Loyola University Chicago

Loyola eCommons
Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations

1983

The Shimer College Presidency: 1930 to 1980
Patrick H. Moorhead
Loyola University Chicago

Recommended Citation
Moorhead, Patrick H., "The Shimer College Presidency: 1930 to 1980" (1983). Dissertations. 2215.
http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/2215

This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in
Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact ecommons@luc.edu.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright © 1983 Patrick H. Moorhead

 THE SHIMER COLLEGE PRESIDENCY:

1930 TO 1980

by
Patrick H. Moorhead

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School
of Education of Loyola University of Chicago in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Education
April
1983

 Patrick H. Moorhead
Loyola University of Chicago
THE SHIMER COLLEGE PRESIDENCY:

1930 TO 1980

The purpose of this research was threefold:
1.) to examine four models of governance (i.e., bureaucratic model, collegial model, political model, and organized anarchy), and to ascertain the presence of each
model at Shimer College from 1930 to 1980;

2.) to ex-

plore significant administrative decisions during this
time period; and 3.) to isolate other important variables
which appeared to have a significant role in the decline
and closing of Shimer College at Mount Carroll, Illinois.
Resources utilized for research, in addition to books and
periodicals about governance models, included interviews
with former trustees, and the use of institutional records
and personal correspondence which are part of the Shimer
College collection at the Regional History Center at
Northern Illinois University at DeKalb.

The results of the

study indicated that each of the four governance models was
present during the period from 1930 to 1980, and that these
models existed as a blend along a continuum rather than as
pure forms of a specific model.

The political model was

always present to some degree at Shimer because of the

 diversity of the population, but it seemed to assume a
stronger influence in reaction to the presence of the·
bureaucratic model.

The most productive moments at Shimer

occurred during the presence of the blend of the collegial
and the bureaucratic models of governance.

This study

demonstrated the importance of maintaining strength among
various factions of the college community, such as the
Board of Trustees and faculty, as a check and balance
against the bureaucratic model.

Management at Shimer, with

rare exception, was crisis-oriented and reactionary rather
than proactive.

There was frequent turnover among the

chief executives with 12 individuals serving as President
during the 1930-1980 period.

The administrations, with

rare exception, were characterized by a lack of creative
problem solving, and by the absence of effort in development and long-range planning.

It was a lack of concern with

these areas which proved to be as significant as some of the
major decisions made by presidents during this time period.
Perhaps the most significant administrative decision was
rendered during the administration of Albin Bro, and it involved total restructure of the curriculum, as well as, the
philosophy of Shimer.

It resulted in the introduction of

coeducation, senior college status, and reaffirmation of
the agreement between Shimer and the University of Chicago.
While many variables affected the decline of Shimer College,

 one of the most significant was the identity and image of
the College.

Shimer was the victim of a great deal of ad-

verse publicity in the mid 60's, combined with the fact
that the name of the College had been changed several
times between 1930 and 1980.

This served to confuse the

public about the strength and purpose of Shimer.
tity of Shimer was in a state of flux.

The iden-

The events of the

Grotesque Internecine Squabble in 1967, coupled with the
decision to close Shimer in 1973, fueled the image of
Shimer College as a "loser."

Shimer adi!linistrators subse-

quently found it very difficult to recruit new faculty,
students, and Board mei!lbers.

The result was the decision

to file for Chapter XI bankruptcy in 1977, and to auction
the campus and move to Waukegan during the Winter of 1979.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author is indebted to Dr. Terry Williams, Ph.D.
Dissertation Director, for his invaluable contribution of
time, effort, and patience toward the completion of this
research.

The author also wishes to express appreciation

to Dr. Gerald Gutek, Ph.D., and Dr. Manuel Silverman, Ph.D.,
for their advice and assistance.

Special recognition is

due to the staff of the Regional History Center at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois for their cooperation in the search for material.

The author is par-

ticularly grateful to Father Lawrence Reuter, S. J., Father
James C. L. Arimond, S. J., and Mrs. Mildred D. Sullivan,
of Loyola Academy, Wilmette, Illinois, for their encouragement and generous support.

Special mention must be made of

my late mother, Mrs. Louis D. Moorhead, whose unselfish
support paced the way for the author's work.

The author al-

so wishes to acknowledge the faculty and administration of
Shimer College for allowing full use of their materials in
the prepartion of this project.
Finally, and most significantly, to my wife Mary
Beth without whose unselfish dedication of time, energy,
effort, and love this dissertation never would have been
ii

 completed.

It is with great affection and appreciation

that I recognize my children, Susan, Laura, James, David,
and Kathleen who gave of their time and pleasure so that
this work could be completed.
this project is dedicated.

iii

It is to my family that

 VITA
The author, Patrick H. Moorhead, is the son of the
late Dr. Louis D. Moorhead and the late Ann Patricia
(Dorsey) Moorhead.

He is the husband of Mary Elizabeth

(Burch), and the father of Susan, Laura, James, David, and
Kathleen.

He was born, February 2, 1943, in Chicago,

Illinois.

His marriage to Mary Elizabeth took place on

December 28, 1966, in Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Moorhead's elementary education was obtained
at Bishop Quarter Military Academy in Oak Park, Illinois,
and at St. Joseph School in Wilmette, Illinois, from which
he was graduated in 1956.

His secondary education was

completed in 1960 at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois.
In September of 1960, Mr. Moorhead entered Regis
College of Denver, Colorado, receiving the degree of
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in June of 1964.

Hhile at-

tending Regis College, Mr. Moorhead was, among other things,
a Section Editor of the yearbook, a regular columnist for
the school paper, and was appointed to the Dean's List.
In September of 1964, Mr. Moorhead began preparatory study for entrance to a Master's program in Clinical
Psychology at Loyola University of Chicago.

He withdrew

from the program in November of 1965 realizing that
iv

 Clinical Psychology was not his career goal.

Mr. Moor-

head taught 7th grade at St. Vitus School in Chicago until
June of 1966 when he accepted a position as counselor at
St. Patrick High School in Chicago.

In 1971, after serv-

ing as Director of Student Services at St. Patrick, he
accepted a position as College Counselor and Associate
Director of Guidance at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois where he is currently employed.
Mr. Moorhead has been active professionally with
the National Association of College Admissions Counselors,
the Illinois Association of College Admissions Counselors,
the College Entrance Examination Board, and the Hidwest
Regional Office of the College Board.

Moorhead was

elected High School Director of the Illinois Association
of College Admissions Counselors in 1977, and he is currently a candidate for National Delegate with that organization.

He was employed, in 1971, as a Staff Facili-

tator with the Center for Studies of the Person in La
Jolla, California, and as a member of the Adult Education
Faculty at Wright College of Chicago.

In 1976, he partici-

pated in the Institute on College Admissions at Harvard
University.
Mr. Moorhead has written numerous columns for newsletters of both the Illinois Association of College Admissions Counselors and the Midwest Office of the College

v

 Board.
lished:

In addition, Mr. Moorhead had two articles pubMoorhead, Patrick H.

"Toward Professionaliza-

tion Among College Admissions Personnel."

Journal of the

National Association of College Admissions Counselors
(September 1977); and Moorhead, Patrick H.
the Communication Gap."

"Overcoming

Journal of the National Associa-

tion of College Admissions Counselors (August 1972).
Mr. Moorhead was initiated into Phi Delta Kappa
in May 1970.

He was selected, by the faculty of Loyola

Academy, as a finalist for the award of Educator of the
Year in 1980 and 1982.

In 1981 he was selected by the
In May of 1980, Moorhead

faculty as Educator of the Year.

was honored by the administration at Loyola Academy as one
of the recipients of the O'Donnell Outstanding Educator
Award with a $1,000 cash prize.

The Illinois Association

of College Admissions Counselors presented him with an
Appreciation Award in May of 1980.

In April of 1983, Mr.

Moorhead will be inducted into the Jesuit National Honor
Society, Alpha Sigma Nu.
In his community,

~1r.

Moorhead has been a member

of the Holy Cross Parish Council in Deerfield, Illinois,
for 3 years, serving as Vice President in 1981-82, and as
President in 1982-83.

vi

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ii

VITA

iv

LIST OF FIGURES

X

Chapter
I.

INTRODUCTION

1

Focus of the Research . . . . . .
The Role of the College President.
The Role of the Board of Trustees
in Higher Education . . . . .
The Evolution of Governance ~odels
in Higher Education
. . . .
The Bureaucratic Model of
Governance . . . . . . . .
The Collegial Model of Governance
The Political Model of Governance
The Organized Anarchy Hodel
of Governance
II.

SHIMER COLLEGE: 1853-1930
Purpose of Chapter II
Frances Wood Shimer
The Growth of the Mount Carroll
Seminary under France.s Hood
Transfer of the Mount Carroll
Seminary to the University
of Chicago . . . . . . .
Dean William Parker McKee (1897-1929)
Summary
.
Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii.

1
6
11
15
21
25
28
33
36
36
36
39
45
48
54
55

 TABLE OF CONTENTS--Continued
Page

Chapter
III.

SHIMER COLLEGE:

1930-1939 . . . . .

Purpose of Chapter III . . . . .
President Floyd Cleveland Wilcox
(1930-1935)
. . . . . . . .
Wilcox on the Defensive
Reflections on Floyd Wilcox
as President . . . . . .
Interim President A. Beth Hostetter
(1935-1936)
. . . . . . .
President Raymond B. Culver
(1936-1938). . . . . . . . . .
Reflections on Raymond Culver
as President . . . . . . .
Interim President A. Beth Hostetter
(1937-1939)
Summary
....
Conclusions
. . . .
IV.

SHIMER COLLEGE:

1939-1949

Purpose of Chapter IV .
. . .
President Albin C. Bra (1939-1949)
Reflections on Albin C. Bra
as President . . . . . .
Interim President John E. Russel
(1949-1950).
Suwmary
. . . . .
Conclusions
. . . . .
V.

SHIMER COLLEGE:

1950-1970

Purpose of Chapter V
The Shimer Plan
. . . . . . . . .
President A. J. Brumbaugh (1950-1954).
Reflections on A. J. Brumbaugh
as President . . . . . . .
President F. J. Mullin (1954-1968)
Reflections on F. J. Mullin
as President . . . . . . .
President Milburn P. Akers
(1968-1970)
. . . . . . . . .
Reflections on Milburn P. Akers
as President
Summary
viii

58
58
59
65
70
73
75
77
78
80
82
87
87
89
101
104
106
108
113
113
115
119
127
129
145
149
155
157

 TABLE OF CONTENTS--Continued
Chapter

v.

Page
(Cont.)
160

Conclusions
VI.

SHIMER COLLEGE:

1970-1980

Purpose of Chapter VI .
. . . . . .
President RobertS. Long (1970-1973).
Reflections on Robert S. Long
as President
. . . . . . . .
Interim President Esther G. Weinstein
(1973-1975) ·. . . . . . . . . . .
Reflections on Dr. Esther G. Weinstein as President
. . . . .
President Ralph W. Conant (1975-1977)
Reflections on Ralph W. Conant
as President
. . .
President Don Moon (1978).
Reflections on Don Moon as
President
Summary . .
Conclusions
VII.

On Academic Governance
On Administrative Decisions
Other Variables Affecting the Decline
and Closing of Shimer College
. . .

167
169
178
181
184
185
193
195
199
200
202
207

CONCLUSIONS . .

REFERENCES .

167

. . . .

ix

208
21'3
216
220

 LIST OF FIGURES
Page

Figure
1.

Four Models of Governance . . . .

20

2.

Policy Formation in the University: A
Simple Political Model
. . . . .

32

3.

Enrollment Pattern at Shimer College from

1939 through 1949. . . . . . . . .
4.
5.
6.
7.

The New Educational Program at Shimer
College . . . . . . . . . . . .

95
123

FordFoundation Support and Enrollment from

1950-1956 . . . . . . . .

127

Enrollment, Construction, and Knmv-n
Funding Sources:
1954-1971 .

135

Cost Projections for Construction and
Renovation as of April 19, 1961 .

137

X

 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Focus of the Research
The responsibilities of the chief executive officer of a college or university are very important to the
successful operation of the institution.

Koerner (1970)

emphasized the importance of the role of the college president in his book which recounted the events resulting in
the closing of Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa.

All

presidents, to some extent, encounter similar responsibilities and challenges as heads of an academic community of
higher learning, but specifically how they manage these
responsibilities and challenges is what determines their
effectiveness as president.
The governance of a college or university is
strongly influenced by the leadership of the president,
but governance is also influenced by the involvement of
other members of the college community such as the board
of trustees, faculty, students, alumni, donors, and other
private and public constituencies of the college.

It is

generally the president, however, who possesses the authority to establish a tone for the operation of the institution.

The board of trustees, for example, while generally
1

 2
not actively engaged in policy formation or enforcement
where day-to-day operations are concerned, does serve as a
form of check and balance on the vested power of the chief
executive.

While it is very important for the president

of a college to have the freedom and power to lead, it is
also vitally important that the other constituencies
within the college, such as the board of trustees, be resources to assist him/her in the governing of the institution.
Shimer College of t1ount Carroll, Illinois, was selected as the focus of this research.

Shimer, founded in

1853 as the Mount Carroll Seminary by Misses Frances Wood
Shimer and Cinderella Gregory, experienced a period of
growth and expansion during the first 50 years of existence.
During this period, two leaders, Mrs. Shimer and Dean
William McKee, presided as Heads of the school.

From 1930

through 1980, Shimer was served by twelve individuals in
the role of President.

During this period of time, the

factors which seemed to influence the direction of the college were the models of governance, the specific management style of each of the presidents, the impact of the
administrative level decisions, and other factors not specifically related to the term of any one president.

The

history of leadership at Shimer College, with several exceptions, is a history of crisis management.

Shimer was a

 3
college marked by fluctuations in the strength of presidential leadership; by a Board of Trustees whose strength,
interest, and effectiveness was also marked by fluctuation; and by more generalized problems including confusion
with the identity of the college, the general absence of
creative problem solving, among the administrators, and
the lack of significant long-range planning and growth in
the area of development.

In the final analysis, Shimer

College appeared to fall victim to these weaknesses.
This research, then, explored some of the factors
which were directly or indirectly responsible for the decision to close the College, sell the property to settle
debtor's claims, and to relocate Shimer in Waukegan,
Illinois.
The specific research objectives of this study
were:
1.

To ascertain the existence of patterns of college governance (i.e., collegial, bureaucratic,
political, or organized anarchy) at Shimer
College from 1930 to 1980.

Governance patterns

will be investigated primarily through the role
of the President.
2.

To review major, senior-level administrative
decisions from 1930-1980 at Shimer and to
analyze their long-term effect on the operation of the College.

 4
3.

To investigate other factors serving a major
role in the decline and eventual closing 9f
Shimer College in Mount Carroll.

The study does not dwell in detail on financial
issues, except as they are related to presidential leadership at Shimer.

The research is not intended to present a

technical review of the financial problems which existed
at Shimer College.

Rather, it reviews issues related to

the leadership and governance of the College, as well as
the impact and significance of those events.
The history of Shimer College can be divided into
essentially two periods.

The first period extended from

the founding of the school as the Mount Carroll Seminary
in Mount Carroll, Illinois, in 1853, through 1930.

Shimer

grew under the direction of only two chief officers during
this time, and this first period can be characterized as
an era of growth, expansion, and stability in leadership.
The second period extended from 1930 through 1978 when
the doors of the college closed in Hount Carroll.

This

50-year span was a time of inconsistent leadership and direction, and was accompanied by a rather dramatic change
in the image of the school from that of a finishing school
to that of a liberal collegiate institution for bright
students interested in a nontraditional education.
The purpose of Chapter I is to explore the concepts of leadership and governance in higher education.

 5
Specifically, Chapter I will provide an overview of the
role of the college president, including some discussion
of the evolution of the college presidency from the earlier days in American higher education.

Leadership of a

college is vested in the president by the membernof the
Board of Trustees.

The influence of the Board of Trustees

can have a significant impact on the leadership of the
institution, and the Board does have significant responsibility to assist the president in certain areas.

Chap-

ter I will include an examination of the role of the Board
of Trustees in higher education.

Finally, the combination

of influences affecting leadership in a collegiate institution affects, and is affected by, the models of governance which may be evident on the campus.

Chapter I will

explore four specific models (i.e., political, bureaucratic,
collegial, and organized anarchy) as they exist along a
continuum of governance models.

Chapter I provides the

necessary theoretical background so important to the understanding of the leadership, governance, and decision
making which took place at Shimer College from 1930
through 1980.
The Role of the College President
A recent advertisement in The Chronicle of Higher
Education soliciting candidates for a college president
specified qualities desired in the successful candidate
(January 6, 1982, p. 60).

Some of the qualities listed

 6
included demonstrated leadership and administrative abilities, an earned doctorate plus evidence of scholarly.
pursuit, an understanding of the principles of shared
governance, demonstrated competence in fund raising as
well as fiscal management and planning and, finally,
demonstrated ability to communicate and cooperate effectively with all segments of the college and public community.
The role of the college president requires sophisticated skills in management and development, as well as,
the ability to work with a variety of publics.

The skills

of the college president are specific skills, and they
must be fine tuned to meet the challenges facing higher
education today.

It is interesting to compare the roster

of skills cited above with the skills sought for the position of President of Ohio State University in the early

1890s:
We are looking for a man of fine appearance, of commanding presence, one who will impress the public; he
must be a fine speaker at public assemblies; he must
be a great scholar and a great teacher; he must be a
preacher .

; he must be a man of winning manners;

he must have tact so that he can get along with and
govern the faculty; he must be popular with the students; he must be a man of business training, a man of

 7
affairs; he must be a great administrator.

(Rudolph,

1962, p. 419)
The difference between the two advertisements is in the
level of sophistication and specific skills required for
the position of president.

The qualities outlined by

Rudolph are more general in scope, while the recent advertisement cites very specific skills which have been determined as critical to the role of the president of a
college.
During the 19th Century, teaching was considered
to be an important experience for one aspiring to be a
college president.

Over the years, however, because of

the increased complexity of the responsibilities attached
to the presidency of a college, the importance of being
able to teach has diminished while the importance of administrative and managerial skills has increased.

Millet

(1974, p. 50) found the growth in enrollment, instructional programs, noninstructional activities, buildings, and
costs was forcing the president into the role of a manager
of services with little opportunity for educational innovation.

The college president of the last century was

able to know each member of the college community:
. the old-time president lived at the college, was
not absent for long periods of time, probably taught
every member of the senior class, knew most of the
students by name . . .

(Rudolph, 1962, p. 165)

 8
Ferrari (1970) comments on the many changes over the years
which have influenced the role of the president in higher
education:
There was a steady move from a religious to a secular
emphasis in college curriculum; from a simple to a
complex academic organization; from a more classical
curriculum to a vocational-utilitarian curriculum;
from a philosophy of education for the few to education for the many; from simple literary societies to a
great growth in extracurricular activities; and for
the increased development of coeducational institutions.

(Ferrari, 1970, p. 10)

Ferrari explained that in the early part of the 20th Century college presidents placed an increased emphasis on
wooing alumni, benefactors, and foundations for funding.
As responsibilities became more complex with the passing of
time, support staff had to be added to the administrative
team in order to be able to attend to the needs of students
and college community at large.

The concern for the whole

student resulted in an array of student personnel specialists including deans of men, deans of women, counselors,
residence hall directors, student health personnel, and
placement and financial aid personnel (Baldridge, Curtis,
Ecker,

& Riley, 1978, p. 257).
The Great Depression was a challenging period for

college presidents that was marked by austerity and a

 9
struggle for survival among the colleges.

The importance

of a college education assumed a practical value:
While the students of the twenties had attended college purely as a matter of

choic~

those of the thir-

ties often did so out of economic necessity.
were difficult to obtain.

Jobs

(Baldridge, et al.

1978, pp. 256-257)
The years following the Depression through the
1960's can be characterized as ones of dramatic growth for
American higher education (Baldridge, et al. 1978, p. 26).
While the population pool of prospective college age students increased steadily through the SO's and 60's, there
was a parallel change in the value structure of American
youth.

Nothing in the training or experience of college

presidents adequately prepared them to deal with increased
use of drugs among students, anti-war demonstrations, the
demand for a voice in policy making and decision making,
and the resolve of the anti-establishment sentiment which
seemed to overtake the young people of America.

The cry

for independence among students resulted in a major modification of policies governing student conduct and accountability on college campuses.
The decade of the 70's was an era of rapid inflation, and the increase in costs for goods and services
increased the burden of the college president.

Costs were

surging in higher education, and colleges in the private

 10
sector were challenged to keep pace with public institutions which had also experienced a period of rapid expansion during the SO's and 60's (Weissmiller interview,
November 1981) .
Presidents also found themselves having to negotiate with faculty seeking higher salaries and reduced
teaching loads; students seeking more personal freedom;
parents pressing for more supervision on campus; alumni
reluctant to donate money because they did not understand
what was happening on college campuses; federal and state
government with its rules, regulations, quotas, and paper
work; and minority populations seeking greater recognition
in the curriculum, as well as greater representation among
faculty ranks.
The college president does not preside in isolation over the college.

The president is affected by a

variety of influences which in turn affect decisions made
regarding programs, policy and personnel.

The model of

governance in effect on a particular college campus is, in
part, the result of the personal leadership philosophy of
the president and the impact of other variables influencing
the college community.

Foremost among these influences is

the board of trustees of the college.

Because of the spe-

cial importance of the relationship between the college
president and the trustees, the role of the board of trustees is examined in the following section.

 11
The Role of the Board of Trustees
in Higher Education
During the formative years of higher education in
this country, churchmen, according to Rudolph (1962,
p. 174), were quite prominent and influential as members
of college governing boards.

One reason for this was

the rapid spread of religious colleges across America.
A particular religious denomination would establish a college, and the religious men or women of that denomination
would then serve as trustees of the college (Rudolph,
1962).

The trend toward greater representation by lay in-

dividuals in college boards came following the Civil War
when college alumni asserted themselves and were able to
gain a larger proportion of representatives on the boards.
In 1860, clergy composed 30 percent of the membership on
governing boards, but by 1930 they comprised less than 7
percent of the membership (Baldridge, et al. 1978, p. 259).
Rauh (1959, p. 17) restricted the role of the
board to that of policy maker.

The day-to-day management

and administration of the affairs of the college are relegated to the president.

The board functions to assure

quality management of the college including:
1.

To fill vacancies and make changes in the office
of president.

2.

To hold title to and conserve the property.

 12
3.

To act as a court of last resort.

4.

To hold the charter and seek revision of it
when it is deemed necessary.

(Rauh, 1959, p. 19)

Rauh (1959) goes further to suggest specific responsibilities of a successful board of trustees:
1.

2.

It assures continuity by
a.

appointing the president

b.

fulfilling the legal requirements

c.

adjudicating disputes

d.

holding and maintaining the assets

It serves as a review body by
a.

maintaining an overall supervision

b.

balancing the interests of the various constituencies

c.
3.

4.

asking discerning questions

It counsels by
a.

providing impartial judgment

b.

serving as a source of specialized skills

It supports by
a.

financial contribution

b.

interpreting to the public

c.

upholding the rights of the staff and students.

(p. 98)

With regard to fund raising as a responsibility,
Richman and Farmer (1977, p. 233) indicate that the board

 13
is responsible for approval of the college budget.

It

may also approve a major shift in sources and use of funds,
new programs, faculties, and facilities.

Richman and

Farmer suggest that the board should approve targets for
financial support and help in achieving them in whatever
legitimate way possible.

The board should also be in a

position to help deliver the desired funds and resources
(p.

233).
The degree of power allotted to a president is con-

tingent upon the power sources.

The line of responsibility

for administration of the college is finely divided so that
trustees heavily influence long-range institutional and
budget planning.

The central administration is also in-

volved in areas of long-range institutional planning, and
especially in curricular and personnel matters (Baldridge
et al. 1978, p. 257).

Cowley (1980, p. 8) divides the

control of the institution into two areas: policy control
which can be credited to the board of trustees, and operational control which is the responsibility of the president
and central administrative staff.
The selection of board members is critical to the
overall operation of the institution.

Richman and Farmer

(1977, pp. 226-228) cite three different models for selecting Trustees:

(a) a self-perpetuating model allows

board members to elect their own successors within certain guidelines;

(b) a government-appointed model where

 14
government appoints members to the board; and (c) a
locally-elected model where members are elected from and
represent the various constituencies of the college.

Re-

gardless of the process, the actual selection of candidates
for the board is important.

Rauh lists six qualities help-

ful in the selection of board members:
1.

. a

prosp~ctive

trustee should have dis-

played qualities of leadership in community, state,
national, or other public affairs.
2.

. despite the strength of opinion commonly
associated with leadership, he must be the possessor of an open mind, willing to entertain without prejudice thoughts and ideas that may at first
seem to him not only unfamiliar but, in some
cases, disturbing.

3.

The interests of a trustee must be directed more
at the general than at the specific when he contemplates the university.

4.

The concepts of "proportional representation" on
the board as among professions, social classes, or
special interests of any kind is rejected.

5.

. he should be clearly aware that his position
is not "honorary."

t.

. . preference should go to the man of more
moderate reputation, possessing such willingness

 15
and ability, over the man of more resounding reputation who might be able to give less freely of his
time.

(1959, p. 59)

As was mentioned earlier, the president of the
college does not function alone.

Indeed, the operation of

a college is a matter involving the interest and participation of a variety of special interest groups.

The

aovernance model in effect at a particular institution is

0

the cumulative result of the interaction of individuals
and special interest groups, as well as the nature of the
college itself as set forth in the charter of the sshool/
The Evolution of Governance Models
~~-------------

-

in Higher Education
Cowley (1980, p. 6) indicates that the word
"governance" originated with the La tin \vord "gubern3.re"
which means to steer.

Rausch (1980, p. 141) defines

"university governance" as the exercise of author:i_ ty over
university matters, such as conferring of degrees, establishing the costs, appointing of staff and faculty, designing programs, or carrying out business activities.
Rausch further points out that American university governance had its start in European patterns of governance,
especially the British style.

The medieval university

began as an educational guild of teachers; and the guilds,
in turn, organized themselves into nations headed by an
officer known as the "rector."

The rector thus became

 16
one of the first university officials in the history of
higher education.
At the University of Paris, the officer in charge
was the Chancellor who supervised the cathedral school
and possessed a great deal of authority.

There was fric-

tion between the Chancellor and the masters (teachers),
and the result was the appearance of a "proctor" who
headed each of the nations into which the faculty had divided.

By the middle of the 13th Century, a university

official named the "rector" functioned as the elected
head of all masters of art.

The other faculties were each

headed by a dean, but the rector claimed to be the chief
officer of the university (Rausch, 1980, p. 142).
Oxford University governance followed that of the
University of Paris, but there was a greater emphasis on
collegiality.

The Chancellor was the chief officer.

In

this system, the masters were divided into two nations
headed by proctors, and while the Chancellor and proctors
constituted the only officials of the university, the assemblies of the masters made policies and executed the
functions of university governance (Rausch, 1980, p. 142).
Rausch discusses one final model prominent in
Geneva, Leiden, and in Edinburgh.

Under this system, uni-

versities were placed under the supervision of external,
nonacademic boards.

In these various countries, the

precedent was set for outsiders to have a share in the

 17
running of the universities.

Rausch contends that col-

leges in America borrowed heavily from both the

Oxfo~d

and Geneva models as demonstrated by the fact that
Harvard had a governing council consisting of the
president and teaching fellows as well as a board of
external overseers, which had the right of visitation and final approval.

(1980, p. 144)

The American state-supported universities, he says, also
followed this model.
The Carnegie Report on Higher Education (Governance of Higher Education, 1973) lists major trends and
events which transformed governance in higher education
over the years:
1.

The gradual diminution over a long period of
time in church influence with the rise of public institutions and secularization of church
schools.

2.

The increase in the authority of the

colleg~

president, particularly after the Civil War, as
institutions became larger, more complex, and
more dynamic, and as the administration became
more professional.
3.

The extension of greater academic freedom to
faculty members and of greater faculty control
over academic affairs especially since World
War I and particularly as faculty members took

 18
on more of the status of independent scientists
and experts.
4.

The decline of in loco parentis control over
students, a decline accelerated after the Civil
War and again after World War II.

s.

The increase in direct public influence and authority generally, and in federal influence and
authority in particular, especially since World
War II.

6.

The rise of multicampus systems of higher education which enroll nearly half of all students,
and of coordinating councils and superboards.

7.

The decline in the role of the single-campus
board as these other changes have occurred.
(p.

7)

The state legislatures placed governing authority into the
hands of trustees who were external lay individuals.

The

boards of trustees were comprised of men from business
Hho brought their individual experience and expertise
with them to membership on the board.

Rausch sums up the

process of governance in this way:
It is essentially analogous to the process of governing within the political system at large and, to a
lesser extent, comparable to management in business
organizations.

Just as governmental levels have

 19
constitutions or charters to guide this process, so
institutions of higher education have statutes or
charters.

These documents spell out the major frame-

work within which the organic process of day-to-day
decision making takes place.

Within this framework,

rules and regulations develop over the years that
adapt the decision-making process to the realities of
the external environment and the political forces
within the institution.

Influencing these changes

are the major constituencies that serve and/or are
served by the institution.

(1980, p. 146)

Having reviewed the historical roots of college governance, it is important to examine four major models of
governance in higher education today as a background for
understanding the role of the presidents and board of
trustees at Shimer College; the governance practices
exercised at Shimer; and the dynamics of decision making
at the College.
The four governance models are each unique and
have their own characteristics which set them apart from
one another.

Yet, in college administration it is seldom

the case that a pure form of a particular model is found
in operation.

The models exist along a cross-continuum

with the collegial model at the top of a vertical continuum and the bureaucratic model at the bottom (see
figure 1).

On the horizontal continuum lies the political

 20

COLLEGIAL
MODEL

POLITICAL
MODEL

I
I
I
I
I

-----------------~--------------------

ORGANIZEDANARCHY
MODEL

BUREAUCRATIC
MODEL

Figure 1.

The models of governance exist along a continuum, and the model operating on a college
campus is a blend of two or more models
rather than one pure form of a model.

 21
model at one extreme and the organized anarchy model at
the other extreme.

It is possible and highly likely that

the models of governance in effect on a college campus
will overlap.

For example, Baldridge (1971) felt that the

political model was more representative of an academic
community and is always in existence on a college campus.
But, the governance of the college can also have either
bureaucratic or collegial characteristics depending on the
leadership exercised by the chief executive officer.

The

models are constantly in flux and subject to change depending on the circumstances or events confronting the
administration of the academic community.

More often than

not, a blend of governance models always exists on any
particular college campus at any point in time.

The chief

executive officer establishes the tone and controls and
thus keeps the community from slipping into a state of organized anarchy \vhich is characterized by leaderless confusion in purpose and decision making.
The bureaucratic model of governance.

This model

of governance is analogous to a battery supplying electrical power to an automobile.

The battery is the heart

of the power source, and the energy flows one way toward
those parts of the car dependent on the battery for life
support.

In an institution under bureaucratic governance,

the leader is the power source.

 22
Under the bureaucratic model the leader is seen as the
hero who stands at the top of the complex pyramid of
power.

The hero's job is to assess the problems,

consider alternatives, and make rational choices.
Much of the organization's power is held by the hero,
and great expectations are raised because people trust
him to solve problems and fend off threats from the
environment.

(Corson, 1960, p. 44)

In this model, the center of power rests with the bureaucratic leader, and the roles of individuals

with~n

system are clearly defined, as are the rights,

the

obli~ations,

and the relationships of those within the system.

The

goal of bureaucratic governance in an educational setting
is to process students as efficiently as possible with as
little cost as possible.

Stroup (1966) characterizes

bureaucracy in a college setting as follows:
(a)

competence is the criterion used for appointiT.ent

(b)

officials are appointed, not elected

(c)

salaries are fixed and paid directly by the organization rather than determined in a free-fee
style

(d)

rank is recognized and respected

(e)

the career tends to be exclusive; little other
work is done

(f)

the style of life is centered around the organization

 23
(g)

security is present in a tenure system

(h)

personal and organizational property are
separated.

(Pp. 40-55)

communication in the bureaucratic model flows downward
from the power source.

Conflict is held to a minimum and,

if it does erupt, it is held fast as a result of certain
self-imposed sanctions.

Creativity and imagination are

substantially reduced, or even eliminated.
falls along a single plane.

All thinking

An organization that is

bureaucratic in scope is simple and the power is centralized in one office or with one individual.

The~e

are

formal chains of command and policies are adhered to.
The chain of command clearly separates those at the top
of the pyramid from those at the bottom.

