A Chronology of Sheldon Jackson School and College: The College
In 1942, the first students stayed on for junior college work; the Junior College officially began in 1944.
In January of 1952 the college’s first president, Les Yaw, was dismissed. At that time, the Sheldon Jackson School and all of the Alaska churches and missions were controlled by the Board of National Missions in New York City, and their Board of Christian Education, in Philadelphia; the Alaska missionaries had little say. Dismissal of Yaw may have been because the Board of Education wanted a more academic focus. It could also have been a case of personality conflict. The person who made the decision, the head of the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, Katherine Gladfelter, held that position from 1949 to 1960. The dismissal was divisive for the campus community. Alumni and leaders, including Governor Gruening, wrote letters to the board of Home Missions urging his retention.
In January of 1952 Roland B. Wurster became president; in 1955 the Yaw Building (library and classrooms) was completed. In July of 1956 R. Rolland “Army” Armstrong became Sheldon Jackson's 3rd president.
In 1958 Condit Hall was built as women's college dorm (Condit was later torn down to make way for the Sweetland Hall.)
In 1959 Sheldon Jackson Junior College was 2/3 Native, 1/3 white; the High School was ¾ Native, ¼ white. In 1961 the school had 37 full time college students.
The next major transition occured in 1966, when Sheldon Jackson Junior College was accredited. In July, Dr. Orin Stratton became president. His model for Sheldon Jackson was Whitworth College, a Presbyterian school in Washington.
In 1966 the Rasmuson Building was built, as the Student Union and cafeteria, also known as the A-frame. In 1965 Kellogg Hall opened as a dorm for women. Later it became Volunteers In Mission apartments.
In 1967 the last high school class graduated.
In the late 1960s Sheldon Jackson added housing for staff with families; in earlier days, most staff were unmarried missionaries. When it became a college, instructors needed advanced degrees, and so there was almost complete turnover of the teaching staff. Families who came in the late 1960s and early 1970s include the Roths, the Bovees, the Bonners, the Wilsons, the Schultzes, and the Goffs. The Brauns came to work at the high school, so when it closed Rus Braun went to work at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, but they remained members of the Presbyterian church community. At one point there were 34 children on campus.
In the late 1960s enormous cultural changes roiled the United States, including the Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterian church was actually ahead of the national movement, starting in 1959, when the national church turned to the left, but with different attitudes and disagreements between more traditional church workers and more liberal ones.19
Alaska Methodist University opened in 1960. In the late 1950s and 1960s church and government leaders had a lot of discussion about how to best meet the needs of Alaskans for higher education. The University of Alaska expanded a network of community colleges, including Sitka Community College in 1962. A continuing challenge is the quality and even existence of village schools, with many high school graduates unprepared for college. The students who are prepared for college are heavily recruited by Lower 48 colleges.
Beginning in the late 1950s, by the late 1960s, the Washington Synod took control of Sheldon Jackson and other Alaska missions, from Presbyterian Board of National Missions (BNM), as the church eventually divested themselves of ownership and control of Alaska's missions and churches. (The Presbyterian church is democratically organized, with churches in an area organized as a Presbytery; three or more Presbyteries are organized as a Synod.) In 1968 the Synod committee decided to close Sheldon Jackson; testimony from staff persuaded them to keep it open.
In 1972 the Presbyterian Church divested itself of ownership of the school. Sheldon Jackson was now independent, though still affiliated with the church. Major financial support only continued for a time, but the college still benefited from national fund raising efforts. The board of advisors became the board of trustees.
From the 1971-72 school year, Sheldon Jackson enjoyed state tuition grants for students, which made tuition costs competitive with the UA system, and saw expanded enrollment. In 1975 300 students, with 205 of those full time, enrolled. Then in 1979 tuition grants were found unconstitutional, which was a severe blow to the school. Enrollment dropped again by the late 1970s. (Also hurt by the loss of tuition grants, Alaska Methodist University closed in 1976, and reopened in 1978 as Alaska Pacific University.)
