University YMCA · 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820
Visit universityymca.org[p. 82] Universities, YMCAs, Churches, Rotary Clubs and men’s organizations generally were not the same after World War II. Following the war, men searched for the meaning of their institutions. Was it possible for man to structure his institutions and his life so that future wars could be averted and so the major problems besetting mankind throughout history could be eliminated?
Many people held such hopes and they were reflected in institutions like the University YMCA. Take for example this statement to new Y Cabinet members:
“There are some who believe our responsibility this year is even more serious and challenging. Sensitive prophets of the day have intimated the depth of the problem. They suggest we are living in a time of crisis between a world that is dying and another yet to be born. The insecurity of our lives, the confusion, frustration, and cynicism which haunt nearly all are expressions of a crisis which has profound dimensions. There are many voices which seek to respond to this condition, yet students are fed up with half-way measures and replies that satisfy but half of our hunger for truth and a worthy idea for which we can live. Deep within we are aware that we need a purpose in life beyond immediate cares and worries and conventional desires. The ideal of taking a college degree, getting married and settled, having a dependable job, making lots of money is not enough. It is a timid ideal.”
Commenting about the Y during this period Dr. Robben Fleming, now President of the University of Michigan, felt that the outstanding achievement of the Y “revolved around the fact that it provided an intellectual ferment which the University needed.” It was into this ferment that Harold B. “Pete” Ingalls came as General Secretary in 1950 following the year Howard Amerman held things together as General Secretary. Philip Morgan had served as General Secretary after Henry E. Wilson’s death and until Amerman took over in 1949.
YMCAs, like churches, are no more immune to personnel problems than [p. 83] are other organizations. Among men devoted to the promotion of ideals the internal agony may be even greater. Feelings may be expressed more politely, at least for a time, and the clientele is less likely to know about dissension but the fact is that men of good will can fall out about their own roles and rights in organizations dedicated to the notion that men should not fall out about such things. The University of Illinois YMCA was no exception.
At times there were heated verbal exchanges, letters and memoranda containing accusations, explanations and justifications, and an indulgence in what to one not concerned would appear to be petty grievances. M. L. Mosher recalls that on occasion the heat generated by these activities reached the Board where members with differing viewpoints also engaged in near bitter debate. During Pete Ingalls tenure, from 1950-58, the situation worsened, leading to the resignation of some staff members and eventually to Pete’s relinquishment of the general secretaryship.
Certainly there were factors other than internal personnel problems which made the going rough during the fifties. The staff and funds available in the years after World War II shriveled. Funds were more difficult to raise. This increased the pressure on both Mic Coldwell and Pete Ingalls—not knowing whether a budget could be made, staff retained, program continued, let alone new programs developed—was enough to keep those responsible in a sober mind.
When Pete accepted the position of General Secretary in 1950, he hoped to operate within the terms of reference of a job description prepared by the personnel committee the preceding year. But the necessity of reinstituting programs which had lapsed, completing plans which had been made but not fulfilled—the Wilson Chapel and the Kaeser room, for example—and participating in the drive for funds together with program responsibility made the job a tough one. Despite this there were significant accomplishments during Pete’s eight-year tenure. The Y’s Indian which had been in abeyance, was again published. Fireside Forums were reactivated, a personnel policy was established and adopted, salary scales were increased, the international program was enlarged materially (John Price joined the staff during this period), the Wilson Memorial Chapel was completed, Carr Lounge, the Poor Memorial Library and some rooms for students were completed on the third floor, the Kaeser room was put into operation, the graduate student program was intensified, a little United Nations was instituted. Eleanor Roosevelt came as a speaker, the endowment fund was increased and a Board of Trustees was established to seek further endowment.
Announcing a new counseling program initiated during Pete’s tenure, the Y’s Indian made a compelling bid for clientele: “So you can’t study—or is it the gals who have you down? The draft, you say; and your roommate is still talking to you about brotherhood after hearing Jim Robinson? You aren’t sure about a life work, and you doubt whether you fit in the University?
“O. K.—the Y is starting a new approach to counseling that is designed for you. It will be problem centered and carried on through small groups.
“Several qualified counsellors have agreed to help. A number of groups [p. 84] will get started this month. They will deal with very real problems of very real people—the kind of problems that most of us face at some time, throwing us for a loop until we learn how to manage them. Many students—mighty fine guys—are having ups and downs these days. It’s almost abnormal to be normal, whatever that is. Just because the world is a mess is no reason you need to be one. There are resources in the Christian faith and sound counselling to help. The YMCA invites you to come in and talk with Del Wedel, John Price, or Pete Ingalls about this new program and to get into it.”
