Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College

role in every capital fund campaign since his graduation and was a recipient of the Ernest C. Marriner Distinguished Service Award. Treworgy ( Lambda Chi Alpha ) A s president of h i s fraternity, Charles Treworgy '22, a native o f Surry, Maine, died in a vain attempt to save four of his fraternity brothers who died in a fraternity house fire on the North Campus in December 1922. Williams ( Kappa Delta Rho ) Long-serving professor and administrative vice president ( and later a trustee) Ralph S. Williams '35 was instrumental in arranging for the construction and financing of the KDR house, the last fraternity building on the Hill. Many public rooms in the fratern ity houses were named to honor distin guished alumni brothers as well. In Runnals Union the marching dignitaries dedicated the Chi Omega sorority room to Mary Rollins Millett '30, widow of the beloved alumni secretary, Ellsworth "Bill" Millett; and the Sigma Kappa room to the late Frances Mann Hall, 1877, who with Mary Low, Louise Co burn, Ida Fuller, and Elizabeth Houg founded the alpha chapter at Colby in 1874. A plaque was installed at the union entrance, marking these two chap ters as well as Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Delta Phi, which once occupied rooms in the building. Additionally, the main lounge of Chaplin Hall was named in honor of Thomas Gordon '73 and in memory of Kenneth Thomp son '63 and John Bernier '61 for their service to the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity chapter, which was never able to build a house on the Hill. The Colby 2000 Campaign stood at $17 million when the fraternities were closed, and the goal of $25.5 million was increased another $3 million to pay for the Student Center and cover the Commons plan extras. Trustees passed the hat to post a $1 million one-for-two challenge to meet the added needs. Although trustees feared bitterness over the fraternity decision would im pede fundraising, there was a glimmer of optimism. The national economy began to improve, and there was evidence that alumni, writ large, were not going to punish the College for making the change. Worries over alumni re action and the needs of the ongoing campaign had prompted an all-out effort to improve giving. The popular Sid Farr returned to his former post as alumni secretary, and Penn Williamson became director of development until Calvin Mackenzie left the government department to become vice pres ident in 1985. Mackenzie's organizational skills and his appeal as an academic broadened THE i98os

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Mayflower Hill: A History of Colby College

Published on Jul 2, 2015

Colby College Libraries

A lively history of Colby College from its founding in 1813 to the present day. Download this book: http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbiana_books/7/ Using anecdotes and biographical asides to humanize this history, Earl H. Smith describes Colby's shift from a religious focus to secularism, from "coordination" to coeducation, and from provincialism to global notice. Smith tracks the growth of an ever-stronger faculty who were willing to make innovative changes in the curriculum and of trustees who dared to revolutionize student life by shedding outdated traditions. He brings to life the voices of students during the 1960s and 1970s, eager to change the old rules, protest an unpopular war, and demand equality and social justice on campus and worldwide. And perhaps most important of all, Smith illustrates how Colby College slowly reversed its role from the protected to the protector of the city that saved it.