The Firsts

A college catalog, the first, was prepared for the second year, 1895/96. The cost for that entire year including room and board was set at $117. What is today called Founders Hall was constructed in 1895, primarily funded by subscriptions, and the building was occupied for the first time during the fall of 1895. The first yearbook was prepared in 1896. Saturday, June 10, 1897, dawned with the prospect of attending the first graduation at Cedarville College, announced for many by the first commencement invitation. The graduation exercises for five seniors, John W. Bickett, Raymond P. Gorbold, Homer McMillan, Calvin C. Morton, and J. Alvin Orr, would be held at the Opera House in downtown Cedarville. Martha McMillan, whose son Homer was in that graduating class, recorded her impressions of that day in her journal: “Rev. Charles Frederick Pass of Cincinnati delivered the class oration. The principle thought he tried to impress on the class was to consecrate, devote, and dedicate their life—soul and body to the best and highest good in life. The blessings and privileges we enjoy today are the gift and sacrifices of those who have gone before us.” Even with the impact of the future challenges of World War I, the great depression, World War II, and the college’s financial crises of the 1950s, there has not been a year since 1897 without a commencement at Cedarville University. This is in no small measure the result of the gift of William Gibson, but also of the perseverance of those early founders and leaders, and many who followed them, who were committed to a Christian education for their young people.