OCR Text |
Show activities of Alumni matters under Church sponsorship, desired to perpetuate the organization by picking up the activities where they had been left off, said Cecil Tucker. If this simple arrangement had been worked out, it would have been highly acceptable. He recalls the Church hesitated to handle the Alumni activities on grounds of a possible conflict in church and state. Whatever the problems and for whatever the reason, an official document was drawn up in 1935 legally disincorporating the former Alumni Association and, in fact, relegating membership in the Weber Alumni Association only to those who had attended the school prior to the state transfer in 1933. While little explanation is given for such dramatic action, it would appear to be motivated more from a legal and political standpoint than from hostility or retribution relative to the transfer of the college from church to state. While no Alumni activities are recorded following the appointment of Dr. Leland H. Creer in 1935 as successor to President Tracy, it didnt take long for H. Aldous Dixon to recognize the potential of an Alumni organization following his appointment as President in 1937. In 1940 the following article appeared in the Acorn: The Alumni Association has, with flying colors, passed its first year of definite active organization. Under President A. Russell Croft, the Association has promoted Alumni activities and carried on a gigantic membership drive. Until this year, the full possibilities of a live-wire Alumni group has been overlooked but such activities as homecoming, founders day and commencement exercises, demonstrated the need of a reliable body of highly enthusiastic and well-organized supporters. Present conditions indicate that the alumni have only just begun.Identified with this peerless group were Dan Alsop, Jetta Barker, John Q. Blaylock, Russell Croft, Floyd Farr, Mel Jennings, Blaine Larsen, Russell Petty, Dolly Polidor, Carl Storey, Vera Toone and Mary Wilson. The outbreak of World War II in 1941 curtailed many of the goals and activities of the Alumni Association as the institution, like the rest of the world during those critical years, placed its priorities elsewhere. With the returning flood of GIs to the campus in 1946, and a burgeoning student body occasioned by the recognition and need for post-high school education, a new era was ushered in that resulted in significant development in the Alumni program that has remained generally constant and growing ever since. Additional emphasis seemed to be placed upon the Alumni Association when President Dixon appointed Laurence Burton to work in the area of public relations following Laurences graduation from Weber in 1948. Also the desired re-location of the college to a new and larger campus prompted the formation of an Alumni organization which could assist both politically and financially in the development of the colleges new campus. That the Alumni participated in an ensuing fund drive aimed at securing financial support for the new campus was evident, as was the support for granting senior status to the growing institution. Following a special session of the legislature in 1953, which voted to return Weber College back to the L.D.S. Church, the matter was placed on a referendum ballot which overwhelmingly supported the continuence of Weber College as a state institution. Members of the Alumni body were active in gaining support for the referendum. While the Alumni maintained a form of presence during the early 1950s and the subsequent move of the college to the new campus, there are few records that would point to a major role or contribution the organization made in campus development other than the individual interest shown by some outstanding alumni, such as J. Willard Marriott, who had been identified as a potential source of support by the Association some years previous and who had been an occasional visitor to the campus in the capacity of keynote speaker at various Alumni functions. On one occasion, President William P. Miller was purported to have suggested to Mr. Marriott the need for acquisition of additional property contiguous to the campus. When asked by Mr. Marriott how much land he felt the college would require, President Miller pointed as far south as 41st Street and while Mr. Marriott, himself a visionary man, did not feel that in Presidents Millers wildest dreams the campus would ever extend to such proportions, he still gave a generous donation for the purchase of some additional property. The Alumni were involved both politically and financially during this critical period in the colleges history as it sought and gained funds for a new campus and senior status was eventually gained in spite of temporary set backs. Apparent disappointments and frustrations in membership and activities were encountered and an Acorn yearbook item in an apparent reference to such problems faced in Alumni growth stated, Should the Alumni dissolve due to lack of activity and cooperation? No follow-up report to decisions are found, but it is remembered by various presidents and board members that the organization persisted somewhat autonomously from the college, with meetings held in the homes of the various presidents and emphasis placed largely on record keeping and updating of former student records. Shortly after William P. Millers appointment as president, a closer relationship between the institution and the Alumni organization was effected with an invitation extended to the Alumni Board of Directors to hold their periodic meetings on campus generally in the Presidents office. The growth of the organization was greatly stimulated and augmented from that point forward. That President Miller placed a great value in such an organization as a potential source of support, is evidenced by his regular attendance and participation in Alumni meetings and activities. In addition to the heavy schedule and demands on his time during those early years of planning for the enlargement of the campus and its expansion into a four-year degree granting institution, his very presence and support lent authority and credibility to the Alumni program. Indicative of his concern was the appointment in 1957 of Louis Gladwell, well-known news reporter and former Weber College student, who would serve as a combination Public Relations-News Director and Executive Director of the Alumni Association for 22 years. The Alumni was provided their first on-campus office during Mr. Gladwells tenure and giant strides were taken in Alumni records and the expansion of Alumni activities; a strengthened Homecoming program with greater Alumni involvement, the publishing of an Alumni magazine, and the upgrading of the annual homecoming assembly. Known as the Feline Follies, the professionally produced variety show |