a long fossil record. Yet many species survive in tropical climates to this day. The MacBride fossil would be placed in the Normal School's new and growing museum. It seems likely that the class gift decision was influenced by a very active student group, the Natural History Association, under the direction of Professor Melvin Arey of the school's Natural Science faculty. Professor Arey did a great deal to start and organize the school's museum and, after his retirement from teaching, served as the curator of the collection from 1917 through 1928. By April 1898 the class had raised enough money to buy the fossil. It was expected to be delivered to campus yet that spring. Exactly when it arrived is unclear, but by October the Natural History Association expressed its gratitude to the contributors who had made its purchase possible. That fossil cycad remains on display in the University Museum today, over 110 years later.

The idea of class gifts seems to have fallen away for a few years following the gift of the fossil. Perhaps small groups of seniors made more localized contributions for the benefit of particular organizations within the school during that period. In 1901, for example, the seniors of the Shakespearean Literary Society purchased two wicker chairs for the use of the society itself.

The Class of 1909, however, raised the bar once again. The year 1909 was the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. The love and gratitude that Iowans felt for Lincoln and his Civil War leadership in those days would be difficult to overestimate. Many of the students were the children or grandchildren of Civil War veterans. At least five members of the Normal School faculty and staff were Civil War veterans and active members of the Grand Army of the Republic. To commemorate the Lincoln birth centennial, the Class of 1909 presented a bronze tablet on which was inscribed the Gettysburg Address.

The seniors presented the tablet to the school in an elaborate ceremony. On Friday, February 12, 1909, the students and faculty assembled in the Auditorium of what is now called Lang Hall. Members of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Women's Relief Corp from the community joined them there. Professors Melvin F. Arey and William Wesley Gist, both Civil War veterans, spoke at the ceremony as did Albert T. Barrett and Charles F. Schweiker, of the senior class.

On the left, William Wesley Gist, 26th Iowa Infantry, Professor of English;
on the right, Melvin Franklin Arey, 22nd Maine Infantry, Professor of Science.

The yearbook of the school, the Old Gold, lauded the gift "as a fitting token of their love for their Alma Mater" and hoped that those who saw the plaque would think "of the great principles the tablet is intended to convey." The seniors asked that the tablet be mounted in the new Library, now Seerley Hall, when construction of that building was completed.

The Class of 1911 brought the focus of their gift a bit closer to home. On Monday, March 21, 1910, Professor Leonard W. Parish was killed in a railroad accident near Gladbrook, Iowa. He had been returning to Cedar Falls after visiting his son John in Iowa City. The train in which he had been riding derailed. His car and another car telescoped into a heavier Pullman car. At least forty-six people were killed and forty-five were injured in the accident. Professor Parish was a very popular member of the economics faculty at the school.

He was also active in professional educational matters around the state. He had written several books and was an active citizen of the developing College Hill neighborhood. His death saddened both faculty and students. Consequently, the Class of 1911 commissioned a watercolor portrait of Professor Parish. The portrait was made under the direction of Teachers College alumnus and local photographer W. L. Veatch. Anton Fisher, on behalf of his class, presented the portrait during chapel exercises on October 30, 1911. The portrait would be hung in the historical gallery of the museum.

Not until May 1912 did the Class of 1912 decide that their gift would be an outdoor fountain. That would have been a nice gift, but their late start hindered their efforts to raise enough money. The student newspaper, the College Eye, first cited the generosity of the senior classes at Morningside College and Cornell College and then printed a scathing criticism of Teachers College students who would not contribute to their class gift. The editorial said, in part:

O, you tight-fisted, squeezing, grasping, wrenching, dead and dying lifeless Seniors without a grain of school spirit in your veins, with no thankfulness for the work of earnest professors and for the beautiful associations and glorious friendships of student days . . . .

It went on to try to shame the non-contributors into participating in the effort. Some money had been raised, but the class needed about one dollar more per student to get the fountain project done. Unfortunately, the editorial scolding was to no avail. At least at that point, the gift from the Class of 1912 was dead. But the Class of 1912 would eventually be included in one of the most memorable cycles of class gifts in the school's history. The Class of 1912 passed its funds, insufficient for its own project, on to the Class of 1913.

