In writing his OLD
MIAMI anthem for the 1909 Centennial, Professor A.H. Upham
looked back at the decades past and then ahead--"Days of old and
days to be." A decade later, supported by President Hughes, he
proposed a development fund to augment the income from the
State. In the anthem's third stanza the words "Larger usefulness
awaits" voiced the hopes listed in the crusade: a college hospital, a
new library wing, men's and women's gymnasiums, playing fields,
loan and scholarship funds, increased faculty support--all to be
provided by the one million dollar campaign. In 1920 Miami had a
student enrollment of 900 and an alumni body of about
4,000.
On October 1, 1920 alumni dinners were
scheduled in 25 centers in Ohio and beyond. The Alumni News
Letter reminded: "October first! Keep your eye on it. That's when
the drive begins, the big Miami drive for that million." Some of the
25 dinners had scant attendance and only a few of them generated
much enthusiasm. Two months later Dr. Upham was called to the
presidency of the University of Idaho, and the big Miami drive fell in
the lap of 30-year-old Wallace Roudebush whose business office was
already overworked. It looked like a long, uncertain road to a
million dollars. The largest gift, $50,000 from the Carnegie
Foundation, was conditioned by an equal amount from alumni. That
matching sum was raised, gymnasium funds were started, and some
contributions helped along the $7500 purchase of Cook Field for
intramural sports. An unlooked-for gift came from S.S. Laws, the
oldest living alumnus; from the Corcoran Gallery in Washington he
sent the Houdon bronze statue of George Washington, appraised at
$15,000. For want of donors the college hospital, a scholarship fund,
a lecture fund, and the two gymnasiums had to
wait.
Sixty years later Miami University was a
greatly expanded institution but the anthem was still timely. Days of
old had lengthened and days to be were bright with promise. Again
it was apparent that "larger usefulness awaits." Under leadership of
Vice President John Dolibois and President Shriver a campaign
committee launched a drive for $14 million.
The
Million Dollar Fund of 1920--the fund that failed--lacked detailed
planning, persuasive promotion, and the support of a strong
organization. The Alumni Association of 1978 was a resourceful,
versatile and confident body. Thanks to thirty years of John
Dolibois leadership it had achieved wide recognition and national
awards. To this 1978 crusade a campaign cabinet of 22 distinguished
alumni brought influence in many fields and a deep commitment to
the cause. These alumni leaders were also leaders in life; their
names and faces bespoke the wide range of Miami talent and
accomplishment: Wayne J. Albers, Robert L. Cottrell, William J.
Liggett, Malcom W. Owings, C. Roger Stegmaier, J. Oliver Amos, Ralph
N. Fey, Herbert E. Markley, Ara Parseghian, Robert F. Tenhover,
John D. Backe, Richard E. Heckert, C. Rollin Niswonger, John G. Smale,
G. Sheldon Veil, Joyce Eldrigde Brown, Robert E. Levinson, Lloyd H.
O'Hara, Paul H. Smucker, Frank A. Vite, Ronald L. Wiley--it was a
reassuring roster. Now the Alumni Association itself was not a
mere list of names which could contain prospective donors; it was a
highly motivated and well organized body of thousands of Miami
men and women.
On the winter evening of
February 1, 1978, two hundred Miami officers, faculty and alumni
sat down to dinner in the banquet room of the Queen City Club in
Cincinnati. At their places they found a colorful brochure with a
wrap-around reproduction of the Heritage mural framing the
words "Larger Usefulness Awaits." The title GOALS FOR ENRICHMENT
was figuratively portrayed by an arresting MU logo. Created by
Carol Walker, '78, at the start of her career in graphic art, the
logotype exemplified the sound planning and presentation of the
Goals project. The design, a sturdy M in an upward-reaching U. gave
an immediate impression of purpose and progress. Of countless
people who would see this logo--on envelopes, stationery, brochures,
workers' manual, even on pledge cards--very few would analyze its
symbolism but none could miss its affirmation. In its fifteen pages of
print and pictures the brochure asked a repeated question--Why is
private support important to this State university?--and gave some
ready answers.
The brochure, however, had to
wait for close attention. First came a four-course dinner and the
introduction, by John Dolibois, of three spokesmen for the twenty-
two member Campaign Cabinet. Goals for Enrichment was the first
major gifts campaign in Miami history. It aimed to provide $14
million for the furthering of excellence throughout the university.
Its general chairman, Charles S. Mechem, Jr. '52, emphasized that
Miami University is state-assisted rather than state-supported. Two-
thirds of its operating budget is met by non-state income.
Appropriations from the state, he explained, are limited to
prescribed needs and purposes. Other projects, however, valuable,
must depend on private support. Certain goals for enrichment had
emerged from many deliberations by Miami administrative, faculty
and alumni bodies and the Board of Trustees. The goals, both specific
and comprehensive, ranged from a university art museum and a
modern sports complex and stadium to the augmenting of resources
for study, teaching and research in the science
disciplines.
To the dinner guests, Ara Parseghian
'49, gave something like a pre-game psyche-up, stressing team play,
pride and motivation--all in the long Miami tradition. President
Shriver emphasized the "community" character of a residential
university and the determination to maintain and enhance the high
academic standing of Miami University.
