College of Liberal Arts Has Formed
Nucleus of UO Educational Proaram
The nucIctiH of the University of
Oregon’s educational program
since the founding of the institu
tion has been the College of Liberal
Arts.
Early University catalog ter
minology listed the liberal arts
courses under the general heading
"Collegiate Department." This was
distinguished first only from the
"English preparatory department”
but later also from the profession
al schools.
In 1899 the College of Litera
ture, Science and the Arts was
established as a part of the new
organizational set-up under Presi
dent Strong. This program con
tinued until the Oregon State Sys
tem of Higher Education was
changed in 1932.
It was only In the fall of 1942
that major work in science was
re-established after the reorgani
zation of 1932 and the separate
liberal arts divisions were merged
Into the College of Liberal Arts.
James H. Gilbert was named first
Janet Smith Made
Women's Coop Plan
A Reality at Oregon
The establishment of the system
of women’s cooperative houses in
the University was the memorable
contribution of Janet Smith, em
ployment secretary for many
years.
Miss Smith had watched many
women fight a constant and some
times losing struggle to keep them
s'-lves in school. In her position she
was able to devote herself whole
heartedly to the welfare of the
women, getting summer employ
ment for them, getting needed odd
jobs during the school year for
them, as well as advising and
mothering them.
P.''i saw that getting the women
in’ s was only part of the solution
to the problem; reducing the living
cost was the other. She had seen
the same situation solved on other
campuses by the establishment of
cooperative houses, in w'hieh the
young women held expenses to a
minimum by doing all their own
work and eliminating all unneces
sary frills.
A group of women who would fit
into such a system were gathered
together and Miss Smith started
the first of four women’s coopera
tives now on campus in 1936.
Campbell club for the men had al
ready been in operation. Rent for
the first house was $90 a month
and it cost 40 women $2.25 each.
Miss Smith saw her plan help
many women go through the Uni
versity who otherwise probably
would have had to drop out or who
might not have been able to enter,
before her death in March 1945.
The motto guiding the women
who went through four years of
college made possible by Miss
Smith’s first venture to solve the
problem was ‘‘Lower house bills,
Oregon Hall First •
Education Building
Oregon hall was the University’s
first school of education. It began
operations in the fall of 1916 as a
junior high school and a few years
later developed into a six-year
high school.
The law school was at one time
located there, but in 1922 it was
moved to Fenton hall to make way
for departments of language and
social studies. By this time the
new education building was com
pleted and prep students moved
into the new University high
school.
Oregon hall, now the center of
the liberal arts college, is a three
story brick buUding at 13th Ave.
and Kincaid St.
dean of the new college.
Upper-Division School*
One of the most significant re
cent developments in the College
has been the reorganization of all
the professional schools except one
(physical education) on an upper
division basis. This explains the
28% Increase In enrollment in the
college during the year 1980-51
over the preceding year, because
students formerly registered in the
lower division of the professional
schools were now in the College of
Liberal Arts.
As a result of this new set-up
two factors were involved: (1) the
specialized or professional courses
In the student’s first two years
were reduced and (2) there was a
doubling of the general education
or "group requirement” courses
from two-year-sequences to four.
This change was designed to im
prove the quality and range of the
preprofessional- student's general
education and also to provide a
more defensible program for those
students who find that they are
lacking either the ability or inter
est to continue in a field in which
they were initially interested.
( hanges Proposed
With the aim still to further in
crease the student's general edu
cation and to provide a better bal
ance between specialization and a
liberal education, the college is
now proposing a number of cur
ricular changes. The foremost of
these proposed changes is to in
crease the group requirement cour
es from four to six. Several upper
livision courses and a limited num
ber of new inter-departmental
courses will be recognized as meet
ing the group requirements.
A second proposed change is to
provide a sophomore honors pro
gram whereby students with un
usual ability may meet their re
quirements by examination with
out class attendance. On the other
hand, the college is designing an
other curriculum on the elemen
tary level for students who are de
ficient in their preparation.
During the year 1950-1951, the
college had a student enrollment
of 3,853 of which 62 per cent
were men and 38 per cent women.
The faculty, numbering 159, were
distributed about equally in ranks
from instructor to full professor.
Since 1942 the college has in
cluded the three main divisions—
science, social science and lang
uages and literature within its
scope. There are 17 instructional
departments within these three
I main branches which include an
thropology, biology, chemistry, ec
onomics, English, foreign languag
es, geography and geology, history,
home economics, mathematics,
philosophy, physics, political sci
ence, psychology, religion, sociol
ogy and speech.
With the retirement of Dr. Jam
es H. Gilbert as dean in 1947, the
college was placed under the direc
tion of Dr. Eldon Johnson, then
head of the department of politi
cal science.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
UNIVERSITY of OREGON
ARMISHAW’S
The home of the famous
few
Tan and off-white
All ever off-white
Blue and off-white
'ARMISHAWS'
Sends Congratulations on
Your important anniversary
‘Armishaws' for girls still
only $10.95
‘Armishaws’ for men in tan and white only
$12.95
Arpjjgw.
ALDER at PARK
PORTLAND, OREGON
UNIVERSITY of OREGON'S
marks the passing of the CO-OP'S
75th
year
YOU—as a student, probably take for granted the co-ops
wide selection of school supplies, books, drug notions, and
complete stationery store merchandise. We are constantly
seeking to provide you with the best possible choice of merch
andise at the lowest prices. It is our hope that as the years
come and go, YOUR Co-op will grow to better serve the needs
of the University.
University of Oregon Co-op Store
COMING WEDNESDAY! RAY ANTHONY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
America's NUMBER ONE Dance Band-at the Eugene Armory