In the 1970s the Sitka Summer Music Festival, the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and Sitka Little Theater Guild were born on campus and with staff as founders. The aquaculture program, Native studies program, and an AA teachers education program for villages all began. There was also a pilot training program, and school-owned planes, but that ended with a plane crash and fatality in 1975. Elder Hostels used the campus in the summers.
In 1973 Dr. Orin Stratton resigned, due to health; Robert Uddenberg becomes the 5th president into 1974. Then in December 1974 Dr. Merton D. Munn became the interim 6th president until 1977.
In 1974 Stratton Library and the Armstrong administration building were built. In July of 1977 Dr. Hugh Holloway became the 7th president, to 1982. In 1977 and 1986 the college built apartments for married students, at the top of Metlakatla Street. In 1979 Yaw Chapel was built, designed by Taylor Potter, the son-in-law of Les and Caroline Yaw.
In 1980, due to the loss of state tuition grants, the school nearly closed. It only stayed open with a fundraising effort, and a major gift from Jane Newhall.
VIMS or Volunteers In Mission were vital to the operation of the school. Summer work groups took on maintenance and remodeling projects, often contributing materials and supplies. VIMS also filled many staff positions year round. They were also important in mentoring and tutoring students.
In 1982 Dr. Michael Kaelke became the 8th president. He stayed until 1993, the longest-serving president in the history of the college. The school added to its four-year programs and added faculty with advanced degrees.
In 1987 the Hames PE Center was built, named after trustee and donor Lloyd Hames. President Kaelke tried to put Sheldon Jackson on the map with competitive basketball teams, recruiting players from the Lower 48, but it didn't work.
In 1987 an all-class high school reunion was held, and the Basketball Hall of Fame was inaugurated.
The college's 9th president, Lawrence Rocheleau, inaugurated in July 1993, died in January 1994, after only six months as president. Rocheleau was an Alaska education star, promoting the Total Quality Management system at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the former BIA school reopened by the State of Alaska.
In 1994 Dr. Kenneth Cameron became the 10th president, but maintained his dental practice; he shared administrative duties with Provost and Co-president Mary Lou Madden; he is president to 1997.
In 1995 a campaign to save Allen Auditorium was launched, led by the Allen Memorial Preservation Project. They won a major federal grant through Senator Ted Stevens, and won a further economic development grant; they turned the project over to the college. When the college closed, the exterior had been completed but the interior, electrical and mechanical systems were not.
In 1997 Reverend David Meekhof became the 11th president. He serveds to 2000.
At the board of trustees' annual meeting in January 2000, the president of the board of trustees, Michael Sweetland, proposed closing the college in an orderly way. He was outvoted by a majority of the trustees, and left the board. This lead to a crisis, with closure contemplated. A task force was created with business and other community leaders, to define a vision for the school.
In 2000 to 2002 Sheldon Jackson College had to fight for accreditation, due to financial and administrative issues.20
In 2000 C. Carlyle Haaland was hired as consultant, and became interim president, then president to 2004.
In the 2000s much effort was expended to attract more students; marine studies program, and outdoor leadership program were developed; the Alaska Native Studies Program was revived, but had a rough start, until Dennis Demmert was hired in 2002. Also in the 2000s federal and private grants rebuilt the Rasmuson building, built a child care facility, and rebuilt the campus water, sewage and electric systems.
In 2001 the City of Sitka proposed excavating the front lawn in order to create 40 parking spaces for harbor parking. The school was behind on payments to the city and to many businesses.
In 2001 the college told the Sentinel that the enrollment of 132 was “nearly double year before.”21 Also in 2001, the campus is designated the Sheldon Jackson School National Historic Landmark.
In 2004 Arthur Cleveland became the new president to 2006. Once again, the school nearly closed; it was saved by a loan from a trustee. An ambitious cruise ship dock was proposed for Sage building area, and was dropped after much opposition.
