On the occasion of the Mizzou Alumni Association’s sesquicentennial, the association asked a researcher to dig up its history. The story is one of loyal alumni and citizens acting on behalf of Mizzou. (Perhaps what says it best is the legend of how alumni and locals saw to it that the Columns became Mizzou’s foremost campus icon.)

MU alumni and citizens gather at the base of the Columns in the days after a fi re that destroyed in 1892. Keep your hands off these Columns he Mizzou Alumni Association was founded in 1853, but perhaps the best story that encapsulates its meaning to MU comes from a tenuous time in the University’s history. It’s the story of loyal alumni Tand citizens acting on behalf of Mizzou and how the Alumni Association saw to it that the Columns became Mizzou’s foremost campus icon. The inferno that consumed Academic Hall in 1892 somehow spared the six limestone Columns. To many alumni and Columbians at the time, they quickly became an enduring symbol of all they held dear about the University. But to others, including the University’s Board of Curators, the Columns looked out of scale with the new University buildings they hoped to construct around them. They resolved that the Columns would have to come down. Few people now know – perhaps because it weakens the legend – that the board originally intended to leave the Columns in place or reposition them on campus. But the board changed its mind, and some alumni and locals didn’t like it. Among them was Jerry Dorsey, a leading Columbia citizen of that period. According to a newspaper report, Dorsey watched with interest as workers carried off the chard remnants of Academic Hall. He was appalled to learn one day that Gideon Rothwell, president of the board, had ordered a pair of mule teams hitched to one of the Columns, with instructions to tear it down. “Mr. Dorsey sought Mr. Rothwell and protested against the destruction of the Columns, who insisted that they were a menace and dangerous,” according to the newspaper account. “Mr. Dorsey declared that the Columns could not be pulled down by a herd of elephants, whereupon Mr. Rothwell announced that they were coming down if he had to dynamite them. The argument became heated, Mr. Rothwell struck at Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Dorsey upheld his Kentucky traditions and returned the blow. Spectators separated the combatants and the controversy continued in a battle of words.” At this point, Dorsey may have charged off to the courthouse to get a writ of injunction against tear- ing down the Columns. But writ or no writ, alumni got wind of the board’s plot and added their voices of protest. In fact, the president of the Mizzou Alumni Association (MAA) Gardiner Lathrop, made a persuasive speech to the curators, according to a story that engineering Professor Luther “Daddy” Defoe (association president in 1903-04) used to tell. A 1924 account goes like this: “Following a brilliant plea before the board, during which Lathrop pleaded with tears in his eyes that the Columns be preserved intact, a plan was presented that the whole of the elevated campus (now ) be cut away, except for a small tract around the Columns, which should be terraced into mounds, to rise above the level of the campus.” This time around, the board resolved that its previous resolution was a bad idea. After Lathrop’s speech, Mr. Rothwell stated “Let the Columns stand. Let them stand for a thousand years.” In many ways, imagining Mizzou without its beloved Columns is like trying to imagine a strong university without alumni support. It is only fi tting that more than 100 years later, the MAA Long Range Planning Committee penned a mission statement that begins with “The Mizzou Alumni Association proudly supports the best interests and traditions of ’s fl agship university and its alumni worldwide.” Mizzou and MAA: Through the Years...

1839 entomologist, helps save the French wine industry Boone County wins its bid to locate the University in from an aphid by grafting French vines onto resistant Columbia. The Geyer Act establishes the University, Missouri rootstock. the fi rst publicly supported higher education institu- tion west of the Mississippi River. 1877 College of Engineering was founded. 1841 Classes begin. 1883 Alumni vote to raise $10,000 to endow the associa- College of Arts and Science established. tion.

1843 1885 The University’s fi rst commencement was held. The Original tombstone of Thomas Jefferson from Robert L. Todd and Robert B. Todd become the Monticello is dedicated on Francis Quadrangle. University’s fi rst alumni. 1888 1849 Mizzou Discovery First course in civil engineering offered. is founded the oldest continuously used research plot west of the Mississippi River (and 1853 second oldest in the U.S.) Sanborn Field also was the Alumni Society (Association) forms with Odon site of landmark studies in that are the Guitar as fi rst president. Robert L. Todd gives fi rst basis for today’s sustainable agriculture. alumni oration at commencement. 1889 1862 At the alumni association’s annual meeting, alumni The Civil War forced the University to close for resolve to create an Alumni Annual containing the most of the year. annual oration and information on all alumni. (fore- runner to MIZZOU Magazine). 1868 Normal School, now the College of Education, 1890 established. Mizzou fi elds its fi rst football team. “Tigers” is chosen as the university mascot. 1870 Federal Morrill Act makes MU a land-grant univer- St. Louis chapter formed. sity. 1891 College of Agriculture founded. Kansas City alumni chapter formed.