Following Pete Ingalls, J. Fred Miller became General Secretary and served until 1967. He was an able, friendly man, wise in the ways of organization and finance, liberal minded like Pete Ingalls, but less blunt in his dealings. Though he didn’t inherit Pete Ingall’s personnel problems, the financial squeeze was still on and he had to devote more time than he would have liked to raising funds. This was true despite the fact that Phil Ross, an able fund raiser, had come on the staff in 1956 and served until 1965. In a letter to Harold Reinhart, Fred stated: “When I arrived at the Y in August, 1958, there was considerable apathy on the part of students about everything—not just the Y but all kinds of organizations and over the next almost decade we saw the situation change. I think the kinds of things the Y did in those intervening years, not just program topics, but the kinds of processes and the way we worked with students and faculty in conceptualizing the problems and what to do about them stand out during this era.” Fred went on to remark that one well known professor described the Y in the mid-’60s as the University’s safety valve. The bringing together of the liberal and conservative student leaders in the early ’60s by the Y was significant. Fred remarked that he had never known a higher quality of students intellectually and otherwise than those who were at the University and involved in the Y in those years.
Late in 1967 an unusual situation arose in which Professor Bruce Larson, Board Chairman and a staunch friend of the Y, became acting executive director of the Y, serving until February 1968, when Harold Reinhart assumed the duties of executive director. There were nagging financial problems to be solved and this seemed to the Board a feasible way of tackling them.
One of the most intellectually stimulating and widely known programs of the University YMCA is the series of Faculty Forums which it has presented since 1926. A 1960 report to the Danforth Foundation by the YMCA states: “For thirty-five years the Faculty Forum has provided faculty members at the University of Illinois the opportunity to come together weekly to hear and discuss presentations of central issues of the day. Always the objective has been to probe into the religious dimensions of these issues, sometimes challenging and sometimes confirming points of view held in the University community. The Forum thus provides an unusual opportunity for influencing the life and thought of [p. 85] the University. Major concerns of the faculty determine the emphases of the program. Yet, because it is not an official part of the University, it is free to raise questions and discuss issues which would otherwise not be raised. In one sense the Faculty Forum can be said to be of the University but not bound by the University. This is a great opportunity which however demands a deep sensitivity and sense of responsibility to the University.
“Much has been said in recent years about two major problems confronting higher education—one is the inevitable specialization which modern technological culture demands leading to increasing compartmentalization of various fields of knowledge. The Faculty Forum provides an opportunity for faculty members coming from every college and department to talk together about basic issues of men and society which underlie the entire educational enterprise. The other problem is closely related—can we train not only the specialists our society needs but more basically can the University develop graduates who are aware of the problems our Democracy faces and equipped with the sensitivity and commitment to face them? Again the Faculty Forum seeks to face this challenge of personal responsibility in a democratic society.”
The religious orientation of the Forums has changed substantially. An early objective was to inspire the faculty members who were leading the Fireside Forums. An analysis of speakers appearing on the program discloses that forty-four theologians appeared during the ten-year period 1958-68, an average of four or five each year whereas only one each year appeared on the program after 1968. Compare, for example, the themes for the period 1928-39, every one of which save two contained the word “religion” or “religious” (and these two dealt with “humanism” and “Jesus and the Modern Mind”) with the themes in more recent years—“Today’s Values—Are They Adequate?” “The University’s Role,” “Military Power—the Limits of Persuasion,” “The Impact of Mass Media,” “Law and Order,” “The Environment Beyond Technology,” and “Cultural Conflict: The New American Revolution.”
In an attempt to bolster attendance, the name was changed in 1971 to “Friday Forum.” This, it was hoped, would attract more students and young faculty members. The shift from a religious emphasis to one of general social concern was evident after World War II. One of the most challenging series, for example, was held in 1947 under the theme “The Design of Democracy.” The series was opened by President Stoddard, who under the title “Democracy as Viewed From Abroad,” related his impressions as a member of the United States Education Commission to Japan. Gerald Bailey, Director of the British National Peace Council, spoke on “The Design of Democracy in Britain.” He ventured that without peace, democracy is doomed. Professor George Goble, who wrote a book entitled “The Design of Democracy,” enumerated some essentials for a democratic society and said, “No divine stamp of approval has been placed upon the customs, manners, or ideas of any group of people.” Grove Patterson, Editor of the Toledo Blade, spoke on “America and the One World.” He said that we must preserve idealism. Arthur Compton, Chancellor of Washington [p. 86] University, spoke on “Democracy in Crisis.” Dr. T. Z. Koo, Secretary of the World Student Christian Federation, spoke on the outlook for democracy in China. He thought the outlook was good under Chiang Kai-Shek—if the Communists didn’t intervene!