John
Dolibois, chief architect of this large project, was mindful of the
Miami past while looking with confident purpose at the road ahead.
He recalled the explorer James McBride, first secretary of the Board
of Trustees, when , in 1809, the university was established by law
but had no actual existence. "On the banks of the Four Mile Creek,"
McBride said, "has been planted the stake where the Miami
University will stand till time shall be no longer." Now, he declared, is
the time to extend the fostering hand to cherish and protect this
institution of learning which is to give a character and feature to
future generations. Here, Dolibois observed, is our generation ready
in our time to give the university "a larger usefulness." He stressed
the goal of augmented academic resources essential to the
exploring of new frontiers of knowledge. With a $5 million
endowment for academic enrichment he foresaw faculty
development by means of stipends for continuing study and creative
research while merit scholarships and loans would be stimulated
by increased laboratory apparatus and equipment and by enlarged
library resources. When he was a college freshman in 1938, half of
the natural and social science taught in the classrooms of 1977 had
not come to light. The "knowledge explosion" had yet to bring
profound revelations. Listed in the "Goals" brochure was new
language--photosensors, atomic absorption spectophotometry, questar
telescope, paramagnetic analyzer, multidiscipline chromatograph,
electron microscope, electron beam energy pump--a language of
new questions, search and understanding.
To
balance library sources and laboratory instruments, John Dolibois
saw the humane enlightenment of an art museum, designed for the
preservation, display and study of works acquired by the university
over many years. Such a facility would attract further gifts and
acquisitions so that, like the library, it would bring increasing
enrichment in the years to come. Already, Dolibois's stated, museum
construction was progressing on an airy site across the highway from
Murstein Alumni Center.
That sounded casual,
almost matter-of-fact, as though it was a campus consensus that a
boldly modern Art Museum merited a major effort and outlay at
Miami. But behind the simple statement of fait accompli were
years of dreaming, hoping, planning, striving--against indifference,
inertia and some outright obstruction and hostility. Thwarted and
circumvented time and again, Dolibois with a few abettors never
gave in. Thanks to the stubborn streak in his character, each setback
spurred new determination and sparked new strategy. The final
outcome vindicated his conviction that the stature of Miami
University would be heightened by a professionally developed
museum with an affirmed educational program. Why give priority to
a Miami fine arts center? The answer became clear. In the 1980's,
Miami should include educational aims and teaching programs that
hitherto had been unknown or beyond available resources. But in
vital institutions, time brings new perspectives and opportunities.
Art spans decades, generations, centuries. Great art outlasts
cultural fads and curricular fashions. Its study illumines all the
areas of social and humane learning.
Having
worked closely with donors and architects, Dolibois could announce
that the interest of the largest donor to the Goals campaign embraced
both an art museum and a sports stadium. Just inside the museum
entrance is Yager lecture hall, a gracious room seating one hundred
and fifteen persons for film showings, music recitals and art lectures;
its arc of northern windows overlooks a wooded glen with the gray
stone tower of Kumler Chapel against the northern sky. On the far
side of the campus in the Four Mile valley, will rise a sophisticated
sports complex including a new stadium. In a demonstration of
surprising academic breadth, the estate of the late Fred C. Yager '14,
supports both the fine arts and intercollegiate athletics. In a parallel
instance, the McKie gallery in the museum bears a name already
fixed on the McKie Field, the baseball ground on the north campus.
Stanley McKie '19, a prominent figure in Ohio business and politics,
had been a varsity baseball captain, His widow executed a neat
double play in endowing both an art gallery and a baseball
diamond.
The first completed project of the
Goals to Go, the Miami University Art Museum, was dedicated on a
golden autumn afternoon, November 5, 1978, with ribbon cutting by
John Dolibois between donor Walter I. Farmer and Architect Walter
Netsch. The opening exhibition from the richly eclectic Farmer
Collections ranged from ancient Roman glass, Luristan bronzes, and
pre-Columbian terra cotta to 17th century tapestries and rare pieces
of furniture from more recent periods. Two Farmer collections have
been given to the university; others, presently on loan, will come to
the museum by eventual bequest.
Other
distinctive holdings in the museum are the prints, textiles and
ceramics collected by the late Miami art teacher, Orpha Webster, the
unique Alma Pratt Collection of International Folk Art--acquired
through untiring efforts of Miss Webster--and fine pieces of pre-
Columbian art garnered by Theodore T. Foley '37, during a career of
foreign service in Latin America and Egypt.
The
Foley benefaction is a story in itself. During his years abroad, Ted
Foley acquired a collection of 1,600 items, reviewed by six of the
foremost American archaeologists and asked for by the Museum of
the American Indian in New York and the Columbia Museo de Oro.
One piece, a firegod effigy vase, was on extended loan to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some of Foley's treasures had been
donated elsewhere but has a substantial number remained when the
Miami University Art Museum was created. He then began making
annual donations to his own university. Forty years earlier, John
Dolibois and Ted Foley had teamed up in moving seasonal equipment
at Akron's Camp Manatoc. Now, in a sequel beyond all foreseeing,
they removed from crates and cartons exotic primitive Maya
ceremonial hacha, which were soon featured in Miami exhibits. Some
of the last of his rare pieces Foley gave to the museum during his
45th Miami class reunion in June 1982.
