I was a West Texas country boy lacking in culture, with poor manners, and totally unprepared for the sophistication of college life. Of course I really didn’t know that, so I blindly proceeded onward as if I knew what I was doing. I think I probably thought Abilene Christian College was just a bigger and more advanced version of Clyde High School. It wasn’t.
When I drove from Clyde to Abilene on that September day in 1953, I later came to feel like I had crossed a culture barrier somewhere between those two places which are separated by only 15 miles on the map.
I had received a letter instructing me to report to Sewell Auditorium. When I got there, several others were sitting on the steps waiting for the building to open. Eventually about 500 of us showed up, and we went inside for a worship service. Clyde High School probably didn’t have more than 125 students from Grades 9-12. We had more than 500 in the freshman class. At that time is was the largest freshman class in the history of the school. The Korean War was ending, and veterans were returning to attend school. Many of my fellow classmates were three or four years older than me.
At that time the campus looked much different from the way it looks today. Chapel was held in Sewall Auditorium. There were three women’s dorms – Zellner, McDonald, and Mckenzie. The present administration building was there, but the two wings on the north and south were added later. The science building was just east of the ad building. The Zona Luce building housed the “demonstration school” – a private elementary and high school. Athletic events were held in Bennett Gymnasium. Mabee Dormitory for Men opened that fall. Many of the male students were still living in World War II army barracks off campus. Another World War II surplus wooden building stood just north of Mabee Dorm, about where the library is now. It was called the “Annex.” Classes were held in the Annex. The “Grill” was just south of the science building. It was the heart of social life on the campus. It housed the book store, the post office, and a short order restaurant. To the east of the Grill was the library. It was a three story building, but the cafeteria was in the basement. That’s about how it was laid out. Most of the brick buildings had been constructed in 1929 when the college moved from North First Street to “The Hill.”
After our worship service at Sewell, we were given instructions. The next two or three days we went through a battery of testing. There was no ACT or SAT testing in those days, so they put you through a battery of IQ and aptitude tests, mainly to find out if you were college material.
Today, they do a week of it, interspersed with a lot of fun activities. Our only fun activity came when we went to the “Freshman Jamboree.” The upper class had the boys stand in one line and the girls stand in another. Whoever they happened to meet became their date for that night. Mine was a bummer. I got a girl named Peggy. I’m surprised I still remember her name. We were treated to some entertainment – a couple of comedy monologues and a performance by the “Flying Cats” an acrobatic team. We were supposed to gather on the ad building steps for a devotional after that. Then you could walk your date to her dorm. I guess it wasn’t really big date, but I was looking forward to it. Just as we reached the ad building, Peggy said, “Oh, there’s my steady. I’ve got leave.” She turned loose of my hand and disappeared. I may have been a dumb farm boy from Clyde, but I never believed there was a “steady.” I didn’t see her leave with anybody. I felt rather stupid. Every boy at that devotional had a girl friend for the night except me. I couldn’t wait to get back in my car and drive home to Clyde.
That signaled the end of our “freshman orientation.”
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