The Gateways

The school year of 1912-1913 was especially challenging for the Iowa State Teachers College. In the name of efficiency and in order to reduce perceived duplicative curricula, the Board of Education, predecessors of the Board of Regents, put forward recommendations for the three Iowa public institutions of higher learning. The Board recommended that:

• all engineering study be moved to Iowa State University;
• all home economics study be moved to the University of Iowa;
• all education courses above the sophomore level be moved to the University of Iowa.

The last recommendation would have reduced the Iowa State Teachers College to the status of a two-year school similar to a junior college. That would have been a significant step backwards for a school that had just acquired college status, at least in name, from the General Assembly in 1909. Alumni, administrators, faculty, and students at all three institutions were outraged. They flooded the General Assembly with protests. Bills rescinding the recommendations were introduced and passed in both houses. The whole matter even received a name: the Coordination Controversy. The legislative session closed before the various bills could be reconciled, so the bills did not go forward to the Governor for his signature. But the intent of the legislation and the will of the legislators were clear. The Board of Education withdrew its recommendations. Partisans of all three schools rejoiced. Supporters of the Teachers College were probably the most happy, because the resolution of the issue had been in grave doubt for months, and the Teachers College had had the most to lose. With the knowledge that the Teachers College would continue to be a four year institution, students and faculty were in a mood to celebrate.

One of the big celebrations was May Day. That old holiday had been celebrated in earlier years, but those celebrations were limited to activities such as a maypole for children at the Training School or a performance by dance classes. However, the May Day celebration in 1913 included a parade through Cedar Falls, a picnic lunch, the coronation of a May Queen, a large maypole dance, a tennis tournament, a baseball game, and a concert by the Cedar Falls Municipal Band. The whole city was invited to attend the program, which was described as the beginning of a new epoch in school history.

The Teachers College May Day celebration, 1913.

The big celebration, organized by the Class of 1913, went well. But that class was also busy on another front. In April 1913, the College Eye announced that the Classes of 1912 and 1913 would combine their funds to erect a gateway at one of the entrances to campus. One of the gateway columns would be inscribed to the Class of 1912; the other would be inscribed to the Class of 1913. That gateway would be "a fitting monument to leave to the memory of a year of worry, trials, and successful conquests such as we have just passed thru."

Contributions poured in quickly. By mid-May 1913, even without a special student-by-student assessment, the class raised enough money to build TWO gateways: one at the corner of 23rd and College Streets and another at 24th (now Seerley Boulevard) and College Streets. Construction followed so quickly that a dedication of the gateway at 23rd and College could be held on June 7, 1913, just six weeks after the idea surfaced in the student newspaper. The dedication program included a short parade, speeches, and music.

Citation: "Seerley Blvd and College St. Entrance," undated, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box: CAM 4-6 folder CAM-4, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

In one part of the ceremony, representatives of the Class of 1912 presented symbolic keys to representatives of the Class of 1913. Then those representatives presented both their set of keys and the keys of the Class of 1912 to the Class of 1914, as their successors at the Teachers College. Student speakers reminded their hearers of the difficult year through which they had just passed and urged each other to be loyal, honest, faithful, and true, both then and into the future.

Citation: "Early 23rd St. Entrance," Prior to 1933, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box: CAM 4-6 folder CAM-4 Early, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

The Class of 1914 took the admonition seriously. Already in January 1914, they decided on a $1 per class member assessment for a class gift. And then on March 26, 1914, the class decided to fund a third gateway, this time at the corner of 26th and College Streets. Apparently the class had already raised sufficient funds to move forward. They sent plans to James E. Robinson, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, who promised that the work would be completed by Commencement. Mr. Robinson was as good as his word. The arched gateway was ready for dedication at the Commencement exercises for the Class of 1914 in June. The program included speeches, the class song, and the planting of ivy.

