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The
Michigan and Huron Institute was granted a charter from the
territorial legislature of Michigan on 22 April 1833.
Now, over 170 years later, Kalamazoo College is known far and
wide as one of the premiere liberal arts colleges in the nation.
The school was founded upon the efforts of Thomas W. Merrill
and Caleb Eldred as a coeducational Baptist institution.
It served a short stint as the Kalamazoo Library Institute
and as a Branch of the University of Michigan before 1855, when it
comfortably settled into the simple name by which it is known today.
The
first distinct era in the history of Kalamazoo College began in 1843
with the arrival of Dr. J. A. B. Stone and his wife Lucinda Hinsdale
Stone. The Stones'
twenty-year tenure was characterized by their liberal attitudes and
the progressive mark they left on the college that has persisted
throughout the years. Under the leadership of Dr. Stone, the college began to build
its reputation as a liberal arts institution with a high quality of
instruction. Financial problems loomed,
however, and the little college was often in the
red. The Stones left
Kalamazoo College in 1863 amidst a controversy that eventually led
to the resignation of many of the students, faculty members, and
trustees. Between
1863 and 1892 the college continued to struggle with its finances.
The departure of the Stones and the Civil War were immensely
disruptive factors in the history of Kalamazoo College.
As a result, the administrations during this period were
brief, and the general cohesiveness of the institution suffered.
Strong consistent leadership finally arrived with Arthur
Gaylord Slocum in 1892. During his twenty-year administration the endowment was
doubled, the quality and quantity of both the students and
faculty steadily increased, and a new building program was begun
that improved the dormitories, classrooms, and library.
From
its inception in 1877 the student newspaper at Kalamazoo College,
The Index, has catalogued the interests and concerns of the student
body. During its early
years a significant amount of the Index's space was dominated by
news of the campus's three literary societies.
Membership amongst the Eurodelphians, the Sherwoods, or the
Philolexian Lyceum was an important mark on a student's record and
vital to their social calendar.
The Euro Society was founded in 1856 by Lucinda Stone and was
the
first literary society for women on campus and in the state of
Michigan. Like their
male counterparts, they would host meetings each Friday evening for
their members that consisted of literary discussion, extemporaneous
speaking, and refreshments. As
student life changed so did the focus of student societies and the
newspaper. After the
turn of the century, the Index changed from simply a literary
publication to a boutique of information valuable to the twentieth
century college student. Athletics,
film reviews, fiction, and criticism of the administration and its
policies were favorite topics in the new century.
It seems likely that student life at Kalamazoo College
underwent a dramatic shift sometime after 1900 as the institution as
a whole became more confident in itself and its place in the
educational future of Kalamazoo.
In 1911 Herbert Lee Stetson took over as president of the college, and during his administration many positive changes took place. "The emphasis of the administration was on increasing faculty salaries, raising the scholastic standard of instruction, adding to the number of faculty members, strengthening the financial structure on which the scholastic program depended, building a curriculum by which to maintain first rank in academic standards." Eleven years later Allan Hoben became president and continued many of the Stetson administration's policies. Dr. Hoben was especially concerned with the academic reputation of Kalamazoo College and once said, "We do not want a college here that is as good as any one of a hundred similar schools. We intend to have a small college that is better than any of them." It
was during the 1930s that Kalamazoo College began to physically
resemble the institution that lines Academy Street today.
Mandelle Library was built in 1930, and Stetson Chapel
quickly followed in 1932. The
depression adversely affected the college, just as it did the rest
of the nation, but thanks to a generous gift by Mr. And Mrs. Enos A.
DeWaters, the dormitory that bears their name was constructed in
1936. It was also
during this decade that the Bureau of Municipal Research was created.
This organization was the brainchild of political science
professor Dr. Robert F. Cornell and was a legal part of the city
government established by ordinance.
It gave students a chance to observe and to participate in the
real-life workings of city government, and forged a strong link
between the campus and the community. Another
major factor in the history of Kalamazoo College that helped secure
its place as a premiere liberal arts institution was the development
of the "K-plan" under president Weimer Hicks in the 1960s.
The two underlying principles of this strategy, yearlong
instruction and foreign study, revolutionized the educational
process at Kalamazoo College and attracted notice from the rest of
the world. The plan was
conceived and backed by Weimer Hicks, Richard Light, and Laurence
Barrett and went into effect in 1962.
The new plan was featured in national magazines and
newspapers. The first
class of students to return from study abroad appeared on
"Calendar" with Walter Cronkite to talk about their
experiences. In
recent years Kalamazoo College has continued to grow and prosper.
In 2005 the school appointed its first female
African-American president, Dr. Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran.
A large addition to the Upjohn Library was completed in 2006.
"K" College is many things to many different
people. For its
students, it is a place where learning is central.
The lessons learned may vary from the origin of the liberal
arts, to how to slide down a hill on a cafeteria tray, to how to get
along with people much different than yourself.
To the city of Kalamazoo, the college is like a sibling.
The two bodies have grown from their birth in the 1830's
through infancy and adolescence together, and now, as both accept
the challenges of the 21st century they will develop into maturity
together.
Written by Alex Forist, Kalamazoo Public Library staff,
June 2005.
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