Communication

upward is restricted to a minimum and, if it does occur,
it is usually with the immediate superior and not the
chief officer.

This mode of governance is a disciplined

mode which tends to build loyalty to the organization:
and it frequently results in high production, hign efficiency, but low job satisfaction
p. 100).

(Lipham & Hoeh, 1974,

Coalitions tend to form in a bureaucratic set-

ting; but if the power source is strong enough and the
controls rigid enough, the political activity usually
goes no further than mutual expression of frustration.

In

the bureaucratic model, workers are intimidated by the
superior officer.

The leader in the bureaucratic model is

 24

clearly "the boss."

Bradford and Lippitt (1945) describe

the dynamics of the bureaucratic personality:

1.

He is very conscious of his position.

2.

He has little faith and trust in his subordinates.

3.

He feels that pay is a just reward for work and
is the only reward that will motivate the worker.

4.

He gives orders and demands that they be carried
out.

5.

Group members assume no responsibility for performance and merely do what they are told.

6.

Production is good when the leader is present,
but drops in his absence.

(P. 143)

The bureaucratic model is not without critics.
Baldridge and Riley (1978, p. 11), criticize the bureaucratic model for dwelling on formal authority and for ignoring the informal power sources which may take the
form of mass movements or appeals to emotion and sentiment.

Netzer et al. indicate that change is painful be-

cause of the highly structured methods of ooeration.

It

is easier to say "no" than to say "yes" in a bureaucratic setting (1970, pp. 89-90).

Creativity is stifled,

and people are afraid to attempt anything new at the risk
of criticism and being defiant.

Friendships become

stronger as a result of the common bond of oppression,
and a sense of solidarity begins to evolve among the

 25
factions in the community.

A hint of change at the ton

causes panic among organization members because they

f~el

that a new replacement cannot possibly perform as well as
the previous leader.

\fuile the bureaucratic model of governance is one
which features the leader as the source of power, the
collegial model, by contrast, invites shared participation in decision making and two-way communication.
The collegial model of governance.

The collegial

model of governance in higher education \velcomes and encourages active involvement of community members.

The

underlying rationale for this particular model is that
community members are capable of handling their own affairs and, in fact, will invest more in the organization
as a result of participation.

The members of the organiza-

tion feel a sense of contribution because of their involvement in the affairs of the organization.

The empha-

sis is on the formulation of goals rather than on the
execution of goals as in the bureaucratic setting.

Lipham

and Hoeh (1974, p. 100) summarize the organizational characteristics of the collegial model.

The organization is

complex because of a low degree of centralization and
a high degree of dispersement of decision-making responsibility.

The stratification of employees into levels is

unimportant, and access to superiors is easily gained.
Job satisfaction is high because of the perception of

 26
involvement of the employees, but the production and efficiency are lower because execution of goals is not as ·important as their formulation.

The organization tends to

become preoccupied with planning rather than with implementing plans.
The basic idea of the collegial leader is less to
command than to listen, less to lead than to gather
expert judgments, less to manage than to facilitate,
less to order than to persuade and negotiate.
(Baldridge et al., 1977, p. 45)
Rausch (1980) defines the collegial

concep~

as a

process of reaching concensus as compared to the pure political rule.

It is reminiscent of the platonic state

where the wise men and women ruled.

The degree of par-

ticipation of members of the community will vary with
their particular technical expertise, and will depend on
the perception of their competence with regard to the issue being discussed.

Rausch comments, "Thus concensus

can be reached, in each case, by those who possess the
technical kno\vledge required for that decision, and acceptance will then be given freely by those others who
have voluntarily abstained from participation" (1980,
p. 147).

The collegial model of governance (Schlecty,
1976, p. 86) operates within a bureaucratic setting in
education since all institutions are bureaucratic in

 27
scope.

Khandwalla (1977) amplifies this position by

pointing out that within every organization, no matter how
collegial, there are individuals who carry out the orders
of other individuals, and the latter carry out orders of
their superiors.

Organizations, states Khandwalla, are

naturally hierarchically organized simply because this is
helpful in employee supervision.

The collegial model

(Rausch, 1980, p. 148) fails to take into account the student body and student organization.

Rausch feels that the

collegial model is best employed when top managers inform
employees that the collegial

~odel

is in effect whenever

it promises that consensus is possible.

The collegial

model ignores the splinter groups within an organization
and the interaction of these groups.

While consensus can

be said to exist, this does not mean that all faculty
agree with the result.

In fact,

the collegial concept

seems to ignore the opposing factions and presumes that
they accept the decisions without any consequence to the
community.
Between the bureaucratic model and the collegial
model lies the political model located on the vertical
continuum.

The political model acknowledges attempts at

bureaucratic decision making within an organization, and
it recognizes the existence of consensus within an organization.

The political model also focuses on the ex-

ception to consensus, and the resistance to attempts at

 28
bureaucratic decisions.

This model allows for multiple

opinions and tends to be concerned with the dynamics

~f

the process of conflict resolution and decision making.
The political model of governance.

"Under the

political model, the leader is a mediator, a negotiator,
a person who jockeys between power blocks trying to establish viable courses of action for the institution''
(Baldridge, Curtis, Ecker,

& Riley, 1978, p. 45).

Baldridge (1971) first described the political
model during an analysis of decision making at New York
University in 1968.

The entire faculty and student body

were invited to participate in the research.

Baldrid6e

could not fully accept the notion of consensus in the
university community and, as a result, proposed a model
based on the political process.

He explained that the

college community was divided into various interest groups,
each with subgroups, with conflict between their various
interests.

The conflict was the actual struggle for power

in the academic community.

The groups were continually

involved in compromises, discussions, negotiations, and
developing coalitions as part of the decision-making
process.

Governance of the university, claimed Baldridge,

was the monitoring of political behavior:
These groups articulate their interests in many different ways, bringing pressure to bear on the
decision-making process from any number of angles

 29
and using power and force whenever it is available
and necessary.

Once articulated, power and

infl~ence

go through a complex process until policies are shaped,
reshaped, and forged from the competing claims of
multiple groups.

All of this is a dynamic process

clearly indicating that the university is best understood as a "political" institution.

(1971' pp. 8-9)

The political model is based on several higher education
related assumptions:
l.

To say that policy making is a political process
is not to say that everyone is involved.
By and large, decisions that may have a profound
effect on our society are made by small groups
of elites.

2.

Even people who are active engage in fluid participation.

. this normally means that small

groups of political elites govern most major decisions, for they invest the necessary time in
the process.
3.

Colleges and universities, like most other social
organizations, are characterized by fragmentation
into interest groups with different goals and
values.

But they are likely to mobilize

and try to influence decisions when resources are
tight, outside pressure groups attack, or internal
groups try to assume command.

 30
4.

Conflict is a signif-

Conflict is natural.

icant factor in promoting healthy organizational
change.
5.

The pressure that groups exert places severe
limitations on formal authority in the bureaucratic sense.

They (officials) must find

a viable course acceptable to several power blocks.
6.

External interest groups exert a strong influence
over the policy-making process.

( Baldridg2 &

Riley, 1977, pp. 14-15)
The college president is frequently the focus of
the political model, because it is the president who facilitates and manages the political process that takes
place in the college community.

Rausch (1980, pp. 151-

154) states that two important skills for any administrator who works within the framework of the political model
are coalition management and conflict management.

The

skilled administrator (i.e., college president) should be
able to work well with the various issue-oriented coalition groups that arise and be able to mediate and negotiate in times of conflict.
Outside groups also influence the political
process on the campus, as "It is important to examine the
social setting with its fragmented groups, divergent goal
aspiration, and conflicting claims on decision makers"
(Baldridge, 1971, p. 12).

Within the various groups

 31
comprising the university community, interests are articulated and defined to clarify the purpose and goal(s) of
each group.

The groups then proceed to bargain, negotiate,

compromise, and attempt to formulate a mutually agreeable
policy.

Coalitions may be formed in order to strengthen

a group's position on an issue.

This legislative process,

according to Baldridge (1971), is central to the entire
political process.

Out of the initial conflict comes

compromise, and from compromise evolves legislation.

The

final step of the political process is the stage of execution where the new policy, recently arrived at, is actually implemented.

The entire process is cyclical (see

Figure 2) and, as a result, once a decision is implemented,
new groups begin to form to focus on new conflicts.

The

function of the leader throughout the process is to mediate and/or negotiate between the groups and the tensions
which develop as they process through the stages of negotiation, compromise, and legislation.
Like the collegial model, there is shared decision
making in the political model, and there is room for total
involvement of the community.

Routine bureaucratic de-

cisions must also be made within the political mode;
but unlike the collegial model, the political model recognizes and deals with conflict.

In all three models re-

viewed thus far, a leader (i.e., college president) has
been significantly involved in the process.

In these

 Social
Context
Factors
What are
the social
conditions
which promote the
formation of
divergent
values and
interest
groups?

Interest
Articulation

Legislative
Transformation

How do the
interest
groups bring
pressure to
bear?

How are the
multiple
pressures
translated
into
official
policy?

Policy

Policy:
An official
commitment
to certain
gosls and
values.

Execution
of Policy

Policy
Execution

Feedback Processes
The generation of new political conflicts

Figure 2.

Policy formulation in the university:
a simple political model.
(See reference:
Baldridge, J. V.
Power and Conflict in the
University (New York:
John Hiley & Sons, 1971), p. 11.)

V-l
N

 33
models the leader has played a specific role as director,
facilitator, negotiator, or observer.

The governance.

process may differ from model to model, but the focus
each model is on the president as leader.

One final

model, however, stresses the lack of leadership.

In fact,

governance evolves as a direct result of the absence of a
strong leader.
The organized anarchy model of governance.

In

referring to the concept of organized anarchy, Cohen .and
March (1974) describe the university community as a confused composition of individuals and groups with little
centralized decision making.

There is neither control nor

coordination in the decision making, and the specific
process by which the decisions are made cannot be clearly
defined.

The perception of organization is vague, and

any goal direction is perceived as equally vague.
Baldridge & Riley (1977, p. 7) point out that the organized anarchy model breaks down the traditional formality surrounding decision making in the college or university.

Institutions of higher education are always sub-

ject to unclear goals, unclear technologies, and environmental vulnerability, and organized anarchy simply captures this spirit.

Solutions to problems are commonly

found in pre-existing solutions which tend therefore to
restrict any creativity in the area of problem solving.

 34
Baldridge (1971) describes difficulties with organized anarchy with regard to its implementation as a
governance model:
The properties set forth by Cohen and March had to
do with purposes, performance and participation.
There was almost no discussion of structure and still
less about the process of governance.

The different

interests of faculty members and students were recognized, but leadership rather than governance was the
expected procedure or reconciliation.

The concept

of organized anarchy was put forward as an idea
rather than as a fully developed construct.

(p.

17)

The organized anarchy model was applied to existing problems and processes in a university or college
as a means of rationalizing what it is that takes place
in the decision making process.

It does not propose a

process of leadership; it merely explains what is perceived as the process by Cohen and March.

With the

bureaucratic, political, and collegial models, both the
process and the outcome are fairly easy to predict.

Under

organized anarchy, both process and outcome tend to be
elusive.
Chapter II provides a historical overview of the
founding and development of Shimer College from 1893,
when the Mount Carroll Seminary was established, to 1930
when Dean William McKee resigned office for reason of

 35
health.

The chapter includes no detailed discussion about

governance models in effect from 1893 to 1930 because such
an undertaking was not the purpose of this study.

But it

is clear, nevertheless, that both Mrs. Shimer (the founder)
and Dean McKee were natural leaders with remarkable leadership qualities.

Both were strong leaders, and both

worked vigorously for the welfare of the institution and
the students.

Mrs. Shimer, though strong willed and

thoroughly committed to perpetuating her school, exhibited
qualities of open-mindedness and gentle sensitivity to
those around her; and McKee was a man of remarkable qualities who possessed unusual executive skills.
Shimer college was one of many schools founded
during a period of great expansion in higher education in
this country.

However, the college stands unique, not

only because of its programs, but also because of its
turbulent history.

From the beginning it was beset with

financial problems, and its development is a history of
struggle and misfortune.

 CHAPTER II
SHIMER COLLEGE:

1853-1930

Purpose of Chapter II
Chapter II reviews the history of Shimer College
from its founding until the year 1930.

The chapter

describes the dramatic growth of the college.

Chapter

II, in addition, focuses on problems faced by Shimer
throughout its long history such as an ongoing concern
about the financial condition of the college, as well as,
the changes in identity and perceived mission of the college.
Never again in the history of Shimer College was
there a period of stability in leadership and growth as
was experienced during the period from 1853 to 1930.
Chapter II highlights the events, the spirit, and the
people of Shimer during this period in order to provide
not only understanding of the college history but also a
contrast with the years which followed.
Frances Wood

Shi~er

Frances Wood, the youngest in a family of four
children, was born in Milton, New York, Saratoga County,
in August of 1826.

By the time she was two years of age,

36

 37
Frances was attending school conveniently located directly
across the street from her home.

During her early ye$rs,

Frances lost both her mother and one brother, and she was
sent to live with a cousin.

Frances developed such a

severe case of homesickness that she returned home to live
with her older married sister.

When she was a little

older, Frances again went off to school away from horne,
but homesickness again forced her to return home.

She

lived with her father and acted as his housekeeper.

The

opportunity arose for her to teach on a part-time basis
at a nearby school.

She worked hard and saved her money

until, with sufficient funds in the bank, she entered
the Albany Normal School where she remained until she was
23 years of age.

Her intention, originally, was to study

medicine; but realizing the limited opportunities for
women in the health career field, she chose, instead, to
pursue a career in teaching.

One of her goals, however,

which evolved from her experience was to somehow contribute to the improvement of educational opportunities
for women.
Judge John Wilson, a long-time friend of the Wood
family, had taken his residence in Savanna, Illinois, on
the banks of the Mississippi River in the northwest corner
of Illinois.

He had been involved in the decisions which

resulted in the formation of boundaries for Jo Davies
County, which included Savanna, and, later, for Carroll

 38
CountY which evolved from a subdivision of Jo Davies County.

Mount Carroll became the county seat for Carroll

county, and the land for the courthouse was donated by
three prominent residents of Mount Carroll.

Mr. Emmert,

Mr. Halderman, and Mr. Christian played a significant
role, not only in the development of the county, but were
prominent in the development of other aspects of life in
Mount Carroll as well.
With the population growth in the northwest section of Illinois, it became more apparent that there was
'
a critical need for education, especially educational
programs that would offer opportunities beyond the elementary school level.

Wilson felt strongly about this is-

sue, and he was one of several individuals who encouraged
the passage of a bill incorporating the Mount Carroll
Seminary.

Once the school was established on paper,

there developed an immediate need for a teacher to staff
and coordinate the educational program for the children.
Wilson had, over the years, been communicating with the
Nash family with whom Frances had been staying.
was the older sister of Frances.

Mrs. Nash

Wilson was aware that

Frances had been taking courses at the Normal school, and
he wrote to invite her to come out to Illinois and teach.
Prior to this time, Frances had been periodically receiving letters from her brother, Talmadge, who had gone to
Missouri.

His letters were full of enthusiasm, and the

 39
picture he portrayed of life on the new frontier was a
very exciting one.

Wilson's invitation, therefore, was

all that Frances needed to convince her to set out for
Illinois and take up a new role.

Miss Cinderella Gregory,

a friend of Frances and also a resident in the Nash
household, agreed to go along with Frances.
No sooner had Wood and Gregory arrived in Mount
carroll than school was opened on May 11, 1853, to educate eleven young female pupils.

The initial facility,

which was temporary, was located in the Presbyterian
Church.

Six weeks later the school moved to better

equipped and more comfortable surroundings in the only
brick building in town.

The enrollment grew rapidiy to

forty students by the close of the term.

Because of de-

rnand, a boys' division was opened on the third floor of
the building the following term.
The growth of the Mount Carroll Seminary under
Frances Wood.

Within a short period of time, both Wood

and Gregory came to realize that more physical space was
necessary in order to meet the growing demand for the education offered at the Seminary.

They, as well as the Board

of Trustees of the Seminary, agreed that a more permanent
location would be in the best interest of the school.

The

residents of the Mount Carroll area were both excited and
supportive of the idea of having a new facility to house
the Seminary, and many volunteered to purchase shares of

 40
stock in the proposed Seminary corporation in order to
help underwrite the cost of constructing the new school
building.
1y,

The price was set at $5.00 per share.

Initial-

there was a great flurry of activity and interest when

the stock became available, but eventually only 548 shares
were sold or guaranteed by pledges.

When it carne time for

those who had pledged to pay for the stock which they had
seve~al

decided they were no longer interested

in the investment.

The cash realized from the stock sale

purchased,

was considerably less than had been anticipated.
Miss Wood, in the meantime, had been searching for
property on which to locate her school.

Five acres of land

were purchased from the prominent Mount Carroll residents,
Mr. Halderman and
of Seminary stock.

~1r.

Rinewalt, in exchange fer 500 shares

Miss Hood immediately contracted for

the construction of a building with dimensions of 42 feet
by 46 feet to house 20 rooms.

The site of the purchase

was flat open prairie.
Miss Wood traveled to New York while the building
was still being completed.

She had been issued $2,000

by the Board of Trustees to be used for the purchase of
furnishings.

In addition to the furniture she had managed

to buy, she also brought back sheets, linens, and food
supplies.
Some investors who had purchased shares of stock
began to realize that they would not be receiving any

 41
dividends from their investment, and they wanted to dissolve their relationships with the Seminary.

At the same

time, members of the Board of Trustees were becoming discouraged at the increasing expenses connected with the
Seminary, and they finally agreed to sell the school to
Miss Wood.

The agreement called for Wood and Gregory to

purchase the Seminary for the original construction price
of $4,500.

Th~

Board agreed to donate both land and

furnishings provided that the two ladies would stay on for
a period of ten years as Principals of the school.

Miss

Wood used inheritance money from her father, as well as
private backing from interested Eastern investors, to purchase the Mount Carroll Seminary.

She later purchased an-

other 20 acres of land adjoining the campus.

A new charter

was issued in 1855 by the State of Illinois showing ownership as vested in the two women as proprietors of the corporation.
Shortly after they assumed o\vnership of the
Seminary, another addition to the facility was planned.
In 1857, however, the country was shaken by a rather severe
financial panic, and construction of the new building was
forced to a standstill.

Pressed by the commitment for

space by the opening of the Fall term, Miss Wood literally
took up the tools and completed the remainder of the work
herself from cement and brick work to painting.
the architect, engineer, and interior designer.

She was

 42
In December of 1857, Frances Wood became the bride
of Henry Shimer.

She had first met him briefly when he

worked as a stonemasion on the construction of the original
seminary building in 1854.

She later came to know him so-

cially through her association in Mount Carroll church
circles.

Henry Shimer came to Illinois from Chester County

in Pennsylvania.where he had first learned the trade of
stonemason.

The money earned from his construction work

paid for his medical education, as well as his master's
degree from the University of Chicago.

He was a doctor

as well as a naturalist, and while he did teach on the
Seminary faculty and worked as a medical resource

pe~son

in the area and for the school, he developed quite a reputation as a taxidermist.
The circumstances surrounding the engagement and
marriage of Dr. Shimer and Frances Wood are subject to
much discussion.

Palmer (1933) remembers the efforts of

Miss Wood to raise money for expenses at the school and,
in bargaining with Dr. Shimer over the debt of the school,
agreed to marry him providing that he would assume responsibility for the outstanding debt of the Seminary.

An

alumna (Jacobsen, 1937), reflected on the evening when,
during the course of some routine entertainment, and without prior announcement, Dr. Shimer and Wood came into the
room and were married in front of the grouP.

Another

reference to the somewhat mysterious circumstances

 43
surrounding the marriage is mentioned by Jencks and Riesman (1966) which cites the idealism of Hiss Wood as the
tool which gave her the strength to marry her creditor and
become Mrs. Henry Shimer.
Dr. and Mrs. Shimer enjoyed the comoany of one
another, but their interests remained separate.
Shimer devoted

h~rself,

ning of the school.

Mrs.

almost exclusively, to the run-

Dr. Shimer, a quiet retiring indi-

vidual, pursued his hobby as a naturalist, as well as "his
medical work.

The Shimers remained married until July 28,

1895, \vhen Dr. Shimer took his life with a gun.
The Civil War years were significant in the history of the Seminary because it was during this period
that the school had its first major change in identity.
When the war began, many of the young men \vho were in attendance at the Seminary joined ranks with the military.
The girls stayed behind supporting the war effort by making uniforms, flags, and other useful items.

The number

of female applicants to the school increased while the
number of male applicants decreased markedly.

In 1866, a

decision was made by Mrs. Shimer to restrict the enrollment to female students.
Growth and expansion of the Seminary characterized
the remaining years in the 19th century.

Miss Gregory

traded her role as Principal for that of a minister's wife.
She was replaced at the school by Miss Adelia Joy who came

 44
to Mount Carroll in 1872.

Glass (1953) characterized Miss

Joy as a person of culture, and with high ideals, good
judgment, dignity, and with the goal to help each student
maximize her talents.

With advancement in years, Mrs.

Shimer's energy level, while still strong, slowed more and
more each year.

Miss Joy gradually assumed duties and

responsibilities as Mrs. Shimer relinquished them.

She

was an excellent executive, and she managed the school
quite well.

The class day was long, Glass (1953) ex-

plains, with the day starting at 8:00 and ending wich the
lights out at 9:30p.m.

Mrs. Shimer and Miss Joy had en-

couraged the formation of various extracurricular programs
including a Literary Society, a newspaper, and the Oread
Society.

In addition, there was a German Club, a Mis-

sionary Society, and an early version of an alumni organization called the Reunion Club.

Mrs. Shimer earned ex-

tra money for the school by contracting to sell Chickering
pianos to interested parties.
The Mount Carroll Seminary was a conservative and
structured finishing school for young women who desired
exposure to a liberal arts education.

Perhaps nowhere is

the conservative finishing school environment more clearly recorded than in this passage:
no leaving school without request from horne; no
phone calls or travel on the Sabbath; students expected to attend church or Bible School; clothing must

 45
be plain, neat, and extravagance in dress and jewelry
particularly deprecated; pocket money for students
deposited with the Principal, kept in safe; borrowing
and lending money or clothes strictly forbidden; occupants of rooms paid for all damages; correspondence
restricted to parent-approved list; no young lady will
phon~

receive

calls from a young gentleman of the town

unless introduced by the Principal and no stranger
received as a visitor unless known and approved by the
parents.

(Glass, 1953, p. 12)

Transfer of the Mount Carroll Seminary to the
University of Chicago.

Mrs. Shimer spent more and more

time at her Deland, Florida home as the years passed.

She

had been able to work at the College and follow a rather
rigorous schedule until 1883, when, after an attack of
p~eumonia,

After her

she was forced to retire to her plantation.
~etirement,

she spent the cold months in Florida,

but she still came North for the warmer months of the year.
Her orange groves became known for the quality of the
fruit produced, and Mrs. Shimer developed her orchards into one of the leading producers of oranges in Florida.
In her later years, she was consumed with concern
about the future of the Seminary.

Her desire was, first

of all, to have the school continue to thrive after her
death.

Second, she wanted to attach the Seminary, to

the Baptist Church and, in so doing, perpetuate its

 46
existence.

The Baptist religion was healthy, and church

support, both financially and in terms of students en~
rolled, would add a new dimension of strength to her
school.

Initially, about 1895, she approached the Bap-

tist Women of Northwest Illinois in an attempt to solicit
their interest in the school.

Mrs. Shimer offered them

the school for free if they would agree to raise a
$100,000 endowment (Important Events and Dates
1941).

The response was most disappointing to Mrs. Shimer.

She then contacted Dr. William Rainey Harper, in 1895,
then President of the University of Chicago.

Mrs. Shimer

was aware that Harper had been trying to develop a system
of feeder academies for the University, and it was her
hope that she could interest Dr. Harper in the Mount
Carroll Seminary.

She informed Dr. Harper that, in addi-

tion to the school facility itself, she would provide an
endo>vment of $150,000 after her death.

The money was to

come from the income derived from her orange groves in
Florida.

Harper was very impressed with Mrs. Shimer.

Unfortunately, during the course of the negotiations, a
killer frost covered most of Florida and nearly wiped out
Mrs. Shimer's groves.

It proved to be a financial dis-

aster and serious setback for Mrs. Shimer.
The minutes of the Executive Committee of the
Baord of Trustees of the University of Chicago (December 14, 1895) mention the appointment of a special

 47

committee assigned to investigate the feasibility of acquiring the Seminary as an Academy of the University of
Chicago.

The final report from the Committee was positive,

and it included the recommendation for affiliation between
the Mount Carroll Seminary and the University.

This was

presented to the Board and approved (Minutes of the Board
of Trustees of the University of Chicago, February 14,

1896).

The agreement called for the name of the Seminary

to be changed to the Frances Shimer Academy of the University of Chicago.

It also stipulated that Shimer was

to remain independent with a separate Board of Trustees
including a membership majority representing the interests of the University.

The Academy was transferred to

an independent Board of fifteen members with eight from
the University and seven from the Mount Carroll area.

At

least two-thirds of the Board had to be of the Baptist
deno~ination,

including the Principal of the school.

Thus

Mrs. Shimer had been able to realize her goal of having
the school perpetuated, and perpetuated with the Baptists
in control.
The joint agreement, while authorizing an independent Board of Trustees for Shimer, reserved power for
decision making with the University.

This meant that the

Principal of the Academy located in Mount Carroll would
only be a figurehead and would have to submit to a chief
administrator in Chicago for final decisions.

~1iss

Ida

 48
Gardner, formerly a principal at the Warren Academy, was
appointed as the resident Principal at Shimer Academy,
or. Frank Miller of the University was appointed as the
chief administrative officer.

Miss Gardner soon sensed

that the arrangement was ineffective.

Delays in the

decision-making process proved frustrating, not only to
Miss Gardner, but to the faculty as well.

She resigned in

April of 1897.
Dean William Parker McKee (1897-1929)
William Parker McKee was born in Indianola,
Illinois, on August 8, 1862.
tor in Indianola.

His father was a church pas-

McKee attended Wabash Preparatory

School, as well as Wabash College in Crawfordsville,
Indiana.

In 1883, he graduated from Wabash with a Bache-

lor of Arts degree.

McKee went on to attend the Baptist

Theological Seminary at the University of Chicago, and it
was there that he first encountered William Rainey Harper
and the beginning of a long and deep friendship.

He had

been serving as a pastor at a Baptist church in Indianapolis when he received a call from Harper asking if he
would consider assuming the role of Dean at the Frances
Shimer Academy.

McKee, a widower, agreed to the offer,

and he and his son, Harper, and McKee's mother moved to
Mount Carroll in August of 1897.

He was given full ad-

ministrative powers, and the ability to make decisions and
establish policy was thus returned to the chief officer

 49
of the Academy in Mount Carroll.
When McKee arrived in Mount Carroll, enrollment
was down and the morale of the faculty was quite low.

He

understood the challenge that lay in front of him, and
since he was basically optimistic, he set out to rebuild
the spirit that had been Shimer.
On November 10, 1901, Mrs. Shimer passed away.
She left the bulk of her estate in trust as an endowment
for the Academy.

Mrs. Shimer was buried in the cemetery

in Mount Carroll.

In addition to money realized from the

Shimer estate, and the estate of Miss Joy who later passed
away,

~IcKee

was able to generate donations for the school

building program.

He facilitated the development of a

strong academic program with an emphasis on the arts, and
he also encouraged the formation of a meaningful extracurricular program.

During his tenure as Dean, he super-

vised the construction of twelve, Georgian, colonial style
buildings on campus.

He was characterized as gentle yet

firm, cautious yet not afraid to make decisions, and as an
effective leader.

His style of governance was as a fa-

cilitator with a collegial leadership philosophy.

McKee

seemed to possess a charisma which afforded him the skill
to unite all factions of the Academy community from the
Board of Trustees to alumnae and students.

The construe-

tion on the campus offered tangible evidence that Shimer
was building for the future as well as the present.

He

 50
~as

revered because he moved Shimer aggressively forward

through an era of expansion and growth.
McKee was a man who did his work quietly and without
desire to be in the limelight.
cheap fame or publicity.
word a showman.

He did not court a

He was in no sense of the

He did his work in a quiet way but

ahvays with a firmness of decision, with tenacity of
purpose, and with unswerving loyalty.

(Fetter, 1933,

p. 7)

Fetter points out that McKee was a determined individual
as exemplified by the significant amount of construction
on the campus during his tenure in office.

Yet, despite

the expansion, the buildings were not built as a monument
to McKee.

Rather, he built himself into the buildings.

McKee, says Fetter, was a man of unusual stature and
breadth.

He appraised his skills:

He was an executive of unusual ability.
dreaming.

He was always

He proceeded carefully and cautiously.

He thought things through.

Dean McKee was an

administrator and a financier of unusual ability.

Dean

McKee was as great an educator as he was an executive.
Dean McKee was a man of broad culture and scholarship.
Dean McKee was also very frank and to the point
in his criticism.

( Fetter, 1933, pp. 3-6)

He surrounded himself with those who shared his vision.
McKee provided a strong moral tone for the campus and

 51
almost a fatherly image for the students.
On a cold February morning in 1906, the campus went
up in fire building by building.

Some thought McKee's

spirit might also be destroyed, but as he stood watching
the fire, those around him heard his words vowing to rebuild the campus.

The school community quickly raUied to

the cause and cleared enough debris from the wing of one
of the buildings to permit resumption of some of the
classes.

Donors again poured money into the reconstruc-

tion project at Shimer.

Included among the roster of

donors was the name of Andrew Carnegie with a gift of
$10,000.
McKee was instrumental in changing the curriculum
which affected the direction of the Academy.

He molded a

program which elevated Shimer to the ranks of a junior college.

The first junior college class graduated in 1910.

In the same year, the name of the Academy was changed to
the Frances Shimer Junior College and Preparatory School
(Glass, 1953).

In 1920, Shimer applied for and received

accreditation through the North Central Association of
Secondary Schools and Colleges.
McKee, like his predecessors, expanded extracurricular programs at Shimer.

In fact, it was during

McKee's era as chief executive officer that many of the
college traditions were initiated.

The annual May Fete was

established to celebrate the close of the school year and

 52
featured the crowning of a Hay Queen.

This was an event

in which to\m people came to participate as well.

In. ad-

dition, Shimer sponsored a Drama Society, an alumnae association, and lectures, recitals, and other events on
campus.

HcKee, a fan of James Whitcomb Riley, read to

gnmps of students, during the evening quiet, from some of
Riley's works.

This eventually developed into a treasured

custom known as the "Riley Evening with Dean HcKee."
It appeared that McKee's energy and enthusiasm
knew no boundaries.

One of his final contributions to the

school was the construction of a new gymnasium.

Unfortu-

nately, the money necessary to pay for the building did not
materialize as expected, and $10,000 was borrowed from the
operating fund in order to satisfy the debt.

It was in-

tended that the $10,000 would be paid back as soon as funds
were available.
As the years passed, HcKee began to slow down.

He

simply was unable to devote the same time and care to the
operation of Shimer.

While it is not clear whether HcKee

was aware of his diminished energy, it is apparent that
the members of the college community sensed that matters
were adrift.

The conditions deteriorated at the school to

the point where individuals began to speak more openly and
with concern for the operation of the College.

In the

letter to Dr. Dickerson, Shimer Trustee on the faculty at
the University of Chicago, Samuel J. Campbell, a local

 53
Trustee from Mount Carroll, wrote to impress upon Dickerson the gravity of the situation on the campus.

He wrote

(Campbell, October 28, 1929) that he felt things were at
such a low ebb on the campus, that he went and talked with
Mrs. McKee who,

in turn, agreed it was the appropriate

time for her husband to retire.

Apparently, however, she

was taking on responsibility for some of her husband's
work, possibly in an effort to shield him from the rampant
criticism and concern.

A few days after Campbell's first

letter, he wrote another to Dickerson with a tone of
urgency:
Perhaps I am an alarmist regarding the situation, but
I believe things on the campus in many ways are in a
deplorable condition.

During the last week I have had

several interviews with members of the faculty who are
dissatisfied with the conditions under which they are
working and state frankly that, in their opinion, unless some change is made they will not be able to
carry on their work.

(Campbell, November 4, 1929)

With regard to McKee's role, Campbell wrote:
It seems to me that this action on her part was extremely unwise and I for one do not see on what authority she was justified in making such an assertion.
Certainly matters of that sort are the province of the
Trustees.

