l rAC I l tnven .erica S'a Oman'S 'I The President Emeritus Spends Leisure Time Taking an Active Interest In University Affairs By NAN MARKEL HE MAN WHO guided the "mother of state universities" through 22 years of crisis finds he is "somewhat disillusioned."-- "I thought when I retired I would have the leisure I didn't have as president," former University President Alexander Grant Ruth- ven says. But he really doesn't want that leisure. At 77 years old, he is still an active part of the University, consultant to the Development Council, Dean of Alumni and an invaluable source of past history. He serves on several boards in- cluding the Ann Arbor Trust Co. and the Lincoln National Life In- surance Co. and the University Music Society. And his time is also devoted to raising Morgan horses on the Hur- on River farm right across the way from his spacious one-floor ranch home. "The horses were the only thing that kept me sane while I was president," Ruthven says. He has raised full blood riding and show horses for 35 years in Ann Arbor and at his "Rolling R" ranch near Frankfort. "It is impossible to be around a Morgan without feeling that the world is all right-or, at least, that it could be a lot worse than it is," he claims. RUTHVEN is not tired of trying to change the world. He will discuss with university adminis- trators over the problems which plagued him as president and which continue to call for atten- tion. Is the University too large? How should student government be organized? How best to house students? He may not agree with current University solutions to these per- plexities, and he lets the men in charge know why. He would also like to let the men in Lansing know what he thinks of the current financial entanglement. "I've enjoyed work- ing closely with the Legislature for 25 years," Ruthven recalls, "and that's been through depres- sions and good times. In some of those periods the state was really in financial difficulties." The former president worked with the Legislature throughout the 1930's depression. Having tak- en office in 1929, he saw the Uni- versity and the state live through the lean decade, years which brought no physical expansion ex- cept for four dormitories Ruth- ven built with revenue bonds, which brought enrollment to a low of 8,292 in 1933. BUT "the legislators have al- ways before pulled things to- gether," he says. "To me it is simply ridiculous that the sixth wealthiest state in the Union has gotten itself in this situation through a p o l i t i c a l wrangle. Sooner or later we've got to come to a state income tax." Under Ruthven's administration legislative appropriations to the University rose from $4,920,852 for 1929-30 to $11,572,945 in 1950-51. Once the University had weath- ered the depression, it entered a time of unprecedented growth. Enr6llment in 1929 was 9,688; in 1949 it was 21,363. What can be done at present to take care of increasing numbers of students? Ruthven says we should expand the smaller insti- tutions, then create other schools and colleges about the state. "After the war when we knew it was an emergency the Univer- sity blew up to about 22,500," he recalls. "But we knew then it would drop again." It did, but not for long. HE SAID in 1946 that higher education was entering a new era in which no institution could adopt a defeatist attitude by plac- Ing a limit on size. "Several thousand young people, many of them veterans, were re- fused admission to the Univer- sity for the year 1946-47, and yet the enrollment bids nearly ex- ceed 18,000," he told alumni then. "The proper question to ask ourselves is not how large the University should be but whether or not we wish to meet our obli- gations to the State, the nation, and the world as we have at- tempted to meet them in the past: should we accept increased size 'as a challenge or change the charac- ter of the University by making it solely a provincial school." The University was forced' to temporarily limit non-resident en- rollment at that time. But the former president sees the long-run solution to rising en- rollment pressure in creating new state schools and in enlarging existing smaller institutions. And he says he has always felt thta students should pay no tui- tion, "though this is not gener- ally conceded." RUTHVEN hesitates at the em- phasis on graduate work, which has grown at the University in the past few decades. "A state university, a great public univer- sity of this kind, should not be- come predominantly a graduate institution." Although there is an advantage in training graduate students, he prefers a balance which appor- tions one third of total enroll- ment to freshmen and sopho- mores, one third to juniors and seniors, and one third to gradu- ates. "If the state wants purely a graduate institution it seems preferable to me to have a new institution," he declares. "But the best thing is not the easiest," and it is easier to use existing facili- ties than to build new ones. Ruthven faced the problems of size and its organization early in his administration. He had said in his inaugural address it was the duty of American education to stress the democratic way of life. "And our schools cannot assist in the achievement of this pur- pose if they encourage autocratic administration, permitting a spirit of uncertainty, fear, rivalry or suspicion to .prevail among staff members." HE REORGANIZED the Uni- versity administration along corporate lines, delegating author- ity and responsibility to vice-pres- idents and giving the faculty a larger voice than ever before. Deans and department heads, assisted by advisory committees were given executive status. A University Council, composed of deans, administrative officers and elected representatives of the faculty replaced the large un- wieldy University Senate. Looking back, he is proudest of this accomplishment. Ruthven be- lieves a university "in the best sense, is a community of schol- ars," and faculty, students and administrators must hlave equal voice in this community. He recalls that his office door was always open to anyone who cared to talk with him. A faculty member could walk right in, he says, provided a student wasn't there first. But Cook Endowed a Dormitory to Preserve Her By JEAN HARTWIG THE MARTHA COOK Building, known somewhat unofficially by the Cookies' as "The Nunnery" and by thelaw students next door as "The Virgin Vault," was the first women's dormitory at the University. Although women students came to the campus in 1871, they lived in private homes, sorority houses and league houses until the ad- ministration recognized the need for larger-scale housing early in the 1900's. At this time, there were a total of 750 women on campus, 350 of which were housed in sorority and league houses. William Wilson Cook, '82L, was then a prominent commercial law- yer in New York, and- a' perfect pigeon for the project. He was approached by an enterprising alumnae group and promised to donate $10,000 for a