User:Visviva/History of Shimer College 1950-1965

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A comparatively teacher-centered Shimer class circa 1967

Shimer underwent a major reorganization in 1950 when Aaron Brumbaugh assumed the presidency. He had previously been Dean of the College at the University of Chicago.[1]

In the reorganization, Shimer took on its current name, "Shimer College", for the first time.[2] Shimer again became coeducational, and adopted the Chicago "Hutchins Plan", thus becoming a Great Books school.[1][3] In the course of this transition, the requirement for a majority of Baptists on the Board was removed, although a nominal Baptist affiliation was retained for some years.[4] Shimer remained officially classified as a junior college until it was accredited as a four-year college by the North Central Association in 1959.[5]

At the same time as the reorganization, Shimer was selected together with 11 other colleges nationwide to receive a Ford Foundation grant to support an early entrance program under which high school students could enter college before graduating. The program was a success, and although the grant expired in 1955, the program was kept in place. Shimer's early entrance program continues in operation as of 2010.[6] In contrast, most other schools receiving the grant soon canceled their early entrance programs.[7]

The presidency was assumed in 1954 by a former University of Chicago professor of medicine Francis Joseph Mullin, who began an aggressive fundraising campaign that approximately tripled incoming donations to $150,000 per year.[1][7] In 1956, Shimer ceased to be affiliated with the University of Chicago.[7] Mullin sought to build "a community of scholars where intellectual inquiry is the highest value".[7]

The school faced imminent closure due to a financial and enrollment crisis leading up to the 1956-1957 school year, with enrollment still more than 50 students below the level of 200 that was considered substainable.[5] To address the crisis, Mullin recruited powerful corporate donors including General Motors executive Nelson Dezendorf.[8][5] Dezendorf subsequently became chairman of the board.[9]

In the early 1960s, Shimer gained national attention from a Time magazine article about the school highlighting its academic reputation.[1] The article cited a survey by the Harvard Educational Review that ranked Shimer as among eleven small liberal arts colleges in the United States with an "ideal intellectual climate".[10]

  1. ^ a b c d "Colleges: Unknown, Unsung & Unusual". Time. 1963-04-19.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference namechanges was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Shimer College Reorganized as Co-Educational". Chicago Daily Tribune. 1950-04-14.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mullin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c "2 Chicagoans' Gifts Save Shimer College". Chicago Daily Tribune. 1956-09-03.
  6. ^ "Admissions". Shimer.edu. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  7. ^ a b c d "Among colleges and universities professing to teach students how to think, little Shimer, 128 miles north-west of Chicago, succeeds like almost no place else". Chicago Tribune. 1965-07-25.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference bigideas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference alumdir was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ George G. Stern (1963). "Characteristics of the Intellectual Climate in College Environments". Harvard Educational Review (33): 5–41.
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