I have high regard for Mrs. McKee,

but I am convinced that the school is destined to have

 54
difficulty if she is allowed to continue to act as
President.

She is not fitted by temperament to handle

the job and many of the faculty are almost in a state
of revolt because every problem that should be handled
by the president is referred to her.

( Campbell,

November 4, 1929)
Dean McKee finally submitted his resignation on November
29, 1929, concluding one of the strongest periods in the
history of Shimer College.
Summary
The first 76 years for Shimer College represented
a period of stable leadership.

Mrs. Frances Wood Shimer

was the first Principal of the Mount Carroll Seminary, and
her task was far from an easy one.

She founded the school

in Hount Carroll and proved to be a determined leader with
a genuine pioneering spirit.

Mrs. Shimer was a good fund

raiser, a good business person, and a good educator.

Her

desire to have Shimer affiliate with the University of
Chicago proved to be a sound decision.

This relationship

afforded Shimer instant prestige gained from affiliation
with the University, and it offered Shimer financial security while allowing it to retain its independence in administrative areas.

William Parker McKee completed what

Mrs. Shimer had not been able to finish.

He developed a

master plan and proceeded through phase after phase of
construction until twelve buildings had been completed.

 55
Enrollment surged, the school expanded its curriculum so
as to become a private, two-year junior college.

In ad-

dition to expansion in the physical setting and enrollment,
McKee favored the development of extracurricular programs
and many of the traditions which accompanied them.

He

piloted the college through the period of unprecedented
expansion at a time when parallel expansion was taking
place in higher education in America.

Rudolph (1962) ex-

plains that between 1890 and 1925 enrollment in institutions of higher education grew 4.7 times as fast as the
population in this country.
Conclusions
1.

The crisis of identity which plagued Shimer

through the years is in evidence during the Shimer-McKee
years.

The institution was first a secondary school for

boys and girls, then became a preparatory school for girls,
was affiliated with the University of Chicago as an Academy
and, finally became a junior college during the tenure of
McKee.

The changes in identity, at least at this point in

the history of the school, were forward moving as the college grew and expanded its role of service.
2.

Toward the close of the McKee years, a gymna-

sium was completed on campus.

The final payment on the

gym, around $10,000, was made from an in-house loan borrowed from the operating budget of the college.

Such

maneuvering of the college funds placed stress on the

 56
budget for years to come.

It was an early example of the

hand-to-mouth financial operation which was to plague
Shimer throughout its next 50 years of operation in Mount
carroll.
3.

GoVernance at Shimer became substantially more

complex once Mrs. Shimer turned the school over to the
University of Chicago.

The influences affecting the opera-

tion of the college increased in number.

Dean McKee became

accountable, not only to the Board of Trustees, but also
to alumnae, expanded faculty, students, parents, and prospective donors.

Toward the close of McKee's term as

President, his participation in school affairs diminished.
There was, however, increased activity among members of
the Board, as well as faculty, in response to this void in
leadership.

The wife of the President was suspect in her

role as decision maker in school affairs in order to reduce the impact of her husband's absence.

There was cer-

tainly political activity among some members of the Board
of Trustees at Shimer.

Trustee Sam Campbell was vocal

about his concern for the leadership at Shimer.

The lead-

ership was, in fact, adrift at the time, and there was cornpetition among factions for leadership.
4.

The decision to build the many buildings on

the campus after the fire in 1906 was a wise decision.
Had construction been delayed to any great extent, the
post-Depression years would probably have eliminated any

 57
opportunity for expansive building plans because of the
economic conditions of the country.
The Shimer-McKee years, in retrospect, could
easily be classified as a series of "peaks" in the life
of the College.

They were years of stability, sound

leadership, and expansion.

As McKee left office the

country was beginning to spiral into one of the greatest
financial panics ever to impact on America.

The Great

Depression marked the end of optimism and the good life
for many people.

While the college managed to survive

the rough years that followed,

the decade of the thirties

was a period where there were five new Presidents at
Shimer.

Ironically, the man who followed McKee into of-

fice would be the subject of severe criticism from some
factions in the Shimer community.

The leadership, how-

ever, of Floyd Cleveland Wilcox was significant if for no
other reason than because he managed to bring the college
through the Great Depression years.

 CHAPTER III
SHIMER COLLEGE:

1930-1939

Purpose of Chapter III
Chapter III will demonstrate the contrast in frequent turnover of leadership at Shimer \vith the period of
stability during the preceding 30 years under the leadership of one man.

While governance at Shimer had become

more complex during the term of McKee, there is very little mention made of any conflict with the Board of Trustees, alumnae, parents, or other segments of the Shimer
community.

From the very first moment he took office in

1930, it became clear that President Floyd Wilcox would be
a mediator between College factions.

Alumnae donors had

become a more powerful group, the Trustees were reluctant
to relinquish their more active role in directing the college, and the administrative structure of the College became more complex.

It was this complexity which, in part,

was responsible for removing Wilcox from closer day-to-day
contact with the institution.
Chapter III reviews the increasing frustration
felt by some members of the Shimer community as leader after leader assumed the role of President.

Tired and in a

state of disarray after President Culver's death in 1938,

58

 59
Shimer limped into the decade of the forties in search of
stable and dynamic leadership.
low as a result of pay cuts.

The faculty morale was·
The identity of the College

changed again during the ten-year span from 1929 to 1939.
Chapter III is a chronicle of frustration, despair, and
tension for Shimer College.
President Floyd Cleveland Wilcox (1930-1935)
Looking back at the situation that existed at the
time of Mr. McKee's retirement and particularly the
special circumstances surrounding the last two years
of his administration I feel sure that any one coming
in to succeed him was pretty sure to find trouble in
store for him, especially in the local situation.
(John F. Moulds correspondence, October 29, 1935)
Floyd Cleveland Wilcox emerged as the choice for
the presidency of Shimer from a list of six finalists
(Board of Trustees, May 19, 1930).

The committee ap-

pointed to select the new chief executive officer indicated that it was exercising much caution because of the
superb record of the previous president.

The

co~ittee

wanted to ensure, as best it could, the selection of an
individual of stature equal to the two previous chief executive officers.
It may be that no succeeding administration may surpass the progress of the past 75 years under the
fostering care of just two leaders, yet I hope for

 60
the future, and a sincere wish and trust that the
influence and standards of the F.S.S. may increase
and radiate into the homes of coming generations.
(Sawyer correspondence, February 17, 1930)
Dr. Wilcox graduated with an AB in 1910 from
Kalamazoo College in l1ichigan and went immediately to the
Newton Theological Institute in Massachusetts where he
resided until 1911.

He earned a Bachelor of Divinity

Degree from the Union Theological Seminary in 1913 in
New York.

Wilcox then enrolled at Columbia Teacher's

College and graduated with a Master of Arts in Education
in 1920.

At that point, he crossed the country to attend

Stanford University where he received a Cubberly Fellowship, and also earned the doctorate from the School of
Education in 1930.

The focal point of his graduate study

was the junior college, and this background was perceived
by the committee to make Wilcox especially strong as a
candidate for the position of President of Shimer.

In

addition to the theoretical preparation he received,
Wilcox was an experienced administrator with service as
a Principal, Dean, and instructor at schools in China.
Wilcox was a youthful looking 44 years of age, the father
of four children, and was in excellent health.

His cre-

dentials were impressive, and his recommendations very
strong.

Indeed, he came highly

nent educators.

reco~mended

from promi-

The Search Committee, in concluding its

 61
~ork,

unanimously recommended that \Hlcox be appointed

president of Shimer at a Board approved salary of $5,000
per annum.
It is not clear whether Hilcox

~;vas

fully cognizant

of the extent of involvement of some of the Board members
~ith

regard to the operation of the College, but it cer-

tainly did not take long before an apparent struggle for
power began to surface.

The essence of the struggle is

captured in a letter of recommendation, on behalf of
Wilcox, from a member of the Board who was not in total
concert with other Board members:
When he became President of Frances Shimer, Mr. Wilcox
encountered a situation in which his predecessor, because of ill health during the last years of his regime, had found it necessary to rely largely uoon the
advice and guidance of some of the local Trustees,
which amounted practically to an active participation
in the management of the School.

As a result it was

probably unavoidable that there should arise differences of opinion and some lack of symnathy with
Mr. Wilcox and his program, which finally resulted
in his resignation at the end of the academic year
1934-35.

(Moulds, correspondence, October 10, 1935)

The foregoing is exemplified in correspondence received
by Wilcox, prior to his arrival in Mount Carroll, from
Board member J. S. Dickerson of the University of Chicago.

 62
The letters from Dickerson to Wilcox may have been innocently intended to help acclimate the newest member of
the Shimer administration to the events taking place within the College community but, in retrospect, the letters
can also be viev1ed as an attempt to let l.Jilcox know who
was in power and what items were on the administrative
agenda.

The first letter received by Wilcox (Dickerson

correspondence, June 13, 1930) contained suggestions for
improving the commencement program, a summary of the details surrounding the departure of McKee from Mount Carroll, an announcement to the effect that Miss Hostett2r
had been appointed Dean of Women, and an indication that
Dickerson had suggestions for Wilcox about his role as
Secretary of the Board of Trustees.

In addition, Dicker-

son discussed improvements for the campus art gallery, as
well as a suggestion for the remodeling of part of College
Hall.

A second letter to Wilcox (Dickerson correspondence,

June 26, 1930) mentioned that he would be happy, if desired, to meet with Wilcox and offer advice on various
topics as needed.
Expectations for the performance of Wilcox were
running high in other areas of the College community as
well.

The alumnae, for example, had a vested interest in

Shimer and the welfare of the College.

Mrs. Winona

Sawyer, an alumna, best represented the expectations of
the moment when she wrote:

 63
. if a man ever had a chance to succeed, the opportunity is open to Mr. Wilcox.

The enlarged and

improved grounds, the twelve magnificent comparatively new buildings, the equipment of each, the library,
the faculty,

the endowment, all of which meet the re-

quirements of that most exacting of all standardizing
agencies, the North Central Association of Secondary
Schools and Colleges.

There is no indebtedness.

Hereafter, the pres. will have the entire income to
spend on his educational program.

(Winona Sawyer cor-

respondence, June 28, 1930)
The honeymoon for Floyd Hilcox, as President, was short
lived.

The report of the auditors made public in October

cited the following:
numerous evidences of carelessness in the
handling of accounts and the existence of many mistakes, etc., which it was necessary to locate and
correct.

(Soard of Trustees Minutes, October 14,

1930, p. 2)
The minutes of the same meeting also record another item
which became a concern of Wilcox.

During the final years

of McKee's term, the Board of Trustees voted to place
some cash savings in the operation fund to pay the final
payment on the recently completed gymnasium.

The amount,

$13,187.36, was intended to be an in-house loan from the
operating fund, and it would be repaid over a period of

 64
time.

As Wilcox soon discovered, no provision had been

made for payment, and the total amount was being carried
forward into the next budget year.
During the tenure of President Wilcox, there was
also a rather significant decline in the enrollment at
Shimer and, subsequently, a decline in the amount of money
available for the budget from tuition income on which
Shimer was so heavily dependent.

In 1930, when he first

took office, the enrollment stood at 215 students and
the income from tuition arnountffito $147,516.

By the close

of the school year 1934-35, the enrollment pattern suffered a rather serious decline in the year immediately
following the Great Depression, but it was much more
gradual over the remaining years of Wilcox's tenure.
The changes Wilcox initiated at Shimer came
relatively early in his administration.

During his first

year in office, for example, he successfully reorganized
the preparatory program into a four-year junior college
program.

He simplified the fee structure by requiring

one comprehensive fee instead of a fee for tuition plus
several additional fees for various items.

He added a

psychologist plus two admissions officers to the student
personnel staff.

He expressed concern about the attri-

tion rate and he indicated that he would focus his effort
on other areas, as well, including scholarship, campus

 65
appearan Ce , and endowment (Board of Trustees Minutes,
January 31, 1931).
Wilcox on the defensive.

By the following August,

it was apparent that the power struggle between certain
members of the Board and President Wilcox was gaining in
strength.

Board member S. J. Campbell, a prominent res-

ident of Mount Carroll, wrote a letter to Dr. Dickerson
at the University of Chicago expressing concern about
negligence by Wilcox to certain of his responsibilities:
He let me understand that certain things which had
always been handled through the Treasurer's Office
would be handled by him with the result that I am
confident that they have been neglected.

(Campbell

correspondence, August 31, 1931)
Campbell was upset about some tactics Wilcox had employed
in working with several insurance agencies in the Mount
Carroll area in an effort to have the insurance premiums
of the college reevaluated.
On January 6, 1932, in light of a severe financial squeeze at the College, the Board of Trustees voted
a 10 percent salary reduction for all faculty (Board of
Trustees minutes, January 6, 1932), Campbell's concern
about Wilcox grew more intense:
I am now convinced that unless his views on certain
fundamental matters are changed, that his selection
was unwise and that his continued activity along

 66
these lines will be of no benefit to the institution.
(Campbell, correspondence, May 2, 1932)
rwo days later, Campbell, in an attempt to firmly estab-

lish his position, reiterated his opinion to Dickerson:
My convictions as expressed in my recent letter have
become stronger since I wrote to you.

Perhaps I am

far too critical but I have always had a habit of
being rather outspoken and I have held my peace as
long as I

thought I could.

(Camnbell correspondence,

May 4, 1932)
Campbell was persistent and straightforward with his attack on Wilcox.

Two months later, he again wrote to

Dickerson (Campbell correspondence, July 5, 1932), this
time critical of the management skill possessed by Wilcox.
There were still additional efforts by Campbell to document the perceived faults in the President of Shimer, as
well as urge his removal (Campbell corresPondence, July 21,
1932; September 13, 1932).

By December of 1932, Campbell

was urging Dickerson to obtain a sampling of opinion of
other members of the Board ( Campbell correspondence,
December 19, 1932).

If such a meeting did occur,

there

is no record of what transpired.
A proposal had been introduced to consider an
evening division at Shimer which might offer the residents
in the area surrounding the campus an opportunity to take
courses after hours, and it was hoped that such an offering

 67
might have some appeal to high school students who desired college level work prior to graduation from secondary school.

In was felt that the additional revenue

generated by the evening division might provide some sorely needed cash for the operating budget, and it was
viewed as a way for Shimer faculty to increase their mvn
income.

The hoped for enrollment did not materialize,

and plans for the evening school were abandoned.
The auditor's report (Scovell, Wellington Co.,
November 8, 1933) cited inefficient record keeping procedures in the Business Office of the College as a source
of Concern.

The matter was not an easy one for Wilcox to

resolve since the Miles family had long been associated
with Shimer College.

It was a Hiles family member who

was acting as the bookkeeper for the institution.

In a

rather shrewd maneuvering of personnel, Wilcox replaced
one hmily member with another, and this seemed to appease
all concerned.
During the 1933-34 school year, Wilcox reassigned
Miss Hostetter to handle guidance functions and revised
school rules to provide the girls with more freedom and
responsibility (Annual Report of the President, 1933-34).
Wilcox, in the report, reaffirmed his position that Shimer
should increase activity in promotion work.
The mfuutes of the Board of Trustees (November 16,
1934) record a vote for a second salary reduction of 10

 68
percent by Board members.

The Board directed Wilcox to

become more directly involved in promotion work and
recruiting efforts in the field.

The salary reduction

angered faculty who felt they were shouldering the financial problems of the College.

The Board agreed to give

the faculty notes which would allow them to recover a
portion of their salary at a future date contingent on
the enrollment reaching a designated figure.

The Finance

Committee minutes (December 1, 1934) show that the Board
members and faculty signed the notes.
President Wilcox had seemingly attempted to make
a few strides forward by assigning a guidance person to
the staff, by expressing concern about attrition at Shimer,
and by expressing a desire to have Shimer become more
visible through promotion work.

His chief accomplishments

really occurred early in his role as President.

They in-

cluded changing the fee system of multiple fees plus tuition to one, single, all-inclusive fee, and structuring the
four-year junior college program.

The remainder of his

term in office, while new ideas were discussed and planned,
was devoted to responding to the pressures brought on by
the Board because of concern over mismanagement, by the
faculty over salary concerns, and by outsiders to the
College community who applied pressure because of what
they heard or read about Shimer.

Wilcox was on the defen-

sive, and confidence in the chief officer at Shimer was

 69
rapidly eroding.

The sense of deterioration was running

rampant and appeared to have a snowball-like effect on
those associated with Shimer.

Wilcox was unable to move

forward with any plans for construction or expansion because of the budget constraints resulting from the lower
college income.

He was caught in a "damned if you do,

damned if you don't" situation.

Fuel was added to the

already roaring fire by an item which appeared in an annual report summarizing a survey of conditions at Baptist
affiliated institutions:
Frances Shimer, on the other hand, has had a serious
setback.

Its student body has been reduced from 212

in 1929 to 129 this year.

This has caused a serious

decrease in its current income necessitating reduction on staff and salaries and other economies.

It

is doubtful whether this school puts on a sufficiently
strong campaign for students.

(Padelford, January 2,

1935, p. 8)
The perception of the faculty was that their concerns were
not being heard at the level of the Board of Trustees because Wilcox was attempting to stem the flow of communication by incorporating the faculty comments into his own
reports.

Documentation was gathered reflecting the inef-

fective performance of the President of the College (lack
of information . .

, date unknown).

S. J. Campbell con-

tacted John Moulds (March 5, 1935), fellow Board member at

 r

•

70
the University of Chicago, and suggested that plans be
drawn up for an informal meeting of the Board to review
and discuss the Wilcox matter.

This was the second time,

during the term of Wilcox, that Campbell made such a suggestion.

Obviously under a great deal of strain and

tension, and realizing that his hands were tied in defeat with regard to his role as the President of Shimer,
Wilcox issued the following brief message to the Board:
I hereby hand you my resignation as President of
Frances Shimer Junior College, the same to take effect
June 30, 1935.

(Board of Trustee Minutes, April 27,

1935)
In return for his resignation, the Board voted Wilcox a
severance pay of $4,500.

In addition, they agreed to pick

up the difference between his salary at Shimer and the
salary from a new position if the new salary did not match
his salary at Shimer College.

Wilcox and his family re-

turned to Xenlo Park, California where he undertook a program of post graduate study at Stanford University.
Reflections on Floyd Wilcox as President.

Perhaps

the greatest single accomplishment that can be attributed
to President Wilcox was the fact that he was able to keep
Shimer open through one of the worst economic periods in
the history of this nation.

His specific accomplishments

focused more on projects and policy rather than on brick
and mortar.

He came to Shimer well-schooled in the theory

 71
of the junior college, and he had earned a great deal of
experience in secondary schooling.

In an attempt to

simplify bookkeeping and make Shimer more appealing, at
the same time, to parents, Wilcox reduced the multiple
fee structure plus tuition to one flat fee.

He was re-

sponsible for completing the transition of the separate
preparatory program into the junior college program which
made Shimer somewhat unique as a four-year junior college.
Wilcox hired new staff, seemed conscious of the problem
with attrition, and emphasized a need for improved recruitment and promotion of the College.
Hhile Wilcox did come to Shimer well versed in
theory, he was not adequately prepared for his encounter
with some of the members of the Board of Trustees.

P.e was

accused of mismanagement, ineffective leadership, and for
being uncommunicative with faculty.

He vJas faced 1.vith a

Board comprised of members from Chicago who were interested
but somewhat passive about what was going on at Shimer, and
members from the Haunt Carroll area who were heavily invested in their role as Board members.

Foremost among them

was S. J. Campbell who figured prominently in the move to
encourage retirement of William McKee who was the predecessor of

~.Jilcox.

It was Campbell, again, who relentless-

ly pursued a campaign to have vJilcox removed from office.
The lower enrollment and reduced income for the school were
the means Campbell used to make his point about the poor

 72
quality of leadership demonstrated by Wilcox.

In reflect-

ing on the situation, it is difficult to determine the
significance of the Depression period on enrollment, and
the significance of the leadershio of Floyd Wilcox.

What

is clear is that Wilcox was forced into becoming more
bureaucratic in his own personal leadership style in
attempting to ignore the communications from faculty and
Board members regarding his leadershio.

The coalitions

which formed among Board and faculty united and ultimately
put enough pressure on Wilcox to force his resignation.
The faculty had been treated relatively well under the direction of McKee, but they were confronted with the reality of the economy, reduced enrollment, and subsequent
salary problems under Wilcox.

The Board, on the other

hand, contained some members on the local scene in Mount
Carroll who seemed reluctant to surrender their involvement and power once a new leader was elected to succeed
McKee.
Not all members of the Shimer Board were in disagreement with President Wilcox, however, as indicated by
the following excerpt from a letter written by a member
of the Board who objected to the treatment given Wilcox:
I find myself so completely out of harmony with what
has transpired in the relationship between the President of Frances Shimer and one or more local members

 73
of the Board of Trustees.

(Works correspondence,

April 12, 1935)
The reality of the state of affairs at Shimer at the time
of the resignation of Wilcox was that morale was low, enrollment had declined rather substantially, and the finances were in a somewhat precarious state.

The Wilcox

years werecharacterized as a period of tension and stress
at Shimer.

The school was desperately in need of a steady

leader who could stabilize the turbulence which the school
was experiencing in the mid-thirties.

It was unanimously

agreed by the Board that a Search Committee be formed to
seek a new President.

In the meantime, however, a leader

had to be appointed to temporarily steer a course for
Shimer.

The most obvious candidate seemed to be Miss A.

Beth Hostetter who was an experienced, well regarded,
veteran member of the Shimer faculty.
Interim President A. Beth Hostetter (1935-1936)
On April 27, 1935, the Board of Trustees (Board of
Trustee

Minute~

appointed Miss A. Beth Hostetter as In-

terim President of Shimer College for one year effective
July 1, 1935.

Hostetter had earned the respect and trust

of the Shimer academic community because of her long-time
association with the College, and because of her skills as
teacher and administrator.

Hostetter was a woman of her

convictions, and yet she was able to mediate successfully
between different factions within the College community.

 74
Her task was to stabilize the situation at Shimer and supplY needed leadership until her replacement could be selected.
Hostetter's mother had served as a teacher at the
College and, later, as a member of the Trustees.

Miss

Hostetter, herself a teacher, had attended Shimer as a
student, went on to study at the University of Chicago,
and attended Columbia University in New York.

Prior to

service at Shimer, she had been both a teacher and administrator at Central College in Pella, Iowa.

She had also

been employed at the Annie Wright Seminary in Tacoma,
Washington, and at the ChristiaG College in Columbia,
Missouri.

She had spent a semester in study at the Sor-

bonne in Paris as well.
Miss Hostetter's year as President was marked by
a rather substantial increase in the student enrollment
at Shimer.

The student body enrollment for 1935-36 was at

154 students as compared to 126 student in the previous
year.

She was concerned about student recruitment and

retention, and she launched a study to focus on precisely
what it was that was attracting students to Shimer College.
The results of the study concluded that Shimer should expand and revise the program of promotion for Shimer.
The Search Committee completed its work and recommended that Raymond B. Culver be elected, by the Board, to
the presidency at Shimer.

There was both hope and optimism

 75
involved in the selection of Culver as the choice candidate for the office.
president Raymond B. Culver (1936-1938)

-

The name of Raymond B. Culver surfaced several

times in the recommendations from various individuals who

had been solicited to present candidate names (Anderson,
November 11, 1935;

Padelford, April 3, 1936).

The cur-

rent of feeling about Culver was quite positive and quite
enthusiastic.

His credentials were impeccable.

He seemed

just the tonic needed by the College to carry it forward
through the remainder of the decade.

Culver had been

educated at Yale where he received four degrees.

His un-

dergraduate education had been received at Linfield College
in McMinnville, Oregon where one of the t•·m degrees he
earned \vas in music.

During Horld War I he had served

with the Navy and, afterward, became quite active in the
TI1CA.

He had been sought as a candidate for President by

two other colleges, but he had declined the invitations
saying that he did not feel they were quite right for him.
His annual salary at Shimer was set at $3,600 plus fringe
benefits which included the use of Sawyer House and an
allotment for meals in the school cafeteria on certain
occasions.
His personality was low key, and yet Culver demonstrated a genuine sensitivity to the various factions of
the College.

He devoted some of his time to visiting

 76
alumnae in their homes to bring them up to date on what
was happening at Shimer.

When the faculty salary notes

signed during the term of Wilcox came due, he easily cast
them aside saying that the terms of the agreement had not
been fulfilled.

The faculty had agreed that the notes

would be deemed worthless if a certain enrollment figure
did not materialize.

Culver showed the Shimer community

that he was an able fund raiser by bringing in a gift of
$15,000 from a family who had expressed an interest in the
school.

He was a man with goals as highlighted in the

Annual Reoort of the President (Culver, August 13, 1937):
1.) the cultivation of the constituency of the College by
preparing articles on the students and the College, advertising, development of a film on Shimer, and by making
numerous appearances and speeches;

2.) the develoDment of

better spirit among alumnae through the organization of a
National Alumnae Association;

3 .) increase the enrollment

and place added emphasis on personnel in the admissions
office;

4 .) improved the physical plant as a result of the

$15,000 gift from the Bennett family;
and integration of the curriculum.

5 .) further revision

Culver also expanded

his administrative team to include a Director of Publicity
and an Assistant Dean for Personnel.

Dean Hostetter was

assigned as Director of Admissions and Secretary of the
Alumnae Association.
Culver believed in the strength of the faculty,

 77
and showed his support for this belief by offering a modest
salary increase in 1937-38.

In regards to his concern for

better promotion, Culver developed the "Shimer College
Half Hour" on radio WROK in nearby Rockford to promote the
interests of the college.
In the Fall of 1937, Culver was taken ill while attending a conference in California.

He attributed the ill-

ness to overwork and the lack of a vacation (Culver correspondence, November 27, 1937).

Mrs. Culver went tc Los

Angeles to be with her husband as he undenvent exploratory
surgery for a diagnosed brain tumor.

At the December meet-

ing of the Board of Trustees (December 27, 1937), Miss A.
Beth Hostetter was again appointed as Acting President.
The Board felt that Culver's illness would not permit him
to resume his responsibilities at Shimer.

l-1rs. Culver

agreed, and on January 20, 1938 submitted his letter of
resignation from the presidency of Shimer (Culver correspondence).

The letters which followed from Mrs. Culver

provided a record of the ongoing deterioration of the
health of her husband.

On June 8, 1938, the Shimer com-

munity was informed, by telegram, of the death of Dr.
Culver.
Reflections on Raymond Culver as President. Culver's term in office was brief, but his impact on the community was significant.

He proved himself to be a sensi-

tive chief officer, and a man of action.

He made some

 78
inroads in the area of promotion for Shimer, and he seemed
to have very little difficulty with the faculty.

In £act,

the College community seemed genuinely saddened at the
loss of Culver.

His mode of governance seemed somewhat

collegial in nature since he did not exert himself consciously as a leader, but did seem interested in involving
factions within the College community in what was haopening at Shimer.

A former Trustee and student at the College

recalled Culver with affection and characterized his tenure
as one which preserved and maintained the finishing school
aura which characterized Shimer (Former Trustee interview,
August 1982).
friendly.

He was, she recalled, approachable and

He had a zest for his work and, given the time,

he might have been a modernizing influence on the College.
Culver seemed perceptive about the needs at Shimer,
but he barely had time to implement any programs or policy
changes.

His term in office afforded Shimer a stable and

peaceful period, but an all too brief period.
Once again, Miss A. Beth Hostetter was asked to
resume her duties as Interim President while a Search Committee reviewed candidates for the permanent position of
President at Shimer.
Interim President A. Beth Hostetter (1937-1939)
The second term in office, for
proved to be slightly more eventful.

~1iss

Hostetter,

Her predecessor had

begun to explore the idea of eliminating the 9th and lOth

 79
grades, and under the guidance of Hostetter, this was accomplished.

In February of 1939, Shimer was dealt a blow

when the visiting team of the North Central Association
recommended that the College be issued a "warning" with
regard to its accreditation because:

1.)

Miss Hostetter

did not hold a Master's degree, and it was important that
the chief officer be properly credentialed; and 2.) there
had been a significant and potentially harmful turnover
among faculty.
The state of crisis was short lived since a new
chief officer was soon appointed.

The College had re-

bounded from the stress of the Great Depression.

Times

were changing; war was on the horizon; and Shimer needed to
review its mission and focus on the future.

Shimer had

successfully navigated the troublesome decade of the thirties because of the stable direction of several Presidents.
Stability in the Office of President, however, was a high
priority as the new candidates for office were reviewed.
Albin Bro was selected to be the next President of
Shimer College.

He presented strong academic credentials,

and he was experienced in secondary education.
an advocate of the junior college philosophy.

He was also
Bro was pro-

gressive and would be appropriate in office as Shimer
proceeded with a thorough self-examination in the early
forties.

It would be Bro who would lay the foundation for

fresh educational concepts at Shimer and set a course with

 80
neW' directions for the future.

Shimer "grew up" in the

forties, and Albin Bro was the major catalyst in the
process.
summary
The decade of the thirties was a period of hardship for the American people following in the wake of the
Great Depression.

For Shimer College this was an un-

settling time as well.

While a new president was ap-

pointed to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of
William Parker McKee, the term of President Floyd Wilcox,
who served as chief executive officer of the college from
1930-1935, was a tenure characterized by tension and a
struggle for power among various factions connected with
Shimer.

Wilcox shouldered the leadership of the institu-

tion through one of the most difficult periods yet faced by
the populacion in this country.

He was blamed for a number

of the problems faced by the college including a decline
in enrollment, subsequent reduction in income and faculty
salaries, and a lack of communication between his office
and his constituencies in the college community.

From the

very beginning Wilcox was faced with a struggle for power,
first between himself and some members of the Board of
Trustees; and later with faculty and, to some degree, the
students.

It becomes difficult to sort out what was occur-

ring as a direct result of the leadership style of Floyd
Wilcox.

In retrospect, placing the history of Shimer in

 81
perspective, it is clear that, while the executive ability
of Wilcox was called into question at the time, the CQllege was able to survive the Depression and continue on
at the Mount Carroll location for just under another 50
years.

Wilcox, however, was on the defensive almost from

the outset of his administration at Shimer.

His career

at Shimer closed as a result of what was virtually a
forced resignation because he was perceived, in some circles, to be ineffective.
During the decade of the thirties, Shimer College
also benefitted from the quiet, stable, and sound leadership of Miss A. Beth Hostetter.

Miss Hostetter had at-

tended the College and later joined the faculty.

She was

asked to fill in as interim president after Wilcox resigned.

A Search Committee had been formed to seek a new

chief officer for the College.

In 1938, Hostetter was

again tapped for the role of interim President after the
untimely death of President Raymond Culver.

Her brief

tenure as President, in both instances, provided a needed
bridge of stability for the College.

Hostetter was a

capable individual, and she was respected.
President Raymond Culver, who served the College
from 1936 through 1938, was very well liked by the College
community, and he proved himself to be an effective leader.
There was very little change during Culver's brief term in
off·

~ce.

One can only speculate as to what might have

 82
happened at Shimer had Culver lived.
The period from 1930 to 1940 at Shimer was characterized by a time of Depression-related tensions, a time
of real financial concern and panic within the College
community, a period of relief with the quiet, effective
direction of Miss Hostetter, and a time of sadness because
of a loss of hope as a result of the death of President
Culver.
Conclusions
1.

In analyzing the patterns of governance which

existed during the decade of the thirties at Shimer, two
governance models seem to predominate on the continuum
of models.

During the term of Wilcox, a political system

of governance seems to have been in effect.

Despite the

fact that he was a unanimous choice of the Presidential
Search Committee, Wilcox found himself in a rather difficult situation.

On the one hand, he contended with some

of the members of the Board of Trustees who apneared reluctant to surrender some of the power which they had
experienced during the latter days of the term of President HcKee.

Hhile McKee's failing health had restricted

his direct involvement in fulfilling some of his responsibilities, some of the local members of the Board had
taken a more active role in policy making and general
leadership of the college.

When Wilcox came in as a

relatively strong leader and began to implement some

c~es,

 83
those same members of the Board attemoted to sabotage some
of his work by influencing other Board members into believing that Wilcox was becoming a trouble maker.

During

a good part of his term, Wilcox was able to preside over
the resistance, coalition forming, and attempt to legislate administrative policy on the part of a few.

As time

progressed, however, mediating and negotiating for Wilcox
became more difficult as the effects of the Depression
were felt at Shimer.

The faculty began to react to the

pay cuts they were asked to take.

The faculty evolved in-

to another pressure group for Wilcox to contend with, and
the members of the Board who originally pressured Wilcox
now gained wider support among their colleagues.

