The Regents Build a University: Bids, Boilers, and a Summer School for Teachers
Meeting at the old university building, the Board of Regents orders construction bids for a powerhouse and sanitary works, greenlights a summer institute for public-school teachers, and dances around the question everyone is asking — who will run the university?
The board of regents of the University of Washington was in session at the old university building yesterday. There were present John F. Dowy, B. F. Heuston of Tacoma, E. B. Strickland of Spokane, William D. Wood, and David [Kellogg], and Charles Hiller and James H. [Hazard] of Seattle. The principal business before the board was the consideration of plans and specifications for additional work to be done upon the new buildings and grounds at the terminus of the university year. It was ordered to advertise for bids for the following work: a power house and boiler, chimney and pipe line for the heat and water plant, and for the erection of a sanitary building and the removal of infirmary equipment from the old observatory to the new one. It was also ordered that the architect submit designs and prices for furniture and fixtures for the main building.
The teachers of a number of the public schools, and also a few of the members of the university faculty, are to hold a summer school from July 8 to August 10. It will be in the nature of a teachers' institute, with the difference that the work arrived at will be in classes and more systematic than the ordinary institute. Among the branches to be taught will be pedagogy, language, special subjects of drawing, penmanship, physical culture and music. The summer school has elected as principal A. B. Taylor, of the South School. These teachers presented application to the regents for the use of the old university building, stating that among the objects of the school will be the fitting of teachers to participate in their customary examinations, and also to fit prospective students for the entrance examinations at the university. The board was very anxious to co-operate with the work outlined, and concluded to place the old building and apparatus at the service of the teachers for this especial purpose at a very moderate rental.
The board then considered what has been quite a vexed question for some time, namely, the new position of the university. The committee on instruction submitted a preliminary report on this subject, but the board, finding that it could not arrive at definite conclusions, referred the matter to the executive committee for further consideration. Considerable time was consumed in the consideration of vouchers and reports of officers rendered since the last meeting, and the board then adjourned until April 29 at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, at which time the regents will pass upon claims for labor and material furnished on the new building during the present month.
Yesterday Mr. Strickland, of Tacoma, and Mr. Heuston, of Tacoma, accompanied by Edmond S. Meany, secretary, went out to the new grounds and inspected the buildings in course of construction and the other work in progress. They seemed well pleased with what they found there, and are encouraged over the prospects of the new institution.
“The board then considered what has been quite a vexed question for some time, namely, the new position of the university.”
In 1895 the University of Washington was still a struggling young institution, meeting in borrowed rooms downtown while its new campus rose to the north. The regents haggling over boilers, bids and the search for a president rhyme with every modern university's building campaign and leadership scramble — and the summer institute for public-school teachers anticipates today's pipeline of teacher training that the UW still anchors.
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