Besides presenting challenging themes and stimulating discussion leaders, the Forums have been a meeting place for people of diverse faiths and a wide range of professional and academic callings. An important feature has been the question and answer session following each presentation. The time schedule for the speaker and the physical arrangement of those in attendance have been conducive to an unusually vigorous participation in this part of the program, in some instances producing the most stimulating part of the presentation.
The success of the Forums has been due in no small degree to the able membership and hard work of the Faculty Forum Committee. Without exception this committee has annually attracted as members some of the University’s best talent.
In 1947 as a part of the Y program Norman Bitterman took the lead in forming a club for young faculty members. Membership was by invitation and was limited to men not over thirty-five. Meetings were bi-weekly for luncheon. The program consisted of informal talks by club members or guest speakers followed by discussion. Besides the fellowship which these meetings afforded the purposes stated were: “To provide a means of exchange of ideas relating to the work of various groups on the campus; to provide a means of exchange of ideas relating to world affairs; to further the general purposes and ideals of the University YMCA.”
Norman Bitterman was the first chairman, Bernard Hanley and Francis Weeks comprised the membership committee, and L. A. Hellmer and W. N. Stevenson, the program committee. In 1948 Roy Beckett from Mechanical Engineering was President, J. Nelson Young from Law was Vice President, and Joe Mutti from Agricultural Economics was Secretary. Bill Black from the University YMCA staff met with the group. Other charter members included Richard Dewey, Sociology; Fred Francis, Animal Husbandry; Dean Leeper from the Wesley Foundation; Don Paden, Economics; Hugh Sargent, Business English; Harry Wetenkamp, T & AM; and Clyde Work, T & AM. Though the program was a good one it phased out in a few years to be revived again for another short run in 1962, this time persisting until 1966. Both of these efforts were spurred by the Faculty Forum and the success it experienced. Perhaps one of the reasons these efforts faded was the feeling that there was some duplication, especially since most of the members of the Young Men’s Faculty Club were regular attendants at Faculty Forum. Also, young men after awhile become old men; unless the members are replaced, any organization of young men is automatically extinguished.
[p. 87] In 1950 Mrs. Albert F. Kaeser, class of ’00, of Highland, Illinois, and her daughter, Mrs. Vernon W. Piper, class of ’37 of St. Louis, made a gift in memory of their husband and father, Dr. Albert F. Kaeser, classes of ’98 and ’01, himself a generous benefactor of the University and of the YMCA. The purpose of the gift was to equip the north part of the Y basement as a snack and luncheon counter with booths, tables, and a decor conducive to relaxation, meeting friends, studying between classes or conducting informal forums or committee meetings. Featured in the Kaeser room are a life-size portrait of Lester Leutwiler, class of ’29, costumed as the original Chief Illiniwek and modernistic murals of Indian scenes by Robert J. Wilbert, class of ’51.
At the time the Kaeser room was completed a basement office and equipment room, meeting room, powder room, and photographic dark room were completed with gifts from Chicago friends who contributed to the stabilization fund. Official dedication of the Kaeser Room was held in Latzer Hall on October 7, 1951, with Paul Van Arsdell, Chairman of the Board, acting as toastmaster. The principal address was delivered by Carl R. Gray, ’11, Head of the Veterans Administration. The room was opened for use in July, 1951.
In 1961 the south basement room adjoining the Kaeser Room was completed and opened for dining and meetings.
Perhaps it is not surprising that those who have undergirded the professional employees in the University YMCA have been ardent believers in the ideals of the Y and have demonstrated a loyalty which, like that of the professionals, bears no relationship to their salaries and compensation. Just as the Y has been able to attract the highest type of men for its secretarial positions, so has it been able to attract the highest type of women and men to run the office, keep the books, maintain records, supply students and staff with needed information, and operate the food service.