Wilcox

became restricted in his capacity to fulfill his responsibilities as President, and he resigned in frustration.
Raymond Culver's term in office seems more clearly
representative of the collegial model of governance.

He

was warmly received by the faculty, by the Board of Trustees, and by the other members of the Shimer community.
He was characterized by a former Trustee as being very
collegial in his management style (Bro-Racher, August
1982).

Culver seemed interested in getting the members

of the Shimer family more actively involved in what was
going on in Mount Carroll.

He believed in his faculty,

and he did not seem at all intimidated or threatened by
the Board of Trustees.

In one sense, Culver's term in

 84
office ended before the real honeymoon with his role as
president had ended.

He had initiated some changes at ·

Shimer, but significant changes did not take place.
or. Bro-Racher (1982) indicated that Culver's contribution to Shimer was the preservation of the finishing school
mentality.

The political activity among factions of the

community had quieted down as the focus changed from the
severity of the Depression to new hopes for recovery.
2. Among the administrative decisions implemented
during the decade of the thirties

was the reduction of

the fees at Shimer to one single comprehensive fee.

Such

a decision showed foresight, as well as, a genuine awareness of the financial plight of so many during the period.
Perhaps a more significant decision made by Wilcox was
changing the name of the school to the Frances Shimer
Junior College.

From 1908 untill910, the name of the in-

stitution had been the Frances Shimer Academy and Junior
College; and from 1910 through 1932, the name had been
simply the Frances Shimer School.

Perhans at the time, the

name change in 1932 by Wilcox might not have appeared to
be such a significant change.

In retrospect, however, the

change was just one of several, and it was simply a part
of a broader dynamic of identity change which tended to
confuse the public as to type of institution Shimer
claimed to be.

Very little is made of the name changes,

and yet, the continual change of identity, particularly

 85
in this case where the word school was changed to junior
college, implied a new focus or direction every time a
change took place.

The true identity of the college was

never really allowed to settle into place in the mind of
the public.

Shimer, in short, was probably a victim of

confused labels and stereotypes.
3.
for Shimer.

The decade of the thirties was a costly decade
Floyd Wilcox, despite his shortcomings per-

ceived by some members of the Board, brought Shimer
through the critical period of the Great Depression.

His

tenure in office really marked the beginning of a more
formalized crisis management style which seemed to permeate the terms of all but a few of the Shimer presidents
from 1930 through 1980.

Where the focus at Shimer, prior

to 1930, had been on growth and expansion first and the
administrative processes and community life secondarily,
the period after 1930 seems, for the most part, to be a
period where the focus of those at Shimer was turned inward.

The chief concerns revolved around the operation of

the institution on a day-to-day basis rather than focusing
on the operation of the institution in relation to planning and long-range growth.

To an extent, though many

changes took place subsequent to 1930 at Shimer, the College stopped growing after the Crash of 1929.

Both the

purpose and the hopes seemed to become lost in the greater

 86
concern for short-sighted planning and the struggle for
survival.
The decade of the forties introduced Shimer students to the Atomic age, presented the country with a
Second World War, and marked a distinct change in both
the philosophy and purpose of Shimer College.
President Albin Bro (1939-1949) provided the administrative stability so badly needed at Shimer College.
As a result of a study completed in 1944 at Shimer by the
Department .of Education at the University of Chicago.

Bro

was able to facilitate the establishment of plans which
altered the curriculum at Shimer, re-established the affiliation which had existed with the University of Chicago
at the time of the death of Frances Shimer, and lead to
the introduction of coeducation and a four-year senior
college program.

Bro was primarily responsible for chang-

ing the image of Shimer from that of a conservative rural
finishing school to that of a more nontraditional liberal
institution accommodating bright, sometimes underachieving, students.

It was also at this point that Shimer's

philosophy began to differ from the collective conservative philosophy of its rural neighbors in northwestern
Illinois.

While this was not of immediate concern to

Shimer or the community, it is a factor which would take
on more significance in later decades.

 CHAPTER IV
SHIMER COLLEGE:

1939-1949

Purpose of Chapter IV
Chapter IV is significant for several reasons.
First, the decade of the forties is a time marked by only
two leaders at Shimer.

President Albin Bro served the

College as President for a period of 10 years, and this
marked one of the longer terms for the presidents serving
Shimer between 1930-1980.

Second, President Bro has been

characterized as having demonstrated a management style
which was collegial in nature, and forward looking in
scope.

Bro was generally well received by all factions

within the Shimer College community.

His expectations

were high, and while he demanded much from faculty, he
supported faculty as well.

Bro met with some early re-

sistance from a small block of faculty, but the resistance
was short lived as the leader of the group was dismissed
from the faculty.

Bro could be forceful and bureaucratic,

but Chapter IV examines the more collegial Bro who invited
colleagues to share in the planning for the many revisions
in curriculum and life style that were planned for Shimer.
Chapter IV is a look at the very rare occurrence of long

87

 88
range planning.

Bro was a man of vision, and he was not

afraid to initiate change if the change was for the good
of the Shimer family.
Bro was unable to fully implement the changes
planned for Shimer, but the latter part of Chapter IV
focuses on the Interim Presidency of John Russel who had
served as Dean during Bra's presidency.

It was Russel who

provided the bridge between the planning stages and the
implementation stages which marked the terms of Albin Bro
and A. J. Brumbaugh.
The real significance of Chapter IV can only be
felt later in the history of Shimer College.

For at the

time Albin Bro decided to initiate change at Shimer, he
did so with the best interest of the College and community
in mind.

The decision to adopt a much more nontraditional

curriculuQ and place greater emphasis on early enrollment,
and less emphasis on the stratas separating the freshman
through senior levels of education, was a decision made
in the light of the time and the information and recommendations available.

Bro could not foresee the student

revolution of the 60's and 70's and understand that nontraditional students in the years to come would cause
friction with the community as a result of life style and
philosophy.

Chapter IV records Bra's decisions as wise

decisions, but it does afford a look at how a decision at

 89
one point can have different ramifications in another period of time.
president Albin C. Bro (1939-1949)
The first obligation of the institution should be the
determination of its aims and objectives.

Certain

principles concerning the purposes of the College
have been expressed in various places, especially in
the catalog of the College, but it appears that the
aims have never been brought together into a single
statement which is well understood by the faculty, the
administrative staff, and the Board of Trustees as an
authoritative declaration for the guidance of the
policies and procedures of the institution.

Without

such a statement the activities of the numerous staff
members, whose efforts ought to be coordinated toward
the achievement of a single set of goals are certain
to be less effective than they might be.

(Frances

Shimer College Survey, 1944, p. 175)
The Shimer community was in need of a statement focusing
on the mission of the College.

The identity of the College

had changed under the direction of Dean McKee, and it had
changed once again under the leadership of Wilcox and
Culver.

The changes in the identity only served to con-

fuse the Shimer community about what public it was serving,
and the direction in which the college was headed.

To

some extent, the institutional identity was adrift in a

 90
sea of vague purpose.

The need for stable leadership which

would provide direction was critical.
Albin C. Bro was elected to the Presidency of
Shimer College on May 13, 1939.

He was a native of Pren-

tice, Wisconsin where he graduated from high school.

Bro

graduated from Northland College (Wisconsin) in 1917, and
he was heralded for his rank as the Valedictorian of the
class.

In addition to his studies at Northland, he at-

tended Butler University (Indiana), the University of
Nanking in China, and the University of Chicago.

He was

not only an accomplished scholar, but he was also a certified linotype operator.

Bro had learned the skill while

still a student in high school.

Bro, like one of his

predecessors at Shimer, Floyd Wilcox, had served as
Principal of a school in China.

~he

He returned to the United

States in 1927 to teach philosophy at Northland for one
year.

While there, he was able to gain experience as a

member of the staff in the Development Office.

In 1932,

he came to the University of Chicago Press where he remained until his election to the Presidency of Shimer College.
Those who worked with Bro praised his efforts and
results (Memorandum Concerning Albin C. Bro, March 31,
1939).

He was a member of the Baptist Church, the father

of five children, and was 45 years old when he assumed
the Presidency at an annual salary of $4,000.

Bro was a

 91
strong advocate of the junior college philosophy, but he
also believed that the junior college should offer a program that was more encompassing of academic and nonacademic areas (Memorandum Concerning Albin C. Bro,
March 31, 1939), pp. 5-6).

He realized the value of the

intellectual-academic education, but he also perceived
the need for practical educational opportunities including course work on the campus, as well as, the utilization of community resources to expand the horizons of the

Bra's agenda for

students through practical experiences.
Shimer College was clear:

The immediate objective for this fall would be to
secure an increase of at least 25 new students over
the average for the present year.

This increase in

students would involve:
1.

getting acquainted with the present field staff,
estimating the quality of work now being done.

2.

correlating the data that has already reached
the office regarding prospective students.

3.

examining and perhaps revamping present promotion
and advertising plans.

4.

meeting alumnae groups and parents.

5.

using opportunities through Parent-Teacher groups,
women's clubs and church groups.

(Memorandum

concerning Albin C. Bro, March 31, 1939, p. 7)

 92
Bro also felt one of his prime responsibilities to be to
secure a list of active donors and to work on the endowment fund.
Bra's perception of leadershin involved shared
responsibility for ideas, planning, and for implementation.

The faculty, he felt, was an integral part of the

entire process of operating the college:
The problem of unifying the educational task of a
small college belongs to the entire faculty.

Shimer

is small enough so that there could be at all times
lively participation in and appraisal of such experiments as the faculty approved as steps toward their
general educational objectives.

one helpful

way would be constant conference and study with the
faculty of those comparatively few principles which
underlie all good teaching.

(Memorandum Concerning

Albin C. Bro, March 31, 1939, p. 6)
Bro was aware that with an increased enrollment, and the
complex needs of students coming to campus, there would
be a need for additional support nersonnel.

He had de-

manded a great deal from his faculty, and this was not
without frustration on the part of faculty ( Gustafson
correspondence, June 11, 1943; Warner in Board of Trustee
Minutes, March 22, 1943).

Bro wanted to enable faculty to

teach and thus be freed of other teaching responsibilities.

 93
His awareness of the stress on the faculty was expressed
in his Annual Report of the President (1940-41, p. 1), in
which he said, "To this end it (the faculty) bends its
resources, physical, educational, cultural, and spiritual."
Bro made it clear that he wanted to reward effort and
energy spent with increased salary based on merit:
It is also my conviction that superior teaching should
be rewarded by recognition in increased salary and in
increased opportunity for further study, for the obvious reason that such procedure prevents undue turnover and stabilizes a strong faculty.

(Memorandum

Concerning Albin C. Bro, p. 7)
His rationale for demanding so much of faculty was his desire to strengthen the image of the College to the public:
I would like to think of the school as one not too
easy to get into and very difficult to leave before
the four years are finished.

(Memorandum Concerning

Albin C. Bro, p. 6)
In order to accomplish his goals, he wanted a faculty that
was willing to extend itself to the holistic approach to
higher education.

He felt that teachers could be coun-

selors, Deans could teach, and the College should have an
adequate support staff to effectively work with students
in the small college setting.

Additional staff and train-

ing of existing staff would be needed:
. the registrar, the dean of students, the

 94
librarian, and the nurse

are all facets of this

constant job of building human personalities that will
find greater usefulness both to themselves and to
those about them.

I look forward to the development

of a counseling program.

Such a program will

mean the dean will need

. summer courses in the

field of counseling.

special courses for the

heads of halls.
instructors.

special reading on the part of
. it may mean adding a staff member

skilled in the mental hygiene field.

. we look

toward developing an educational approach which will
take the voluminous reports of our testing program out
of our files and into our procedures.

(Annual Report

of the President, 1940-41, p. 3)
Albin Bro was a President concerned with the academic instruction at Shimer College.

In the Annual Report

of the President (1940-41, p. 1) he pointed out the contrast in the budget for instruction from 1939 to 1941.

In

1939 the instructional budget amounted to $28,565.00, but
in 1941 the figure had grown to $32,332.00.

He encouraged

his faculty to try new methods, and he was especially
fond of the concept of team teaching.

Bro wanted the

faculty to be able to cross disciplines in their teaching at Shimer.

In order to encourage student and parent

interest in the College, he introduced the deferred payment
plan for the payment of tuition (Minutes of the Board of

 95
Trustees, November 22, 1941).

His plan for expansion be-

gan to pay off as the student enrollment began to grow
over the years until it peaked in the school year 194647 (see Figure 3).
Students

Years

Years

Students

1939-40

152

1944-45

199

1940-41

147

1945-46

226

1941-42

154

1946-47

302

1942-43

133

1947-48

261

1943-44

172

1948-49

182

Figure 3.

Enrollment pattern at Shimer College from
1939 through 1949 during the Presidency of
Albin C. Bro.
Source:
Shimer College Enrollment Figures from 1923-24 through 195354.

Bro was able to attract money to the college and,
as a result, during his term in office Hathaway Hall was
renovated, as well as Metcalf Chaoel.

With additional

donations he was able to erect and open the Glengarry
Stables on campus as part of the new program in equestrian
studies.

He encouraged the development of a summer en-

richment program in the Fine Arts.

This program also

served as an attempt to bring high school students to
campus in order to interest them in Shimer College.

Bro

knew the area of development well, and this is evident
through the results of his fund-raising efforts.

Mrs.

 96
charles Walgreen joined the Board of Trustees on June 23,
1943 (Annual Report of the President, July 8, 1943) after being encouraged by President Bro.

The news of Mrs.

Walgreen's appointment to the Board came at a time when
some of the faculty had begun to voice frustration over
their work loads.

Bra's knack for timing was perfect

since the news of Hrs. Walgreen's appointment impressed
the Board and reduced the impact of the faculty discontent.
In addition, Bra, in the Annual Report of the President
(July 8, 1943), stated that the year was ending \vith a surplus of
cash which he felt should be used for faculty salaries,
as well as, the improvement of faculty housing.

\{hile

appeasing the faculty with news of salary increases, he
also emphasized that the College needed a Dean.

Bra also

wanted to hire some para-professionals v7ho \vould assume
many of the routine responsibilities being attended to by
faculty.
The Department of Education of the University of
Chicago was invited to come to campus during the school
year 1943-44 to launch a survey of the Shimer community.
There had been some discussion on the campus about the approaching centennial of the College, and it was felt that
planning should get underway for this event.

In prepara-

tion for the celebration, the Board of Trustees wanted to
establish a series of goals that would lead toward the
centennial celebration.

The final reoort (Frances Shimer

 97
College Survey, pp. 178-189) listed 77 recommendations for
Shimer.

The report called for expansion in the enrollment

to two or three times the present enrollment in 1944, and
it recommended, among other suggestions, the introduction
of coeducation.

The recommendations also included a

closer working relationship with the Baptist constituency
because of the advantages for increasing the enrollment.
The report concluded that as long as Shimer College remained a two-year preparatory program and a two-year college program, the attrition rate would remain high.

This

was the most exhaustive study ever undertaken at Shimer,
and the results reflect remarkably accurate perceptions
on the part of the researchers.

The recommendations were

the seeds for many of the changes to come at Shimer.
goal of Bro's administration was to review the

The

re~ommenda­

tions and implement those deemed feasible and worthwhile
for Shimer College.
Bro was creative, and his ideas kept the administrative staff and faculty thinking, reacting, analyzing,
and implementing at a frantic oace.

Being a part of Shimer

during the forties was exciting because there was a nervous
energy fueling the efforts directed toward change.

Bro

felt that the mechanics of running the college should be
left to trusted staff as much as possible.

Bro seems to

have been a chief executive who was interested in ideas
and concepts, but not as concerned with the completion of

 98
the details.

He even tended to overlook important details

in his planning and implementation.

One case in point was

the "tennis court matter" during which Bro received a
chiding from Board member John Moulds (Moulds correspondence, November 3, 1943) for overlooking the larger than
expected cost of finishing off some tennis courts which
were being constructed on campus.

The issue was short

lived, however, as Bro appeased Board tensions by announcing the establishment of the Dearborn-HcKnight Scholarship on behalf of a student who had attended Shimer, and
who

~1ent

on to fame in a musical-acting career.

The money

and accompanying publicity greatly pleased the Board of
Trustees.
In July of 1943, the College business officer submitted the annual financial report after having little or
no consultation with the President in the preparation of
the report (Board of Trustee.3 Minutes, July 13, 1943, p. 2).
Bro's lack of concern for the financial report frustrated
the business officer.
In 1946, Bro's lack of awareness about what was
happening on campus resulted in a potentially damaging
situation in which a Shimer applicant had received a letter from a member of the admissions staff informing her
that the quota for Jewish students had been filled at
Shimer:

 99
At the present time our registration for Jewish students has been filled.

If agreeable with you, we

shall hold your application on a waiting list.
(Campbell correspondence, June 20, 1946)
The letter was brought to the attention of President
Colwell of the University of Chicago by Erwin Freund, a
friend of the girl's family.

Bro's candid reply to

Colwell stated:
He have tried to avoid using the term "quota" in enrolling Jewish students.

. in a residential

school such as ours I see no way to avoid some k1nd
of limitation.

(Bro correspondence, July 31, 1946)

The issue was laid to rest with a response from President
Colwell to Mr. Freund informing him that the College did
not have a quota for Jewish students

~reund

correspond-

ence, September 12, 1946).
Toward the close of the forties, Bro was growing
tired of his role in fund raising.

He began to encounter

friction with S. J. Campbell who was serving as the President of the Board of Trustees (Bro-Racher interview,
August 1982).

In the Fall of 1948, John Russel

the staff as the new Dean of the College.

joined

In the Presi-

dent's Report to the Board of Trustees (September 11, 1948),
Bro reviewed, for the Board of Trustees, the progress made
on the recommendations of the Department of Education
survey which was conducted in 1944.

He cited the improved

 100
cooperation with the Baptist church, the development of a
mission statement, an effort to attract more local students, and the modification of the curriculum to avertical organization with five divisions containing course
offerings for all four years.

The latter was developed

in an attempt to reduce the gap which existed between the
two-year preparatory program and the two-year college
program.

The enrollment had declined rather substantially

in the Fall of 1948, and Bro was puzzled as to why this
had happened.

He suggested to the Board that perhans

Shimer had either priced itself too high, or else it was
awealing to a narrow market.

He felt this issue needed

further reflection and exploration.
Bra's good friend, A. J. Brumbaugh, was residing
in Washington D.C.

He contacted Bro to inform him that

there was a need for his expertise in a government position in Korea.

There had been some concern about the

future of education among Korean children because of the
strong communist influence in that country.

Funding had

become available, under terms of the Fullbright Act, to
have some individuals go to Korea and select children who
would come to the United States to pursue their education.
Bro found the idea intriguing, and he was also tired and
welcomed a new challenge.

He and Russel

had been working

on curriculum revision, as well as, formulating plans for
some other changes at Shimer, but Bro was comfortable with

 101
the idea that Russel

could move ahead on his own to

finalize the plans for change.

Bra,

therefore, petitioned

the Board for a leave of absence in order to participate
in the training program in Washington.

Prior to his de-

parture, he was directed to take additional routine tests
given by the F.B.I. to test his character.

It was during

the routine physical examination that it was discovered
that Bra was suffering from a rather severe case of high
blood pressure.
with the program.

This ruled out any further involvement
He submitted his resignation from

Shimer to the Board of Trustees on October 18, 1949 (Board
of Trustees Minutes).

After retirement, Bra and his wife

traveled to Indonesia but returned to the United States in
1953 after he suffered a heart attack.

Albin Bra passed

away in 1956 (Bro-Racher interview, August 1982).
Reflections on Albin C. Bra as President.

Albin

Bra's place in the history of Shimer, and his most important contribution to Shimer, is that he was a change
agent at the appropriate moment in time.

He was gifted

with foresight and realized that if this College intended
to continue for any length of time, it needed to examine
its mission and determine its direction.

While he did not

see the plans through to fruition, he had contributed to
the institution by encouraging and welcoming the review,
and then by pursuing the implementation of the recommendations deemed reasonable and wise.

Bra brought Shimer up

 102
to date.

His importance, then, sterns from his role as

the bridge from Shimer being a traditional conservative
finishing school for women to a progressive, intellectually alive, and rather unique small college.
The Shimer Record Centennial edition highlights
some of Bro's achievements at Shimer:
Under his leadership Shimer continued to prosper.
Hathaway Hall was renovated in 1939 and the lounge
refurbished

the college became the beneficiary

of the will of Mrs. Winona B. Sawyer; in 1940 the
Carnegie Foundation made a grant of 600 notable
musical compositions valued at over $1,000; the college offered a summer session.

In 1941 the

Carnegie Foundation allotted a Carnegie Art set to
the College.

The Fall of 1941 marked the open-

ing of Glengarry Farm Stables for the classes on
equitation.

Dr. Bro sponsored the International

Relations Club, and in 1948 instituted " Dad's Day"
on the campus.

That year foreign students were wel-

corned to the campus.

(Shimer Class Record, July

1953, p. 21)
Bro was an exciting President because he stimulated change and, in so doing, stirred both energy and effort to new levels.

The College community had been hungry

for leadership, and in Albin Bro, Shimer had a leader.
was interested in ideas and concepts, but he was not as

He

 103
precise with the details of the day-to-day functioning of
the College.

He brought in money, and he was able to at-

tract prominent persons to work on behalf of Shimer.

He

felt that good publicity was very important to Shimer.
Bro was interested in developing a strong faculty, and he
was aware that salary was an important ingredient, in not
only attracting top quality faculty, but in treating them
well once they were on the faculty.
The development of the relationship with the University of Chicago, the modifications in curriculum and
the plans to turn Shimer into a coeducational four-year
college were long in the planning.
staff to help plan these changes.

Bro had brought in the
During his tenure, very

little is mentioned about turnover among the Board of
Trustees.

Board members, for the most part, were loyal

long-term members of the Board.

The college had not bene-

fitted from the surge of returning veterans to education
as they had hoped.

The enrollment was continuing to de-

cline.
Bro seems to have been, without question, the
acknowledged leader at Shimer.

He believed in collegial-

ity in the administration, and he sought the involvement
of faculty and other factions of the College community in
developing plans for the future.

At times there was some

political activity among faculty and members of the Board,
but Bro seemed adept at stemming the concerns.

If there

 104
was pressure for the Shimer mode of governance to become
more openly political, Bro skillfully resisted the pressure by appeasing or changing the focus of the situation.
Albin Bro can be characterized as the right leader at
right time for Shimer.

the

It would remain for Interim Pres-

ident John Russel to implement the many changes that had
been planned.

The identity of Shimer was again changed

under Bro's leadership, and it would be changed again in
the early fifties.

The program had been traditional in

traditional times aimed at traditional students.

Bro's

plan called for a less traditional Shimer, and one more
liberal in spirit and academic in climate.

The

progra~

being developed would allow students to progress through
Shimer as rapidly as their talents would allow.

The pro-

gram at Shimer, developed under Bro's direction, was areaction to the traditional.

It is this factor that would

play a significant role in the problems Shimer faced over
the next two decades.
Interim President John E. Russel (1949-1950)
John Russel came to Shimer College in Seotember
ocl948 as the Academic Dean of the college.

He gained ex-

perience working in Illinois public schools and as an
Instructor at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois.
He was appointed Dean of Blackburn in 1942 and held that
post until he entered the Navy in 1943 as a lieutenant with
the Educational Services Division.

 105
Russel was a graduate of Illinois College, earned
a Master's degree at Harvard, and also studied at the
sorbonne in France.

In September of 1948, just prior to

his arrival in Mount Carroll, he was awarded the Ph.D.
from the University of Chicago.
It

~;.;as

Russel who brought Bro' s work to fruition.

Russel did much of the preparatory work for Shimer turning
coeducational.

The coeducation was necessary if the agree-

ment with the University of Chicago was to be effective,
and it was hoped that coeducation

~;.;ould

crease in the enrollment as well.

stimulate an in-

Russel's work is con-

tained in a paper, "Problems to be Considered If and Hhen
Frances Shimer Should Become a Coeducational Institution
(author unknmm, circa 1949).

Some of the issues which

Russel and the Shimer community were dealing with included:
1.

the balance between male and female faculty,

2.

new

personnel in physical education for the male students,
3.

the question of whether there should be one general

Dean or a Dean for men and a Dean for women,
clientele attracted to Shimer,
at Shimer, and

6.

5.

4.

the

the span of age levels

the need to modify residence hall space

for male students.
Russel's term as Interim President was actually
very brief, but he was important in his role to see that
Bro's programs were put into place.

He provided a con-

sistency in the administration during the course of

 106
significant change.
The aupointment of A. J. Brumbaugh as Presiden.t of
Shimer College was to be announced in April of 1950.

It

would remain for Brumbaugh to now oversee the changes and
pump some new life into the enrollment.
summary
Shimer College survived the worst economic crisis
in the history of the United States, the Great Crash of
1929 and the consequent Depression.

The decade of the

thirties had proven to be a period of hardship for many
Americans, and it was a period of strain for Shimer Col-·
lege as well.

During the period from 1929 to 1939, there

had been no fewer than four separate administrations serving the College.

Shimer was entering the forties in need

of stable leadership, and with a need for some lang.-range
strategy for development.

While Shimer had experienced a

dramatic growth and expansion during the first 29 years of
the 20th century, the decade of the thirties, by contrast,
seemed to focus on the inward adjustment to the growth
which had taken place.

Shimer's growth and concern for

the future seemed to stall during this period while the
bulk of the College community devoted energy to the internal
adjustments in leadership.

There was a need to rejuvenate

the spirit of growth that had been so characteristic of the
school in years gone by.
Albin C. Bra came to Shimer College, in the role of

 107
President, with strong recommendations.

Bro believed that

Shimer could become a dynamic force in higher education
despite the small size of the institution, by stirring pub-

lic awareness about Shimer.

He was deeply concerned with

the mission of Shimer and, in fact,

the early years of his

administration were devoted to long-range planning.

Bro

was supportive of a strong faculty, and he encouraged
their ongoing development in professional areas.

Bra's

belief in the future of Shimer was a contagious agent which,
to a great degree, was responsible for many of the significant changes which were going to take place during, and
immediately following his term in office.
Perhaps Bra's most significant contribution to
Shimer was his role as change agent between the conservative idealism and finishing school image that characterized
Shimer prior to 1949, and the more liberal, intellectually
free spirited institution which was Shimer after 1949.
was the catalyst in a process

~hich

Bro

encouraged members of

the Shimer community to think, research, react, and, eventually, formulate plans for a major curriculum revision.
Bro laid the

gro~nd

work for a reaffirmation of the rela-

tionship between the University of Chicago and Shimer
College.

He was the spirit behind the decision that Shimer

should become coeducational and offer the Bachelor's degree.
Bra's term in office was considered lengthy by

 108
comparison with his predecessors at Shimer, but it ended before he was able to implement his plans for program changes.
The responsibility for putting the programs in place fell
to Dean John H. Russel who stepped in as Interim President
after Bro resigned.

Russel arrived at Shimer in the Fall

of 1948, and it was he who was destined to complete the
bridge separating the "old Shimer" from the "new Shimer."
With the appointment of former Trustee, A. J. Brumbaugh,
as President in 1950, the programs which had been prepared
and installed under the direction of the Bra-Russel team
began to take effect.

Shimer's course was set.

The school

had established itself as intellectually significant and
unique in higher education.

The University of Chicago had

gained further prominence as a result of the role it played
in the development of atomic power during World War II.
Shimer's renewed relationship with the University would be,
Bro hoped, a source of strength for the College by association.

Shimer was not going to just play a role in high-

er education; it was going to play a unique role.
Conclusions
1.

The decade of the forties was significant for

Shimer College because it provided the institution with a
stable period of leadership spanning the ten-year period.
Albin Bro provided Shimer with strong, visionary leadership.

Just as the world changed as a result of the intro-

duction of the Atomic age which concluded World War II, so

 109
roo, Shimer changed from an identity which marked the
College as a conservative finishing school to that of. a
more progressive nontraditional College with emphasis on
early enrollment of secondary age students and less emphasis on the stratas separating the freshman through
senior levels.

Students at Shimer, under the revisions

introduced by Bro, could progress through the college
program at their own pace.
Albin Bro's invitation to the Denartment of Education of the University of Chicago to come to Shimer and
evaluate the entire college community was one of the most
significant attempts at long-range planning in the history
of the institution.

The 77 recommendations which resulted

from the research, proved to be the foundation for the urogram changes which followed at Shimer.

Albin Bro brought

in a sound administrative team and, together, they facili~ated

the changes which resulted.

Faculty, Board members,

and students were involved in the planning.

Results were

not quick in corning, but rather, took several years.

Bro

resigned from office before the programs were implemented.
Bro's management style was collegial in that he
encouraged and seemed to welcome the input and the challenges posed by other members of the Shimer family.

The

faculty and Board sensed that Bro had visions of change,
and they were encouraged and stimulated by his thinking.
The Bro years were years concerned with process and

 110
generating new ideas.

They were years when the faculty

seemed loyal and the Board very supportive.

Bro was a

master facilitator of people.
2.

The decisions made by Bro were significant

and marked a radical change in the direction of the college.

They were decisions which were a direct outgrowth

of the recommendations which resulted from the study conducted in 1944 at Shimer by the Department of Education
at the University of Chicago.

Bra's strategy resulted in

the abolition of the finishing school image.

Shimer was

dressed in the image of the progressive liberal institution striving to challenge bright students, and offering
them an opportunity to encounter faculty from the University of Chicago, as well as, have the opportunity to study
at the University.

Bro made his decisions in the light of

the best information available at the time.
Shimer seemed to
sixties.

p~osper

In fact,

through the early part of the

Bro, however, could not possibly envision how

the decision to adopt a more liberal philosophy and policy
in education could come back 20 years later to haunt Shimer
and the Haunt Carroll community.

He could not know that

the students of the 60's would be attracted to Shimer because nontraditional meant anti-establishment to them.

At

the time, the changes at Shimer actually placed the college
among the more elite in education.

Bro wanted to emnhasize

the intellectual challenges offered at Shimer, as well as,

 111
the unique approach to education.

The decision in the

l940's was an asset for the College, but it was a decision
which, in the 1960's, became a liability for Shimer.
John Russel's role at Shimer was to serve as the
bridge between Bro and President A. J. Brumbaugh
office in 1950.

who took

He provided the continuity needed between

the vision of Bro and the task of implementation which
faced Brumbaugh.

He was part of the planning, and he was

responsible for the successful implanting of the new programs at Shimer.
3.

In 1942, the name of the College was again

changed to Frances Shimer College from Frances Shimer
Junior College.

While it is true that a more substantial

change in the philosophy and identity of the College took
place late in the 1940's, the name change in the early
40's again pointed out that confusion with the public in
attempting to understand Shimer's purpose.

Shimer had

once had the identity of a preparatory school, then as a
junior college, and though still a junior college, it was
known through the forties as Frances Shimer College.

As

in Chapter II, the specific change was, perhaps, incidental at the time, but in an overall perspective of the
changes in the name at Shimer, it prevented the public
from getting a clear understanding of the nature of Shimer.
The most significant philosophical changes were
effected at Shimer during the term of President Bro.

Bro

 112
was an idea man, and he relied on others to handle the
details and specifics.

Chapter V is an examnle, also, of

the importance of planning for change rather than making
swift changes in policy.

Bro involved the community in

the plans for change, and he allowed plenty of time for
the implementation of the changes.

 CHAPTER V
SHIMER COLLEGE: 1950-1970
Purpose of Chanter V
Chapter V covers a oeriod of twenty years at
Shimer College.

Aside fron the decade of the forties

where, under the influence of Albin Bro, the olanning for
the many changes at Shimer took olace,

t~20-year

span

from 1950 to 1970 is, in many ways, the most exciting and
the most interesting period in the history of Shimer
College.

During this period of time, three oresidents

served Shimer College.

Chapter V records the

i~olernenta-

tion of the changes planned under Bro as President A. J.
Brumbaugh assumed the role of chief executive at the College.

During the tenure of Brumbaugh, the college sur-

renders its role in admission of Shimer students to the
admissions office at the University of Chicago.

The Ford

Foundation provides Shimer with funding for the Early Enrollment program and, as a result, very little is done
from 1950 through 1954 in the area of admissions or development.

By the mid-fifties,

Shi~er

discovers that it

is in the midst of a severe financial crisis, and this
chapter reflects the struggle, on the oart of President

113

 114
F. J. Mullin to inject new life and money into the College.
The Mullin years provide clear examples of several models
of governance blending and yielding one to the other.
Mullin is first somewhat collegial in his leadership, but
as the years progress he becomes more of a mediator in a
very political situation.

