World War I dominated the first years of James Morton Callahan's deanship, affecting enrollment, student life, and curriculum. WVU reached its highest enrollment to date in 1916-1917, with 2,788 students. The next year, as the total enrollment dropped by over 400, the biggest drop within the various colleges (397 down to 301) occurred in Arts and Sciences. President Trotter assured everyone that "This is as it should be; indeed, we would be ashamed to have it otherwise." By the summer of 1918, over 800 students and graduates had entered the military service.
The origins of several units currently in the University can be traced directly to the College of Arts and Sciences. For example, in 1926 the State Board of Education initiated an order to establish the College of Education, to be carved our of Arts and Sciences' Department of Education. The following year, the Board created the Department of Journalism out of the English Department, still within Arts and Sciences, with Perley Issac Reed serving as Chair.
Campus facilities began to expand during this period. In 1918, President Trotter, looking forward to the expansion of the University, began to negotiate for the land former geology professor I.C. White owned on the edge of campus. WVU's Agricultural Building (now Oglebay Hall) opened in 1918 and Woman's Hall (now Stalnaker) was completed that same year to house 100 women. Construction of the new chemistry building, now know as Clark Hall, began in 1923 and was completed in 1925.
In 1928, Wilson Powell Shortidge became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. A year later, the stock market crashed, initiating a series of events that severely test WVU's ability to offer a quality education. In the early 1930s, liberal arts colleges were searching for a new mission in a changing society. Art and Sciences had graduate courses dating back in the 1890s, but in the early 1930s a more structured graduate school program was put in place, bringing back the idea of graduate fellowships that President Raymond had championed decades before. The Graduate School officially began in 1930 and, within two years, attracted almost 1,200 graduate students.
Despite the University's difficulties, faculty members in Arts and Sciences found new opportunities for professional service during the Depression as federal agencies turned to WVU for "technical assistance." In 1933, the "Division of Documents," for the preservation of historical documents, was created. From this came the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, which has since provided resources for teaching, research, and service.
One of the visible effects of WWII was the drop in enrollment from 2,918 to 2,618 by the fall of 1942. By 1943, with the men away at war, WVU had more women (809) than men (593) students for the first time in its history.
The year 1946 marked a time of transition for WVU. World War II had ended, and as Irvan Stewart became President of the University, he faced a record enrollment of 6,019, including 3,898 World War II veterans. Far beyond the AAUP Newsletter's prediction of a 2,000-students increase, the huge enrollment crowded WVU's classrooms and forced the University to plan for its long-term growth with the acquisition of additional land on the downtown campus, primarily to serve Arts and Sciences classes, and the land for the Evansdale Campus.
In 1947, land was purchased for a general classroom building (now Armstrong Hall), a biology building (now Brooks Hall), and a physics building (now Hodges Hall). Armstrong Hall was named for Robert Armstrong, former WVU student, faculty member, Chair of the English Department, chaplain, and acting President. Brooks Hall was named for the four Brooks brothers, all of whom had been associated with WVU and "the biological life of West Virginia." Hodges Hall was named for former President Thomas Hodges.
Armand Collett served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1952-1961. Once change in structure took place in 1956, when the Department of Geology, Mineralogy, and Geography became the Department of Geology and Geography. In 1954, in response to the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision, the West Virginia Attorney General advised that "WVU should admit any person who applied for admission, regardless of race, provided that such applicant fulfilled all of the requirements then prescribed for entry." Although WVU had already graduate its first know African American undergraduate in 1953, and its first known African American graduate student over a decade earlier, President Stewart mad a formal announcement in 1954 that WVU would admit African Americans.
Research, particularly in science and math, was stressed in the 1950s. The demand for science and math scholars skyrocketed in Arts and Sciences and across the nation, as did student interest in these disciplines.
Elvis Stahr, Jr. had a brief tenure as President from 1959 to 1961, after Stewart resigned. Under Stahr's administration, WVU made several changes, such as adopting a general education requirement for all students, which centered on Arts and Sciences' offerings.
In 1962, new President Paul Ausborn Miller had each school and college do a self-study as "a framework of change." He planned "areas where the layman and the professional would share experiences and seek to understand each other's viewpoints," and "centers for learning that would coordinate the skills and knowledge of many professions, arts, and people." The WVU Center for Appalachian Studies and Development, the Creative Arts Center, the Institute of Biological Sciences, and the Regional Research Institute were some of the new interdisciplinary efforts.
During this period, the University began recruiting more international and out-of-state students to create "a cosmopolitan educational atmosphere," and the first know African American faculty member, Victorine Louistall-Monroe, returned to her alma mater to teach library science in 1966.
Major restructuring took place in the University that affected Arts and Sciences. In 1963-64, for instance, the Department of Foreign Languages was formed, bringing together classics, German, and romance Languages. The math department expanded to become the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy. The Department of Philosophy and Religion was formed in 1963 and by the summer of 1964 there was a separate Department of Psychology.
In 1970, John C. Wright became Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1972, the building that once housed the science labs, Science Hall, was renamed in honor of Oliver Perry Chitwood, long-time professor of history. The Department of Statistics and Computer Science was first listed in the catalogue-yet another example of the flexibility of the College's offerings. University-wide, students and faculty witnessed the new PRT system open in 1972; it would eventually link the downtown and Evansdale campuses with the Medical Center campus.
Departments in the College of Arts and Sciences began to stress environmental protection. Geology, in 1975-76, offered environmental geo-science at the master's degree level. Chemistry, in 1979-80, offered a new course in environmental chemistry, while psychology offered one in environmental psychology.
The most visible technology change in the College during these years was the introduction of computers to all aspects of the College's work. In 1974, faculty and students in the natural sciences, math, and computer science and statistics were most familiar with the technology, but by 1986, humanities faculty members and students were becoming knowledgeable as well. In 1974, students submitted handwritten or typed assignments; by 1986, they submitted work prepared on computers. The University provided on-campus computer centers for students, and the College provided computers for all faculty members and clerical staff.
Between 1974 and 1987 many Arts and Sciences facilities were renovated during these years, including Stansbury Hall (the former field house) to house the Departments of English and Philosophy and the Religious Studies Program; Woodburn Hall for Political Science, public administration, history, and the Office of the Dean; Chitwood Hall for foreign languages; and Clark Hall for chemistry. Elsewhere on campus, the PRT system was expanded in 1979, and the new Mountaineer Field opened in the Fall of 1980.
Gerald E. Lang, Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences since 1984, was appointed Interim Dean of the College in 1986 and Dean in 1987. During Lang's tenure, enrollment in College courses increased by one-third, awards for grants and contracts increased three-fold, computer technology was infused throughout the academic and administrative areas, and private support for College programs grew substantially. Through the College's 50 degree programs, approximately 1,100 undergraduate and 300 graduate degrees are awarded each year.
In July 1, 1993, the name of the College of Arts and Sciences was changed to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences to recognize and commemorate the generosity of the Eberly family, the Eberly Foundation, and the Eberly Family Charitable Trust. This significant accomplishment was made possible through "The Campaign for West Virginia University," a University-wide fund raising activity.
This history of the Eberly College was originally published in the January 1996 edition of the Arts and Sciences Newsletter. The text for that special edition was prepared by Dr. Barbara J. Howe, director of the Center for Women's Studies.