Outstanding among such employees was Miss Gertrude Wahl. Miss Wahl, a lifetime resident of Champaign-Urbana, was born in 1883 and was graduated from Urbana High School and Browns Business College. Immediately after graduation from business college in 1904 she commenced working for the Y as an office girl at $7 a week. The Y was then in Curry Cottage. For fifty-four years she shared its fortunes, following it from one location to another and serving under ten general secretaries. Miss Wahl was a meticulous worker and a perfectionist with regard to her job. Everything had to be right. It was this kind of service that caused Harold Ingalls, General Secretary at the time of her retirement in 1958, to say: “I have felt more than once that those of us who meet the public, particularly the Board of Directors and the Trustees, are made to look better than we are because of the fine help we have from the women who do [p. 88] such a large amount of our work. I have never felt ill at ease going before the Finance Committee, the Board, or the Trustees with matters related to our budget or endowment because I have always known that your figures would be accurate and that I could count on that.
“Your leaving the University YMCA is in one sense like the end of an epoch—you have seen the organization grow from a very small and inconspicuous one to the outstanding student YMCA in the world with one of the finest buildings, largest staff, biggest budget, and outstanding programs. You have been more than office secretary or cashier during these years; you have been a kind of stabilizer and source of strength to all of us who have leaned so heavily upon you.”
Upon the completion of fifty years of service by Miss Wahl a dinner was held honoring her—125 persons attended. Paul Van Arsdell, former Chairman of the Board, presided. M. L. Mosher, Dean C. M. Thompson, Pete Ingalls, and John Cribbett made remarks about Miss Wahl’s period of service with the Y. When Miss Wahl died at the age of eighty-seven on January 2, 1971, many of the Y’s leaders paid tribute to her. A room on the second floor of the Y is named for her.
Violet Evangeline Armstrong, known to her friends as Eva, came on the staff as a young woman in 1925. She was a close friend of Gertrude Wahl and like her believed in the ideals of the Y and in work well done. She was Henry Wilson’s secretary, remaining on the staff after his death until 1952 when at the age of forty-seven she died of a ruptured appendix.
Eileen Jeffers, another loyal helper of the Gertrude Wahl and Eva Armstrong type, served on the staff from 1949 to 1958.
Fred and Otha Witwer were more than caterers for the University of Illinois YMCA—though this was their official function for seventeen years from 1945 to 1962. Some idea of what Fred and Otha meant to the literally hundreds of students who worked for them in the catering service is gained from a letter to Fred Miller from Frank Millspaugh, one of Fred Witwer’s student helpers: “Phil tells me that Fred is retiring after years of handling our catering service. No one recognizes more than I the tremendous loss this is to your organization. Even more important than his efficient service as caterer, the personal concern he felt and the attention he paid to the welfare and progress of the students working for him will be deeply missed by all of us who benefited from it.” Besides handling the catering job and handling it well, Fred and Otha cooperated with John Price and foreign student groups in the preparation of national dishes for their meetings though this many times made for a tight schedule in getting the next meal prepared.
Fred and Otha lived at 1111 South Fourth Street just across from the University Armory on what might be called a student thoroughfare. Their home became literally a part of this thoroughfare since both of them liked students and were always doing something for their student neighbors and others they found to be in need. They hired large numbers of black students to work in the catering service, loaned money to those in need, provided temporary housing [p. 89] until they could get located, and in fact were more progressive than the Y itself in the area of race relations. They maintained the same open-door policy with regard to foreign students, many of whom were employed and befriended by them. When they retired in 1962 it was not like the YMCA losing a catering service; it was more like the YMCA losing part of its program.
Following the opening of the Kaeser Room a manager had to be hired. On the recommendation of Fred Witwer, Pete Ingalls employed Mrs. Violet Josephine Barnes. She managed the Kaeser Room for more than ten years until her sudden death following a day of work on May 10, 1963. The kind of service rendered by Vi Barnes is described in a memorial statement prepared by Fred Miller: “The Kaeser Room and the YMCA were strangers to her when Fred Witwer recommended her for the position of manager of the Kaeser Room. It had been in operation about a year and a half and was a losing proposition when she took charge. She accepted the challenge of what at that time appeared to be an unpromising venture. A decade later she was extremely proud of an enterprise that had nearly doubled its gross income under her leadership and represented an important part of the total services of the Association.
“Mrs. Barnes will long be remembered for her many fine qualities and excellent skills. She was devoted to her employees and vitally interested in their welfare. She possessed tremendous energy. Her most common expression in the face of tasks to be assumed was “We’ll do it!’”