The model of organized anarchy

is present in the late stages of Mullin's term as a leaderless community struggles to find nurnose and direction.
Finally, there is evidence that the oolitical model is
again visible as some of the forces in the community unite
and force Mullin's removal.
Finally, Chanter V explores the tenure of Milburn
Akers

~nd

offers a clear example of the bureaucratic model

of governance at Shimer.
At this critical period in the existence of Shimer
College, there was little long-range planning, little concern for any significant fund-raising efforts, the struggle to revive the functioning of the admissions office at
Shimer, and the continued problem in the change of identity as Shimer introduced coeducation and offered the
Bachelor's degree.

The enrollment neaked during the tenure

of F. J. Mullin and continued a fairly steady overall decline until the closing of Shimer in 1979.
Chapter V records the turning ooint which marked
the beginning of the fight for Shimer's life with the
Grotesque Internecine Souabble in 1967.

As a result of

 115
this internal squabbling, half the faculty and a large number of students failed to return to Shimer College in. the
Fall of 1968.

This incident combined with some adverse

oublicity about the drug culture at Shimer, immensely
damaged the image and identity of the College.
Finally, Chapter V reflects how the decision made
by Albin Bro to alter the philosophy of Shimer from that
of the conservative finishing school to that of the more
progressive nontraditional institution came back to
the College in the mid 60's.

ha~nt

With the introduction of

drugs, as well as, the liberal life style at the College,
there was an attraction for students who were antiestablishment and interested in nontraditional education.
The students did not blend into the

~ount

Carroll com-

munity, and the results of the publicity about the liberal
life style, and the friction with the surrounding community served to adversely affect Shimer's

ima~e.

The Shimer Plan
During the late twenties and early thirties, the
Pro~ressive

Education Association was contending that

American high schools were restricting the creativity,
initiative, and academic horizons of young peoole
(Rudolph, 1962).

The curriculums were restrictive in na-

ture, and there was a lack of continuity in the academic
program as well.

The education offered at the secondary

level was not well articulated with academic ooportunities

 116
available in higher education.

During trus ueriod, and

into the early forties, a variety of experimental programs
in higher education was developed.

The thrust of the move-

ment into experimental education is summarized by Rudolph:
individual programs to fit each student's needs,
abilities, and interests; an insistence that each student, with the help of a competent advisor, take
charge of his

O\\"'Il

education; an orientation toward

contemporary society, the elevation of the theory and
practice of fine arts to full curricular status, interdisciplinary courses, winter field periods somewhat reminiscent of the Antioch extramural >:vork orogram

a de-emphasis of such traditional practices

as grades, examinations, degree criteria, and entrance
requirements.

(1962, p. 476)

Robert Maynard Hutchins was an educational leader
who examined the system of traditional higher education
in this country.

Hutchins was quite opposed to the idea

that education was a practical preparation for life.

He

advocated, instead, a hard core program in basic areas
such as the classics, logic, rhetoric, grammar, and mathematics.

His influence on the curriculum at the University

of Chicago was most significant:
Beginning with the arrival of Robert Hutchins in
1929, Chicago became the scene of one of the most
dramatic and widely publicized recent efforts to

 117
~ormundergraduate

text.
The

education within a university con-

(Jencks & Riesman, 1966, p. 416)

"Chicago Program," on

~vhich

the Shimer curriculum

was eventually modeled, proposed a return to the original
sources, class discussion rather than lecture, and the use
of objective tests:
The Chicago program comprised sequences in the natural
sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences
which were supnosed to integrate past and present work
within these divisions of knowledge.

In addition,

these sequences were capped by work in philosophy and
history.

The emphasis in teaching was on small

classes with bright students, "Y7here discussion could
supplant monologue as the dominant pedagogic technique.
At the same time, in order to retain high academic standards and contact with the "frontiers of
knowledge," the College's pedagogy emphasized reading
originals (sometimes although not invariably, defined
as Great Books).

(Jencks & Riesman, 1966, p. ltl6)

During the latter part of the forties, President
Albin Bro and his assistant, Dean John Russel, had formulated a proposal for a renewal of the relationship between
Shimer College and the University of Chicago.

Bro felt

that Shimer would benefit from the reaffirmation of the
relationship between the two schools.

Documents were

prepared which outlined the benefits to be gained by both

 118
parties involved in the agreement.

While it was reasonpro~

ably clear that Shimer would indeed benefit if the

posal for renewal were approved, it was also clear that
the University of Chicago would benefit as well.

In the

Statement Proposing a Closer Affiliation Between the
Frances Shimer Academy of the University of Chicago
(February 22, 1950, pp. 1-2), the following was listed as
likely benefits for the University:
1.

Such an affiliation would provide enlarged opportunities for expansion and development of the
University of Chicago type of program in general
education.

2.

Such an affiliation would provide excellent opportunity for practice teaching facilities for graduate students of the University.

3.

. opportunity for young people in grades eleven
through fourteen to assure their first few years
of training in a small institution away from the
large city of Chicago, with the accompanying possibility that those students could transfer to the
College of the University of Chicago for further
training.

4.

This affiliation would provide for extensive experimentation in the area of testing.

Hhile the idea of affiliation with the University had a
great deal of appeal for the Shimer College community, such

 119
an agreement could not be finalized until some rather
substantial changes were authorized at the college which
would allow the agreement to become workable:
1.

Introduction of coeducation

2.

Introduction of the quarter system

3.

. changes in curriculum which would enhance
opportunities for experimentation and development
in the area of general education

4.

. authorize the granting of the Bachelor of
Arts degree

5.

negotiate a detailed memorandum of agreement
which would implement this affiliation.

(State-

ment Proposing a Closer Affiliation Between the
Frances Shimer Academy of the University of
Chicago and the University of Chicago, February 22,
1950, p. 2)
President A. J. Brumbaugh (1950-1954)
Dr. Aaron J. Brumbaugh had been a member of the
Shimer College Board of Trustees for a period of ten years
until his appointment as an Honorary Trustee in September
of 1948.

Brumbaugh was born in Hartville, Ohio on Febru-

ary 14, 1914 (Rockford Morning Star, February 22, 1953,
p. 12).

He attended Mount Morris College, and earned the

M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago (Shimer Record,
May 1950, pp. 3-7).

During his tenure as an educator, he

received honorary degrees from AlbwnCollege, Manchester

 120
college, and Bethany College.

His professional back-

ground included teaching experience in the Illinois public
syste~.

school

in Mount Morris.

He also served as Superintendent of Schools
In 1915, Brumbaugh was appointed to the

chairmanship of the English department at Mount Morris
College.

During his ten-year stay there, he also served

as Dean, Professor of Education, and as President of the
college.

While at the University of Chicago, he was both

Professor of Education and Dean of Students.

Brumbaugh

had been the recipient of an appointment with the American
Council on Education, and he was living in Washington,
D.C., until his arrival in Hount Carroll.
~arried

Brumbaugh was

and the father of two children.
Brumbaugh was characterized as "affable" and

"jovial" by his colleagues (Rockford l:1orning Star, February 22, 1953, p. 12), and he believed that the community
college would be the new look of the future in education.
He felt that while education was a many-sided process including academic development, it also included development
in the phvsical, social, and spiritual dimensions as well.
-

J

•

His personal philosophy of education merged well with the
philosophy of the new programs instituted at Shimer.

At

a special meeting of the Shimer Board of Trustees (April

16, 1950), Brumbaugh was elected President of the college.
His salary was $15,000 including benefits such as the use
of Sawyer House.

Brumbaugh's salary was guaranteed for

 121

a period of five years.
The secrecy surrounding the announcement of the
changes at Shimer paralleled the secrecy which typically
surrounded the introduction of new automobiles at the time.

Any possible leak was stopped in an effort to enable Shimer
to derive maximum positive exposure from the announcement.
Former president, Albin Bro, had written an article which
he was about to submit for publication, and when former
Dean and Acting President Russel became aware of the impending publication, he quickly wrote a letter to Bro asking him to hold publication of the article for fear that
the specifics in his article would no longer be relevant,
and they might conflict with the information in the press
releases:
We have been sitting on some rather important news
here in Mount Carroll for the last six weeks and if
all plans go well there will be an announcement on
April 13 which will indicate some rather marked changes
in the College.

. this is all top secret material,

and although many people know about it, absolutely
nothing can be released either in forBal speeches or
written documents.

. I am wondering if there is

not some wisdom in recalling the article which you
have written.

1950)

(Russel correspondence, March 29,

 122
On April 13, 1950, the Board of Trustees of the University
of Chicago met to recommend that the agreement for affiliation between Shimer and the University be approved
(Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the University of
Chicago, April 13, 1950, pp. 43-45).

On April 16, a news-

paper headline recorded another milestone in Shimer history:
Shimer College Reorganized as Co-educational
(Unknown Source, April 16, 1950)
The Shimer Record (May 1950, p. 4) highlighted the changes
taking place at the College:
1.

The Shimer curriculum in general education will be
restructured in line with that of the College of
the University of Chicago.

2.

The A.B. degree will be granted to those students
who meet certain graduation requirements which
will include satisfactory completion of a series
of comprehensive examinations.

3.

A plan of coeducation will be adopted beginning
in the autumn of 1950.

4.

The school year will be divided into three terms
rather than into two semesters.
Brumbaugh was excited about the changes taking

place, and it was his responsibility, as the new President,
to make certain that the transition was smooth and effective.

The Board of Trustees first had the opportunity to

meet Brumbaugh at a Board meeting (May 13, 1950) held at

 123
azlewood Farm, near Dixon, which belonged to Mrs.
the H
Charles Walgreen. He presented a paper entitled, "The
ducational Program at Shimer College" (see Figure 4).
Ne'W E
1.

English:

a year course in writing

Humanities:

three-year courses in methods, in-

terpretations, and the understanding of music,
literature, philosophy, and the visual arts,
as well as advanced work in writing and criticism.
Social Sciences:

three-year courses in American

History, economic, social and political institutions, and the problems of contemporary society.
Mathematics:

a year course in mathematical systems

Natural Sciences:

three-year courses for students

who enter after two years of high school
Foreign Language:

a year course in the history

of western civilization
Observation, Interpretation, Integration:

a year

course in the methods, principles, and the interrelationships of the fields of knowledge
In addition to the basic education courses cited
above, elective work was available in algebra, trigonometry, intermediate French, chemistry, zoology,
creative writing, and harmony.

Instruction was

 124
available as well in voice, piano, organ, drama, applied art, and typing.

Placement examinations were. to

be administered when a student first arrived at Shimer
as a means of determining appropriate placement in
the course work.

The student, once placed, would be

able to advance at his/her own speed and not be restricted by the label of age or academic level (i.e.,
sophomore).

A student could, if desired, take a

proficiency exam in a subject without having taken
the subject.

If the student passed the exam, he/she

would advance to the next academic course in the
sequence.

Graduation requirements would be met by

having satisfactorily completed a series of comprehensive examinations.

The planning of the course and

the timing for the examinations were matters between
the student and the teacher.

Figure 4.

Explanation of the Shimer Plan for general
education as outlined by President Aaron
Brumbaugh in the Minutes of the Board of
Trustees on May 13, 1950, pp. 2-4.

In the paper, he summarized, for members of the Board, the
changes taking place at Shimer, and he specifically outlined changes in the academic program representing the
new general education curriculum.

Brumbaugh made refer-

ence to the rationale for this program by referring to

 125
Harper's analogy (Brumbaugh, Hay 13, 1950) of a doctor
treating 50 patients with one mass prescription for their
ills.

Education, as well, he pointed out, should involve

individual planning and progression.

Early Entrance to

college should be allowed for the student who is ready.
Hutchins had resigned his post at the University
of Chicago.

He was appointed

Chair~an

of the Ford Founda-

tion at about the same time as Brumbaugh took office at
Shimer College as President.

As a result of Hutchins's

involvement with the Ford Foundation (Weissmiller interview, November 1981), Shimer became the beneficiary of a
great deal of funding.

Shimer was one of twelve colleges

chosen to participate in an experiment sponsored by the
Fund for the Advancement of Education through the Ford
Foundation.

Shimer received approximately $250,000

designated as scholarship money from the Ford Foundation.
The enrollment at Shimer grew as a result of the injection of this money into the budget at the College.
Additional changes were introduced at Shimer in
the Fall of 1950 as recorded in the Minutes of the Board
of Trustees (October 6, 1950):
1.

. change the name from the Frances Shimer
Academy of the University of Chicago to Shimer
College.

 126
2.

Transferring to the By-Laws the specification as
to the number and manner of election, etc. of
the members of the Board of Trustees.

3.

Reducing the percentage of Baptists on the Board
from 2/3 to 1/3 and eliminating the requirement
that the principal be a Baptist.

4.

Substituting the word "college" for "preparatory
school wherever it appears.

5.

Adding to the charter an authorization for the
Board of Trustees to award the degree of BacLelor
of Arts.

Prior to the introduction of the Ford money at Shimer,
the enrollment and finances were in a precarious state.
Between 1951 and 1952, the enrollment doubled.
in 1953 along with the income of the college.

It peaked
From 1953

to 1956 the enrollment and income of the college experienced a rather significant drop.
Under pressure from the Board, Brumbaugh resigned
in 1954.

The Ford Foundation support had acted as an

artificial shot in the arm for the finances at Shimer.

It

had inflated both the enrollment figures, as well as, the
income of the college.

Brumbaugh, however, had not been

an aggressive fund raiser, and when the Ford funding began to decline, it had become apparent that Shimer was in
a difficult financial position.

If ShiTier was going to

survive, new and dynamic leadership was required.

A

 127
search Committee was established by the Board of Trustees
to seek a candidate for President at Shimer.

-

Enrollment

Year

Percentage of
Students on
Ford Money

Overall
Income of
the College

1950

116

-----

$213,883

1951

63

-----

181,040

1952

115

-----

271,139

1953

150

74/o

328,995

1954

142

76%

317,413

1955

125

84%

295,362

1956

98

81%

256,257

Figure 5.

Chart reflects the enrollment pattern, total
college support from Ford Foundation money,
and the annual total income at Shimer.
Ford
Foundation support for student scholarship
was initiated during the term of President
Aaron J. Brumbaugh.

Reflections on A. J. Brumbaugh as President.

A.J.

Brumbaugh's responsibility at Shimer was to oversee the
implementation of the changes which had been designed by
Bro and Russel before him.

The enrollment did not ac-

celerate as was expected, but the introduction of the Ford
money served

to

income figures.

artificially inflate both enrollment and
As a result of this, however, Aaron

Brumbaugh did not aggressively seek other sources of funding.

 128
It appears as though personnel at Shimer mistakenly felt
that enrollment might surge as a result of the changes.
~hich

had taken place, and that Ford money would be suf-

ficient to see them through this period at Shimer.

A

great deal of Brumbaugh's time was consumed with educating
people and explaining the new programs and policies at
Shimer.
Brumbaugh was characterized as an easy-going person.

Governance at Shimer was, for the most part, col-

legial.

Brumbaugh worked with a Board of Trustees which

was tired and apathetic about matters pertaining to the
college.

The Board became more active in the mid-fifties

as it began to realize that enrollment and income had
been eroded, and Brumbaugh had not developed any programs
to offset the dangerous position in which Shimer was now
situated.

When Brumbaugh left office, the deficit had

doubled in 1954 to $89,874, and there was virtually no
money in the endowment fund (Shimer College, 1959).
challenge for a new administration was clear.

The

Shimer

College was in the midst of a financial crisis:
. in 1954, leadership was weak.

A cadre of Uni-

versity of Chicago faculty was here, imbued with the
ideals of general education.

. the next few

years were difficult for a variety of reasons.

The

College was unknown, financially weak; old alumni were
reluctant to accept the new Shimer; students were few;

 129
the faculty, outside of the small cadre, was unstable,
and the Trustees, for the most part, were tired.
(Weissmiller correspondence, October 26, 1967)

The immediate needs of the College, if it was to survive,
required the reestablishment of an Office of Admissions

and staffing for the office, more direct work with alumni
to overcome the division caused by the news of the revisions at Shimer, and a determined effort in fund raising
(A Special Case, Shimer College, Date Unknown).

F. J.

Mullin assumed the responsibilities of the presidency in
1954.
President F. J. Mullin (1954-1968)
In 1954, F. J. Mullin carne to Shimer College as
President to fill the void left by the retiring A. J.
Brumbaugh.

Mullin had served as a Professor at the Uni-

versity of Chicago where he had earned a Ph.D. in physiology.

Weissrniller pointed out that the crisis at Shimer

actually grew worse before things began to improve (Trustee interview, November 1981).

For one thing, the heart

of the interdisciplinary program could be completed within

two years at Shimer.

Students were electing to leave

the College at the end of two years rather than stay and
take their degree from Shimer.

The faculty, on the other

hand, was more interested in specialization in their respective fields rather than participating in the more
general interdisciplinary program which was in effect at

 130
Shimer.

The life style, in Mount Carroll, proved frus-

trating to both faculty and students.

Coincidently, pub-

lic higher education was growing by leaps and bounds
across the country in anticipation of a projected growth
in population which was expected to number six million
births by the year 1980.

Much pressure for survival was

being felt, in general, by the small private college.
Shimer, at this critical moment, lacked a solid alumnae
base to provide sorely needed funds, and it seriously
lacked an endowment fund of any significance.

Weissmiller

recalled that the situation was so bad that the Board of
Trustees convened in Chicago to discuss the possibility
of closing Shimer:
During the school years 1954-5 and 1955-6, things grew
worse.

Enrollment fell,

faculty turnover continued,

Trustees quarrelled, and finances declined.
out constant crises Dr. Mullin hung on.

Through-

Somehow his

determination and his quiet dignity held things together.

In the summer of 1956, the Board held a spe-

cial meeting ostensibly to decide how to close the
College (Weissmiller correspondence, October 26,
1967)
A few days before the scheduled meeting of the Board in
Chicago to decide the fate of the college, a Chicago area
business man by the name of Nelson Dezendorf came to the
rescue of Shimer by pledging enough money to keep the

 131
college open.

He was a Vice President with the Electro-

motive division of General Motors in La Grange, Illinois.
\.Jeissmi ller indicated that Dezendorf "twisted arms" of
suppliers to Electromotive, and he "encouraged" their support of the institution in Mount Carroll (Trustee interview, November 1981).

Weissrniller chuckled as he recalled

that people from various businesses were donating sums of
cash to this small college in northwestern Illinois which
they had never heard of prior to their dealings with
Dezendorf.

In recognition of his rather substantial and

life-saving contribution to the College, Dezendorf was
elected a member of the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees was reorganized, and
Dezendorf brought new life and vigor to a group that had
ceased to be interested in the operations at Shimer:
Prior to the reorganization of the Board, the Trustee
Committee system had virtually ceased to function.
(A Special Case--Shimer College, date unknown)
During the summer of 19 57, Dr. David \·leis er carne
to Shimer as the Dean.
Hullin.

He had been sought by President

Weiser had recently earned his Ph.D. at the

University of Chicago.

Mullin was devoting much time and

energy to the fund raising, and he needed a solid, aggressive, and dynamic figure to shore up matters in the academic arena.

According to Weissrniller (November 1981),

Weiser was a man with ideas by the bushel.

He possessed

 132
a charisma which was like a magnet to faculty and students.
It was Weiser who provided the competent leadership
academics at Shimer.

i~

The Weiser-Mullin team yielded posi-

tive results as Shimer's enrollment grew from 98 students
in 1955-56 with 81 percent of the students on Ford scholarship money, to an enrollment of 131 students in 1956-57
with only 15 percent on Ford money.

The years from 1957

through 1962 were relatively stable and productive years
at Shimer.

Enrollment was growing, and the College com-

munity seemed at peace within itself.
The University of Chicago, for reasons of its own,
began to lose interest in the working relationship with
Shimer College.

In a letter to President Mullin, Lawrence

A. Kimpton (March 6, 1956), Dean of the University, outlined terms of an agreement for the termination of the
formal relationship between Shimer and the University of
Chicago.

The terms called for Shimer to retain use of

the comprehensive examination system as part of its program, but it would, once again, resume total responsibility
for admissions and promotion activities at the College.
The University would no longer pay faculty salaries for
University of Chicago professors who were visiting at
Shimer.

Four immediate problems surfaced for Shimer

(State of the College, 1958) as a result of this relationship being terminated:

(1) trying to maintain a good

faculty in Mount Carroll,

(2) a collegiate program which

 133
could keep students in residence longer than two years,
(3) attracting students to Shimer, and
and financial support.

(4) institutional

Shimer set a course for itself:

Rather than sharing the mission of the University of
Chicago to train rather bright--sometimes rather
strange young people who were looking for something
out of the ordinary.

Instead of defining its

curriculum as general education, Shimer has preferred
to define it as general education plus the specialized
courses necessary for a transition appropriate to
each student's vocation.

(State of the College, 1958,

p. 7)
Following the separation from the University of
Chicago, Shimer sought affiliation with a church as a means
of both financial and student support.

In a document en-

titled, "Need for a Church Relationship" (1959), Shimer
officials outlined a rationale for affiliation with a
church:
. by definition, it requires higher tuition and
independent gifts to provide for its operation and
capital requirements.

In return for this support, it

can maintain high educational standards independent
of state or political pressures and expediency.
One obvious benefit from a church relationship would be a
rather steady flow of students in search of a valuescentered education.

The Board of Trustees (June 30, 1959)

 134
voted to accept affiliation with the Episcopal church.
While the By-Laws were not revised to accommodate new .
membership, it was hoped that at least three members of
the Board would be representatives of the church.
Partly as a result of the baby boom population,
and partly as a result of church affiliation, the enrollment at Shimer was growing.

It was decided by the Board

and President Mullin that expansion and renovation was
necessary if Shimer was to be able to accommodate any
significant growth in enrollment.

One residence hall was

opened in 1958, and two more were planned for completion
in the early sixties (see Figure 6).

There was a great

deal of activity on the Shimer campus as construction
seemed to be an ongoing process.

Nelson Dezendorf re-

signed from the Board of Trustees in 1959, and he was replaced by weatherman Clint Youle, a Chicago area television personality.

Dean Weiser's influence on campus

(Weissmiller, 1981) continued to grow from 1957 through

1962.

Mullin was tending to leave more and more of the

campus operation in Weiser's charge, and l1ullin was becoming more involved in professional activities.

Weiser's

influence grew, and he became a strong leader among the
faculty.

David Weiser resigned in 1963 under circumstances

which, as yet, are unclear.

He returned in the Fall of

1964 as a member of the faculty (Weissmiller correspondence, October 26, 1967).

He was replaced by Dean Blackburn.

 135

-

Year

Enrollment

1 954-55

127

1955-56

94

1956-57

131

1957-58

109

1958-59

171

1959-60

208

1960-61

210

1961-62

293

Significant Event

Funding Source

Howe Hall opened

Unknown

Dezendorf Hall

Unknown

opened
1962-63

280

1963-64

325

1964-65

418

1965-66

476

1966-67

519

New Hall opened

Unknown

Kupcinet Theatre

Privately funded

completed
1967-68

391

New Library completed

Title III loan/
private funds

New hall completed HUD loan/private
funds
1968-69

381

Dining Hall/Student Union

HUD loan/private
funds

1969-70

312

Field House

Private funds

1970-71

306

Chapel

Private funds

 136
year

Enrollment

Significant Event

Funding Source

.::.;;.--

Faculty

1970-71

re~idence

HUD loan/private
funds

New hall completed

HUD loan/private
funds

Figure 6.

Chart depicts enrollment figures from 1954
through 1971, and the extent of building at
Shimer College for the same period of time
as well as the source of funding if available.
Source:
Student Enrollment, 1974.

\-leissmiller (1981) indicated that during this period, while
gift income did not increase substantially, at least the
financial crises were less frequent.

The problem of stu-

dent attrition seemed to diminish as the name of Shimer became more widely known, and the faculty attrition also
seemed to ease a bit.

From 1954-55 through 1960-61, facul-

ty salaries increased by 55 percent, and benefits increased
by 36 percent (Minutes of Faculty Meeting, April 19, 1961).
The endowment fund had expanded from $208,00 to $329,000.
Shimer's plan for expansion was not an inexpensive program
(see Figure 7).

Fortunately, for Shimer, the College was

the recipient of a great deal of regional and national
publicity during this period which was favorable to the
reputation of Shimer (Bro, August 20, 1961; Franks, April

20, 1961; Christian Science Monitor, April 22, 1961; the
(Louisville) Courier-Journal, October 31, 1961).

An

 137
Program

cost

-------$

600,000

2,000,000

Construction of a field house
Construction:

four residence halls

800,000

Addition to existing science facility

400,000

Construction: multi-purpose chapel

500,000

Construction: student center

150,000

Construction: athletic field/tennis courts

200,000

Renovation: classrooms

250,000

Expansion: existing library

400,000

Construction: faculty housing

500,000

Construction: utility building

Figure 7.

Figure shows projected construction and renovation of existing facilities, as well as the
cost projections for each program during the
term of five years of F. J. Mullin.
Source:
Minutes of Faculty Meeting--Shimer College,
April 19, 1961.

article which appeared in the (Louisville) CourierJournal indicated that Shimer was selected as one of
eleven schools in the United States which had a superior
intellectual climate.

In an article which appeared in

the Phi Delta Kappan (April 1966, pp. 415-420), Jencks
and Riesman assessed students at Shimer:
Shimer picks up a number of gifted students by welcoming dropouts from other institutions.

\fhile few

Shimer entrants compare in scholastic aptitude with

 138
those at such colleges as Swarthmore, Stanford,
Radcliffe, Amherst, or Pomona, they are probably
readier for intellectual immersion than the vast majority of students in the Big Ten or the California
system.

By the end of four years those who graduate

are ready to cope with different and imaginative comprehensive examinations and perform extremely well on
the Graduate Record Examination.

(Jencks & Riesman,

p. 418)

After the mid-sixties, the runnin? of the college
was left, increasingly, to Dean Blackburn who was Weiser's
replacement (Weissmiller, 1981).

Weissmiller character-

ized Mullin as being "better at patching leaks than he was
at being the Captain on the bridge."

The faculty began

to resent Mullin's frequent absence from campus.

Mullin

was traditional, and he enjoyed the formality of ceremony
including academic parades and convocations.

A communi-

cation from President Mullin (Convocations, September 25,

l965) expounded on the rationale and the history of convocations at Shimer.

He expected the involvement of the

Shimer community:
Faculty members participate in all convocations.

At-

tendance at convocations by all students is exoected.
Students make a necessary contribution to the dignity
and significance of this very meaningful college
function.

 139
The gaP between faculty, administration and students was
growing \vider.

Nationally, students were questioning ma,ny

policies and regulations in higher education.

There was

resistance to further involvement by the United States to
its commitment in VietNam.

The result of this, and other

events, was a dissolution of social mores which had existed in this country.

Shimer students were more polit-

ically aware and resistant to further involvement in East
Asia as compared to their parents (Heist, Henry,
Churchill, July 1967).

&

They were also interested in

humanitarian causes, and they were, like other youth
across the nation, growing in an anti-establishment mentality.

They were rejecting formality for a more infornal

and independent life style.

Hullin's concern, on the other

hand, was for the preservation of formality and conservative norms.

He expressed his thoughts on the matter in an

article in the student newspaper (Franks, Feburary 1967)
in response to questions posed by the student reporter:
Well, I personally think that the dress dinners are a
valuable adjunct to the campus and the college.
it seems to me that at least twice a week a more gracious kind of living, as represented by the dress dinner in distinction to rushing in and getting out as
fast as you can without any real consideration to the
graciousness of a meal is an important factor .
when we have concerts and a formal lecture series

 140
I think it is only appropriate that we behave in a way
as though we were considering the interests of thqse
guests.

(p.

2)

The same article makes reference to, and questions, Mullin's frequent absences from campus:
. most of the time I am gone of course it is in
relation to college activities.

Most of my

trips away from the college are related to fund raising.

Now there are a number of educational or-

ganizations of which Shimer is a part and which I have
felt it was necessary for me to devote time to.
(Franks, February 1967, p. 3)
Mullin concluded his statement by letting the students
know that his trios were all in the name of snreading the
good news about Shiner College, and to afford Shimer
visibility with the public.

Because Shimer had only 500

students, he pointed out that he had to work harder to
bring the name of Shimer before potential individual donors
and large foundations.

{

Weissmiller indicated that Mullin

and the College were experiencing the pain of growing away
from one another (Weissmiller interview, November 1981).
The tension at Shimer was increasing.

The frustrations of

faculty became more apparent in the Spring of 1966:
When Blackburn resigned in the spring of 1966, latent
faculty discontent began to surface.

In his last

month, Blackburn tried to stem the unrest by proposing

 141
overdue salary increases which Mullin resisted.
Weiser

th~n

carne to me and said he thought the faculty

was leaderless and that Mullin seemed to be doing
nothing about the problem.

I relayed the message to

Mullin and still nothing was done.

(Weissrniller

correspondence, October 26, 1967), P. 2)
A major turn of events occurred for Shimer on
May 21, 1966, when an article appeared in the Saturday
Evening Post entitled,"Drugs on the Carn:ous."

Shimer was

mentioned in a discussion concerning the spread of the
problem of drugs on the campuses.

Mullin, of course, re-

sponded to the text of the article by stating that while
Shimer is an experimental college, the school did not
condone the use of drugs.

The impact of the Post article,

while difficult to measure, certainly did not help the
image of the College.
The combination of Mullin's absence from campus,
the lack of communication between administration and faculty, faculty and faculty, administration and students, and
faculty and students, as well as, the negative publicity,
resulted in lowered morale in the Shimer community.

On

December 12, 1966, President Mullin issued a statement
(Memorandum) calling for unification of the Shimer cornmunit~

He indicated that the atmosphere at Shimer began to

deteriorate rapidly in October, and the deterioration
I

could be credited to two factors:

 142
One of these included an apparent great increase in
the use of drugs on the campus.

A second fac-

tor was the dissatisfaction of certain faculty members with the administration of the College, and the
encouragement of faculty and students to take matters
into their own hands.

(Memorandum, December 12, 1966,

p. 1)

In calling for unification of the community, Mullin closed
his memorandum in this way:
Neither retreat nor efforts to subvert the organized
activities of the College will solve our problems,
but, by uniting, members of this community can continue to make of Shimer a fine environment for learning which can deserve our lasting loyalty.

(Memorandum,

December 12, 1966, p. 2)
The Shimer faculty came together in a regular session at eight o'clock that same evening, and the event,
though seemingly not as significant as the moment, would
go down in the annals of Shimer history as one of the
singular events marking the turning point from challenges
associated with growth and expansion at Shimer, to challenges associated with maintaining the life of the College.
While a great deal of the meeting was devoted to the routine of committee reports, the tension in the air seemed
to erupt as a number of faculty voiced concern and reaction about the conditions at Shimer.

Faculty expressed

 143
frustration and dissatisfactions with one another as well.
On February 20, 1967 (Minutes of the Faculty Meeting),.
Mr. curtis Larson, faculty spokesman, pointed out that the
minutes of the previous meeting, on December 12, were inaccurate.

He then went on to deliver a prepared state-

ment (Remarks of Curtis Larson, February 20, 1967) citing
the problems which existed at Shimer, and blaming them on
poor and absent leadership, a lack of confidence in the
administration, insufficient funding for the College,
inadequate communications, and an unwillingness on the
part of the President to discuss and resolve these issues
with faculty.

Heiser, not Mullin, was credited as being

the leader at Shimer:
the key responsible leadership has come from
David Weiser who has been architect of and the gadfly
in favor of so much that has been valuable in Shimer.
(Remarks of Curtis Larson, February 20, 1967,
p. 5)
Weiser was characterized as a protagonist of
faculty dissent (Weissmiller, 1981).

Mullin, on the other

hand, was more isolated from the community, and was not
successful in his attempt to mediate the anger erupting
from the coalitions on campus.

He attempted to be bureau-

cratic in his handling of the matter and, at least temporarily, he seemed to have the backing of the Board of
Trustees:

 144
. as far as the issue of the presidency is concerned, the trustees have spoken.
tend to offer my resignation

I do not_in. the issue of the

termination of my presidency is not a subject for continued debate.

(Minutes of the Faculty Meeting,

March 20, 1967, p. 2)
Mullin requested that discussion of the issues be withheld
from the press.
Bavas (Trustee interview, February 1982) recounted
that over half of the faculty announced they were resigning at the close of the year.

Unfortunately, the faculty

who chose to leave Shimer were acknowledged to be stronger
members of the faculty.

