Lyceum And Pioneer Literacy Society

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Last but not least, student extracurricular activities were very crucial to the development of UCO during the period of 1891 to 1918. Lyceum and Pioneer Literacy Society were the first student clubs at Central. They were a very important aspect of student life, therefore, students at Central were required to join at least one of them. There was competition in debate, writing, parliamentary skills, music and dramatic art between the two clubs and the winner could win the Regents Medal. The clubs did not only create a creative playground for students but also helped raise money for books for the school’s library. The Normal Philomath, the school first newspaper, was established in January 1897. The monthly publication discussed different activities …show more content…

Football was not the only athletic program offered at the moment. Baseball and tennis were also presented for students. In the early twentieth century, Central’s student clubs started to grow and succeed. Lyceum and Pioneer continued being the main student activities. Many new clubs were established such as Sorosis, a women’s music club, and Royal American Knights, a secret debating society. Despite the success of the Normal Philomath newspaper, the senior class of 1903 decided to publish The Vista, a monthly literary magazine, as the replacement for Normal Philomath. Until now, The Vista still remains as UCO’s longest and continually released to UCO students and the state of Oklahoma. More sports programs were engaged by students such as track and field, cycling and especially basketball. Basketball became extremely popular as the school had both women’s and men’s basketball team. Student athletics at Central earned many prizes and medals for the school. For example, David Warner brought back Central’s the first gold medal after his victory in the one-mile bicycle race at Oklahoma City in 1903. Although football was still one of the main athletic programs at Central but it was not seriously established until fall 1904 by President …show more content…

On the contrary, both men and women were included in literary societies. Big changes started from 1911, with the administration of President Evans, the eighth president of Central who focused a lot on pushing student activities, athletic and beautifying campus surroundings. With good advertisement of pictures of student activities through newspapers, the enrollment rate of summer 1912 increased by 42 percent. Sports activities became one of the main attention on campus. Sports such as baseball, tennis and track remained to be the leading sports. By 1910, UCO campus had a swimming pool and four tennis courts. One of the most important individuals that contributed so much for UCO athletic is Coach Charles Wantland. With the coaching of Wantland, Central’s basketball and football team made a lot of improvement and achieved much greatness. For instance, Central’s football team won the normal school championship in 1914. Physical education grew big at UCO and took a crucial part of women’s curriculum. Sports like basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, tennis and dancing were included in physical education program. Central’s women athletic teams brought victories for the school. Under Coach Elsa Fisher, the women basketball team won the state championship in

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