In 2006 the school took out a $4.7 million consolidation loan from Alaska Growth Capital (AGC), after taking out five short term loans totaling $2.5 million22; they subdivided waterfront land for collateral and sold Tillie Paul Manor to pay back the emergency loan from the trustee. In 2006 board of trustees president Dr. David Dobler was named acting president of the college, replacing Arthur Cleveland.
The City and Borough Assembly had approved a $1 million line of credit to Sheldon Jackson, but, on Tuesday, June 26, 2007, they voted not to disburse SJ's request for $730,000 ofn it.23 The school sought the loan to tide the school over until an expected large class enrolled in the fall. At 3:30 pm on Friday, June 29 Dr. Dobler announced the closing of school to staff that their employment would end in 30 days, and that staff would have to start paying market rates for their housing.
By the end of 2007, Sheldon Jackson lost accreditation, and was sued by its lender, AGC, over errors in its collateral description;24 Sitka lost a $6 million payroll, and over 100 jobs.
In 2008 Sheldon Jackson College trustees subdivided land, the Assembly voted to assess property tax, and Pacific Towers Properties was hired by the bank to manage the campus. In March, the school received money from AGC to pay employee severance, federal taxes, and debt to the city.
In 2009 Dubuque University, also a Presbyterian Church-affiliated private college, began talks with City and trustees about a relationship with the campus.
In the summer of 2010 Dubuque pulled out, with a critical letter;25 Dr. Dobler resigned and John Holst, former superintendent of Sitka's public schools, was hired as manager. Property was sold to pay off the debt, which totaled about $10 million.
In February of 2011 the core campus was handed over to Alaska Arts Southeast, the parent of Sitka Fine Arts Camp. The camp had been held at Mt. Edgecumbe High School facilities for several years; in June of 2011, they came home.
2012 was the 100th anniversary of the ANB; Isabella Brady, granddaughter of Peter Simpson, founder of the Sitka Native Education Program, prominent Presbyterian and Kiks.ádi Clan Mother, died at 89.
2012-2014 Fine Arts Camp, Sitka Sound Science Center, the Island Institute, the Sitka Summer Music Festival collaborated on new cultural and science programs centering on education. In 2012 the Sheldon Jackson School and College Oral History Project began, in an effort to preserve and share the history and experiences of staff and students. In 2013 the Alaska Travel Industry Association conference was held on campus, the largest convention ever held in Sitka. The Fine Arts Camp harnessed phenomenal amounts of volunteer skill and labor to do major work on buildings, including historic preservation work on the National Historic Landmark buildings.
19 Neil Munro, “A Personal Evaluation of Mission in Alaska and Yukon Presbyteries” at http://www.yukonpresbytery.com/history/Interviews/munromemories.htm, 1994. Retrieved March 2013.
20 Sitka Sentinel January 20, 2002 p 1 (referring to vote to close in 2000, and accreditation)
21Sitka Sentinel 9/17/2001, page 1
22 Sitka Sentinel November 8 2007 p 1
23 Sitka Sentinel June 27 2007 p 1
24 Sitka Sentinel November 8 2007 p 1
25 Sitka Sentinel June 10 2010 p 1
In January of 1952 the college’s first president, Les Yaw, was dismissed. At that time, the Sheldon Jackson School and all of the Alaska churches and missions were controlled by the Board of National Missions in New York City, and their Board of Christian Education, in Philadelphia; the Alaska missionaries had little say. Dismissal of Yaw may have been because the Board of Education wanted a more academic focus. It could also have been a case of personality conflict. The person who made the decision, the head of the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, Katherine Gladfelter, held that position from 1949 to 1960. The dismissal was divisive for the campus community. Alumni and leaders, including Governor Gruening, wrote letters to the board of Home Missions urging his retention.
In January of 1952 Roland B. Wurster became president; in 1955 the Yaw Building (library and classrooms) was completed. In July of 1956 R. Rolland “Army” Armstrong became Sheldon Jackson's 3rd president.
In 1958 Condit Hall was built as women's college dorm (Condit was later torn down to make way for the Sweetland Hall.)