As an expression of confidence

in Mullin, the Board had agreed to renew his contract with
the College for a period of 5 years.
In the Fall of 1967, it was evident that the enrollment had plummeted from an all-time high in 1966-67 of
519 students to 391 students in the Fall of 1967.

On No-

vember 10, 1967, the following was recorded in the minutes
of the special faculty meeting:
Dr. F. J. Hullin, president of Shimer College, Hount
Carroll, Illinois since 1954, will leave that position on August 31, 1968.

Dr. Hullin asked to

be relieved of the presidency of Shimer and the trustees agreed to accept his request.

(Minutes of

Special Meeting of the Faculty, November 10, 1967, p. 1)

 145
The college was in a state of disarray, and there

was need for a leader with the ability to rebuild faculty,
student body, morale, and the reputation of the college.
The individual answering the call to leadership at Shimer
would face a serious challenge, and he/she should be a
decisive leader skilled in decision making and communications.

Milburn Akers, former Editor of the Chicago Sun-

Times, was confirmed President of Shimer College on June 5,
1968.
Reflections on F. J. Hullin as President.

When

F. J. Hullin came to Shimer in 1954, he strengthened the
spirit among faculty and students, and he gained support
among the Board of Trustees for his demonstrated skill of
Ningrrg

mbadly

needed financial support for the College,

and for providing strong leadership and administrative
staff for the institution.

He was initially viewed as a

kind of hero for saving Shimer from closing in the midfifties.

High morale returned, enrollment climbed, and

Shimer was receiving much favorable publicity.

David

Weiser, the Dean of the College, was a very able and personable fellow.

He was able to stimulate faculty in their

work, and his leadership was perceived, by them, as
charismatic.

With Weiser's departure in 1963, the dis-

content among faculty began to grow.

Mullin had been

leaving more and more of the running of the college to
Weiser.

The absence in presidential leadership became

 146
more significant when Weiser left.

Blackburn, who re-

placed Weiser as Dean, attempted to maintain the type_of
relationship Weiser had enjoyed with faculty, but it was

not the same.

Mullin and his faculty became separated,

over a variety of issues, by a wide gap.

Because of

changes in the mores in this country, students were freer
to question leadership, and so in 1967, the student body
began to explore Mullin's reasons for absence from campus.
In addition, they questioned his more conservative philosophy on campus issues.

Some of the faculty and students

formed coalitions to support one another.

Finally, in

December of 1966 through the Spring of 1967, the Grotesque
Internecine Squabble took place as a forum for the eruption of the latent anger and discontent.

Half of the

faculty left Shimer, and a large contingent of students
failed to return in the Fall semester.

Mullin was forced

to resign.
Mullin was a strong leader during the initial
phase of his term at Shimer.

He began to lose touch with

the community as he relinquished responsibility for running the college to David 'veiser.

As the faculty became

more focused in their anger, after the resignation of
Weiser, Mullin mediated the anger from a distance.

As

the student discontent grew, and as faculty and students
found mutual support in one another, Mullin's ability to
stave off an eruption failed.

The situation can be viewed

 147
as a political model of

govern~nce

out of control.

On the

other hand, the faculty and students perceived the college
to be leaderless and adrift.

From that perspective, it

could be said that a state of organized anarchy existed
at Shimer at the time since the community seemed isolated
into pockets of anger and discontent, there was a great
deal of confusion and frustration, and the leader was absent from the scene.

As a head of a political model of

governance, }1ullin stemmed the eruption of part of the
Shimer community as a result of reinforcement from the
Board of Trustees.

Before long, however, even the Board

was forced to act when half the faculty resigned and enrollment declined.
Another reason why Mullin failed in his bid to
quell the discontent among the Shimer community, was that
those who were angry and reacting were receiving an indirect support from the movement across the nation to
question leadership, formality, and the bureaucratic mentality of the establishment.

When faculty received little

satisfaction from Mullin following the initial outburst
during the GIS, they voiced their anger through united
resignation.

Students, realizing that one of the major

attractions at Shimer, the faculty, had been destroyed,
also voiced their anger by failing to re-register for the
Fall semester in 1967.

Thus while Mullin had presided

over an infectiously angry community, he had fallen as a

 148
victim to the political model.
that justice prevailed.
had to change.

Some, today, might say

Conditions at Shimer, inevitably,

In the anarchy which existed, there was,

as Cohen and March (1974) point out, a community of confused individuals and groups with little centralized decision making.

In organized anarchy, as was the instance

at Shimer, there was no control nor coordination in the
decision making, and the specific process by which decisions were made was not clearly defined.

The sense of

organization, at Shimer was vague, and the goal direction,
at least for the moment, was equally vague.
Weissmiller (correspondence, October 26, 1967,
p. 3) summarized the situation at Shimer as one in which
Mullin maneuvered the Board and faculty in order that he
might stay in control.
forever.

~~ere

No leader, he wrote, can be on top

Mullin failed was in maintaining the

loyalty of his own administrators.

He had failed, said

Weissmiller, to build a strong relationship among his administrative team.
~fullin,

on the other hand, had contributed a great

deal to Shimer as a result of the rapid and rather substantial physical expansion of the campus.

The expansion

program of the sixties, however, would return to haunt the
college during the seventies as the institution fought a
staggering debt.

Adverse publicity, loss of faculty, and

an overburdened financial situation were early symptoms in

 149
the final stages of the disease plaguing Shimer.

It would

be the task of Milburn Akers, successor to Mullin, to .revitalize Shimer and stabilize a delicate situation.

What

Shimer needed most was a leader who would do just that.
President Milburn P. Akers (1968-1970)
Andrew Bavas (Trustee interview, February 1982)
characterized Milburn Akers as direct, respected, and as
having been able to make peace among the various factions
which existed in the Shimer community Hhen he assumed the
role of president.

Akers agreed to \·JOrk at Shimer with-

out salary since he was already drawing retirement from
his previous position as Editor of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Akers had resigned his post as Editor of the newspaper
in 1965.

In 1968 he was elected to the office of Pres-

ident on March 11.

He was confirmed as Acting President

until June 5, 1968 (Minutes of the Board of Trustees)
when he was appointed President.

Though not an educator

by profession, Akers had been quite involved in higher
education in Illinois through his role as Director of the
Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities, membership on the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees at
McKendree College.

For a period of 27 years he served as

a trustee at McKendree College.

Akers believed that if

one was able to reap the benefits of success in life, then
that individual had a responsibility to contribute to

 150
those agencies which fostered that success:
Our society contains too many moral parasites.
By that I mean a successful adult who is successful
because of the instruction of his parents, his church,
and the educational system.

The parasite is he who

is willing to claim these benefits for himself without seeking to perpetuate and expand the agencies
which gave rise to them.

(Graduation edition, St.

Procopius College, 1968)
Milburn Akers was a perceptive man, and he spent the first
few months in office assessing the needs of the Shimer
community.
and

His approach in working with staff was direct

nQ-nonsense.

Akers settled down to the business of

revitalizing Shimer College.

He seemed to know what

needed to be accomplished, and he delegated responsibility to staff.

That he expected results was clear:

One hundred-fifty students (your stated expectation)
for 1968-69 will fall far short of enabling us to
have a balanced budget next year.
one of two things:

. We must do

(1) Raise the number of new stu-

dents to a minimum of 200 or (2) slash the budget
drastically.

I do not wish to resort to the latter.

What do you need to make certain that we have a minimum of 200 new students?

(Memorandum to Director of

Admissions, April 11, 1968)

 151

In addition to the recruiting of students for Shimer,
Akers was also intent on improving a very volatile financial situation.

He established clear goals for the staff

in the Office of Development:
. Please accept this as your S?ecific task:
$100,000 in unrestricted money for fiscal 1968-69.
You raise $99,000 in unrestricted money and I'll provide the final $1,000.

Hhat we need now is your

emphasis on unrestricted money.

(Memorandum to the

Director of Development, April 11, 1968)
Akers believed that a competent and productive staff was
important to the welfare of the college.

What he did was

to challenge his staff and faculty and, in so doing, forced
them to take the focus off of themselves and onto the task
at hand which was, simply stated, doing whatever was necesary to save Shimer College.

He was aware of the long-

standing attrition problem at Shimer, and he directed the
Dean to take immediate steps to develop a program to improve the retention rate:
In a measure, the size of the student body is dependent upon the attrition rate.

We must come

up with a creative program to increase our retention
rate.

. May I request that you take this matter

up with the Faculty very soon; explain the necessity
of improving our retention rate and request each
faculty member to do what he can to persuade acceptable

 152
students--acceptable academically and socially--to
return to Shimer.

(Memorandum to the Dean, April 11,

1968, p. 2)
Akers believed in surrounding himself with a very competent faculty and staff.

He also believed that the Board

of Trustees should possess competence in a variety of
fields, and their expertise should be a resource for the
President, as well as, for the college community (College and University Business, December 1968):
For instance, most colleges are engaged in housing
and feeding operations, yet they fail to have a good
hotel or restaurant manager on their board to give
them advice in this area.

How many boards have on

them a contractor to see that their contractors do
their jobs?
In the President's Report to the Board of Trustees (October 1, 1968), Akers made several references to the importance of focusing on, and improving, the attrition
problem at Shimer.

He stated that it was not revision in

curriculum that was needed to stave off the premature departure of students from Shimer but rather, there were
other causes for attrition which had to be isolated.

Akers

took direct action in handling student behavior on campus,
and he realized that his decisions would not be popular.
He extended, to the students, the opportunity to govern
themselves responsibly; but failing to see an acceptable

 153
response, Akers established certain behavioral policies
for residence living on campus.
In the Report of the President (November 5, 1969),
Akers defined the tasks which he and members of the administrative staff were attempting to address:
1.

Financial

2.

High attrition in the student body

3.

A five year decline in enrollment

4.

Inadequate staffing of its Development and
Business offices.

In that report, Akers pointed out to the members of the
Board that drugs were no longer a problem at Shimer College.

Akers felt that increased awareness of drugs pres-

sured individuals to avoid using them, law enforcement officials were more active in the Mount Carroll community,
and student pressure on users helped to curtail usage.
Akers had to contend with a rather severe financial problem at Shimer.

The previous president, F. J.

Mullin, had been granted a five year contract just prior
to his resignation from office.

With fringe benefits,

the total annual amount came to $26,000.

In addition,

Akers summarized the other factors affecting the state of
the financial situation at Shimer:
We are still paying for architectural plans ordered
and completed but not paid for prior to the current
Administration.

We have completed payment on another

 154
set of architectural plans ordered and completed but
not paid for prior to the current Administration.
This Administration was likewise required to pay for
much of the cost of the unsuccessful campaign for
capital funds that was put on by a professional agency
of fund raisers.

(Report of the President, November

4, 1969)
After slightly over one year in office, Akers viewed the
immediate need at Shimer as being unrestricted money to
meet operating costs.

He stressed the need for an adequate

endowment to assure payment of future

o~erating

costs.

He

called upon the entire Shimer community to assist the College in this effort to raise unrestricted funds in order
to:
(a) avert a deficit;
pairs to its plant;

(b) make further essential re(c) enhance its academic program;

(d) augment its under-staffed development office;
(e) provide for continuing studies of operations, enrollment, attrition, etc.

(Report of the President,

November 4, 1969, p. 5)
Milburn Akers was killed in an automobile accident
on May 27, 1970.

The needs of Shimer College had been

clearly defined by Akers, and he had established the course
of action to be taken.

It remained for Robert S. Long,

Aker's successor, to follow-through and maintain the program outlined by Akers.

 155
Reflections on Milburn P. Akers.

As President,

Milburn Akers was a no-nonsense leader who clearly assessed the needs of the College community.

Akers pos-

sessed a fine-tuned sense for accomplishing goals.

Once

defined, Akers expected results from staff as solutions to
the goals were established and pursued.

In some respects,

Akers was an interesting contrast because he was very
bureaucratic in his style of governance because of the way
he established direction and goals.

And yet, he was very

much collegial in style because of the manner in 'i.vhich he
permitted staff to develop and pursue their own solutions
and programs.

Akers focused on the distant goals, but he

left the planning of strategy to achieve the goals to his
staff.

He did, however, expect results.

The various fac-

tions of the community, such as faculty, students, and
Board of Trustees,

~vhich

had been very active under Mullin,

remained quiet during the tenure of Hilburn Akers.

Yet

there was a tension at Shimer, during the tenure of Akers,
that was not felt before.

The tension was growth-oriented

and expectations ran high.
It was clear that Akers had accurately perceived
the problems which had been confronting Shimer over a long
period of time.

Akers seemed to understand that Shimer

could not remain isolated at Mount Carroll.

Students

needed and expected exposure to resources beyond the scope

 156
of Shimer College.

Akers (Report of the President, Febru-

arY 1, 1969, Pt. 1) was instrumental in bringing

promi~ent

speakers to the campus, encouraged the urban experience
through the Shimer-in-Chicago program which had been
privately financed, and he supported the Shimer-at-Oxford
program.

In addition, various and numerous modifications

were made to existing facilities, including a kitchen in
one of the residence halls for students to prepare their
own meals.

A judicial code was defined and implemented

in the residence hall.
The first priority of Akers, it appears, was to
attend to the problems at home first and, once those were
corrected and workable, to focus on the broader issues
affecting Shimer.

Shimer's image could only be improved

by first revitalizing the product it had to offer.
The image of Akers was fatherly and somewhat authoritarian.

There was an aura of leader about him that

instilled confidence in the Shimer community.

In retro-

spect, perhaps the great tragedy that befell the College
was the unfortunate death of Milburn Akers in 1970.

For

with him, died the plans, the visions, and the hopes.

He

had a determination which had been characteristic of the
early leaders at Shimer.
If the tenure of Akers could be termed a plateau
in the downhill slide Shimer had experienced after the
Grotesque Internecine Squabble of 1966-67, the years

 157
immediately following, during the presidency of Robert S.
Long from 1970-73, would be, in retrospect, a period .in
which the downhill slide resumed and, in fact, accelerated.
Shimer was entering the dusk of its life-span in the Mount
carroll comunity.
summary
The Frances Shimer College Survey, conducted by
the Department of Education at the University of Chicago
in 1944, resulted in 77 recommendations for improving
programs at the College.

The recommendations were the

seeds for planning, and for many of the changes which took
place during the turn of the decade in 1950.

The latter

part of the forties was an exciting period for the Shimer
community because it was a time of creative planning.
Albin Bra's role in the planning, as well as that of Acting President John Russel, who succeeded Bro, was very
significant.

It was during the presidency of Bro that

numerous changes were planned for Shimer, but it was during the relatively short term of Russel that the actual
groundwork was prepared for the implementation of the new
programs.
A. J. Brumbaugh was not a newcomer to the Shimer
community.

He had been elected to the Shimer Board of

Trustees in 1939, and he had an awareness of the changes
being planned for Shimer.
Brumbaugh's

ter~,

During the early years of

many of the policy changes and program

 158
revisions were put into place.

Paralleling the curricu-

lum and changes in identity at Shimer was the involve-.
ment of the College in the Early Enrollment experiment
which was funded by the Ford Foundation.

The new aca-

demic program at Shimer included a strong core program in
the liberal arts which afforded students the opportunity
to enter college as early as the start of their junior
year in high school.

A student could earn the Bachelor's

degree in four years and be prepared, at a relatively
early age, for graduate study.

The Ford Foundation pro-

vided the funding for students who participated in the
Early Enrollment program.

Both enrollment and income for

Shimer increased until the mid-fifties when the bulk of
the support from the Ford Foundation expired.

Brumbaugh

had not aggressively sought additional funding and support
for the college and, as a result, the financial situation
at Shimer was precarious.

Brumbaugh retired as President

and F. J. tfullin carne to Shimer as President after serving
as a faculty member at the University of Chicago.

He in-

herited a difficult situation with a college that was financially weak, declining in enrollment, and in a state
of general disorganization and low morale.

At about this

same time, the Board of Trustees convened in Chicago to
discuss the possibility of closing Shimer.

Mullin, how-

ever, was able to attract money to the College, and the
result was an increase in financial stability, as well as,

 159
a reversal in the declining enrollment trend.

The Uni-

versity of Chicago and Shimer agreed to sever the relationship between the schools, and the Shimer faculty voted
to

II

go_ l"t a 1 one.

II

Shimer, like other colleges, bene-

fitted from the baby boom generation of the early sixties.
Enrollment climbed to a point over 500 students before a
reversal began in the late sixties.
that Mullin ran into trouble.

It was at this point

He was a conservative aca-

demic man who was interested in the pomp and circumstance
that had always been a part of higher education.

Students

at the time, however, were becoming more liberal in their
thinking, and more anti-establishment in their philosophy.
Hullin's philosophy and that of the students were atopposite ends of the spectrum.

Mullin had become immersed

in professional activities outside of Shimer, and his absence and resulting lack of leadership evolved into a
crisis known as the "grotesque internecine squabble" or
GIS as it is often referred to.

About half of the faculty

resigned, and a large number of students did not return
to Shimer the following Fall.

Mullin was encouraged to

submit his resignation which he did in the late Fall of

1967.
Milburn Akers, former Editor of the Chicago SunTimes, assumed the post of president at Shimer, and he
proceeded to direct Shimer much like a business.

Akers

was direct and authoritarian in his personal leadership

 160
style.

Akers had a sense of vision, and his leadership

created a sense of positive tension in the Shimer community.

Akers was killed in an automobile accident in

MaY of 1970.

Akers's death was a blow to the College

community because he seemed to understand the problems
facing Shimer, and he had shown an energy, enthusiasm,
and sense of know-how that had offered hope to those affiliated with the College.

With the turn of the decade

to 1970 came the end of the "golden era" at Shimer.
Conclusions
1.

Chapter IV afforded the opportunity to see

each of the four governance models, discussed in Chapter
I, in evidence at Shimer College.

During the term of

A. J. Brumbaugh, for example, the collegial model, for
the most part, was in existence.

Brumbaugh was very con-

cerned with the implementation of the process which had
been designed under the leadership of his predecessor,
Albin Bro.

Brumbaugh seemed to experience cooperation

from all factions of the College community except the
alumni who had been alienated with the changes which had
taken place at the College.

The alumnae had difficulty

accepting the philosophy of the new Shimer program.

The

Board of Trustees, as Weissmiller (1980) indicated, was
tired by the mid SO's, and was not about to challenge
Brumbaugh who had been a former Trustee.
too, were docile and accepting.

The faculty,

Their concern was

 161
with the newly revised curriculum, and the injection of
students as a result of the support of the Ford Foundation.

The fact that Brumbaugh's leadership went unchal-

lenged during these years was, in retrospect, costly for
Shimer.

Admissions operations at Shimer had been sus-

pended under the terms of the Shimer-University of Chicago
agreement, and fund raising had come to a virtual standstill because there appeared to be little need for money
since Ford money was pouring into the College.

When the

support ceased in the mid SO's, Shimer was in a perilous
condition and faced the reality of deciding whether or not
to close the College.
Under the leadership of F. J. Mullin, Shimer was
able to resolve the problems facing it.

Mullin's tenure

is characterized as a blend of several models of governance.
Mullin's early years were more a blend of the collegial
and bureaucratic models.

He was in favor of structure,

was not afaird to lead, and frequently was accusoo of imposing his own ideas on the faculty.

But Mullin's term

was also a blend of the political model, as well as the
model of organized anarchy.

Toward the latter stages of

his term at Shimer, t1ullin absented himself from campus
and left more and more of the operation to his associates.
It was not long before the faculty and students perceived
the impact of the absences and noted the void in leadership.

Factions formed in reaction to Mullin's lack of

 162
leadership, and for a time, there was virtual confusion
among the members of the Community at Shimer about the
direction of the College, and who was in charge.

The

political activity and the formation of coalitions attempting to legislate policy was an interesting phenomenon
to observe.

The faculty factions

~erged

with some of the

student factions to form stronger coalitions.

Mullin was

challenged during a period known as the Grotesque Internecine Squabble which resulted in half of the faculty and
a large percentage of students resigning from the College.
Initially Mullin had support from the Board of Trustees,
but they soon realized that he had been attempting to
filter some of the information reaching them about the
nature of the situation on campus.

When the enrollment

and income plunged in the Fall of 1968, Mullin was forced
to resign.

It was the strength of the political

which resulted in Mullin's departure from Shimer.

~odel

He lost

his ability to mediate over the groups, and instead, had
become more bureaucratic in his leadership in an attempt
to filter upward communication from faculty and students.
Frustration caused the eruption of the faculty in 1967
known as the GIS, and Mullin's shaky bureaucracy tumbled
from power.
Milburn Akers was just the tonic needed at Shimer.
He was direct, goal-oriented, and bureaucratic in many
respects.

Akers was production-conscious.

He was a man

 163
of results who did not get detoured by concern over
process.

His communication was direct, forceful, and

it anticipated results.

He seemed to emphasize strati-

fication within the organization, as he tended to communicate to his Deans, who, in turn, communicated to
their department members.

For Akers, running Shimer was

running a corporation, and he wanted results.
a leader was expected to do: he led.

He did what

He instilled a sense

of optimism and constructive tension in the Shimer community.

He restored the confidence level of the faculty

in administration and in themselves to new heights.

Akers

was a "take-charge" personality who knew how to take the
we~th

of individual energy in the Shimer community and

channel it into projects for the collective good.

Akers

understood the problems facing Shimer, and he was attempting to establish programs which v.Jould answer those needs
at the time of his death.

With Akers as president the

various factions of the community seemed to fall meekly
in line behind this powerful leader.

That Akers had a

direction was not questioned and, in fact, was evident in
a document entitled, Long Range Planning (State of Illinois Commission to Study Non-public Higher Education,
June 7, 1968).

The master plan for Shimer's growth

called for expanded enrollment to 600 students by 197778.

The 1977-78 budget, according to the plan, would

show a surplus of $622,000 as compared to the deficit in

 164
1967-68 of $202,496.

Akers intended to boost endowment

income from $12,800 in 1968-69 to $54,000 in 1977-78.
Ironically, very little mention is made about alumni.
Many of them had been alienated during the changeover to
the Shimer Plan in the early fifties.

This was an un-

tapped resource of income for Shimer.
2.

Some of the key administrative decisions dur-

ing this period affected Shimer, in some cases on a short
term basis, and in others on a more long term basis.

The

decision to close the admissions office at Shimer and allow the admissions office at the University of Chicago to
assume control over the flow of students to Shimer proved
a costly mistake when the University severed relations
with Shimer in the mid 50's.

This period was coincidental-

ly at a time when the Ford Foundation money had expired,
and Shimer was in very deep financial trouble.

The lack

of fund raising or planning for endowment, was of grave
consequence.

In 1955, the Board met to discuss the pos-

sibility of closing Shimer.

It is clear that a College

president cannot afford to relax his efforts at fund
raising or long range planning.

The agreement to fully

surrender admissions to the University was a short sighted
decision.
F. J. Millin's decision to expand the campus at a
dramatic rate in anticipation of expanded enrollment also
proved very costly for Shimer.

After the adverse publicity

 165
in the 1960's about the drug culture, as well as the
damage done by the Grotesque Internecine Squabble,

th~

image of Shimer became that of a college accommodating a
drug culture with a very liberal philosophy.

Shimer's

image was that of a loser which attracted bright rejects
from other colleges.

Mullin became defensive about the

issue when confronted by faculty, and the resulting
Squabble proved very harmful to Shimer because of the
loss of valued faculty.

The projected enrollment did not

appear as expected, Shimer was faced with an extraordinary
burden of loans on construction.

During the early 70's,

Shimer was not able to recover needed money, and support
for the College did not keep pace with inflation.
3.

The identity of Shimer was again changed dur-

ing this time oeriod as Shimer introduced coeducation,
reaffiliated with the University of Chicago, and introduced a four-year program granting the Bachelor's degree.
Shimer's new identity was that of the liberal college
searching for young early entrants.

\fhile publicity dur-

ing the early stages of this period was generally positive,
the adverse publicity of the mid 60's, combined with the
image of the loser and haven for the drug culture, discouraged parents and students from exploring Shimer as a
possibility for an education.

The students and the com-

munity experienced mutual friction and frustration with
one another as the conservative values of the

~1ount

Carroll

 ,
'

166
community clashed with the liberal philosophy of faculty
and students.
The decision to expand the campus was, in itself,
not a poor decision since it was based on population
projections for the next 10 to 20 years.

Mullin under-

estimated the growth and competition from education in the
public sector, and the dynamics of change from a more
conservative to more liberal minded adolescent population
were not foreseen.

Hullin could not possibly foresee the

damage which would result from the clashing of his conservative philosophy of leadership with the national trend
toward liberalism among faculty and students.

Perhaps

Mullin took greater risks than conditions dictated, but
at the time the risks were taken, the decisions seemed the
right thing to do.
Chapter V captures the life-death struggle which
Shimer faced for the next 7 years until the decision was
made to close the campus at Mount Carroll and relocate in
Waukegan.

The absence of planning, the lack of adequate

sources of funding, and the day-to-day crisis management
finally proved too much for the operation of the College.
Chapter V

emphasize~

the importance of a sound Board

of Trustees, as well as, the importance of having a staff
of well qualified and experienced administrators.
flects the danger of runaway bureaucracy.

It re-

 CHAPTER VI
SHIMER COLLEGE:

1970-1980

Purpose of Chapter VI
In Chapter VI, the survival of Shimer became preeminent.

The cumulative weight of years of crisis manage-

ment, combined with the absence of long range planning and
serious attempts at fund raising, proved to be more than
Shimer's community could cope with.

President Long's

challenge was to attempt to strengthen Shimer's faculty,
and to boost enrollment and income as well.

The image of

Shimer remained badly tarnished in the early 70's, and
the college was facing a serious moment in its history.
The first part of Chapter VI records the tense term in Office ofPresident Long.

It was Long who seemed to adopt

a more bureaucratic model of governance as time progressed
in his term in office.

Long was not optimistic about

Shimer's future and, when his son passed away while attending Shimer's Oxford program, his interest in attempting to save Shimer seemed to wane.

The faculty sensed his

frustration and displeasure with the situation, and yet,
as Chapter VI reflects, Long went unchallenged in his
movement to close Shimer College.

167

The Board of Trustees

 168
was weak

and tired, and the other members of the community

· e d little hope of saving the institution.

perce~v

ter the

decision to close was made, did the faculty, stu-

dents, alumni,

and other parties rally to save Shimer.

-vi records Long's decision to close the school,

Chapter

as well
reopen

Only af-

as, his decision to resign when it was decided to

s nimer.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Chaoter VI

is the cf1ronicle of events, during the term of Ralph Conant,
which resulted in Conant's resignation and the decision to
close Shimer at Mount Carroll.
cratic

i~

Conant was very bureau-

his style of management, and because, as with

Long, the Board was inexperienced and the faculty relatively new and inexperienced, Conant's flamboyant style of
leadership went virtually unchallenged and unchecked.
When, de spite the warnings of a visiting North Central
Team, Co;nant proposed a budget containing a significant
portion
proposal

<:>f gift money to be included for operations, and the
was passed virtually unchallenged.

Chapter VI,

then, of £ers a prime learning experience in the dangers
of the b1Jreaucratic model.
ship and

It is a reminder that leader-

governance at an institution is a shared respon-

sibility, and that one individual's judgment and decision
making can do irreparable harm if it is not challenged.
Chapter VI provided the opportunity to observe
the dyna1ffiics of the political model in effect.

Don Moon

 169
surfaced as a representative of a faculty coalition with
a proposal to keep Shimer open.

The proposal was ac-.

cepted by the Board; Moon was appointed as chief executive officer; the campus was sold to settle debts of
creditors; and the move was made to Waukegan.

While

Conant was bureaucratic in his management style, he was
still, nevertheless, presiding over a nolitical community where activity began to increase toward the close of
his term in office.
President Robert S. Long (1970-1973)
The President asked for the Faculty's cooperation in
using their informed position to help discourage false
rumor regarding the College's financial condition, but
requested that actual budgetary material not be given
to students.

(Minutes of the Faculty Meeting, Decem-

ber 6, 1971)
Robert S. Long came to Shimer College with skill
and experience from his recent position as President of
Roger Hilliams College in Rhode Island.

He \vas elected

to the presidency of Shimer in June of 1970, shortly after the sudden death of his predecessor, Milburn Akers.
He

eRrn~d

the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and

his academic background was that of a scientist.

Shortly

after arriving in Mount Carroll, he asked Walter Hipple
to come to Shimer in the capacity of Academic Dean.
Hipple knew Long since they had both attended the University

 170
of Chicago, and he understood the challenge Long faced
in attempting to upgrade the Shimer faculty.

By 1970,.

the faculty had evolved into three fairly distinct groups:
first, those who had remained at Shimer following the
"Grotesque Internecine Squabble" comprising most of the
social science faculty; second, the replacements for
those who had resigned in 1967; third, the new breed of
faculty who had been hired without having any knowledge
or experience in a general education setting (Severson,
1975, p. 50).

While finances were in a critical state,

and faculty salaries were restricted, Long felt the need
to offer an urban experience in Chicago as a means of
offsetting some of the isolation of the learning experience in Mount Carroll (Minutes of Faculty Meeting, February 22, 1971).

He pursued the possibility of Purchasing

a facility in Hyde Park, near the University of Chicago,
for a Shimer-in-Chicago program.

He further outlined

plans for expansion of the Early Enrollment program as a
means of reaching the projected goal of 500 enrolled students.

He requested, and received, funding from the

Carnegie Foundation in the Fall of 1971 (Minutes of Faculty Meeting, December 6, 1971).

Just prior to the December

meeting of the faculty, Long had announced at the October
meeting (October 4, 1971) that faculty wages would be
frozen except for hardship cases.

At the December meet-

ing, Long stated his optimism about the future of the

 171
financial condition of the College.
Under Long's direction, Shimer began offering a
guaranteed tuition program in the Fall of 1971 which
guaranteed the cost of the educational program for four
years to an entering student.

The Chicago Center was

purchased, and the formal dedication was held on October
10, 1972.

In April of 1972 (Minutes of Faculty Meeting),

Long again emphasized his optimism about the financial
situation at Shimer.

On February 2, 1973, however, Long

recommended, at a faculty meeting, that a freeze on
salaries be established for the 1973-74 school year "because of an unusually high mid-year attrition" (Minutes
of Faculty Meeting).

Long indicated that a salary in-

crease of 5 percent would be contingent on the enrollment
of 370 students.
On February 20, 1973, Shimer voted to discontinue
the affiliation with the Episcopal church because enrollment and support had not materialized according to original
expectations (Minutes of the Board of Trustees).

At the

same time, both the Director of Admissions and the Business
Manager resigned from their respective posts at Shimer.
In May of 1973, an Evaluation team from the North
Central Association visited the campus to review and update the situation at Shimer College (Johnson, Report of
a Visit to Shimer College .

, May 2, 1973).

Shimer

had been previously visited by Evaluation teams in 1967,

 172
and again in 1970.

The report issued in 1973 pointed to

a need for better distribution of the Board of Trustees,
increased fund contributions from Board members, stability in admissions, and more emphasis on fund raising
and aggressive investment of income.

The report romple-

rnented Long for his leadershio,
but it emphasized
the
'
very delicate financial condition of the College.
There was a great deal of concern, at the time,
about the number of students who might attend Shimer in
the Fall of 1973.

The reputation of the College had suf-

fered, and there had been inconsistent effort in the admissions office.
attrition as well.

In addition, there was fear of high
In order to offset this fear, and to

be prepared for any eventuality, Long prepared three
separate budget proposals for the Fall of 1973.

Each was

contingent on a certain number of students enrolling for
the Fall semester.

In reality, the actual enrollment in

the Fall of 1973 turned out to be 50 fewer students than
projected in the lowest budget proposal.

A number of stu-

dents had indicated that they would attend Shimer in the
Fall, but when the time came,
can1pus (Bavas, February 1982).

they failed to show up on
The financial state of

the College was critical, and the existence of Shimer was
in jeopardy.

On September 15, 1973 (Minutes of the Board

of Trustees), Trustees were asked to present personal

 173
notes valued at $5,000 in order to increase the borrowing
power of the College.
Just prior to this event, President Long's son
had overdosed on drugs while attending the Shimer-in
oxford program.

Long was terribly deuressed about the

loss of his son, and he had requested permission to have
his son buried on the campus

(~veissmiller,

1981).

The

Board of Trustees had refused permission for the burial,
and from that point on, Long's ambition and enthusiasm
seemed drained from him.
On November 10, 1973, the Board of Trustees was
summoned to the University Club in Chicago for a special
meeting.

The previous evening, the Executive Committee

of the Board met to discuss the options facing the Board
with regard to the fate of Shimer.

The courses of action

open to the Board were:
1.

