Miami Hurricane, December 17, 1952

              The Miami
Hurricane
1952
Vol. XXVII
I \ntMn <»k Miami. Coral Gables, Fla.. December 17, l‘)52
Special Memorial Edition
President Ashe
Dies At 67
Dr. Bowman Foster Ashe. University of Miami's first and only president.
Dynamic University Stands As Tribute To Founder Ashe
A great and wonderful man has died. Mere words are not enough to pay tribute to Dr. Bowman Foster Ashe.
His tribute is a dynamic university. A university of hundreds of acres and many beautiful buildings. A university born under his industrious care and dedicated to the noble service of education.
His epitaph is the future.
To those who worked with Dr. Ashe, he was the heart, the mind and the soul of the University of Miami. To those who knew him personally, he was kind, ambitious and extremely intelligent.
To his 10,000 students, he was a figurehead of progress, a fair and capable administrator and a source of inspiration.
Dr. Ashe’s university will break stride for only a short time—then it will continue to stretch and grow and progress. For this man planted the seeds deep. For 26 years he fought through debt and depression and war to build the firmest of foundations. He dedicated his life to the university.
And the University will dedicate its life to Bowman Ashe. His personality is imbedded in every rock of every building. His dreams are imprinted in every mind of every student.
Our world grew dark yesterday. Many wept, and the usually bustling campus took on a subdued tone. But Dr. Ashe’s handiwork will live after him.
A great and wonderful man has died.
No Classes Today
Due to the death of Dr. Bowman F. Ashe, U-M president, there will be no classes today.
University social functions should be cancelled today in mourning of Dr. Ashe’s death, Vice President Jay F. W. Pearson said. Intramurals and ROTC drills are officially suspended for this afternoon. Classes will resume tomorrow. The Chi Omega anniversary reception scheduled for today has been postponed to Jan. 7.
SA Expresses Sympathy
We, the members of the Student Association and senate, acting for the entire student body of the University of Miami, join Greater Miami in expressing our deepest and most sincere condolences to Mrs. Ashe and family who have suffered such a deep loss in Dr. Ashe’s passing.
We shall never forget his untiring efforts to aid and promote the general well-being of all of us, and we know that his life as well as deeds will always remain an inspiration to us.
As a tribute to a man who reached the pinnacle of greatness, we remain in mourning, and will strive to continue the work and thoughts that he has set before us all.
U-M's Founder Victim Of Thrombosis; Private Funeral Services Scheduled
Dr. Bowman Foster Ashe is dead.
The first and only president of the University of Miami died yesterday at 1:45 p.m. in Doctors hospital of a thrombosis. He was 67 years old.
Funeral services will be private. Neither time nor place has been determined.
Dr. Ashe was admitted to the hospital Nov. 7, after suffering a “cerebral accident” while having lunch with friends in a
Miami hotel.
Last Friday U-M’s president was the victim of a second stroke, which placed him on the hospital’s critical list. No announcement of this condition was made, complying with (he wishes of the family.
Before this second stroke, attending physicians hud said that his condition was improving, and that he might be able to return home in the near future.
All campus organizations or persons planning to senu ttowers have been asked to donate the money to the Ashe Administration building fund instead. The Student Association office in the Student club will be open all day today, to receive contributions for the fund.
The student senate met yesterday and voted to appropriate money for a floral gift to be sent to the funeral services trom the student body.
All flags on campus are being flown at halfmast in memory of the man who guided the University from its birth to his death.
In 26 years the dynamic educator built the University from a “Cardboard College” of less than 500 students to u modern school of 10.000 students. His linancial wizardry brought U-M through debt, a depression, a hurricane and a war.
He was born in Scottdale, Pa, on April 3, lHbvi. He was one of six sons of a Methodist minister. In his pre-college days, he tried everything from selling aluminum to operating a sheet steel punch press, for which he was paid eight cents an hour. While only 17, he was teaching school in Pennsylvania.
He studied at Mt. Union college in Ohio for two years and received a B.S. degree in economics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1912. In his spare time and on vacation ht worked in mills, banks, and as a salesman.
In 1917, Dr. Ashe married Marie Ida Rose. There are two children, Barbara and Dorothy, who is now Mrs. Eddie Dunn.
The U-M board of trustees appointed Dr. Ashe to the presidency when the school’s doors were opened in 1926. after he had served briefly as executive secretary.
The first year saw a vicious hurricane wreck the building plans. That, and other conditions, plunged the school into a $500,000 debt. In order to keep the University running, Dr. Ashe borrowed from his insurance policy to pay the salaries of the professors.
Despite this debt, the president kept the University steadily growing. An enrollment surge in the last decade boosted the school to national prominence with more than 10,000 students.
Dr. Ashe received many honors while president of U-M. He was awarded honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws from the University of Pittsburgh and from Stetson university, Doctor of Literature degrees from Florida Southern university and Mount Union college.
The citizens of Greater Miami cited him for his contributions to the area when they started a drive for a million-dollar Ashe Administration building last December.
University Has Lost Its Heart'
The University has lost its heart, ;aid Dr. John R. Berry, dean of the School of Education, in commenting on the passing of U-M President Bowman F. Ashe yester-da. "It’s too soon and too close to evaluate the loss," he added.
"We’re all shocked," said Dr. Charles Doren Tharp, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, “and for some of us who have Ix'en here for quite a while, it marks the end of a great era."
"There isn’t anything we can say . . . I’ve lost a good personal friend,” ¡aid Dr. Grover A. J. Noetzel, dean .f the School of Business Adminis-ration.
Dean Dan Steinhoff of the Eve-ling division felt that every student ind administrator had lost a per-onal friend.
Mary B. Merritt, dean of women, elt that the educational world and he entire community have suffered \ great loss . . ."He was a great cholar, a fine gentleman and a great iouI.”
“The loss of Dr. Ashe to the University is inestimable . . . I’ve mown him for 21 years and the loss will greatly affect the University and -■specially those who knew him,” saiil John Henry Clouse, dean of the School of Engineering.
Dr. Thurston Adams, director of itudent activities, like many others could only say: “No words express he loss . . . I cannot put it into words.”
The death of the U-M president vas compared to the loss of a father iy John J. Harding, director of ath-etics. "We all feel that Dr. Ashe was more than a president . . . We eel like we have lost our father," :aid Harding.
Local officials were also saddened >y the loss of Dr. Ashe. “In the pass-ng of Dr. Ashe, the community has ¡uffered an irreparable loss. The Jniversity of Miami will stand as a iving memorial to him," said Chel-iie J. Senerchia, mayor of Miami.
“It has come as a great shock to me to see our beloved president rass away so suddenly . . . His principles and accomplishments will always live in our hearts,” said Fritz Hichter, president of the Student Association, in expressing the student’s general reaction.
“The University has lost in Dr. Ashe a man of exceptional talent, who in 25 years has contributed more to the cultural, social and educational development of Dade County, than any one else in this area, said Frank Smathers Jr., president of the Alumni association.
"We feel that his initiative imagination, courage and ability will continue for many years to be an inspiration to others who will all miss him more than we can ever say,” said David H. Hendricks Jr., mayor of Coral Gables.