Mary Gillett becomes fi rst woman graduate. 1893 Mizzou Discovery 1872 MU entomoligists determined that the cattle tick Law department (school) established. causes the deadly Texas fever disease, and scientists at the MU Agricultural Experiment Station discover School of Medicine established. how to eradicate it.

Anna Ware becomes fi rst female to graduate with a 1895 four-year bachelor’s degree. is dedicated.

1873 1900 Mizzou Discovery Department of Household Economics, now the Col- Charles V. Riley, MU lecturer and the fi rst state lege of Human Environmental Sciences, established. Mizzou and MAA: Through the Years...

1904 Stoddard, Montgomery, Holt and Chariton. First nursing class graduates. In 1920, the Depart- New chapters in California, Chicago and ment of Nursing is established within the School of Seattle. Medicine, and it becomes the autonomous School of Nursing in 1975. 1909 New York City chapter forms. 1905 Alumni Association publishes The Missouri Alumni 1910 Quarterly magazine and offers a subscription of MU Extension division founded. $1.50. 1911 1906 Athletic Director to return home New Missouri county chapters: Adair, Audrain, and pack Rollins Field for the annual football game Barton, Bates, Boone, Buchanan, Butler, Cape Gi- against Kansas. Mizzou “Homecoming” is born. The rardeau, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Cole, Cooper, game ends in a 3-3 tie. Dade, Greene, Grundy, Jackson, Jasper, Lafayette, Lawrence, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Madison, Mon- 1912 roe, Nodaway, Pettis, Pike, Putnam, Randolph, Ray, Alumni Association publishes The Missouri Alumnus St. Clair, Saline, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, Sullivan, magazine. A subscription came along with the $2 and Vernon. Local secretaries also appointed in the annual membership dues. following Missouri locations: Andrew, Barry, Cedar, Dallas, Davies, De Kalb, Gasconade, Gentry, Har- Washington, D. C. chapter forms. rison, Knox, Mercer, Morgan, Pike, Platte, Pulaski, Ralls and Texas. Chapters also active in Chillicothe, 1913 Hannibal, Kansas City, Kirksville, Maryville, Pitts- Portland, Oregon chapter forms. burg, St. Joseph and Sedalia. 1914 1907 Mizzou Discovery MU fi elds its fi rst basketball team. Journalism faculty member Walter Williams pens The Journalist’s Creed, a standard for practicing Boonville Weekly Advertiser writes that 3,276 men journalism that stands the test of time. and women have graduated from the University as of April 19, 1907. College of Business established.

New Missouri county chapters: Morgan, Bollinger, is completed. Ralls, Dallas, Polk, Mercer, Nodaway and Andrew. There are 50 chapters by 1907. 1917 Mizzou Discovery April 19, 1907 Harlow Shapley, BA ‘10, MA ‘11, DL ‘27, argues that First celebration of Founders’ Day, the birthday of the sun looms not in the center of our Milky Way James S. Rollins. galaxy, but at the outskirts, an infl uencial observation that leads to the fi rst realistic estimate of our galaxy’s 1908 size. The world’s fi rst School of Journalism established. 1921 MU is selected for membership in the Association Groundbreaking for Memorial Tower. MAA plays a of American Universities, which limits membership key role in the fundraising campaign for both to this country’s most prestigious public and private Memorial Union and Memorial Stadium. research universities. 1926 New Missouri county chapters: Johnson, Barry, Memorial Stadium is dedicated and hosts its fi rst- game. Mizzou and MAA: Through the Years...

1927 1956 First Tap Day ceremony. University Hospital opens.

1945 1960s Mizzou Discovery MAA awards its fi rst Distinguished Faculty Award to MU education professor and reading remediation Dr. Lewis Atherton. pioneer Sterl Artley was hired by Scott Foresman and Co. to work with a colleague at the University of 1963 Chicago and Case Western Reserve University to re- The four campus MU System is established. vise the Dick and Jane series, which taught nearly 85 million elementary students to read from the 1930s 1968 to the 1970s. Alumni Association and Alumni Achievement Fund combined to become Offi ce of Development and 1949 Alumni Relations. University appoints Guy “Bus” Entsminger, assistant director of alumni activities. He becomes vice chan- MAA begins Faculty-Alumni Award Program to cellor for development and alumni relations in 1967. honor outstanding faculty and alumni achievements. Many consider him the “father of alumni relations” at MU. 1969 Dr. Arvarh Strickland becomes the fi rst African The School of Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife American professor. (Natural Resources) is founded. opens. 1950s Gus T. Ridgel was one of the fi rst African-American 1970s students to enroll at MU, and the fi rst graduate. He Mizzou Discovery earned a Master’s degree in Economics. MU scientist John C. Schuder develops the fi rst automatic and completely implanted defi brillator Harry S. Truman speaks at commencement. for the human heart. Today, these internal devices regulate heartbeats around the world. Mizzou Discovery Ernie Sears develops techniques to transfer genes 1972 from wild grasses to cultivated wheat to improve dis- Gifts to University by alumni increase to $570,380, ease resistance. His wife, Lotti Sears, contributes to up $75,000 from 1971. the research and to determining the genetic structure of wheat. Their work leads to a strain of wheat that 1974 is resistant to rust disease and is used as a food source Alumni Association Student Board founded. worldwide. 1975 1954 The School of Accountancy is founded. The Mizzou baseball team wins the and the National Championship. 1978 MU’s , , pub- KOMU - TV was dedicated. lishes its fi rst issue. Today, it receives more submis- sions than any other such publication and is nation- 1955 ally recognized as the top university literary review. (student newspaper) founded. The School of Health Related Professions estab- MU Research Reactor Center opens. lished. Mizzou and MAA: Through the Years...