In 1959 Sheldon Jackson Junior College was 2/3 Native, 1/3 white; the High School was ¾ Native, ¼ white. In 1961 the school had 37 full time college students.
The next major transition occured in 1966, when Sheldon Jackson Junior College was accredited. In July, Dr. Orin Stratton became president. His model for Sheldon Jackson was Whitworth College, a Presbyterian school in Washington.
In 1966 the Rasmuson Building was built, as the Student Union and cafeteria, also known as the A-frame. In 1965 Kellogg Hall opened as a dorm for women. Later it became Volunteers In Mission apartments.
In 1967 the last high school class graduated.
In the late 1960s Sheldon Jackson added housing for staff with families; in earlier days, most staff were unmarried missionaries. When it became a college, instructors needed advanced degrees, and so there was almost complete turnover of the teaching staff. Families who came in the late 1960s and early 1970s include the Roths, the Bovees, the Bonners, the Wilsons, the Schultzes, and the Goffs. The Brauns came to work at the high school, so when it closed Rus Braun went to work at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, but they remained members of the Presbyterian church community. At one point there were 34 children on campus.
In the late 1960s enormous cultural changes roiled the United States, including the Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterian church was actually ahead of the national movement, starting in 1959, when the national church turned to the left, but with different attitudes and disagreements between more traditional church workers and more liberal ones.19
Alaska Methodist University opened in 1960. In the late 1950s and 1960s church and government leaders had a lot of discussion about how to best meet the needs of Alaskans for higher education. The University of Alaska expanded a network of community colleges, including Sitka Community College in 1962. A continuing challenge is the quality and even existence of village schools, with many high school graduates unprepared for college. The students who are prepared for college are heavily recruited by Lower 48 colleges.
Beginning in the late 1950s, by the late 1960s, the Washington Synod took control of Sheldon Jackson and other Alaska missions, from Presbyterian Board of National Missions (BNM), as the church eventually divested themselves of ownership and control of Alaska's missions and churches. (The Presbyterian church is democratically organized, with churches in an area organized as a Presbytery; three or more Presbyteries are organized as a Synod.) In 1968 the Synod committee decided to close Sheldon Jackson; testimony from staff persuaded them to keep it open.
In 1972 the Presbyterian Church divested itself of ownership of the school. Sheldon Jackson was now independent, though still affiliated with the church. Major financial support only continued for a time, but the college still benefited from national fund raising efforts. The board of advisors became the board of trustees.
From the 1971-72 school year, Sheldon Jackson enjoyed state tuition grants for students, which made tuition costs competitive with the UA system, and saw expanded enrollment. In 1975 300 students, with 205 of those full time, enrolled. Then in 1979 tuition grants were found unconstitutional, which was a severe blow to the school. Enrollment dropped again by the late 1970s. (Also hurt by the loss of tuition grants, Alaska Methodist University closed in 1976, and reopened in 1978 as Alaska Pacific University.)
In the 1970s the Sitka Summer Music Festival, the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and Sitka Little Theater Guild were born on campus and with staff as founders. The aquaculture program, Native studies program, and an AA teachers education program for villages all began. There was also a pilot training program, and school-owned planes, but that ended with a plane crash and fatality in 1975. Elder Hostels used the campus in the summers.
In 1973 Dr. Orin Stratton resigned, due to health; Robert Uddenberg becomes the 5th president into 1974. Then in December 1974 Dr. Merton D. Munn became the interim 6th president until 1977.
In 1974 Stratton Library and the Armstrong administration building were built. In July of 1977 Dr. Hugh Holloway became the 7th president, to 1982. In 1977 and 1986 the college built apartments for married students, at the top of Metlakatla Street. In 1979 Yaw Chapel was built, designed by Taylor Potter, the son-in-law of Les and Caroline Yaw.
In 1980, due to the loss of state tuition grants, the school nearly closed. It only stayed open with a fundraising effort, and a major gift from Jane Newhall.
VIMS or Volunteers In Mission were vital to the operation of the school. Summer work groups took on maintenance and remodeling projects, often contributing materials and supplies. VIMS also filled many staff positions year round. They were also important in mentoring and tutoring students.