The nonprofessional staff are today the same kind of dedicated, helpful people which it has been the good fortune of the Y to have from the beginning. Though obviously none of them can match Miss Wahl’s period of service, the tenure of the most recently employed, Lolita Rine, is more than five years. Alberta Marshky has been in the office since 1963 and Martha Swisher, “Marty” to the daily round of people who seek all kinds of information from her, has been on the staff since 1957. There is a certain friendliness and exuberance about the Y office resulting from the attitudes which these three take toward their work and toward the people with whom they deal.
Mel Schriefer has been looking after the “housekeeping” in the building since 1962. He, like the others, is not a “short termer”—further evidence that the Y has been able to attract good people sympathetic with its activities and willing to deliver 100% though there may be greener pastures elsewhere.
The independence of the University YMCA from the University of Illinois, financially and otherwise, has been one of its strongest assets. YMCAs which relied on university resources either in terms of building or funds or both have faded from the scene at a rapid rate. Because of its independence, because of its location, and because of its remarkable leadership, both staff and student, the University Y has responded with action to social problems which within the [p. 90] University could only be discussed. It has also responded to problems which the University either didn’t see or chose to sidestep—until it became obvious that the Y had something needed—aid in student employment, housing assistance, and a foreign student’s program, for example. While in recent years the University has been pressured to respond to problems, the Y has evolved its own response. The pressures on it were self-generated.
Members of the University faculty and of its administration have from the very beginning appreciated the strategic position of the Y, participated in its programs, and have lauded its objectives and performance. Faculty members have rendered signal service as Board members and as committee members and chairmen.
Concrete recognition of the Y’s position regarding the University has existed until recently in the Y’s privilege to use the University mail service. Less concrete, but more helpful in the long run, have been the expressions of University Presidents regarding the Y. Without exception they have praised its programs and at one time or another have appeared either on Faculty Forum or at some special occasion such as a dedication. Regent Gregory, a devout man himself, gave the early organization many boosts including building space, his good will and personal contributions. Speaking in 1903, President Andrew Sloan Draper said: “The Young Men’s Christian Association, comprised of students of the University of Illinois, is a strong and energetic organization. It is of more help than I can express to the University administration and to the students. It not only has my sincere consideration but my warmest thanks for all it does.”
In 1903 the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois inserted in its minutes an official appreciation of the Y and its meaning to the University. On many occasions President James echoed the sentiments of his predecessors regarding the Y.
President Kinley, more than any other president, spoke often and feelingly about the Y. He appeared on its programs, contributed statements to brochures and promotional materials, and facilitated the drive for contributions from faculty members. Among other things he said: “There can be no complete education without religious training. Education is primarily the development of character which is the result of training and moral standards and since religious belief is the basis of moral standards, it follows that religious training is a necessary part of a complete education. The University encourages the YMCA as a quasi official organization to promote those religious ideals that inspire worthy living. . . . I count always upon the YMCA as an ally in every effort for the best things in the life of the University.”
But Kinley believed that the Y should “keep its place” and that there was no cause for jealousy between it and the University. In 1905 while still Dean of Literature and Arts he discussed the relationship of the YMCA to the University. The Daily Illini reported his remarks substantially as follows:
“The Association is not authoritative. It should recognize the superiority of the University Administration.
[p. 91] The Faculty stands ready to endorse the good work.
The Association is a great force in aiding discipline.
The reputation of the University is in the hands of the student body. Keep the social life refined.
The two Associations set standards of student conduct.
They aid students in getting adjusted, finding work and in other ways.
The Association should not think it amiss if other forces enter in and do the things it has been doing. What the Association works for is results, and whenever better results are obtained the Association should bid Godspeed.”
This last statement invites one to read between the lines. It suggests that the Y leadership may have been piqued about the University taking over one of its programs. But Kinley simply echoed the philosophy which the Y itself has maintained at least since 1916 when Chief Wilson came on the scene—namely that if the University is willing to take over a program started by the Y, well and good, and the Y can then use its resources to fulfill some other student need.
Presidents Chase, Willard, Stoddard, Morey, Henry, Corbally and Chancellor Peltason all have recognized the significant role of the Y as an independent adjunct to the University and have at times appeared on its forums and other programs.
University YMCAs themselves have given much thought to their relationship with the University. In a statement entitled “Principles Applicable to Organization and Cooperation in Large University Centers” are the following significant comments: “Mutual respect and understanding are necessary to mutual cooperation.” “Any plan should conserve the values involved in related agencies and in past experience.” “Local University constituencies have the right to determine the place various agencies should occupy in the community.” “Any united program must be based on student need.” “The program should be growing and cumulative, integrated with the entire educational process but independent enough to be critical and creative.”