Barbara S. Uehling becomes the fi rst female 1997 chancellor. School of Information Science and Learning Technologies established. 1979 Black Alumni Organization forms. 1998 With the Missouri Botanical Garden, Washington 1980s University and Monsanto Co., MU is a founding Mizzou Discovery partner in the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Mizzou’s interdisciplinary Food for the 21st Century Louis. The center is devoted to discovering new program studies animal reproductive biology, plant solutions for fi ghting hunger and disease, and for biotechnology, human nutrition, and foods, feeds conserving the Earth’s natural resources. and products. The program has produced fi fteen soybean varieties and two wheat varieties. 2001 Mizzou Discovery 1982 MU researchers were the fi rst to develop transgenic Mizzou Discovery pigs whose organs can potentially be transplated into Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Zuhdi Lababidi performed humans. More than 98,000 Americans are currently the world’s fi rst aortic valvuloplasty, an angioplasty on the organ transplant waiting list. procedure, on an infant. In 1996, he performed the procedure on a patient weighing 13 ounces, Bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson on Francis the smallest patient known to have undergone the Quadrangle dedicated. procedure. 2002 1984 MU names the Black Culture Center the Lloyd was born. L. Gaines-Marian O’Fallon Oldham Black Culture Center in honor of two individuals whose dedication 1988 and sacrifi ces help African-Americans to fulfi ll their “The Shack” mysteriously burns to the ground. educational goals at MU.

1989 Randall Prather, Distinguished Professor of Repro- MU celebrates its sesquicentennial. ductive Biotechnology, and research colleagues from MU and Immerge Bio Therapeutics Inc., clone the Truman Conference on U.S.-Korean Relations world’s fi rst miniature swine with a specifi c gene forms, partly to keep in contact with Korean “knocked out” of their DNA. The breakthrough alumni. moves scientists closer to making animal-to-human organ transplants a reality. 1992 The MAA moves into the Donald W. Reynolds Tiger Plaza was dedicated during Homecoming. Alumni Center. The building is made possible by a $9 million gift, the largest single gift to MU at that 2004 time. MU’s Life Sciences Center and open.

1996 MAA reaches a record high of 37,550 members. Tiger Walk for MU freshmen established. 2005 Launched MAA website, www.mizzou.com. Griffi ths’ Leadership Society for Women established and named after The Honorable Martha Wright Mizzou and MAA: Through the Years...

Griffi ths, BS `34, a leader in civil and equal rights movements respectively.

2006 Across the country, 45 alumni chapters kick off the association’s 150th anniversary on January 16 by watching the basketball Tigers beat the Jayhawks 89-86 in overtime.

As part of the sesquicentennial celebration, the As- sociation adopted a new brand - The Mizzou Alumni Association.

2007 Mizzou Legacy Walk was dedicated during Home- coming.

2008 Mizzou raises a record $160.5 million in private support.

The For All We Call Mizzou campaign goal has been achieved, making MU the fi rst and only public uni- versity in Missouri to raise $1 billion.

The inaugural Guy H. “Bus” Entminger Golf Tour- nament was held at A.L. Gustin Golf Course.

2009 The Mizzou Alumni Association reached an all-time membership high of 40,144, an increase of 3,467 members or 12.1 percent from the previous year. The increase also represented one of the largest yearly membership percentage increases in the association’s 156-year history.

A new Mizzou Alumni Association website was launched in April. Vision Statement

The Mizzou Alumni Association shall be the preeminent resource for the University.

Mission Statement

The Mizzou Alumni Association proudly supports the best interests and traditions of Missouri’s fl agship university and its alumni worldwide. Lifelong relationships are the foundation of our support. These relationships are enhanced through advocacy, communication and volunteerism.

Guideposts To Excellence

DISCOVERY DIVERSITY PRIDE RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY TRADITION

Much like the stones which give strength to six beloved columns, these six values are supported only by the degree of excellence which they embody. The Association recognizes the special worth that the pursuit of excellence creates and strives to bond our alumni together using excellence as the foundation.