Monday, June 3,1963
COMMENCEMENT
Page 3
Fred Ellsworth: KU Success
By Phil McKnight
Thirty-eight years ago, a tall, lean Kansan assumed the position of executive secretary of the University of Kansas Alumni Association.
KU was not strange to him, as he had earned his B.A. degree here with a major in journalism, in 1922. He had entered the University in 1916 as a freshman from a farm near Pleasanton, after three years' teaching experience. His college education was interrupted by two years' service during World War I as part of the famed 35th Division.
AFTER GRADUATION he managed the family farm for a short while, and then became advertising manager for the Pratt Tribune, a position he held for two and a half years before being elected to the position that he has held since 1924.
When he assumed his office, Ernest H. Lindley had been chancellor for four years, the University had fewer than 4,000 students and fewer than 10,000 alumni, Watson Library had just been completed, the campus extended no further than Marvin Hall, and the only University-owned student housing was Corbin Hall. The KU Alumni Association had only 2,700 members, an operating budget of $13,000, and assets of $2,700.
The young former college correspondent for the Kansas City Star and Lawrence Journal-World had more than enough challenge to work with. He worked well.
His work was so notable, in fact, that the record is the finest testimony to his drive and devotion to his University: today Kansas University has an enrollment of over 11,000; the University has graduated more than 50,000 students, has added more than a dozen major building complexes, (besides two complete remodelings and three buildings under construction), has extended the campus hundreds of acres to the west and beyond Iowa street, and has built housing for 3,300 students.
The Alumni Association has grown to 16,499 members, a third of them signed up for life memberships. Its operating budget is $110,000 and its assets total more than $178,000. Not all these changes can be directly attributed to him, but there is no one who deserves more credit for them than he does.
AMONG HIS outstanding achievements have been the building of the World War II Memorial Campanile and Drive, the collection of pledges that helped build the World War I Memorials — the Kansas Union and the Stadium, the development of the Alumni Magazine into an award-winning monthly publication, and the development of Commencement reunions into meetings that thousands of alumni anticipate each year.
Besides all this, he has been responsible for maintaining alumni files and addresses, for editing a quarterly alumni newsletter, for arranging alumni meetings and other gatherings, and for managing the growing affairs of the Alumni Association.
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But he has never stayed within the confines of his office, for he has always been ready to assume other duties. For a time during World War II he served as the University's News Bureau Director, working out of two offices. He has directed the Men's Student Employment Bureau, helped coordinate work on the 75th Anniversary celebration of the University, supervised the University's Planning Council, played a significant role in the development of the American Alumni Council, and through his wide acquaintances and friendships throughout the state has mustered support for the University and its programs.
From the above it should be evident that we could have been talking about only one man—Mr. KU,
Fred Ellsworth.
Fred Ellsworth
About the man who has served under four chancellors, and who was called "my boss" by one of them, Chancellor W. Clarke Wescoe said, "More than faculty and chancellors, to thousands of alumni and friends Fred Ellsworth is the University of Kansas."
On September 22, 1962, the University announced that Mr. K.U. was going to retire. But, thankfully, Mr. Ellsworth will remain on the University campus. On July 1, he will become counsel to the University Centenary Committee, which will prepare and execute the plans for the celebration of the University's 100th anniversary in 1966.
The name of Fred Ellsworth will be immortalized in the stone and mortar of one of the largest structures ever built on the KU campus. The Kansas Board of Regents has named the University's newest residence hall "Fred Ellsworth Hall." The 65-man hall is to be completed next September.
About Elsworth's new position, Dr. Wescoe said, "I am delighted that Fred has consented to accept a position of responsibility with the committee in charge of our Centenary. The University needs his knowledge of KU and alumni affairs, his experience, his enthusiasm, and his sage advice."
Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth have two sons, Stephen, who is personnel manager for the New York office of the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Co., and Robert, who is Representative from the Kansas Second District. The Ellsworths have four grandchildren.
"The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think—rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men"—Beattie
What His Friends Say
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
STATE OF KANSAS
TOPKA
May 13, 1963
JOHN ANDERSON, JR.
Corporation
It is my distinct pleasure on this occasion to extend a personal tribute to Fred Ellsworth, Secretary of the University of Kansas Alumni Association.
For thirty-eight years Mr. Ellsworth has worked, not only for the benefit of the Alumni Association, but for the everlasting good of the university and its Chancellors. He has been the good 'right arm' of four of its Chancellors. He has had a well balanced, intimate contract with student body, alumni, and business and political leaders alike. He has played a major role in the growth of a great university, from four thousand students to a student body of more than eleven thousand. During his tenure more than a dozen major buildings have been added to the university's physical plant, with three more under construction. The World War II Memorial Campanile and Drive, particularly, resulted from his untiring efforts and leadership.
I am happy that Mr. Ellsworth will continue to serve as counsel for the university's centenary committee. His retirement will be a distinct loss to the university and to the Association.
COLYDE M. BERTO
The Formal Son
Faction, Kansas
STATE OF KANSAS
BOARD OF REGENTS
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
May 9,1963
To the University Daily Kansan:
In every university there is one individual whose devotion and service make him inseparable from the institution itself. At the University of Kansas this would be Fred Ellsworth, known widely as Mr. K. U."
Officially, Fred Ellsworth has carried the title of general secretary of the University of Kansas alumni Association. Unofficially, he has been an agent-at-large, an advisor to chancellors, a rallying symbol for alumni, a friend of students and a walking store of knowledge and lore of the University.
The contributions of Fred Ellsworth to higher education extend well beyond the limits of Mount Oread; however, he has served the cause of higher education in the entire State in many ways during his long tenure at K. U. More than any other single individual, as an example, he is responsible for the present Regents' law which removed state schools from the political arena. His dedication and vision were largely instrumental in persuading the Legislature to enact this statute some 40 years ago.
The State Board of Regents took note of Fred Ellsworth's record of service when, early this year, it unanimously acted to name a new dormitory at K. U. for him. This new structure, to be known as Fred Ellsworth Hall, will be put into service soon.
As the hour of his actual retirement draws close, the Board salutes him for a job well done, many times over, and wishes the best for him in future years.
CMRISM