The transfer of the College to another location,
specifically Hutchins Hall in Chicago, as the
Shimer-Chicago center was called.

2.

Merger or consolidation of the College with another institution, specifically St. John's University of Annapolis and Santa Fe, New Mexico, or

3.

Close the College (Minutei of Special Meeting of
the Board of Trustees, November 10, 1973, p. 2)

The opinion of the Executive Committee was stated clearly:

 174
The Executive Committee thoroughly explored the first
two alternatives and as a result of its investigation
determined that neither of them was feasible.

The

Executive Committee concluded that the enrollment and
financial situation of the College was not likely to
improve and that the action of closing the College
should be taken as promptly as possible.

(Minutes of

Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees, November 10,
1973, p. 2)
The resolution presented to the Board proposing a vote to
close the College read:
Resolved further, that the operations of Shimer College
shall be terminated as of December 31, 1973, and that
the employment of all faculty and administrative staff
shall be terminated effective as of such date.
(Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees, November 10, 1973, p. 4)
Mr. Leonard Spira, of Chicago, was authorized to serve as
Assignee for the benefit of creditors.
For a few months preceding this meeting, discussions had been conducted with representatives from St.
John's University in Maryland and New Mexico about the
possibility of Shimer merging with St. John's and serving
as a midwest

region~l

c~mpns

fnr the program.

Severson

(1975, p. 106) reported that Shimer had initially been
contacted by St. John's in the late 1960's with a Proposal

 175
to become the midwestern branch of St. John's.

The plan

was dropped when details could not be worked out.

By.

1973, Severson pointed out, Shimer was eager to participate and aoproached St . . Tohn 's.

Because St. John's was

then having enrollment problems, it agreed to the proposal
only if Shimer could come up with a one million dollar
figure as a means of support for the merger program.
Severson (1975, n. 106) indicated that other alternatives were explored, one of which explored the possibility of the

~vest

German government renting the campus

as an overseas base for its outflow of students.

The

Germans indicated that Shimer was located too far from
any major metropolitan area to serve as a campus.

Even

the State of Illinois was approached to investigate
whether the campus might be able to service the community
in Mount Carroll as a community college.

The region was

already well supplied with community colleges.
Discussion about a possible merger with St. John's
was secrPt, but rumors persisted about the possibility of
such an occurrence.

Severson (1975) found that several

faculty were aware of the meeting being held in Chicago,
but they suspected that it was called to announce formal
merger plans.
On November 11, 1973, the day after the meeting at
the University Club, the Chicago Tribune carried a story
about the announcement of the closing of Shimer:

 176
Shimer College, a small school in Mount Carroll,
Carroll County vJhose high standards and intense intellectual atmosphere drew national recognition, will
close its doors on December 31 a victim of falling
enrollment and the general deoression in higher
education.
On November 14, 1973, a special meeting of the faculty was
called.

Dean Walter Hipple stated the situation clearly

for the faculty members:
a.

The status of the College is delicate: disruptions
could cause a loss of confidence on the oart of
the creditors of the College which could result
in the closure of the College before December 31,
1973.

b.

The financial condition of the College is more
grave than oreviously thought:

there are insuf-

ficient funds to complete the current semester.
(Minutes of the Special Faculty Meeting, November 1, 1973, p. 1)
On December 8, 1973 (Special Meeting of the Board
of Trustees), Mr. Spira indicated that if the enrollment
was guaranteed at 180 students for the second semester,
the College could probably continue to operate.
The response to the announcement about the plight
of Shimer had been swift, fairly well organized, and effective.

There was an intense effort to contact alumni,

 177
parents, business personnel, and various funding agencies.
Students, narents, and faculty mounted telephone cam-.
paigns to solicit interest in, and support for,
College.

Shimer

Some students launched their own drive by using

donated telephone lines in a brokerage office in Chicago
(The Chicago Tribune, November 30, 1973, Sec. 2, p. 10).
One of the local radio stations in Mount Carroll donated
time for a radiothon.

A large sum of money was raised as

a result of the radio program and, as Severson (1975)
pointed out, contributing to the support for Shimer becarne "the thing to do" in Mount Carroll.

A certain corn-

petition developed among the Hount Carroll residents to
have their name presented on the radio with a sum for
donation which was higher than their neighbor who might
have contributed earlier.
There was no doubt that Shimer was in serious
difficulty.

By the time the announcement was made about

the closing of the College, the annual operating budget
had risen to $250,000.

Approximately $1.9 million was

owed to the banks and the Department of Housing and Urban
Develonrnent, and another $500,000 was due on back salaries and regular trade accounts.

Severson (1975) indi-

cated that there had been a rather significant turnover
among members of the Board of Trustees during the late
sixties and early seventies.

Newer members of the Board

were not as personally invested in the situation at Shimer

 178
as were some of those who retired from the Board.

One

Board member, however, S. J. Campbell, donated a sum of
$25,000 to Shimer, and this permitted Mr. Spira to lower
his estimate of 180 students for enrollment in the second semester to 165 students if the College were to open
(Eisfeller-Rozoff correspondence, December 20, 1973).
Dr. Long retired from the
lege effective January 31, 1973.

~residency

of the Col-

Long felt the decision

to close the College was a wise decision.

He would not

remain as President because he could not enthusiastically support the movement to save Shimer, now would he
govern the College if he did not feel it should survive.
The Board of Trustees turned to Dr. Esther Weinstein, a
veteran faculty member and administrator, to become the
Interim President until a permanent candidate could be
found.
Reflections on Robert S. Long as President.

Robert

Long was credited with doing a good job to rebuild the
morae at Shimer College.

With the exception of the cur-

rent president at Shimer, he is also remembered as being
the least authoritarian.

He believed in shared decision

making, and he welcomed input from the faculty.

Some

faculty (Severson, 1975), however, felt that Long, in the
latter stage of his term, was antagonistic toward faculty.
Whether the antagonism and the death of his son are related
is not certain.

Long simply felt that Shimer had lived

 179
its life (Weissmiller Interview, February 23, 1982).
Long seemed optimistic about the financial
clition of the College.

con~

It was surprising that he ex-

tended the College to purchase the Shimer-in-Chicago
facility at a time when finances could not well absorb
such a purchase.

Even into the Spring of 1973, Long re-

mained optimistic about the state of finances at Shimer.
It was a combination of higher than expected attrition,
plus a lower than average

fresh~an

yield in admissions,

that resulted in the overall low enrollment in the Fall
of 1973.

Long was wise in presenting three budget pro-

posals, each contingent on a different enrollment.

What

he could not predict, however, was that his lowest budget
estimate would be over by 50 students.

Severson (1975,

p. 106) refers to the shortfall:
As soon as the shortfall of students was apparent
in September 1973, the Executive Committee of the
Shimer Board examined the financial state of the college.

Their report (never released) indicated that

the cash flow would dry up even before the end of
the first semester.
Long could not look to support from the Board of
Trustees since they had experienced a 60 percent turnover
in membership from 1971 through 1973.

Even during the

time frame mentioned above, the Board had

see~ed

and indifferent to the condition of the College.

lethargic
The

 180
Evaluation Team of the North Central Association, in their
report (Hay 2, 1973), noted that the membership on the.
Board should be redistributed, and that the Board members
should become more involved in the activities of the
College.
In summary, factors leading to the decision to
close Shimer College in November of 1973 were:

(1) long-

standing financial problems brought to crisis stage as a
result of overestimating the enrollment for the Fall of
1973.

Three budget estimates were presented for Board

approval.

The lowest projection called for a budget

based on 50 more students than actually enrolled;

(2) an

ineffective and unstable admissions program as discussed
in the report of the Evaluation team of the North Central
Association (Hay 2, 1973, p. 14);

(3) a relatively in-

experienced Board of Trustees which had experienced a 60
percent turnover in membership in just two years;

(4) ?er-

sonal problems affecting the President which served to
diminish his energies and enthusiasm.
Dr. Esther Weinstein was elected as the Interim
President.

A number of efforts were undertaken to raise

funds for Shimer during the Christmas period in 1973.
There were decisions which had to be made, and a leader
was needed who could respond.

Ideally the leader should

be familiar with the situation, and this was one of the
key reasons why Dr. Weinstein was asked to serve as the

 181
Interim President until a permanent renlacement could be
located.

\veinstein was a veteran faculty member, an able

administrator, and a respected member of the Shimer community.
Interim President Esther G. Weinstein
(1973-1975)
The Executive Committee then unanimously elected
Dr. Esther G. Weinstein, presently Associate Dean of
the College, to be Interim or Acting President of the
College, to succeed Dr. Robert S. Long who had previously announced his intentions of leaving at the
expiration of his term on January 31, 1974.

(Minutes

of the Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees, December 20, 1973)
Elver Eisfeller, a banker and a resident of iiount
Carroll, was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees at
Shimer, and Weinstein was appointed as Acting President.
Dr. Weinstein was no stranger to Shimer College.

She

came to Mount Carroll in 1962 as the Assistant Dean of
Students.

In 1963, she was appointed Dean of Students and

in 1969 was appointed Academic Dean of the College.

She

had earned her Ph.D. at Syracuse University and a degree
in law from the Northwestern College of Law in Oregon.
Prior to her appointment at Shimer she had been a member
of the teaching faculty at Syracuse University.

At the

time of her election to Acting President, she was 63 years

 182
old.

Dr. Weinstein was looking forward to retirement in

the near future, and so she was not interested in serving
as a permanent leader at Shimer.
While the realignment was taking place among the
administrative staff at Shimer, there was also a great
deal of activity among parents, students, and alumni in
an effort to save the College from closing:
Shortly after the closing announcement two Shimer defense funds were established.

"Citizens to Save Shimer"

and the "Shimer Student-Faculty Fund."

The former was

aimed at locals, while the latter solicited from those
who had come into academic contact (faculty, alumni,
parents of students).

Volunteers employed door-to-

door solicitation of businessmen, mass mailings, and
telephone calls (a Chicago stock brokerage let Shimer
use its Watts lines on a weekend).

(Severson, 1975,

p. 107)
The Assignee for the creditors, Mr. Snira, had
agreed to allow Shimer to reopen in the Spring semester
providing that at least 165 students were enrolled.
student had to prepay a deposit of S200.

Each

Weinstein's main

priority was soliciting the needed support so that the
College could continue to remain in operation.

She made

numerous appearances before television audiences, on
radio shows, and through publicity in newspapers and magazines.

Her appointment as Acting President was ratified

 183
and approved on January 7, 1974 (Eisfeller-Rozoff correspondence, December 20, 1973).

By the end of January,. a

total of $184,000 in cash, stocks, and pledges had been
collected (Faculty Meeting Minutes, January 28 and February 4, 1974).

Future income would come from $13,000

being held in an escrow account, $20,000 projected from an
estate, and another $20,000 from a bequest.

Spira felt

that it might look better if Weinstein's title was President instead of Acting President.
ficially,

She was elected, of-

to the presidency of the College on :1arch 1,

1974 (Minutes of a Special Board of Trustees Meeting) .
The decision to reopen Shimer for the Fall semester of

1974 came in the Spring of the year.
Shimer began the Fall semester of 1974 with an
enrollment of 200 students (Minutes of the Board of Trustees, October 14, 1974).

The Trustees voted to sell

certain pieces of property in order to obtain badly
needed cash in order to meet debt payments.

At the same

meeting, there was discussion about the possibility of
starting a School of Lute on the campus and

rentin~

some

of the facility to the school (A Preliminary Account of
the Proposed School of Lute, October 23, 1974).
Weinstein ran a tight ship, was practical, and
she presented good credentials.

She is remembered as

being shrewd, a good administrator, and a good politician
because she was able to mediate the feelings and discussirnE

 184
among the many different factions in the College community ranging from the creditors to the Board to faculty,
students, and the public.

The Presidential Search Com-

mittee continued to seek a candidate to fill the post of
president.
In May of 1975, presidential candidate Ralph
Conant carne to campus for an interview.

He was the lead-

ing candidate in the group of finalists who had been
slated for the presidency.

Weinstein was not seriously

considered because of the nearness of her retirement.
On May 22, 1975, Ralph Conant was elected to the role of
President at Shimer College (Minutes of the Board of
Trustees, May 22, 1975).
Reflections on Dr. Esther G. Weinstein as President.

Though her tenure at Shimer was brief, her role

as President was very important for the College because
it was as a result of her skillful handling of the situation that Shimer was able to continue in existence.
Weinstein is credited with having returned stability to
Shimer after a moment of crisis.

There were no buildings

constructed; there was no extensive renovation which took
place; there were no startling announcements about new
programs at Shimer; there were no singular outstanding
accomplishments.

Yet, Dr. Weinstein was the catalyst

Shimer needed to obtain needed funding and support.
Weinstein's main accomplishment was that she maintained

 185
the College on a steady course, and it remained for Ralph
Conant to steer Shimer back toward a more prosperous
state.
President Ralph W. Conant (1975-1977)
Shimer faces the formidable task of doing everything
at once.

. the odds of time and money sources

appear to be all but overwhelming.

It is not likely

that the new administration can turn this desperate
situation around before the College is overcome again
with fiscal problems.

The difficulty of raising

funds for a floundering institution is too real and
present.

Attracting students to a troubled enter-

prise in a terribly competitive market is too tough
a proposition.

(Dozier, Report of a Visit to Shimer

College, March 4, 1976, P. 8)
Ralph Conant carne to Shimer College at a salary
of $25,000 plus use of a College automobile and a six
month guarantee on his salary.

He was elected President

of Shimer College on June 1, 1975.

Not since the leader-

ship of Milburn Akers was there as much tension and hope
on the Shimer campus.

One Trustee characterized Conant

as a "music man" because of the confidence he \vas able
to inspire in people regarding Shimer
February, 1982).

(Carroll interview,

Conant's strategy was to present the

College in a forceful and convincing manner.

He built an

image that "things were happening in Mount Carroll."

He

 186
possessed a rather dynamic personality, and he also possessed the fine-tuned skill of leadership.

The Shimer.

community was starved for a leader, and the community
members rallied to support his endeavor.

Though short in

build, Conant was gregarious and easily endeared himself
to people.

In a relatively short span of time, he had

surrounded himself with a new administrative team consisting of Directors of Admission, Development, Public
Relations, Alumni Giving, as well as, a Dean of Students,
Business
dent.

~1anager,

and Executive Assistant to the Presi-

Conant wanted action, and he wanted to take Shimer

from its lowly state and establish it as a significant
entity in higher education.

He sought a competent ad-

ministrative team willing to accept the responsibilities
delegated to them.

Conant had an agenda of goals he in-

tended to achieve:
In resource development we intend to establish a
$5 million restricted endowment to avoid any further
deficit.

In Admissions, we intend to avoid a net fall

off in enrollment in the second semester, reach an
enrollment of 250 for the Fall of 1976, and achieve a
net growth of 50 students each year up to a total of

550. (The President's Report, 1975)
On August 25, 1975, the control of the College was returned to the Board of Trustees from Mr. Spira who had
been serving as the Assignee for the creditors.

A state

 187
of "normalcy" seemed to be returning to Shimer.

There

was a sense that, once again, Shimer College was a viable
force in education.

Conant was busy with fund raising

efforts all around the country, and Dean Walter Hipple
was exploring the possibility of developing joint programs with universities such as Northwestern and Illinois
at Urbana.

Shimer lacked an engineering program, but

Hipple was working on the development of a program which
would enable a student to earn three years of liberal
arts study at Shimer and two years of engineering study
at another university.

Commonwealth Edison was in the

process of putting up a nuclear power plant in the vicinity of the College, and some efforts were being directed at developing internship opportunities for Shimer
students with the big utility company.
In September 1975, Conant proposed the reestablishment of the Shimer-in-Chicago program to provide urban study opportunities (Minutes of the Board of
Trustees).

Conant had approached the U. S. Office of

Education for a grant for new and developing institutions.
He felt Shimer might qualify since it had just come out
of bankruptcy and, while not new, it was developing.
Andrew Bavas (Trustee interview, January 1982) characterized Conant as authoritarian in style of leadership.
He made all of the decisions from budget planning to
expenditures.

 188
In March of 1976, a visiting team from the North
Central Association came to campus for a periodic review.
The team was highly concerned about the plight of the
financial condition at Shimer.
The present financial condition of Shimer College
remains extremely precarious.
ists on a month-to-month basis.

The institution exIt has too few as-

sets, a much too large debt structure, no operating
budget since 1973, and an unfunded current fund accumulated deficit which is 72 percent as large as
the total annual revenues of the College and is growing.

The servicing of a bonded debt on three HUD

dormitory indentures is in arrears by a total of
$127,442.

Endowment funds have been used to meet

operating expenses and are now depleted.

(Dozier,

J. M.; Jones, H. R.; & Graves, W. B., 1976, p. 2)
In addition, the team questioned the large amount of gift
money projected for the annual budget for 1976-77.
Having said all this, the financial situation is more
precarious than ever.

Fund raising is still crisis

oriented and not likely to produce enough
gifts.

recurring

The projected budget for 1976-77 places a

considerable additional strain on unrestricted fund
acquisition.

Even if the next annual budget remains

at the current year's level, an increase of 101 percent will be required over the 1974-75 level to

 189
balance expenses with income.

The President has

established a high priority goal of five million
dollars in endowment funds which needs to be met within five years; yet he has, at the moment, no plans
for the replacement of endowment funds previously
used to meet operating expenses.

It seems that un-

til plans for restoring the former endowment have
been conscientiously made, it would be difficult to
find benefactors with sufficient confidence to make
contributions to a new endowment.

(Dozier, et al.,

1976, p. 3)
Concern was also expressed about the inexperienced administrative staff, and the report recommended that the
administration develop realistic solutions with specific
deadlines which would lead to either a continuation of
the College or dignified closure (Dozier, P..eport of a Visit to
Shimer College, March 4, 1976)
Shortly after the visit of the North Central team,
Conant received a letter from the Director of the North
Central Association (Manning correspondence, April 19,
1976) expressing concern that Shimer was in danger of being assigned probationary status by the North Central
Association, or else suffering the loss of its accreditation altogether.
listed were:

Specifically, the five items of concern

(1) the financial condition of the college,

(2) the deterioration in support services,

(3) the

 190
inability of the College to attract a full complement of
Trustees,

(4) inexperience of the administrative staff,

and (5) the lack of contingency plans in the event of
closing of the College.
A Spring Board of Trustees meeting (May 23, 1976)
was the scene of discussion over the proposed budget for
Fall of 1976, which, depending on the number of students
who actually matriculated at Shimer, proposed gift income,
as part of the operating budget, ranging from $444,785
if 260 students enrolled to $550,125 if 225 students enrolled.

It was this proposed budget which caused concern

among members of the North Central team which visited
Shimer.

A great portion of the budget was based on gift

income which had to be raised by Conant.

\,fuile there was

discussion and questioning about the nroposed budget among
Board members, it was, nevertheless, approved.

Trustee

members recounted that Conant had brought in sums of money
in the past, and they should trust him now (Carroll interview, February 1982).
On August 29, 1976 (Report of the President),
Conant reported that the enrollment for the Fall semester
1976 had only reached 204 students.

The failure to pro-

duce the projected enrollment meant that the budget estimate for gift income had to be revised upward by another
$30,000.

Dissension began to grow, and there was concern

about whether Conant could, in fact, raise the needed

 191
money.

By October it was clear that Shimer was in deep

financial trouble.

Conant reported to the Board of

Trustees (October 27, 1976) that the payroll for November 1, as well as, the operating expenses, could not be
met.

He cited the activities and efforts pending in the

area of fund raising, and expressed hope that the situation would become resolved.

He also mentioned that

several faculty had approached him seeking his resignation from office and, at the same time, proposing a plan
for administration of the College by a triumvirate of administrators.

The faculty had agreed to donate their

October and November salaries to the College, but in return, they proposed that the triumvirate have a greater
voice in the operation of the College.

The final result

was that Conant retained his office; but the triumvirate,
as well as some other community members, was offered seats
on the Board of Trustees.
Once again, the possibility of merger with St.
John's University was discussed.

The President of St.

John's visited Shimer and met with the members of the
College community.

Tentative plans with no advance pub-

licity were established to announce a merger in July of
1977 only if Shimer could reduce its debt and operate in
the black with outstanding debt not to exceed the assets
of the College.
On February 15, 1977 (Hinutes of the Board of

 192
Trustees), Conant submitted his resignation to the Board
of Trustees citing his failure to achieve the goals he
had established.

On May 14, 1977 (Board of Trustee

Minutes), the Board voted by 9 to 8 to close Shimer.
Don Moon, a member of the faculty and one of the triumvirate faculty serving on the Board of Trustees, presented
a "small school" plan which was essentially an austerity
budget calling for reduction in expenses and a more collegial leadership structure involving faculty and students.
The projected deficit facing Shimer amounted to $804,000
by the end of August 1977.

The Board of Trustees (Shimer

College, A Prospectus, 1980) agreed to the plan and reversed its decision to close in May after a reorganized
administration, composed primarily of faculty, agreed to
assume the responsibility for processing the debt of the
College.
The plan developed by Moon and a small contingent
of faculty called for the debt to be divided between payment to creditors and faculty salaries.

A great deal of

discussion took place at the meeting of the Trustees (May
14, 1977) during which Moon explained that leadership
under the reorganization would be collegial in nature
rather than focus on one individual as President.

On

July 7, 1977, Shimer College filed for protection from
creditors under Chapter XI protection.

Moon was charged,

 193
unofficially, with the leadership and the responsibility
for attempting to, once again, prevent the closing of .
Shimer.
Reflections on Ralph Conant as President.

Conant

was perceived as the last ray of hope for Shimer College.
He carne very close to meeting with success and had one
key factor not worked against him, his attempt at recovery for Shimer might have been successful.

The factor

which interfered with Conant's plan was the problem of
enrollment.

Conant had projected a budget for 1976-77

which included a rather substantial amount of gift money
to be secured during the course of the year.

The budget

was contingent upon a specific enrollment at Shimer, and
when the enrollment did not materialize, Shimer College
was in trouble.

Shimer had continually faced difficulty

in the area of the Admissions office, and while Conant had
a new Director of Admissions on this staff, there was not
sufficient time to organize a well planned program for
admissions at Shimer.
Conant created a type of mystery-mastery over the
Shimer community.

His charismatic-type personality along

with his ability to portray himself as a convincing leader, was something of which the Shimer community was in
need.

Horale was low, fear was strong, and concern for

the future was uppermost in the minds of the Shirnerians.

 194
Conant was a victim of high expectations, but his "spend
a lot to make a lot" philosophy seemed to be working .. Unfortunately, Conant was not gifted with a Board of Trustees who could provide a great deal of assistance.

Board

membership had turned over significantly during the term
of President Long, and it continued to fluctuate during
the term of Conant as well.

Shimer had developed the

image of a loser, and it became not only difficult to interest students in the Shimer program, but it became increasingly difficult to attract Board members (Bavas
interview, February 1982).

When one Board member ap-

proached a friend about joining the Shimer Board, the
friend indicated that he was politically connected, and
it would be harmful for him to be associated with "a
loser."

In reference to the governance at Shimer during

Conant's term, the North Central visiting team commented:
The Board of Trustees is approximately half-staffed.
Most of the trustees are local.

They

were not well informed about long-range plans.
The committee could not be sure the trustees have a
clear understanding of their responsibilities to make
financial contributions to the College themselves and
help the President obtain gifts from other sources.
(Dozier, Report of a Visit, March 4, 1976, p. 4)
The governance of Shimer College, at the time, was summarized in this fashion:

 195
It is clear that governance is nearly totally in the
hands of the President and that his authority ema-.
nates from a sense of desperation on the part of the
trustees, administrators, and faculty members.
(Dozier, Report of a Visit, March 4, 1976, p. 4)
Conant was viewed as the "savior" of Shimer.

He,

it was hoped, would rescue Shimer from the shadows of
death.

His style was dynamic, and he appealed to many

segments of the Shimer community.

His estimate of his

ability to raise money was high and this, combined with
a relatively inexperienced staff, resulted in the downhill acceleration of the condition of the College.

With

loan sources exhausted, creditors patient but waiting,
faculty no longer trusting, and enrollment prospects bleak,
the Board voted once again to close the College.
one-man show in Mount Carroll ended.

Conant's

Don Moon, however,

was convincing in his role as representative for a contingent of faculty who proposed a program to save Shimer.
The Board agreed that there was nothing to lose, and Moon
was made chief executive at Shimer and offered the opportunity to implement his plan.
President Don Moon (1978-

)

Don Moon had come to Shimer College in 1967, but
until the crisis at Shimer, Moon had remained pretty much
in the background.

As the chain of events seemed to grow

more menacing, Moon just naturally seemed to surface as a

 196
spokesman for faculty and students.

He had been admitted

as a member of the Board of Trustees at the time of the
initial decision to close Shimer in 1973.

He had studied

the problems which Conant was facing, and when the moment
of crisis arose, Moon carne forth with a faculty-initiated
proposal to rescue Shimer and maintain operations.
Don Moon was born in Manilla in 1936, the son of
a Navy Admiral.

In 1957, he earned a Bachelor's degree in

engineering from Cornell University, and a Master's in
engineering from New York University in 1958.

For a time,

he worked as a Reactor Physicist at the Argonne National
Laboratory near Chicago, and in 1965 received the Master
of Divinity degree from an Episcopal seminary.

He was as-

signed to a pastorate near Shimer in Mount Carroll.
1967, he joined the faculty of science at Shimer.

In
In ad-

dition to his teaching responsibilities, Moon also served
in other capacities, including the Director of the Oxford
program, Dean of Students, Chairman of the Natural Science
program, and Dean of Faculty.

Moon was appointed Chief

Executive Officer and Business Manager of Shimer on March
18, 1978 (Board of Trustees Announcement, March 18, 1978).
Almost immediately, there was discussion about
Shimer relocating to another location closer to Chicago
(Minutes of the Board of Trustees, June 18, 1978).

Con-

sideration and debate was given to some available property
in Lake Bluff, as well as, the option of moving to Evanston

 197
temporarily while the search for a permanent location
continued.

During the course of that meeting, the Board

authorized Moon to negotiate a lease on the property in
Lake Bluff, and also explore two extension program options
in Chicago on the West side and in the Uptown area.
August 19, 1978 was the date of the announcement
to the Board, by Moon, that the negotiations to lease the
property in Lake Bluff had failed (Minutes of the Board
of Trustees Meeting).

He explained that the City of

Waukegan had expressed interest in having Shimer College
relocate there.

Mayor Bill Morris was interested in ex-

panding the cultural, social, educational, and business
opportunities in Waukegan.
the city

He offered the resources of

and city government to assist Shimer in the plan

for relocation (Shimer College Relocation Proposal, August
17, 1978).

Moon liked the attraction of the location in

Waukegan near Chicago.

The gamble to relocate centered

on whether the educational philosophy of the college would
appeal to members of the region.
The decision to move did not evolve easily.

Shimer

had many longstanding traditions which had been established
in Mount Carroll.

The Shimer Prospectus (1980) recorded

the reasoning which led to the move:
. it became apparent that only the forfeiture and
sale of the campus property would satisfy the debts
which had been accumulated in the College's name.

 198
This dialogue brought the community to recognize that
the education Shimer has to offer is not necessarily
identified with specific buildings in a particular
setting.

(Shimer Prospectus, 1980, p. 3)

Final plans for the move to Waukegan were recorded at the
Creditors Committee meeting (November 22, 1978).

The first

semester would end on December 20, and the move from Mount
Carroll to Waukegan would take place during the period of
January 8 through 20.

Plans were made for minimal main-

tenance at the Hount Carroll campus.

Arrangements

"~>Jere

also made with a local broker to attempt to sell the Mount
Carroll facilities for an asking price of $2,200,000.
Several organizations had discussed the possibility of
purchasing the facilities for their use.

Among these were

Illinois Bell Telephone, the American Institute of Medicine, Contral Data Corporation, and the Illinois Department of Corrections (Creditors Committee, Hay 16, 1979).
The deadline of August 1 was established for the sale of
the campus.

If a sale had not been agreed upon by that

date, a decision would be made about the process for disposing of the facility.

During the Spring and Summer,

various items in the buildings at Mount Carroll were sold
for whatever income could be derived.

At the August 13,

1979 meeting of the Creditors Committee (Minutes), a decision was made to auction the campus and furnishings on
August 3-4, 1979.

The auction proceeds of the personal

 199
property totaled $67,400 with 8 percent of the total as
commission for the auctioneer.

On October 5-6, the real

estate holdings of the College were auctioned for a net
total of $330,828.

The final minutes of the Creditors

Committee Meeting (August 20, 1980) indicated that unsecured creditors would be paid 70 cents on the dollar.
The bulk of the campus buildings had been purchased by the
Restoration College Association.
Reflections on Don Moon as President.

Moon has

been characterized as collegial and low key (Carroll interview, February 1982) in his style of governance.

He

received the support of the Board, as well as other members
of the College community, because his plan for saving
Shimer was the very final ray of hope.

Moon has become to

Shimer College in the 1980's what Frances

~Jood

Shimer was

to the Mount Carroll Seminary toward the latter stage of
the last century.

Moon's sense of calm permeated every

meeting of the Board of Trustees, as well as the meetings
of the Creditors Committee.

Moon fostered realistic ex-

pectations regarding the likely outcome of the situation.
Hhile he was forced to think long-range because of his
role as chief officer at Shimer, he was realistic enough
to accept each day at a time.
operated a one-man show.

Moon, like Conant, has

The Board was in disarray after

the move from Mount Carroll, and Moon's priority was to
reconstruct a strong and supportive Board of Trustees.

 200
Moon's genuine concern, unlike some of his predecessors,
is an almost obsessive concern for the College.
What Moon did for Shimer was offer one last attempt at reviving Shimer.

He did this, and there have

been increasing signs of strength in the Shimer community.
Summary
In many respects, the period of time from 1970
through 1978 is the most tragic in the history of Shimer
College.

It is tragic because it reflects a lack of sound

leadership, adequate financial planning, and because it is
a period of lofty projections that were not realized.
During President Long's tenure in office there was an aura
of the denial of the reality which faced Shimer.

The

leadership of the college is perceived as fatigued and, to
some extent, disinterested in the financial plight.

When

the announcement about the closing of Shimer was publicized, there was a sense of restraint on the part of some,
including President Long, about attempting to save Shimer.
Dr. Esther Weinstein provided a stabilizing influence on the College after the resignation of President Long.
Her leadership was quietly strong, her programs austere,
and the results productive.

Her age and nearness to re-

tirement, as well as her lack of dynamism, were factors
which prevented her from being considered seriously as a
permanent replacement for President Long.

 201

Ralph Conant came to Shimer with the aura of a
in~

hero because he came with an agenda to raise funds,

crease the enrollment, instill new life and vigor into
the college community, and to generally restore health to
the ailing institution.

Conant's arrival at Shimer as

president was a gamble for Conant, as well as for the College.

His style was flamboyant; his mode of leadership a

blend of bureaucratic and collegial.

The Shimer com-

munity fell into step behind Conant because he was ripe
for the moment.

Shimerians needed a leader in whom they

could believe and hope.

Conant's image was that of a

successful president, and he mystified the College community with his charismatic ability to sell.

His

goals

for fund raising were lofty--too lofty--and when the
realization set in that all of the effort and money was
not producing results, the decision to seek protection
from creditors under Chapter XI bankruptcy seemed like a
fruitful idea at the time.

Bankruptcy petitions were

filed after Conant resigned.
Throughout this period of crisis at Shimer, it
remained for faculty member Don Moon to emerge from the
ranks with a program, constructed by Moon and several
colleagues, to consolidate the debts of the College and
proceed with the program in education at Shimer.

Moon

was serious, genuine, and he believed in the future of
Shimer with an infectious fervor which had heretofore not

 202

existed in any recent leader of the College.

The Board of

Trustees agreed with Moon's proposal, and he was appointed
the chief executive officer of the College.

Eventually

it became obvious that the only way the obligations to
creditors could be met and still allow the College to continue would be to sell the property in Mount Carroll and
seek a new location for those who wanted to continue at
Shimer College.

The campus was auctioned, the doors

closed at Mount Carroll, and Shimer relocated to lvaukegan,
Illinois where it remains today.
Conclusions
1.

Chapter VI records the swift decline of Shimer

from 1973 through the decision to close the school and
sell the property in 1979.

Milburn Akers had a direction

for Shimer, and through his bureaucratic management style,
he was attempting to lead Shimer.

After his death, Robert

Long assumed the role of President, and he too, like Akers,
proved to follow a bureaucratic management style.