While the University Y has taken stands on many issues, and certainly its student leadership has been quite outspoken on some, as an organization it has not chosen to confront the University with its views. Its stance has been that it works with individuals attempting to help mold their character and lives; it does not attempt to mold the character of the University of Illinois in an institutional sense. But its membership is very much involved in such endeavors. In speaking of the place of the University YMCA on the campus, Henry Wilson said: “The assumption on the part of the individual man of this responsibility for Christian standards in rooming houses, fraternity houses, campus politics, classrooms or athletics is the vital expression of the Association’s purpose.”
The running controversy between segments of the University community and church foundations regarding credit for religion courses has not plagued the Y. It has never offered credit courses in religion. But the Y is and always has been concerned about the stance of the University regarding the education [p. 92] of the “whole man.” The compartmentalization of knowledge, the impersonality inherent in dealing with large numbers, the preoccupation of University staff members with research, public relations, internal politics and problems—with all kinds of things other than students—and the nature of scientific inquiry itself seem to preclude the University from doing the thing the Y conceives as being essential. Ed Nestingen describes the dilemma very well: “The basic question seems to be: To what extent can and shall the University encourage students to a greater and deeper awareness of fundamental values by which they can live and which give guidance for a sound social and world order? In the fierce international ideological political and economic battles of the day, this is not an idle or theoretical question. The great ideas of Western culture flow from two major sources: The Hellenistic-humanistic stream and the Judeo-Christian stream. Of both these sources and their present day expressions, many (if not most) students are only vaguely informed. To change the metaphor, our society has been referred to as a “cut flower” culture—the creative roots of the central values of our society are no longer deeply felt by many. This challenge to recapture the thrill and meaning of these great “well springs” of personal and social creativity is properly a challenge to place before the university.”
No statement about YMCA-University relations would be complete without reference to the remarkable input of leadership and manpower which has come from the faculty of the University. They have figured and continue to figure in virtually every YMCA endeavor, whether it be Faculty Forum, functioning of the Y Board, Freshman Camp or fund raising. Deans, department heads, teachers, research workers and University administrative personnel from all colleges have been involved. Over the years the College of Agriculture has become a stronghold of Y support. In 1953 six College of Agriculture faculty members—H. C. M. Case, Franklin Reiss, Dean J. C. Blair, M. L. Mosher, Charles L. Stewart, and Emil Lehmann—were honored for a total of 100 years service to the Y.
By 1920 ten religious denominations had made special efforts to provide facilities for the accommodation of students. The majority employed one or more student pastors and were erecting or planning to erect student churches in the vicinity of the University. The Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Christian churches maintained dormitories for the accommodation of young women. Trinity Methodist was in the process of erecting the Wesley Foundation as a social and religious center for all students of that faith. Its pastor, James C. Baker, had founded the first student foundation in the United States in 1913 at Illinois. Other faiths had student organizations—the Bushnell Guild of the Congregational Church, the Bethany Circle of the Christian Church, the Christian Science Society, the Seymour (Episcopalian), the Catholic Student’s Association.
The University YMCA, having been organized before any of the church groups were established on the campus, was in an excellent position to guide, [p. 93] cooperate with, foster and at the same time preserve its own unique place as a campus-wide religious organization. By 1921, however, a strong program was under way in the Wesley Foundation, and it and the Y share some credit for fostering the establishment of Hillel and Newman Foundations. The Wesley Foundation became the meeting place for foreign students, an activity which within a few years was largely shifted to the YMCA. Commenting on this, Reverend Paul Burt stated that the YMCA had a religious “neutrality” that appealed more to foreign students. Along with the move of the foreign students to the YMCA as their center came Melville T. Kennedy who had himself been a missionary in India. Chief Wilson brought him to the staff in 1925 to take charge of the foreign student program.
Though at times there was some competition for leadership between foundations and the Y and some differences of opinion about which organization should foster a particular program, relations have always been friendly and cooperative. When he spoke on the campus in 1925, Harry Emmerson Fosdick said: “No American college campus is equal to Illinois in the spirit and friendly cooperation between the student body and religious organizations.”
A 1929 YMCA Cabinet manual stated: “The relation between religious forces at the University of Illinois has been one of mutual helpfulness. For many years there has been an organized expression of this spirit in the form of a religious worker’s association, the membership of which consists of those employed by the student Christian associations and student churches. This group counsels together in regard to matters which are of common interest in order that there may be full cooperation. Visitors continually comment on this warm cordiality and throughout the country one hears references to our situation as one to be observed as exemplary.”
