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The University had only 264 students, and a faculty of 18. But it was an important stride. It was the only privately controlled university between St. Louis and Denver. While tax supported institutions provide useful and necessary educational services, complete freedom in study, teaching, and research is possible only in schools entirely free from political control. Those institutions are essential in maintaining private enterprise, because they guarantee freedom in study of arts, business, and the professions. Some call them "the last bulwark.,,
The founding of the University of Kansas City was made possible primarily through the generosity of one man, William Volker, and through the persistent hard work of many others.
By 1929, Mr. Volker had arranged to purchase a substantial tract of land in the Rockhill section of Kansas City, for use as a campus.
But that same year Mrs. C. B. Hewitt had given the 147-acre Meadow Lake golf course to Bishop E. L. Waldorf of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the location of a university. Bishop Waldorf commenced soliciting private subscriptions, and it looked very much as if two universities were about to spring up.
The inadvisability of such a division of effort and funds was apparent to both parties, however, and in 1930 they consolidated their holdings. It was decided to build on the ground originally obtained by Mr. Volker — a convenient location, and remarkable for great natural beauty.
The school was not ready for formal opening for three years. Then, with
ln$ J«™> 1947
a three-story former residence as the only building, and with a dozen and a half professors, enrollment was begun. No one knew what to expect. Ten students might matriculate, or a thousand. Actually, a few more than 250 came, and a half -hundred more entered the second semester.
For a few years, the hardihood of the new school was in doubt. For one thing, it took townspeople a little while to get used to the idea there was a fully-accredited four-year university right at home.
Thirty to forty percent of all graduates from Kansas City high schools go on to college. That is about twice as high as the national average. For years, the great majority of them had attended Kansas City Junior College, maintained by the public school system; or the University of Kansas, located only 45 miles away at Lawrence; or the University of Missouri at Columbia. But now it was possible for them to get a college education while living at home.
The idea began sinking in, and enrollment climbed slowly. In 1936, summer courses were offered for the first time, and nearly 300 students enrolled for those.
Meanwhile, the University was struggling to build up a sound curriculum, to assemble a good faculty, and to interest Kansas Citians in aiding the school financially. It wasn't easy going.
In 1938, Clarence R. Decker was appointed president of the University. That Fall, enrollment jumped from 1,100 to 1,500, and things started happening.
That year the Kansas City School of