Long

was not optimistic about Shimer's future, and the faculty
sensed that.

His pessimism intensified after the death

of his son during the Shimer-in-Oxford program when, after
a decision by the Board of Trustees, he was not permitted
to bury his son on campus ( Weissmiller interview, November
1981).

There seemed to be very little resistance to the

thrust of the movement to close Shimer.

There was some

political activity among faculty, and some disenchantment

 203
among students, but Long's attempt to bring the Board together to discuss and vote on closing went basically unchallenged.

Perhaps part of the reason for that was that

the faculty were not fully cognizant of the seriousness
of the matter.

Some members of the faculty thought that

the meeting in Chicago might be to announce formalized
merger plans with St. John's University.

The Board of

Trustees had experienced a rather insignificant turnover
among its membership, and a good percentage of the faculty
were new and somewhat inexperienced.

Long's model of

bureaucracy in his leadership at Shimer was not challenged.
After the decision to close was made, the members
of the Shimer community, and the community of Mount CarrolL
reacted like adrenalin flowing in the blood during a time
of bodily emergency.

The desperation of the moment sprrited

an effort at crisis fund raising, and sufficient funding
was received to permit Shimer to reopen in the Spring as
enrollment stabilized.

The term of Dr. Esther Weinstein

was only a moment of stability in the decline of Shimer,
and while the arrival of Conant brought new hope to the
Shimer community, the decline, in reality, had only been
disguised in the form of new high-energy administrative
staff and the idealism of Ralph Conant.

His philosophy

was to spend some money to make some money, but the returns did not materialize as he had hoped.

Conant was

flamboyant, but he was able, at times, to bring in sums of

 204
money for the College.

The Shimer community vested its

trust and hope in Conant, and, for a time, there seemed
to be improvement.
In the study of governance models, one thing seems
to be clear: it is important that all major aspects of
the college community remain strong and knowledgeable
about issues of budgeting, personnel, philosophy, and
policy.

It is important that there be communication among

the various divisions within the community, such as between the Board and faculty of an institution, so that a
sound check and balance system is effected to oversee the
administration of the President.

At Shimer, during the

term of President Long and President Conant, this was not
the case.

Conant made his decisions and established his

lofty projections because the Shimer community, to a great
extent, was not experienced enough to challenge Conant.
The combination of desperation and lack of knowledge proved
fatal for Shimer when Conant proposed that a large portion
of the budget for 1976-77 be raised as gift money.

Such

deficit spending, particularly in light of the history of
fund raising and support at Shimer, was an important flaw
in Conant's plans.
not defective.
ance works well.

The bureaucratic model, in itself is

In fact, the bureaucratic model of governBut it is important, under any circum-

stances, that all other leadership modes within an institution remain strong, experienced, and provide a healthy

 205
tension of check and balance on the President and his administrative team.
Chapter VI also provided the opportunity to witness the existence of the blending of governance models.
While Conant was bureaucratic in style, and led

the com-

munity virtually unchallenged in his direction, there was
still political activity among the community members.
The activity began to increase in response to Conant's
projection of a large budget in 1976-77.

When the crisis

arose shortly after the start of the academic year, Moon
surfaced as a representative of a segment of faculty who
had a proposal to keep Shimer open.

The proposal was ac-

cepted and implemented, and Conant stepped aside as leader,
Moon had evolved from within the ranks to assume the new
role of chief executive officer at Shimer.
2-3.

The decision by Long and the Board of Trus-

tees to close Shimer in 1973 was a decision made on the
information available at the moment, and the bleak outlook ahead for Shimer College.

~Vhile

there was a great

air of optimism and hope, as well as excitement and pride
in Shimer's capacity to remain open, serious damage was
done, by the decision to close, to the reputation of
Shimer College.

As Andrew Bavas (Trustee interview,

February 1982) indicated, Shimer became known as a loser,
and it became more difficult to solicit individuals to
become members of the Board.

Students and parents did not

 206
want to associate with a loser when discussing matters of
college planning, and then there was even uncertainty in
some areas as to whether Shimer was still open.

The de-

cision to remain open in 1974 was a valiant effort to
fight the odds, but in the end Shimer could not survive.
Conant seemed to be a President filled with
idealism, and while it was indicated that Conant almost
succeeded (Carroll interview, February 1982), the one
fatal flaw in his plan was an overestimation of his ability to raise money for the institution with the poor image.
Conant had the support of the Shimer cocrmunity, and had
he taken a more gradual approach, the results might have
been different for Shimer.

Conant moved ahead with full

steam and vigor, but his administrative team was not experienced enough to provide him the support and challenge
that he needed.
Shimer College was a tragedy of crisis management, inconsistency in personnel quality, and a lesson of
governance models.

The closing of Shimer highlights the

importance, as well as the danger, of management personnel.

The strength and reputation of an institution is

derived from the community of personnel, and inexperienced administrators at a college is like a car without a
driver.

The result is the same.

 CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSION
The Trustees of Shimer College, on behalf of the
College, filed for protection of Shimer's assets under
Chapter XI bankruptcy regulations.

Shimer's history was

one of financial struggle and internal strife.

Shimer

had evolved from a conservative finishing school prior to
1950 to that of a liberal intellectual small college which
attracted free spirited young people.

h1hen the social

mores and values changed dramatically during the late
60's. Shimer students seemed out of place in conservative,
rural northwestern Illinois.

While Shimer had been well

respected and highly regarded as an educational institution through 1966, it fell victim to adverse publicity and
acquired the image of a "loser" in higher education circles.

It was this uncomplimentary cancer-like image which

resulted in the closing of the college at Mount Carroll,
Illinois, and forced abandonment of the facilities in order
to settle the demands of the Shimer creditors.

The follow-

ing is a brief summary of the more significant reasons why
Shimer College declined over the years and closed its doors
in Mount Carroll.

207

 208
On Academic Governance
Chapter I described how the four models of governance (i.e., the bureaucratic model, the collegial model,
the political model, and organized anarchy) exist along a
continuum.

The models, rather than existing in pure form,

exist as a blend of models with alternating dominance as
leadership and circumstances change.

The political model,

as Baldridge (1971) stated, is always present in some degree on the college campus because the diversity and focus
of factions within a college community naturally seem to
facilitate the existence of special interest groups, the
formation of coalitions, and the desire on the part of
some members of the interest groups to attempt to formulate
and legislate policy.
The results of the research on Shimer College reflects the presence of the four models of governance at
Shimer College from 1930 to 1980.

\fhile the models seemed

to alternate in dominance, they existed as a blend rather
than in pure form.

Shimer was a small academic community

with a strong emphasis on intellectual achievement, discussion, and differences of opinion.

Such tension was an

important aspect of the educational process at Shimer.
But, such values also encouraged the presence of political
activity among the campus community; and such activity was
present at Shimer continuously to some degree.

The small

size of Shimer and the closeness of the general community

 209
to the heart of administrative functioning and decision
making facilitated such activity.

At Shimer, the in-

crease in political activity among members of the community heightened with the parallel increase in bureaucratic power.

In two instances, political activity

erupted into a force strong enough to pressure the President to resign from office.

In the latter instance, the

political activity was immediately preceded by a brief
period of organized anarchy.
The first example occurred during the term of
F. C. Wilcox (1930-1935).

When Wilcox arrived at Shimer,

he was confronted with a crisis resulting from the Crash
of 1929 and the strain of the Great Depression which followed.

His plan of austerity was mandated by financial

conditions.

Some local members of the Board, having ex-

ercised a great deal of involvement in policy making during
the latter years of his predecessor, were reluctant to
surrender their power easily.

Wilcox faced almost constant

harassment as these Board members sought to gain support
from the other members of the Board.

Wilcox assumed a

bureaucratic management style as a means of attempting to
lead Shimer through those rugged years.

The political

activity of the faculty gathered strength when they were
confronted with a second pay freeze.

Local Board members

gained broader support from other Board members when

en-

rollment data and income for the College showed a steady

 210
but steep decline.

Coalitions formed, and the resultant

strength was more than Wilcox could handle.

He was forced

to resign from office.
In the second example, F. C. Mullin (1955-1968)
was well received during the early years of his term in
office.

His management style was a blend of the bureau-

cratic and collegial.

He rescued Shimer from near in-

solvency when he first took office and assumed a deep financial burden.

Mullin attracted money and talented in-

dividuals to Shimer.

Enrollment climbed, income was

stronger, and a strong administrative team tempered the
political activity of the faculty.

Mullin, perhaps over-

confident, left more and more of the operation and decision
making at Shimer to his administrative staff, while he
elected to become more deeply involved in professional activities.

After the resignation of key administrative

staff and as Mullin became more defensive and bureaucratic
in his posture, the political activity among the faculty
increased.

This was at a period in time when the mores and

values of the country were in transition as well towards
adoption of a more liberal, free-spirited attitude on the
part of faculty and students.

As a result, the political

reaction was quite strong among students as well; and
coalitions began forming between factions of faculty, students, and students and faculty.

The unrest on campus

resulted in friction between the conservative right wing

 211
values of the Mount Carroll residents and the more liberal
left wing values of the students and faculty at Shimer.
Mullin reacted strongly to the situation as a result of
his right wing value orientation, and the gap between the
administration and other factions within the Shimer community continued to widen.

The result was the explosive

and devastating Grotesque Internecine Squabble, referred
to as the GIS, in 1967.

As a result, half of the key

faculty members resigned, and a large number of students
failed to return in the Fall of 1967.

U? until that point,

Mullin retained support of the Board of Trustees.

The

Board, however, reacted to the mass resignations of faculty, the large attrition rate, the obvious decline in income for the College, and the resultant negative publicity
about the affair.

Mullin resigned in the Fall of 1967.

The Board, and other factions within the college community,
had reacted sharply to the strong and abusive bureaucratic
posture which Mullin had assumed.

Their strength proved

to be a healthy check and balance on inappropriate bureaucratic leadership.
Similar strength was reflected in the check and
balance of the Board and faculty during the tenure of
Wilcox.

In retrospect, it now seems that the contribution

of Wilcox was somehow confused with the strains of the
period; and Wilcox became victim, not of his own fault,
but more of the times.

In his own defense, Wilcox resorted

 212
to a bureaucratic model of management as a means of resisting the pressures he was facing from the Shimer factions.

Mullin, on the other hand, used the bureaucratic

model to cover up his own inadequacies, but the system of
check and balance was victorious.
The important lesson learned about institutional
governance, as a result of the Shimer study, was that it
is vitally important that a college have a strong leader,
a strong and committed Board of Trustees, a faculty that
is also personally vested and able to unite, as well as a
strong system of student government.

Even less active

factions such as alumni can be an important resource for
a college.
Ironically, for Shimer, one of the reasons that
Shimer faced decline and closed was that key factions
within the college had been allowed to weaken.

The Board

of Trustees experienced significant turnover during the
tenure of President Long, and President Conant did very
little to strengthen the Board.

The faculty remained

divided between pre-GIS faculty, those hired in desperation after the GIS, and more recent graduates with little
experience in general education.

The students, in keep-

ing with the times, had grown more concerned about their
own interests and concerns, and were not as vested in
the interest of Shimer.

Even President Conant's

 213
administrative team, which could have been a source of
strength as well as a check and balance on his power and
decision making, was inexperienced.

As a result, when

Conant proposed a budget which called for deficit spending with a large portion of the college income to be derived from donations, his proposal was only moderately
challenged.

His leadership had evolved into a runaway

bureaucracy because Conant was viewed as a savior of
sorts by members of the college community.

Strength and

experience were lacking in the quarters which traditionally held the power to challenge Conant's judgment.

Shimer

closed, in the final analysis, because of an imbalance of
power in the top key positions.

It is true that there

was a cumulative effect of problems which had plagued
Shimer through the years, but it was essentially one unchecked decision which resulted in the decision to close
the College.

All of the factors combined to present an

overwhelming situation which prevented Shimer from being
able to effectively continue its operation at Mount Carroll.
On Administrative Decisions
While it is difficult to isolate some of the significant decisions at Shimer from the issue of governance
models, there were, nonetheless, several variables related
to administrative decision making which seemed related to

 214
the decline and closing of Shimer College.

Severson

(1975) discovered that Shimer suffered from a lack of
effective leadership through the years.

While the leaders

at Shimer presented generally strong credentials and
sound experience in higher education, there was a lack of
creativity and effectiveness in their decision making.
The problems at Shimer were certainly not unique
to that College.

All institutions of higher education

must face the problems of admission, attrition, and fund
raising.

What made Shimer somewhat unique was that such

problems were part of a permanent agenda in the history
of the college.

Year after year, Board meeting after

Board meeting, the issues were repeated as sources for
concern.

They were further highlighted and singled out

as areas for concern in the reports of visiting committees
from the North Central Association of Secondary Schools
and Colleges.

The attention paid to areas such as Ad-

mission was inconsistent and ineffective.

There was a

dramatic turnover among admissions officers at Shimer, and
there was no clearly delineated program or plan for the
Admissions Office.

The biggest concern at Board meetings

was with the numbers enrolled, and little if any attention
was given to the philosophy behind the admissions program.
In one of two instances, there was some concern about
marketing Shimer; but the concern was short lived.

The

 215
same conditions prevailed in the area of fund raising and
student attrition.
Certainly, financial matters, perhaps more than
others, were of dominant concern to the Board.

Yet, seem-

ingly little was done to construct a philosophy or program
for a sound development program.

The fund raising was

done in spurts with a lack of consistency in effort and a
seemingly lack of sophistication in seeking and courting
funding sources.
Student attrition was a major problem at Shimer
because of its rural location and unique atmosphere.

The

lack of creative problem solving is reflected in the attempts, on the part of Shimer, to seek an urban program
through the University of Chicago as a solution to this
problem.

The Shimer mentality was such that the affilia-

tion with the University of Chicago offered Shimer, and the
students, instant prestige as a result of such contact
with the University and the opportunity to samule a

Uni-

versity of Chicago-like program in a rural environment.
Solutions to these problems were devised as each
crisis arose at Shimer.

With the exception of the de-

tailed study conducted by the Department of Education of
the University of Chicago in 1944, and one additional study
conducted during the term of Milburn Akers in 1968, there
was very little long range planning at Shimer.

Management

 216
was crisis-responsive, and problems at Shimer were reached
to rather than anticipated and planned for.

Shimer was

always, administratively, just one step ahead of financial
disaster.

There were 12 presidents serving a total of 13

-terms between 1930 and 1980 with an average presidential
term of 4.16 years.

At a very crucial time in the ex-

istence of Shimer, the College was riddled with administrative turnover and inconsistency in leadership effort.
Other Variables Affecting the Decline
and Closing of Shimer College
Perhaps one other significant variable had an effect on the decline and eventual closing of Shimer College.
The variable of college identity was one which, while not
specifically tied to the presidency of any one individual,
was affected by the tenure of almost every President at
the College.

The issue of identity is twofold:

1.) the

issue of the name of the college, as well as the mission
of the institution, and 2.) the public image as a result
of publicity and rumor.
In the first instance, Shimer was the victim of
periodic changes in name, philosophy and

pur~ose.

The

public barely had time to adjust to a change in the
identity of Shimer, when another change was made.

Between

1853 and 1980, the name of the institution changed seven
times, and between 1930 and 1980, the name changed four
times.

During this period the philosophy of the institution

 217
changed from that of a preparatory school to a combination
of preparatory school and junior college, to that of a .
junior college, and finally to a senior college.

In

"Names and Dates of the College Used for Publicity" (date
unknown), the following chronology of changes is recounted:
1893-1896

Mt. Carroll Seminary

1896-1908

The Frances Shimer Academy of the University of Chicago

1908-1910

Frances Shimer Academy and Junior College

1910-1932

Frances Shimer School

1932-1942

Frances Shimer Junior College

1942-1950

Frances Shimer College

1950-

Shimer College

In the 1940's, Albin Bro spirited a change in the
underlying philosophy of Shimer which resulted in the
adoption of a newly revised general curriculum modeled on
that of the University of Chicago.

That change necessi-

tated the introduction of coeducation in order that Shimer
might affiliate with the University in both student and
faculty exchange.

Shimer's image changed from that of a

conservative finishing school for women to that of a more
liberal, left wing, institution for bright students seeking
a return to general education and the liberal arts.

This

major change in identity, coupled with the changes in the
name of the College, further confused the public about
just what Shimer was about.

 218
The second issue concerning identity began in the
mid-sixties when, after a strong ascending pattern in enrollment and a great deal of favorable publicity about the
program and philosophy of Shimer's education, the College
received adverse publicity in the form of an article (in
the Saturday Evening Post) on the drug culture at Shimer.
Shimer was hurt by the appearance of that article, but
the negative publicity and resulting rumors did further
damage after the eruption of the Grotesque Internecine
Squabble.

In 1973, after the decision was made to close

Shimer and then reversed by the Board and the Assignee
of creditors, the College became hampered in its efforts
for having the image of a "loser."

It became increasingly

difficult to attract students, faculty, Board members, and
sorely needed funding for programs and facilities.
In conclusion, one could isolate and name a large
number of variables which were contributory to the closing
of Shimer College.

Hhile one or two variables may seem

significant, they were not, in and of themselves, responsible for the decline and closing of Shimer College.
Rather, it was the cumulative effect of bad luck, mismanagement, and ineffective and unproductive leadership
which crippled Shimer College.

Shimer remains in existence

today because political activity on campus remained alive
even at the end.

A small band of faculty presented a

 219
proposal to keep the college open and, at the same time,
satisfy the debt owed the creditors.

The campus was

auctioned, as was the personal property of the College,
and Shimer moved to Waukegan, Illinois, in the Winter of
1979, where it remains struggling today.

 References
Akers, M. P.

Memorandum to the Dean.

Akers, M. P.

~1emorandum

Al)ril 11,

1968.~·~

to the Director of Admissions.

April 11, 1968.*
Akers, M. P.

Memorandum to the Director of Development.

April 11, 1968.*
Akers, M. P.
Trustees.
Akers, H. P.
Trustees.
Akers, M. P.
Trustees.

Report of the President to the Board of
October 1, 1968.*
Report of the President to the Board of
February 1, 1969.

Part 1 *

Report of the President to the Board of
November 4, 1969.*

Anderson, E. J.

Personal correspondence.

November 11,

1935.*
Baldridge, J. V.

Academic Governance.

Berkeley:

McCutchan Publishing, 1971.
Baldridge, J. V.

Power and Conflict in the University.

New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1971.

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

220

 221
Baldridge, J. V., Curtis, D. V., Ecker, G.,
Policy Making and Effective Leadership.

& Riley, G. L.
San Francisco:

Jessey-Bass, 1978.
Baldridge, J. V.,

& Riley, G. L.

Organizations.

Berkeley:

Governing Academic

McCutchan Publishing Co.,

1977.
Bavas, A. L.

Trustee Interview.

Bradford, L. P., * Lippitt, R.
Work Group.
Bra, A. C.

Chicago, February 1982.
Building a Democratic

Personnel, 1945, 22, 143.

Annual Report of the President: 1940-1941.

Shimer College.*
Bra, A. C.

Annual Report of the President: 1942-1943.

Shimer College.*
Bra, A. C.

Personal correspondence.

July 31, 1946.*

Bra, A. C.

President's Report to the Board of Trustees,

Shimer College, September 11, 1948.*
Bra, A. C.

The Christian College.

The Living Church,

August 20, 1961, 143, 16-17.*
Bro-Racher, A.

Trustee Interview.

Park Forest, Illinois.

August 1982.*
Brumbaugh, A. J.

New Educational Program at Shimer.

Paper presented to the Board of Trustees of Shimer
College, May 13, 1950.*
*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 222
Campbell,

s.

J.

Personal correspondence.

October 28,

Campbell, S. J.

Personal correspondence.

November 4,

1929.·k

1929.*

s.

J.

Personal correspondence.

August 31,

s.
s.
s.

J.

Personal correspondence.

May 2, 1932. ·k

J.

Personal correspondence.

Hay 4,

J.

Personal correspondence.

July 5 ,

Campbell, S. J.

Personal correspondence.

July 21, 1932.·-k

J.

Personal correspondence.

September 13,

Campbell, S. J.

Personal correspondence.

December 19,

J.

Personal correspondence.

March 5, 1935.*

J.

Personal correspondence.

June 20, 1946.*

Campbell,
1931. ..k
Campbell,
Campbell,
Campbell,

Campbell,

s.

1932.~·~

1932.~·~

1932.·k

1932.~""

Campbell,
Campbell,

s.
s.

Carroll, B.

Trustee interview.

February 1982.

The Chicago Tribune.

November 11, 1973, Sec. 1, p. 24.

The Chicago Tribune.

Nove!!lber 30, 1973, Sec. 2, p. 10.

The Christian Science Monitor.

April 22, 1961, Education,

p. 6. ~._.

The Chronicle of Higher Education.

January 6, 1982, p. 60.

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 223
Cohen, M. D., & March, J. G.

Leadership and Ambiguity:

The American College President.

New York: McGraw-Hill,

1974.
College Intellectual Climate Described.

The (Louisville)

Courier-Journal, October 31, 1961.*
Conant, R. W.

President's Report:

grams and Objectives.
Conant, R. W.

Conant Outlines Pro1975.•'~

Shimer College,

Report of the President.

Shimer College,

August 29, 1976. ;'(
Corson, J. J.

The Governance of Colleges and Universities.

New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.
Cowley, W. H.

Presidents, Professors, and Trustees.

San Francisco: Jessey-Bass, Inc., 1980.
Culver, R. B.

Report of the President.

Shimer College,

August 11 , 19 3 7 . ;'(
Culver, R. B.

Personal correspondence.

November 27,

Personal correspondence.

January 20, 1938.*

1937. ;'(
Culver, R. B.

Department of Education of the University of Chicago.
Frances Shimer College Survey.

Chicago: University of

Chicago, 1944. ,·~
Dickerson, J. S.

Personal correspondence.

Dickerson, J. S.

Personal correspondence.

June 13, 1930.*
June 26, 1930.*

;'(Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 224
Dozier, J. M., Jones, H. R.,
Visit to Shimer College.

& Graves, W. B.

Report of a

Commission on Institutions

of Higher Education of the North Central Association
of Colleges and Secondary Schools.
Drugs on the Campus.

March 3-4, 1976.*

The Saturday Evening Post.

May 21,

1966, pp. 40-62.
Eisfeller, E. L.,

& Rozoff, H. H.

Personal Correspondence.

December 20, 1973.*
Ferrari, M. L.

Profile of American College Presidents.

East Lansing:

Division of Research, Graduate School

of Business Administration of Michigan State University,
1970.
Fetter, G. C.

Memorial Address:

Tribute to Dean McKee.

October 22, 1933.*
Franks, I.

President Mullin:

Excalibur.
Freund, E.
Glass, R.

A Recorded Interview.

February 1967, 1 *

Personal correspondence.
Shimer College History.

September 12, 1946.*
Shimer College Record.

July 1953, 45.
Governance of Higher Education: Carnegie Commission on
Higher Education.

New York:

McGraw Hill, April 1973.*

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 225
Graduation Address:

St. Procopius College.

College and

University Business, December 1968. ··
Gustafson, D.

Personal correspondence.

Heist, P., Henry, M.,

& Churchill, R.

June 11, 1943.*
Shimer College:

Preliminary Reuort on the Entering Students of the
Fall Term, 1966.

Berkeley: Center for Research and

Development in Higher Education, July 1967.*
Hostetter, A. B.

Personal correspondence.

February 28,

1939.-k
I Don't Want To See a Monolithic Education System Develoo
in the U.S.

College and University Business.

Decem-

ber 1968.
Important Events and Dates in the History of Frances
Shimer College.
Jacobsen, S. R.

1941.*

Personal correspondence.

January 9,

1937.·k
Jencks, C.,

& Riesman, D.

Shimer College.

Phi Delta

Kappan, April 1966, 47,415-420.
Johnson, G. P., Turoff, R. D., l.Jrolstad, H. 0., Greenlee,
H. S.

Report of a Visit to Shimer College Hount

Carroll, Illinois.

Commission on Institutions of

Higher Education of the North Central Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools.

April 30-May 2, 1973.*

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 226
Khandwalla, P. N.

The Design of Organizations.

Chicago:

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977.
Kimpton, L. A.

Personal correspondence.

Koerner, J. D.

The Parsons College Bubble:

Higher Education in America.

March 2, 1956.*
A Tale of

New York: Basic Books,

1970.
Lack of Information.

Documentation about the inef-

fective performance of F. C. Wilcox.
Larson, C.

1935.*

Remarks of Curtis Larson at the Regular Meet-

ing of the Shimer College Faculty.

February 20,

1967.'"
Lipham, J. M.,

& Hoeh, Jr., J. A.

Foundations and Functions.

The Principalship:

New York:

Harper

& Row,

1974.
Long Range Planning:

Environmental Conditions, Institu-

tional Objectives, Educational Programs.

Shimer

College, 1967.'"
Manning, T. E.

Personal correspondence.

Memorandum Concerning Albin C. Bro.
Millet, J. D.
tion.

May 14, 1976.*

March 31,

1939."'~

Strengthening Community in Higher Educa-

Washington, D. C.:

Management

Division,

Academy for Educational Development, 1975.

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 227
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.

Shimer College.

May 19,

Shimer College.

Octo-

Shimer College.

Janu-

Shimer College.

Janu-

Shimer College.

Novem-

Shimer College.

April

Shimer College.

Decem-

Shimer College.

Nov em-

Shimer College.

March

Shimer College.

July

Shimer College.

Octo-

Shimer College.

April

1930.-k
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 14,

1930.?'~

Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ary 31, 1931. ·k
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ary 6, 1932. ·k
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 16, 1934.
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
27, 1935.'"
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 27, 1937.
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 22, 1941.
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
22, 1943.
Minutes of the Baord of Trustees.
13, 1943.
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 18, 1949.
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
16, 1950.*

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 228
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.

Shimer College.

May 13,

Shimer College.

Octo-

Shimer College.

June

Shimer College.

June 5,

Shimer College.

Septem-

Shimer College.

Nov em-

Shimer College.

Decem-

Shimer College.

Decem-

Shimer College.

March 1,

Shimer College.

Octo-

Shimer College.

May 22,

1950.?'~

Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 6, 1950. -;''"
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
30, 1959.*
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
1968. ?'~
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 15,

1973.?'~

Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 10,

1973.?'~

Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 8, 1973. ..k
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 20, 1973.*
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
1974.?'~

Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 13,

1974.7~

Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
1975. *

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 229
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.

Shimer College.

Septem-

Shimer College.

May 23,

Shimer College.

Octo-

Shimer College.

Febru-

Shimer College.

Hay 14,

Shimer College.

March

Shimer College.

June 19,

Shimer College.

August

ber 1975. ~·~
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
1976. ~·~
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ber 27, 1976. ·k
Minutes of the Board of Trustees.
ary 15,

1977.~·~

Hinutes of the Board of Trustees.
1977."~~

Hinutes of the Board of Trustees.
18,

1978."~~

Hinutes of the Board of Trustees.
1978."~~

Hinutes of the Board of Trustees.
19' 1978. ~·~
Hinutes of the Board of Trustees.

University of Chicago.

February 14, 1896.**
Hinutes of the Board of Trustees.

University of Chicago.

April 13, 1950.**
Minutes of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.

University of Chicago.

December 14, 1895.**

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.
**Available at Regenstein Library, University of Chicago,
Chicago, Illinois.

 230
Minutes of the Creditors Committee.

Shimer College.

November 22, 1978. ~·,
Minutes of the Creditors Committee.

Shimer College.

May 16, 1979. ~._.
Minutes of the Creditors Committee.

Shimer College.

August 13, 1979.*
Hinutes of the Creditors Committee.

Shimer College.

August 20, 1980. ~·,
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.

Shimer College.

April

19' 1961. -;';
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.

Shimer College.

February 20, 1967.*
Hinutes of the Faculty Meeting.

Shimer College.

March

Shimer College.

November

Shimer College.

February

Shimer College.

October

20, 1967.7'
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
10,

1967.~''

Hinutes of the Faculty Meeting.
22,

1971.~''

Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
4' 1971. ~·,

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 231
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
ber 6,

Shimer College.

Decem-

Shimer College.

April 10,

Shimer College.

Febru-

Shimer College.

February

Shimer College.

November

Shimer College.

January

Shimer College.

February

1971. 7'~

Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
1972.*
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
ary 2, 1973.*
Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
20, 1973. 7'Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
14,

1973. 7'~

Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
23,

1974. 7'~

Minutes of the Faculty Meeting.
4,

1974. 7'~

Minutes of the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees.
Shimer College.

December 1,

1934. 7'~

Moulds, J. F.

Personal correspondence.

October 10, 1935.·k

Moulds, J. F.

Personal correspondence.

October 29, 1935 J~

Moulds, J. F.

Personal correspondence.

November 3, 1943. ""k

Mullin, F. J.

Colleges, Students, and Religion.

The

Living Church, August 20, 1961, 143, 10-15. ;'-:
Mullin, F. J.

Convocation.

lege Community.

Memorandum to the Shimer Col-

September 25, 1965.

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 232
Mullin, F. J.

Memorandum.

Mullin, F. J.

State of the College in 1958.

lege.

December 12, 1965.*
Shimer Col-

Summer 1958.*

Need for a Church Relationship.

Shimer College, 1959.

Netzer, L., Eye, G., Dimock, M., Dumont, M. P., Homme, L.,
Kast, F., & Knezevich, S.J.
and Change.
Padelford,

Education Administration

New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

F. W.

Padelford, F. W.

Personal correspondence.
Semi-Annual Report to the

April 3, 1936.*
(Baptis~

Board

of Education, January 2, 1935.
Palmer, Mrs. J. A.

Memories of

~1rs.

Frances Ann Wood

Shimer a Native of Balston Spa Saratoga Co. New York
and Dr. Henry Shimer, Born in (illegible) Cluster Co.
Penn.

Date unknown.*

A Preliminary Account of the Proposed School of Lute.
October 23, 1974.*
Problems to be Considered if and When Frances Shimer
School Should Become a Coeducational Institution, 1949.*
Rauh, M. A.

College and University Trusteeship.

Yellow

Springs, Ohio: Antioch Press, 1959.
Rausch, E.

Management in Institutions of Higher Learning.

Lexington, Mass.:

Lexington Books, 1980.

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 .I

233
Richman, B.,

& Farmer, R. N.

in Higher Education.
(Rockford) Morning Star.
Rudolph, F.

Leadership, Goals, and Power

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1977.
February 22, 1953, p. 12.

The American College and University.

New

York: Vintage Books, 1962.
Russel, J. H.

Personal correspondence.

February 17, 1930. ,·~

Sawyer, W. A. Personal correspondence.
Sawyer, W. A.
Schlecty, P. C.

Harch 29, 1950. '~

Personal correspondence.

June 28, 1930.*

Teaching and Social Behavior.

Boston:

Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1976.
Scovell, Wellington
8,

& Company.

Correspondence.

November

1933.''~

Severson, S. N.
Death.

Responses to Threatened Organizational

A Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the

Division of the Social Sciences

in candidacy for the

degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Chicago,
Chicago, Illinois, December 1975. ;'d~
A Special Case.

Shimer College, date

unknown.,·~

Statement Proposing a Closer Affiliation between the Frances
Shimer Academy of the University of Chicago and the
University of Chicago.

February 22,

1950.7~

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.
**Available at Regenstein Library, University of Chicago,
Chicago, Illinois.

 234
Stroup, H.

Bureaucracy in Higher Education.

New York:

Free Press, 1966.
Student Enrollment.
Unknown Source.

Shimer College, 1974.*

Brumbaugh, April 1950.*

Weissmiller, R. W.

Personal correspondence.

October 26,

1967.
Weissmiller, R. W.

Trustee Interview.

Mount Carroll.

November 1981.
Wilcox, F. C.

Annual Report of the President 1933-1934.

Shimer College, 1934.*
Works, G. A.

Personal correspondence.

April 12, 1935.

*Available at the Regional History Center, Northern
Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.

 APPROVAL SHEET
The dissertation submitted by Patrick H. Moorhead has
been read and approved by the following committee:
Dr. Terry E. Williams
Chairman, Dissertation Committee
Assistant Professor, Guidance and Counseling, Loyola
Dr. Gerald L. Gutek
Dean, School of Education
Professor, Foundations of Education, Loyola
Dr. Manuel S. Silverman
Associate Professor, Guidance and Counseling, Loyola
The final copies have been examined by the director of
the dissertation and the signature which appears belQw
verifies the fact that any necessary changes have been
incorporated and that the dissertation is now given final
approval by the Committee with reference to content and
form.
The dissertation is therefore accepted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education.

~l.~
Signature

Dire~

235