women's residence hall. As plans progressed, the original modest estimate sky- rocketed to an inflationary high of $500,000, but Cook threw budget to the wind and gave his ap- proval. In a 1914 letter to the President of the University and the Regents, he stated the terms of his gift, which was to honor the memory of his mother Martha. In this document, he stipulated that the residents would have sole. control of its funds, the University would provide free heat,. light and power and any surplus income would be used for further im- provement of the building. COOK, A very shy man, donated a total of $16 million worth of gifts to the University, but never came back to view his handiwork. He was a. firm believer. of -the "woman's place is in the home" ideas and hoped to further his campaign by giving girls a cul- tured atmosphere in which to live during their University attend- ance. He once commented, "America is a woman's country. Women con- trol the social life, the religious life, the artistic life, the encour- agement of literature, the house- hold expenditures, the customs and manners. If woman becomes mannish, her inflence over men will decline and manners, customs and morals will deteriorate." He even went so far as to have the motto "Home, the Nation's Safety," inscribed in the mantel over the fireplace in the dining room. Asked why he chose this par- ticular phrase, he explained, "As I pass along Wall Street and hear the strident voices of women suf- fragettes declaiming in open auto- mobiles, I feel that we are drifting away from our ancient moor- William W. Cook ... gives a cultured home ings. ..'." He wanted to bring back "the charm and grace and prin- ciples of cultured American wom- anhood." Even those hardened lovers of Undergraduate Library - type ar- chitecture have to admit that his building has charm. Situated be- side the Law Quadrangle and fac- ing the impressive Clements Li- brary, it is a large brick and stone building in the English collegiate Gothic design, complete with pointed arches, buttresses and al battlemented slate and copper roof supposedly inspired by those at Cambridge and Oxford. THE DOORWAY was Cook's own idea and its design is carried out on the dorm's' silverware, sta- tionary, table linens and napkins. Made of some rare Italian stone, both the lettering and the niche of the doorway were carved before the stone left its quarry. For the niche, Cook had to choose a statue or bust appropriate to the building. In looking over the crop of statues shown him, he noticed "they are all angels and saints and not a lawyer or a sin- ner among them." He finally chose a full-length replica of Shakespeare's Portia, whom he called "a full-throated, woman of vivacity, poise and feminine charm . .. who exposed quaint laws and brought to book the blood-thirsty Jew." He also selected a full-sized replica of Venus de Milo to grace the end of the long, cloistered entrance hall. She is an imposing figure, seven feet tall with a 39 inch waist, who was shipped di- rectly from the European quarry "en toto" and took so long in com- ing that everyone declared her to be at the bottom of the sea. Upon entering the building, you're immediately confronted with the aforementioned hall, lined with austere wooden benches and ended with the gleaming Venus. On the left is a terrace, complete with ancient, weather- beaten teakwood tables and chairs. BEYOND IS the large garden with its famous magnolia and Japanese locust trees. Designed by the same landscapers'who planned Central Park, it was purchased by Cook as a place for the girls to en- joy the air and sunshine. Going back into the gloom of the interior, the Red Room is on the immediate right. This is a small parlor done in red and gold colors with a rich-looking array of crimson velvet couches. The room is filled with exotic pottery, collected by a mysterious missionary in Central China, and special oak chairs which are said to be exact copies of the one that stood before the secret passage through which Oliver Cromwell chased Charles II. The central decoration is a huge, faded tapestry hanging on one wall. In choosing this par- ticular furnishing, Cook explained, "the tapestry is a hunting scene and I don't know whether such a scene would fit in with that build- ing unless they call it 'Uncle Wil- liam Hunting Duck in the Seven- teenth Century.' I'm not sure whether it is a duck or a goose. Judging from most of the peo- ple I run across, I guess it is a goose." Leaving the Red Room, you walk through a small, dark pass- ageway known as the Sparking Room. The casual visitor, how-. ever, is usually not escorted to this particular section of the building. rE LARGEST parlor, The Blue Room, is just beyond. Deco- rated in the University's colors, its main attraction isia huge grand piano with an Italian Rennais- sance design case of Caucasian walnut. This masterpiece was de- signed especially for Cook's own house and reputedly has the best tone of any such instrument in Ann Arbor. The panelling in the room is also of impressive lineage. It is authentic teakwood from the Philippine Islands, reputedly kiln- dried in this country for four years before it found its place on the walls. The Blue Room decor is further carried out by three rugs imported from Ireland and several over- stuffed davenports covered with -English and French tapestry. The room is highlighted by a huge fireplace called "Angell Hearth" in honor of President Emeritus James B. Angell, and from the mantel a igan House Plan, he met regu- larly with students there. We discussed anything that came to mind, no holds barred and any questions answered, he recalls, Even the boys who worked on The Daily refrained from re- peating the discussions, he smiles. "But I don't think you can do things like that with the Univer- sity as large as it is now. Why, a president couldn't run around to things like that now - it would kill him." Ruthven's abiding interest in student residences stems from work on the great student housing program effected during ,his ad- ministration. Under his direction, the self- liquidating system of issuing reve- nue bonds was used to erect Stockwell Hall, Mosher-Jordan. Hall and Alice C. Lloyd Hall for Venus de Milo grac bust of Cook peers down at th residents. Actual living quarters are at the rear of the first floor, originall built to house servants, and on the top three floors. Each girl ha either a single or double fully- carpeted room, depending on her preference and her chronological standing. Each floor is equipped with a kitchennette in which breakfast is served "en negligee" every Sunday morning. women; West Quadrangle, East Quadrangle, South Quadrangle and Victor Vaughan for men; and University Terrace for married students. The Michigan House Plaii came into being, providing small units within the larger residences. Adult counseling"was supplied under this plan, as were opportunities for student recreation and cultural development within the various halls.