Instilling Spirit: Students and Citizenship at Washington State, 1892-1942

Through letters, reminiscences, and interviews, Instilling Spirit traces Washington State University's initial decades, offering a unique perspective on college life as it developed in the United States and the Cougar community. Like other smaller institutions, the intensely social nature of education at the new land-grant college helped kindle a patriotic, civic, and charitable spirit. A frigid January 1892 morning marked the opening day for the Agricultural College, Experimental Station and School of Science of the State of Washington. Many of the young men and women who enrolled in Pullman came from rural locales, and were extremely grateful for the opportunity. Unlike some renowned universities, the school's tumultuous early years revolved around relationships. Presidents greeted students by name. Professors were accessible, often inviting students to their homes, and a revered researcher even became the first football coach. Former pupils still give glowing accounts of their mentors. In turn, the young scholars' participation in mascot antics, the Greek system, student body politics, and the 1936 strike deeply influenced faculty and administrators. Indeed, the campus championed involvement-whether in music, sports, politics, or debate-until for the majority it became an unquestioned value essential to learning, and produced graduates that profoundly impacted a generation and beyond.