As early as 1923 the Religious Worker’s Association formulated a statement about the place of the YMCA and the YWCA in relation to the churches. These principles were later reaffirmed. Basically they pointed out that the YMCA and YWCA were campus-wide organizations, autonomous, and student controlled with freedom to deal with all student groups as units. They also pointed to the fact that the Y was free from ecclesiastical control and could more speedily and effectively accomplish certain common tasks. It could deal with the University with regard to religious programs, could offer a united approach to nonpreference students and students from abroad and could serve as an agency for initiating and correlating action among all of the religious groups.
All the credit for cooperative relations must not be attributed to the Y. Over the years there have been a number of truly outstanding ministers heading up the campus churches and religious foundations. Among them were Dr. James C. Baker, Wesley Foundation, Reverend Stephen Fisher of the University Place Church, Dr. John A. O’Brien of St. John’s Catholic and Newman Foundation, Dr. J. Walter Malone and James R. Hine of McKinley Presbyterian Foundation, Reverend Paul Burt of Wesley Foundation, and Rabbi Benjamin Frankel and Rabbi Abraham Sachar of Hillel. On the 70th anniversary of the University YMCA [p. 94] Dr. Sachar in appreciation of the help which the YMCA had given his organization presented the Y with a portrait of George Williams, founder of the YMCA movement.
Reverend Edward J. Duncan, Director of the Newman Foundation, recalled that relations between the Foundation and the YMCA had always been cordial. Father Duncan participated in the Fireside Forums and appeared as a speaker on Faculty Forum. He feels that the Y was a medium for fostering many good activities, mentioning particularly the impetus it gave the Religious Worker’s Association and the development of an outstanding International Student’s Program. He pointed out that the Y could do things which individual church foundations could not. Reverend Ray Eissfeldt of the Lutheran Chapel expressed similar views and mentioned some of the more recent programs sponsored by the Y—such as Earth Week.
“The YMCA has entered the arena of the 1970s with a diversity and uniqueness of program thrust. Face lifting and experimenting capture the spirit of the re-evaluation and re-direction of older traditional programs and the inception of new dynamically creative ventures for 1970 and the decade.” Thus the Y’s Indian in May, 1971, commented on the new look in the Y. It also commented on the need for a new approach to the development of leadership: “the traditional understanding of what makes a good leader and of the role he plays in any organization is being severely challenged both in theory and practice. . . . Student leaders struggled with amorphousness of the YMCA bureaucracy and decision making while at the same time neglecting to organize student support and action in regard to membership and fund raising. We sought power and legitimacy as leaders in a structure which was and is basically pluralistic and diffused in nature.”
It is to the great credit of the Y that while its members and officers struggled with the problems of internal organization, leadership, and meaning, it earned the reputation through its programs of being the intellectual center of the campus. In writing about the Y in the ’50s, a time when there was great unease about social wrongs in the country and a mounting feeling about racial injustice and inequality, Ed Nestingen pointed out that during this period the YMCA became the center of an effort to get campus barber shops to cut the hair of blacks and to get restaurants and student housing facilities, including fraternities, open to blacks. He said: “This emphasis on Christianity in action on social structures was a significant change from the ’30s and ’40s. Among other things the widespread contacts with the fraternities and independent houses changed and participation and membership became smaller and more on the basis of personal conviction.
Early in the 1960s the structures of a new undergraduate program emerged. Freshman Conference was resuscitated and grew to more than 400 participants annually, Faculty Forum was raised to a new level of respect and participation, [p. 95] the PAL Program was commenced, student forums attracted large audiences and, quoting Ed Nestingen, “The great debates were conceived and orbited amid a campus mood of expectant excitement.” In November, 1960, the Daily Illini editorialized: “Our crowded campus is made up of many small groups all coming together to form an actually nonexistent social community called the University. We live in what must be called a conservative climate. Local politics are certainly conservative and the University administration is cautious sometimes almost beyond belief. In this atmosphere of timidity and red tape the YMCA each year sponsors programs designed not to exercise the mind with routine but to stretch it with the new and sometimes unorthodox. The Y also has a policy of allowing any organization to hold meetings on its premises which brings a seemingly odd assortment of groups under one roof. But nonetheless this is certainly a healthy meeting place unavailable elsewhere. In the past month the YMCA has sponsored such speakers as Paul Tillich, William Graham Kohn and Huston Smith. Non-Y speakers have ranged from a Fundamentalist minister to Dr. Leo Koch.”