Construction of this third gateway meant that all significant public entrances to campus were nicely decorated. In those days, College Street and the east frontage in general were considered to be the campus "front door". Twenty-Third Street, on the north edge of campus, and Twenty-Seventh Street, on the south edge of campus, were mostly unpaved country roads. Just about all campus photographs were shot from the east and looking toward the broad, impressive east sides of what are now Seerley Hall and Lang Hall. The three gateways were constructed of red brick with limestone trim, which, under James Robinson's guidance, had become the standard building materials on campus. The gateways of the Classes of 1912 and 1913 were quite similar in design, perhaps because they were designed and built almost simultaneously. They featured short brick columns with inset limestone blocks on which were inscribed dedications to the appropriate class. Each also featured limestone benches set against semi-circular brick walls. The gateway from the Class of 1914 was a pair of tall brick arches with limestone trim over the sidewalks on both sides of the 26th Street roadway into campus. Curiously, even though the 1914 gateway was the tallest of the three gateways and had the most graceful style, it seems to have been the subject of many fewer photographs than the other two gateways. At some later date, electric lights were installed on the tops of the columns of all three gateways.

Citation: "N.E. Campus Entrance at Night," undated, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box: CAM 4-6 folder: Gateway, College + University, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

The three campus decorative gateways were familiar landmarks on campus for over sixty years. At least during nice weather, they offered a place to sit, wait, relax, or meet someone.

Citation: "Seerley Blvd and College St. Entrance," 1948, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box: CAM 4-6 folder CAM-4, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

But two of the gateways were eventually demolished and the remaining gateway was substantially reconstructed. The Class of 1914 gateway at the corner of 26th and College Streets was the first to go. During the fall of 1976, the gateway was demolished during the widening of the road leading from College Street up toward Seerley Hall. The widened road would provide easier access to the campus for emergency vehicles. Rebuilding the gateway would have cost at least $9000, which was considered to be too expensive. The significant decorative features were saved, but the bricks were discarded. The next gateway to be demolished was the Class of 1912 gift at the intersection Seerley Boulevard and College Streets. It was razed on November 19, 1980, again in the name of accommodating wider emergency vehicles. Campus Planning administrator Leland Thomson stated that the inscribed limestone block was saved, but that the rest of the badly weathered gateway was discarded.

The Class of 1913 gateway at 23rd and College Streets was apparently showing its age, too. But, for some reason, university administration decided to save it.

Citation: "Busy 23rd St. Entrance," undated, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box: CAM 4-6 folder CAM-4, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

The July 1985 Alumnus magazine stated that the 23rd Street gateway would be torn down, but then rebuilt at just about the same site. The article stated that the project would be partially funded by a 50th reunion gift from the Class of 1935. One class gift would piggyback onto another. By February 1986, campus planners had prepared plans for a significant project on the southwest corner of 23rd and College Streets that would include better designed sidewalks, attractive plantings, a small plaza, and a reconstructed gateway. The overall project would cost about $40,000. There was some sentimental student opposition to the demolition and then reconstruction of the gateway. Some students did not want the old structure disturbed in any substantial way. But the project did go forward. In the summer of 1986, the gateway was torn down, but the inscribed block was carefully removed. The gateway was rebuilt a few feet farther back from the roads in a style quite similar to its original design.

In the summer of 2011, in association with a "streetscaping" plan on College Hill, the 23rd Street gateway was rebuilt yet again. The existing gateway was completely demolished. The construction crew put in a new foundation and then laid new bricks and installed new limestone trim. It also appears as if the masons installed new limestone blocks with the class gift inscriptions.

Citation: "23rd St.Gateway,"  2011, in the University of Northern Iowa Photograph Collections #29, box CAM 4-6 folder CAM 4, University Archives, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa.

The Campanile

The idea of class gifts changed after the graceful gateway donated by the Class of 1914. Perhaps the elation fostered by the assurance of the future of the college in 1913 faded. Perhaps the build-up toward World War I, and then the entrance of the United States into the war in 1917 were too distracting. But there was one overwhelming reason that individual class gifts did not appear during this period: the beginning of the Campanile project. The idea of a Campanile surfaced on campus in the fall of 1914 as an effort of the Alumni Association. At that stage, the cost was estimated at about $12,000, far more than one or two graduating classes could hope to raise. Students, faculty, alumni, and others would need to combine their efforts to raise such a substantial sum.

