Blast from the Past

On the front page of every issue The Vanguard prints, the phrase “Serving USA Since 1965” appears.

While that’s true – the first issue of The Vanguard came out in early ’65 – this publication’s roots can be traced back to a year earlier when the University of South Alabama first opened its doors.

The first classes USA ever held were in the summer quarter of 1964, and a group of the first-ever USA students put out a newsletter titled “Summeries.”

(The editors even explained the title: “With apologies to the ‘purists’ of the language, we submit our title, a corruption of ‘summaries.’ After all, the paper did come as a climax to our first summer quarter.”)

The newsletter was only four pages long, with two columns of text on each page and absolutely no pictures. The students who put “Summeries” together were aware of its shortcomings, though: “The ‘staff’ of our summer newsletter submits this paper with all humbleness. Because of the haste with which we published it, in the middle of exams, we wish to beg the tolerance of those who find typographical, spelling, and sentence structure errors. We have tried, between studying for and attending examinations, to make a resume of the major events of the summer.”

One of the most interesting topics included in the newsletter was the state of the facilities available at the time: “Already, over 700 students have applied for admission [in the fall quarter ‘64], but the classroom and building facilities can accommodate only 600 full-time students.”

But the USA administrators had a plan: “In order to keep pace with the needs of a student body that promises to undergo a rapid expansion over the next few years, the University of South Alabama plans an extensive building program.”

The program included a $20,000 addition to “our present building,” which would add an art lab, a music lab, two practice rooms, office space for 14 faculty members, and an expanded snack bar.

The program called for the construction of a swimming pool, two dormitories, a cafeteria, a library, a gymnasium, and an additional classroom building, as well.

The program also “recognized a need for” an auditorium, a fine arts building, and a science building, though the necessary funds had not been secured at the time.

The newsletter also reported that USA sports would be starting up soon, including intramural swim meets and touch football, as well as competitions against other colleges in baseball and golf. There were already classes available involving football, swimming, and archery. (That’s right, archery.)

A student named Mac McClinton gave an interesting point-of-view of the first USA student in a piece titled “On Being First”: “Probably the best thing about the first quarter at the University of South Alabama is that it’s finished. It’s rough to be a pioneer.

“The institution got off to a nice start: the faculty never failed to look important, the grass grew well out front, and some became so confident about the stability of their relationship with the school that they were able to skip classes almost from the beginning. … “

After the ‘drop and add’ period, we could have had some of the classes in the back seat of my Volkswagen. …

“I stumbled into one of [the student government] meetings one day, but I didn’t get much from it. The girl next to me smelled very fragrant, however; and I guess if they needed me I’d have volunteered. …

“[The administration and faculty] must like us. From looking at the requirements for graduation, they want us here for a long time. …

“The job we had this quarter was not an easy one; but I have an idea that, when our foreheads become wrinkled and our heads peppered with gray, and these halls no longer smell of new floor wax and tile mastic, we’ll look back and we’ll be very proud that we were among the first at the University of South Alabama.”

There were a couple of other noteworthy tidbits: - A student government would be formally created in the fall quarter ’64: “The suggested name for the student government is ‘The University Student Association’ – thus, ‘The USA of USA.’”

- The ratio of males to females was noteworthy: “An interesting and encouraging piece of information for the female students who will be attending USA is that there will be approximately one-third more male students than female ones.”