AGB History final highres - March/April 2021 - ABG18

AGB's th Birthday
" An Unlikely Story " (Part I)
BY J.L. ZWINGLE, 1981

of the committee was held at
the University Club of Chicago on November 3, 1921,
the constitution discussed and
adopted, and the " Association
of Governing Boards of State
Universities and Allied Institu(eight from the University
tions " was born.
of Michigan), 10 university
The new association held its
presidents, and a reprefirst general session two years
sentative of the Bureau of
later, in connection with the
J.L. Zwingle
Education in Washington.
annual meeting of the Associa(This gentleman, George
tion of State Universities at the
F. Zook, became the founding president
Auditorium Hotel in Chicago, November
of the American Council on Education.)
12-13, 1923. The constitution was ratified
President Sommers of the University of
and a slate of officers was elected, listed as
Minnesota and Regent Hammond of the
follows in the " Proceedings " :
University of Wisconsin read papers on,
President, J.W. Fesler, Trustee, Indiana
respectively, " The Salary Problem " and
University; Vice Presidents, A. Wagner,
" Student Fees and Tuition Charges, " both
Regent of Education, South Dakota; Bee
of which were published as part of the
King, Trustee, University of Colleges of
record of the inauguration.
Mississippi; Secretary and Treasurer, D.W.
But discussion also arose about the need
Springer, Auditor, University of Michifor exchange of information among trustees
gan; Executive Committee, F.A. Holliday,
and regents of state universities. A committee
Trustee, University of Wyoming; J.W.
was appointed, which met and reported favor- Barnes, Board of Control, West Virginia
ably; and a permanent chairman was elected
University; Anna B. Lawther, Iowa State
in the person of Regent Junius Beal of the
Board of Education.
University of Michigan.
The first program of the Association
consisted of four papers, each dealing with
some part of the general topic, " What the
AGB is Born
University Can Do for the State. " InterestUnder the committees' leadership a coningly, along with agriculture and commerce,
stitution for a permanent organization
one of the topics concerned the question of
was drawn up, establishing purpose and
religion. Very likely this early inclusion had
defining membership and establishing a
something to do with the lingering accusastructure of president, two vice presidents,
tion that the state universities were " godless "
a secretary and a treasurer. The president,
institutions, an attitude fostered largely by
vice president and treasurer were joined
the supporters of church-related institutions
by three members to be elected at large to
which (quite rightly) were feeling threatened
form the executive committee. A meeting

t is an unlikely story. AGB in 1981 quietly acknowledging its 60th anniversary. Can it be true? AGB is still a newcomer among the recognized
educational organizations. True, its membership today includes 975
boards, representing almost 1,500 institutions, and has a mailing list of
24,000 trustees/regents/visitors/curators, and those of still other nomenclature. Its total annual budget now exceeds one million dollars.

But consider: ten years ago its membership amounted to 350 boards and 8,000
individuals. Ten years before that, in 1961,
the membership totaled 82 boards and 1,800
individuals, and the budget amounted to
$38,932.

It's Been a Three-act Play
There are three major episodes in the history
of AGB. The first forty years make up one
story; the fifth decade another kind of story;
and the sixth decade still another. The big
chance was first of all a change in concept,
beginning around 1960 and culminating in
the opening of the Washington headquarters
in 1964. The question in 1964 was whether
the concept would win acceptance. It was
still a question in 1966, even in 1968. The
answer to the question came in two parts:
membership and money. But first, back to the
beginning.
Information about the genesis of AGB
is limited to the first published Proceedings of the Association. This slender document, dated 1923, carries a tantalizing
brief account of a preliminary meeting
in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1920 that led
to a formal organizational conference in
Chicago in 1921. The Ann Arbor gathering was an informal group of regents and
presidents, held as part of an " Educational
Conference " celebrating the inauguration
of President Burton. There were 19 regents

18 AGB: A CENTENNIAL HISTORY | March 2021

AGB History final highres - March/April 2021

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