The Class of 1915 pledged $1000 to the project, and the College Eye praised that effort:

The spirit which has been so generously shown this year augers for the class of fifteen a marked success. This concrete evidence of the seniors' abiding interest will resound through a thousand years in the chiming echoes of the bells.

The Class of 1916 also decided to make its class gift to the Campanile fund, rather than establish its own smaller memorial. World War I put the Campanile project off track for several years. When the project came back into focus, construction costs had escalated considerably, and, while pledges continued to come in, actual cash contributions were not especially strong. Several classes in the early 1920s gave whatever small amounts of money that they had accumulated from dances or other promotions to the Campanile project. While students continued to be targets of Campanile fundraising efforts, the sheer size of the sum needed--estimated at $50,000--made alumni better prospects for cash donations..

Perhaps students got the impression that the Campanile was just too big a project for their contributions to have any great impact. Perhaps smaller projects had greater appeal and more immediate effect. The Class of 1922, for example, gave a briefcase to Professor Charles H. Meyerholz, its class sponsor, on his departure from the faculty after the spring term of 1922.

The Class of 1923, after joking that the best gift to the school would be a case of paper towels for the restrooms, gathered enough funds to present an engraved sundial to the school. They took some mild ribbing from the College Eye about their conservative nature that took "no stock in such newfangled contrivances as clocks and electric bells." The Class of 1924 responded to the ongoing fundraising appeal and pledged $2000 to the Campanile.

The Campanile was substantially completed in 1926, though with a sizeable loan to be paid off and some finishing touches yet to be made. The Class of 1928 decided that it wanted to assist with the Campanile debt and also to present engraved medallions to the school. The medallions would feature President Homer H. Seerley, who would be retiring in 1928, and Principal James Cleland Gilchrist, the first head of the school. The medallions would be sixteen inches in diameter and would cost $588 apiece. They would be made by the Gorham Company, of Providence, Rhode Island, a firm well-known for its fine metal products. The Class of 1928 had apparently been less than careful with its treasury. They were, in fact, in debt. So they formed a team that aimed to visit every member of their class and to collect fifty cents per term for each term in which the class member had been enrolled at the Teachers College. It is unclear how much the class collected, but they did raise enough money to cover their debt and to pay for the medallions.

The writer of a feature article in the Alumnus in 1933 described a walk around campus with special attention to class gifts. He noted the Class of 1881 boulder, the three gateways, the sundial, and, the crowning achievement, the Campanile.

After the Campanile

That was the end of any special class gifts for a long time. The Depression probably soaked up any spare change that a senior might have had in the 1930s. World War II, followed by the hectic pace of postwar life, probably left little time or money for the more sentimental aspects of college life.

The tradition of class gifts revived in 1962 for at least two significant reasons. First, in 1961, the name of the school changed to reflect a new, expanded mission. Until 1961, the sole mission of the school, the Iowa State Teachers College, was the preparation of teachers. All students took the professional sequence in education. But in 1961 the General Assembly broadened the mission of the school to include non-teaching, liberal arts degrees. In keeping with that expanded mission, the name of the school became the State College of Iowa. The Class of 1962 would be the first class to graduate from the school under that new name. And, second, the State College of Iowa Foundation, organized in 1959, was beginning to understand its function and to expand its role in college affairs. Consequently, the Class of 1962 and the Foundation worked together to develop an appropriate remembrance of the class.

The Class of 1962 decided to ask each senior to donate one dollar per year, over the coming twenty-five years, to build a fund that they hoped would reach about $15,000 by 1987. The class would decide what to do with the money at its twenty-fifth reunion. The class organized a committee of fifty members, led by chair Jalaa Domer, Bob Button, James Carr, Charlyn Cleveland, Mary Ann Lee, and John Schlicher. The committee canvassed dormitories and made special arrangements to talk with off-campus students. Their efforts met with good success. By May 11, 1962, the committee reported that 75% of the class had responded positively with donations or pledges. By May 25, the figure had risen to 87%. The total cash received at that point was $200.50, certainly a small sum by the standards of later years. However, Director of Alumni Affairs Milo Lawton took the whole matter as a tribute to the Class of 1962 and as a validation of the work of the Foundation. He said:

The enthusiasm and interest in the SCI Foundation exhibited by the senior class is most heartening. I am convinced that they will establish a standard of participation for their class that will be hard to surpass.