Editorializing again on behalf of the Y’s membership campaign in 1962 the Illini pointed out that “The search for meaning is often confused and directionless. The student, buffeted by classes, homework, grade point averages, sleepless nights of cramming and deadlines is often unable to direct his extracurricular life into important areas. One of the campus organizations most capable of providing this channel is the University YMCA.”
The Y responded to the University’s ban on political speakers by permitting them to use its facilities. In some cases loudspeakers from the Y side of Wright Street blasted the forbidden message across the street to the campus.
Many such speeches were given in the Y in 1962 when Bill Sommerschield was President. He and Roger Ebert promoted a series of six debates on major issues of United States foreign policy.
It should be noted that the “open door” policy of the Y did not commence in recent times. In 1895 students interested in the formation of a Republican Club met in the YMCA room. As early as 1906 the Y programmed Dr. Winfield Scott Hall of Northwestern University to speak on the delicate subject of sex hygiene. It is not surprising that in some quarters the Y was roundly criticized for this venture. It is somewhat more surprising but certainly not unbelievable that in 1960 it was again criticized by some of its own members when it conducted a series on sex education—“Let’s don’t mention sex. Let’s say men-women relations.”
But the Y is accustomed to criticism. There is usually a Board member or two who is critical of any innovation stemming from the younger generation and a small segment of the local community continues to be critical and suspicious that the Y is harboring Communists. If the day ever dawns when the Y has no critics, it should really become concerned about its program and its meaning.
Lest we conclude that Christian social action within the YMCA is a thing of recent origin, let us remember that such action was a very important part of the plan of George Williams and his associates when they formed the first YMCA in London in 1844. That early YMCA fought for and obtained better living and [p. 96] working conditions and shorter hours for the clerks of London mercantile establishments. Major social issues have always been a concern of the YMCA—temperance, slavery, peace, world organization, racial harmony, the preservation of individual freedoms and more recently, the environment. The Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS) have become a focal point and an action agency for those interested in environmental, ecological, and conservation problems. Local drives and cleanups, canvassing for legislation, participation in legal cases against local polluters and the sponsoring of “Earth Week,” “Environmental Crisis Week—the Ultimate Pollution,” and a Conference for Life are some of its activities.
Through Spectrum, a national student YMCA and YWCA program, members of the University YMCA work in communities and cities throughout Illinois attending seminars on poverty and politics, working in day camp programs and tutoring projects, and working with leaders concerned with community issues. The PAL Program begun in 1959 is an imaginative local effort to improve racial relations and promote a friendlier community atmosphere. Members of the Y are paired with and work with a junior pal, a local grade school youngster. Parents have participated and the program has become a dynamic one. Camp-outs, musical programs, bus trips to museums and the sponsoring of a summer youth music program are part of the activities.
During the ’50s the Y Graduate Program was varied and challenging. It was sponsored by the YW and YMCA. More than 200 graduate students participated. Retreats, mixers, dinners, seminars, cooperative luncheons and folk dancing constituted part of the activities. But the Chicago Weekend Work Camps were most rewarding. The Y’s Indian described the activities of a Camp: “Several members of the Y Graduate Program are planning to participate in a Chicago Weekend Work Camp.
“Located in one of the Chicago slum areas, the work camp involves living together, working and worshipping together, and experiencing first-hand the social problems of a big city.
“The work campers work with families. They help them repair crumbling plaster walls, rat-proof homes and apartments, put fresh paint or wallpaper on dingy walls, and renovate equipment for recreation.
“Through the giving of self, the participants prove to themselves that human brotherhood is more than a respected phrase.”
The Center for Nonviolent Social Change emerged in 1970 as a result of campus unrest. The Center stresses educational and tactical strategies for dealing with crisis situations. Needless to say, it has been busy. Its activities have included weekend training sessions in nonviolent action including films on the subject, maintenance of a book center on nonviolent social change, organization of the community for an open society dealing with white racism, support of the Viet Nam Disengagement Act of 1971, a seminar on methods for social change and organization of PACT (Police and Community Together) to work on police-community relations. In 1972 after the Center endorsed candidates for the County [p. 97] Board of Supervisors it was mutually agreed that the YMCA should no longer be its sponsor. A policy of the Y adopted by the Board in 1971 precludes the Y from sponsoring or supporting groups which engage in partisan political activities.
The Y has truly become a forum for dissent. Groups unable to find a “home” in the University have found it in the Y. Furthermore, they have found kindred spirits immersed in separate but related problems. The name of the game is action and the Y supplies some of the best players.
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