On the
museum's opening day, President Willard L. Boyd of the University
of Iowa spoke at Yager Auditorium. A university museum, he said,
must nourish the artistic talent of teachers, the teaching potential of
artists, and the learning capacity of students. This museum, he
said, is more than a showplace; it is art itself. That perception is
quickly shared by visitors from near and far. In striking contrast to
the red-brick Georgian buildings across the way, its silver facade of
stone and glass is akin to the weathered gray stone of Kumler
Chapel and Presser Hall beyond the wooded glen. At the museum
entrance, a reflecting pool mirrors the squares and folded circles of a
sculpture in bronze, aluminum and steel, created by Fletcher Benton
'55. Like architect Netsch, he works in geometric forms. The five
triangular galleries of the museum invite displays ranging from fine
prints and ceramics to the largest works of painting and sculpture.
On that November afternoon, President Boyd concluded: "Though
art is created in private, its consequences are public. In a
university museum, the artist addresses the largest audience with
the greatest results." Within four years after that dedication, the
Miami University Art Museum had attracted 100,000 visitors and
had been pictured in art journals from Germany to
Japan.
That winter night in Cincinnati, John
Dolibois spoke of another Goal--the relocation, enlargement and
modernization of Miami Field. Almost a century old, the playing field
dated back to 1895 and the stands to 1916, the smallest and oldest
in the Mid-American Conference. In some places, a stadium would
have the first priority, but at Miami it yet remained unrealized. "We
have a lot of sentimental people here," said the grounds
superintendent. Despite the impatience of many athletic fans, there
was a general reluctance to abandon the old area in the heart of
the campus that had produced enviable track-and-field records and
a remarkable roster of coaches. In the mind of John Dolibois, a new
stadium was less urgent than certain other goals. Two months
after his departure, however, state funds were allocated to Miami
for a new Art Education building, a Biological Science building, and
the relocation and construction of a multi-faceted sports complex
including a football stadium. Located between Millett Hall and the
Tallawanda, the stadium was completed in time for the football
season of 1983. A Biological Science building is planned on the site
of old Miami Field.
With the hectic pace of mid-
20th century technology, a new phrase--continuing education--is often
heard in business, professional and university circles. In his travel
and his correspondence, John Dolibois became increasingly aware of a
need and an opportunity on the spacious Miami campus in its
tranquil setting. To the dinner guests in Cincinnati, he told of
unending requests from academic, professional, industrial and civic
organizations that Miami space be made available for conferences,
workshops and seminars. Except in summer months and short
periods of academic recess, Miami could not schedule such meetings.
Countless opportunities, he said, were being lost for want of suitable
facilities. There was, however, an idle empty building, a commodious
structure on spacious grounds at the eastern edge of campus.
Historic Fisher Hall was an ideal site for conference gatherings, but,
with sinking foundations and fractured masonry, the romantic old
building was unusable. Architectural and engineering studies
declared it beyond reclaiming. To the regret of countless alumni and
many Oxford residents, the landmark building was slated for
demolition so that a conference center could be erected in its
place.
When a Hamilton, Ohio family with ties to
Miami made a handsome endowment, the Timothy
Marcum Memorial Conference Center was staked out beside the Conrad
Formal Gardens. After long deliberation, an architectural design
emerged, a three-story brick building with twin wings, its central
roof capped by a slender cupola with an airy 1981 weathervane. It
is modeled upon the Wren Building of William and Mary College in
Virginia, the oldest extant academic structure in the nation. A
memorial to a recent Miami undergraduate, this new building calls
to mind the foremost graduate of Old Miami. Among graduates of
the Williamsburg College was Benjamin Harrison, a James River
planter, governor of Virginia and signer of the Declaration of
Independence. His son, William Henry Harrison, went west to Ohio
and became the nation's ninth President; his great-grandson,
Benjamin Harrison, Miami 1852, was the 23rd President. In addition
to lecture and demonstration halls, the building includes lodging and
dining rooms, lounges, library and seminars. A Memorial Room
contains the military memorabilia of four-star General John Edwin
Hull '15, and the honor roll of all Miamians who have given their
lives in defense of the nation.
While the building
took shape, the Marcum family added endowment for a nature trail
in the virgin woods that slope down to the Tallawanda, an expression
of the late Timothy Marcum's love of unspoiled nature. The family of
Verlin Pulley '25, former Oxford mayor and university trustee,
planned an outdoor Pulley Pavilion near the head of the Marcum
Nature Trail. A substantial grant from the Kellogg Foundation
enabled a director to publicize the conference facilities and to plan
1982-83 scheduling. The director, Jack DePree, with broad
experience of continuing education in Michigan, soon announced
twenty conferences booked for the fall of 1982. In the first year of
operation more than sixty professional, business, cultural and social
gatherings, totaling some five thousand conferees, assembled there
for periods of a single day to one or two weeks. Academic seminars,
discussions and exchanges were held by the College English
Association