When the Class of 1962 met for their 25th reunion, they had accumulated about $6250 in their class gift fund. They decided to give that money to develop an exhibit of a collage of Iowa history in the UNI Museum.

The Class of 1964 was the next senior class to consider a class gift. Their goal was to raise $5000 to furnish the Browsing Room in the new Library that would be completed in the summer of 1964. This would be part of a campus-wide fundraising effort to furnish the new building appropriately. The campus goal was to supplement the overall project budget by 2%. The seniors, with the assistance of the SCI Foundation, planned to ask their classmates to make pledges that would be payable over three years. The Library did receive donations that were used for furnishings, but it is unclear now exactly how much of that money came from the Class of 1964.

The Class of 1965 chose to donate funds for a speaker system and microphone outlets for a new Union, though construction would still be several years in the future. That system was finally installed in the Hemisphere Lounge in 1972 at a cost of $985.

The Class of 1966 chose to build upon an earlier class gift: the Campanile. The Campanile was originally constructed with a fifteen bell "chime". That was adequate, but it severely affected the size of the repertoire that could be played on it. In addition, the action mechanism that struck the bells was clumsy and hard to work. The SCI Foundation decided to support a project to add thirty-two bells and to update the striking mechanism. The additional bells would bring the Campanile up to the formal level of a "carillon". In February 1966, a large committee from the Class of 1966 considered other projects, such as scholarships and improved library and union facilities, but ultimately chose to support the Campanile project. Under the leadership of senior Maggie Brown, they aimed to raise $1000 to purchase at least one bell. A certain amount of controversy arose over this decision. Over the next several months, a number of seniors said that they had not had the opportunity to voice their ideas for a class gift. They believed that the matter should have been put to a vote. An editorial in the College Eye called for a vote on the matter to be taken during registration. However, the decision of the class committee back in February stood. Members of the Class of 1966 pledged a little over $1000 to the Campanile project.

Perhaps everyone learned a lesson from this controversy. In April 1967, members of the Class of 1967 were asked for suggestions about their class gift. Resulting possibilities included:

• paintings
• a fountain for the new Union
• a scoreboard for the Gymnasium
• a Campanile bell
• a live panther
• a donation for a new auditorium
• a donation to KYTC, the campus radio station

During its Senior Testing sessions, the Class of 1967 voted to donate the proceeds of its fundraising efforts toward the purchase of original artwork for the new Union. The goal was to raise $5 from each senior.

The Class of 1967 was the last class to graduate from the State College of Iowa. In the summer of 1967, the name of the school changed to its current name, the University of Northern Iowa. All later gifts would be from graduates of UNI. The Class of 1968 decided to start a fund that would be only the first step toward a much larger goal. In 1968, many students and faculty believed that existing auditorium space on the UNI campus was inadequate. They believed that the auditorium in what is now Lang Hall was outdated and in poor physical condition. The size of its stage limited the kinds of performing arts that could be presented there. In February of that year, Professor Stanley Wood presented the findings of the Ad Hoc Committee on Auditoria Needs. The committee recommended three kinds of new auditorium space for the UNI campus:

• an auditorium seating 2000;
• a theater seating 800;
• a "coliseum" seating 10,000.

It took thirty years, but those recommendations were ultimately realized in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, the Strayer-Wood Theater, and the UNI-Dome, respectively. Students from the Class of 1968 could certainly not visualize these three major structures, but they did perceive that there was a significant need. And they wanted to get things started. Sue Milder led the effort to raise at least $3000, $5 per year, for three years, from each senior. She stated:

In arriving at the project, members of the organization committee felt that the auditorium needs of the university were desperate. Such a building does not receive sufficient funds from the legislature because of the more immediate priority of classrooms and office space. The project members felt that their efforts could start a successful campaign that would receive support from alumni and many friends throughout the country . . . .