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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1944)
University’s First President Crossed Country by Ox-Cart By PEGGY OVERLAND While the 27-year-old Thomas Condon was still attending the Theological Seminary in New York, John Wesley Johnson, the leading member of the University’s original five, was driv ing an ox team across the continent. He was 13 years old and his destination was the Willamette valley. That was in 1849; 27 years later, Johnson was to visit the valley zz the president of the first University ever estab lished there. There are a lot of stories still ■being told about Johnson’s im jilacable will and his encounters with students who tried to resist his plans. Perhaps that sternness and inability to overlook inferior ity in any student was an inherit ance of those long, rigorous months spent on the prairie, and the unusual responsibility which had been placed upon him. What ever it was, it earned for Presi dent Johnson the reputation of a driver and a hard worker and one who instilled in his students either great respect or an equal amount of fear. John W’. Johnson was horn into a typical frontier environment— Missouri in 1836—and he never left it until he began the trek to Oregon 13 years later. For nine years he tried to support himself and at the same time attend the half-developed academies of Ore wmcn were me only sellouts established (luring that early period. However, Johnson, in search of more rigorous learning broke away, went east by the Isth mus of Panama in 1858 and com pleted a college course at Yale in 18(>2. Immediately after his gradua tion, Johnson did not enter the ed ucation field, but surprisingly enough, turned miner for a time in Idaho. Whether he liked it or not is uncertain but he eventually began to teach in a number of de nominational foundations, includ ing McMinnville of which he was president, and later settled down in Portland as principal of the Portland high school. Johnson’s career at the Univers ity was stormy, not only in rela tion to the students but also in connection with faculty measures. He was a classicist of the discip linary school and he was a hard worker. He had so completely mastered the Uatin classics that he seldom referred to the text book in class. Naturally he had a strong contempt for shoddiness and laziness, and few were the pupils who did not tremble when his dry, .sardonic humor was di rected at them. They usually re taliated as best they could tu'-ojg’i occasional outbreaks but they were not many and were mostly the result of student restlessness for outside activity. President Johnson's main trou ble was with the board of regents. He was an ardent and active Dem ocrat and the entire board was Republican. The clashes between this stern disciplinarian and Judge Deady, the head of the board and equally as strong willed, were won derful to behold. During his entire period here, Johnson favored and encouraged a classic schedule but changing times and public pressure gradu ally forced him to introduce more modern courses. Johnson was trained along the old college tradition of the middle 19th cen tury and he never altered his opin ion on what education should in clude. Some examples of his dealings with students through the faculty board are evident in the following cases: a future lumber king was called “to be examined for having boasted of the fact that he had been fined for disorder;” another student had to apologize for using bad language. to., the . president concerning another tutor; and one unhappy young lady was required to make a public apology for hav ing whispered in one of the tutor’s exams during a class period. President Johnson, in whose memory a fireproof structure was erected in 1911 as an administra tion building, was a terror to his pupils but he won respect, and quite probably this classic Roman ist preferred it that way. Sororities House Majority of Women The majority of the women on the campus are living in sorority houses, figures from the dean of women’s office show. The dormitories are housing 317 girls, cooperatives 130, sororities 518, sorority girls living at home 41, unaffiliated girls living at home 200, and the number of girls from the Northwest Christian col lege total 14. HivERsrrrTffi**® I presents IV ,T dark VICTORY 55 directed by HORACE W. ROBINSON FRIDAY - SATURDAY lan'2Vmr m. curtain tune b-W All Seats Reserved • (me. taxi Admission Phono 3300—-b'xt. 210 University Theater JOHNSON HALL BOND GIRL, -—Photo by Kennell-Ellis . . . Irene Gresham was selected in a campus bond drive held this term. The drive, the most successful held on the campus, netted over $260,0000. Grad Students Offered Several New Awards Many notices of scholarships for graduate work in college have been received at the dean of wom en's office. Those interested should investigate the ones con cerning their particular field of work. Among those received recently is that of Bryn Mawr college, which is offering graduate ap pointments in geology. A depart ment fellowship will give one year of graduate work with $860. The $400 scholarships are for those who have their bachelor of arts degree. Information and applica tion blanks are available at the office of the dean of the graduate school, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Appli cations must be in by March 1. Alpha Phi international fratern ity is awarding nursing scholar ships at two graduate schools of nursing, Yale university and Western Reserve university, for study in the basic program of nursing leading to a M.A. degree. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree or be prepared for early graduation. Information may be obtained by writing the Secretary, Alpha Phi International fratern ity, 3310 Baton Tower, Detroit 26, Michigan. miKmm DON'T MISS IT! "THOUSANDS CHEER" with KATHRYN GRAYSON GENE KELLY Only ten more days till the Mil itary Ball It’s a campus-wide dance, come one and all. Natators Plan » Meet in East The national telegraphic swim ming meet will hold its tourna ment throughout the country in all colleges and universities on February 15. Oregon achieved first place in the western region last year and fourth nationally. As a result of this honor Oregon is the regional sponsor for the western division this year. In order to keep this honor, Betty Bush, in charge of the tele graphic meet on this campus, stressed the fact that the best girls who participate in intra murals will be chosen for the tele graphic meet. WAA intramural swimming is open to all girls attending the Un iversity. Teams may be entered from living organizations or in dependent groups. These meets will be held February 2 and Feb ruary 9 at 7:45 p. m. in the Ger linger pool. Entries must be in by 5 p. m. Monday, January 31. De tails may be obtained from Miss Moore, 117 Gerlinger, or Betty Bush, University house. Fashion Fellowships Offered for Seniors The Tobe-Coburn School for Fashion Careers of New York city is offering three fashion fel lowships to college seniors which will be awarded competitively and carry full tuition for the'1944 45 school year. Those who are interested in at taining one of these fellowships should get a registration blank at the dean of women’s office and mail it to the school by January 28. Test topics for the papers to be written will then be sent to ail contestants. Winners will enter the school on July 20 or September 22, take a course consisting of two periods of store experience alternating with three terms of class work, and graduate May 9, 1945. ★ 11 i I m THE SERVICE CARRY FUNDS YOU CAN T LOSE! Funds you can’t lose—that’s the kind you carry when you change vour cash into American Express TRAVELERS CHEQUES. Funds you can spend everywhere and funds that are refunded if lost or stolen. Issued in denominations of $10, $20, $50 and $100. Cost 75c for each $100. Minimum cost of 40 c for $10 to $50. For sale at banks and Railway Express Offices. AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVELERS CHEQUES TRANSFER YOUR THOUGHTS WITH FLOWERS 1 i l'or good wishes, consola tion, or just to let her know you're thinking of her— nothing says it better than Eddie's Flowers 50 13 West Phone 265