In 1982 Dr. Michael Kaelke became the 8th president. He stayed until 1993, the longest-serving president in the history of the college. The school added to its four-year programs and added faculty with advanced degrees.
In 1987 the Hames PE Center was built, named after trustee and donor Lloyd Hames. President Kaelke tried to put Sheldon Jackson on the map with competitive basketball teams, recruiting players from the Lower 48, but it didn't work.
In 1987 an all-class high school reunion was held, and the Basketball Hall of Fame was inaugurated.
The college's 9th president, Lawrence Rocheleau, inaugurated in July 1993, died in January 1994, after only six months as president. Rocheleau was an Alaska education star, promoting the Total Quality Management system at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the former BIA school reopened by the State of Alaska.
In 1994 Dr. Kenneth Cameron became the 10th president, but maintained his dental practice; he shared administrative duties with Provost and Co-president Mary Lou Madden; he is president to 1997.
In 1995 a campaign to save Allen Auditorium was launched, led by the Allen Memorial Preservation Project. They won a major federal grant through Senator Ted Stevens, and won a further economic development grant; they turned the project over to the college. When the college closed, the exterior had been completed but the interior, electrical and mechanical systems were not.
In 1997 Reverend David Meekhof became the 11th president. He serveds to 2000.
At the board of trustees' annual meeting in January 2000, the president of the board of trustees, Michael Sweetland, proposed closing the college in an orderly way. He was outvoted by a majority of the trustees, and left the board. This lead to a crisis, with closure contemplated. A task force was created with business and other community leaders, to define a vision for the school.
In 2000 to 2002 Sheldon Jackson College had to fight for accreditation, due to financial and administrative issues.20
In 2000 C. Carlyle Haaland was hired as consultant, and became interim president, then president to 2004.
In the 2000s much effort was expended to attract more students; marine studies program, and outdoor leadership program were developed; the Alaska Native Studies Program was revived, but had a rough start, until Dennis Demmert was hired in 2002. Also in the 2000s federal and private grants rebuilt the Rasmuson building, built a child care facility, and rebuilt the campus water, sewage and electric systems.
In 2001 the City of Sitka proposed excavating the front lawn in order to create 40 parking spaces for harbor parking. The school was behind on payments to the city and to many businesses.
In 2001 the college told the Sentinel that the enrollment of 132 was “nearly double year before.”21 Also in 2001, the campus is designated the Sheldon Jackson School National Historic Landmark.
In 2004 Arthur Cleveland became the new president to 2006. Once again, the school nearly closed; it was saved by a loan from a trustee. An ambitious cruise ship dock was proposed for Sage building area, and was dropped after much opposition.
In 2006 the school took out a $4.7 million consolidation loan from Alaska Growth Capital (AGC), after taking out five short term loans totaling $2.5 million22; they subdivided waterfront land for collateral and sold Tillie Paul Manor to pay back the emergency loan from the trustee. In 2006 board of trustees president Dr. David Dobler was named acting president of the college, replacing Arthur Cleveland.
The City and Borough Assembly had approved a $1 million line of credit to Sheldon Jackson, but, on Tuesday, June 26, 2007, they voted not to disburse SJ's request for $730,000 ofn it.23 The school sought the loan to tide the school over until an expected large class enrolled in the fall. At 3:30 pm on Friday, June 29 Dr. Dobler announced the closing of school to staff that their employment would end in 30 days, and that staff would have to start paying market rates for their housing.
By the end of 2007, Sheldon Jackson lost accreditation, and was sued by its lender, AGC, over errors in its collateral description;24 Sitka lost a $6 million payroll, and over 100 jobs.
In 2008 Sheldon Jackson College trustees subdivided land, the Assembly voted to assess property tax, and Pacific Towers Properties was hired by the bank to manage the campus. In March, the school received money from AGC to pay employee severance, federal taxes, and debt to the city.
In 2009 Dubuque University, also a Presbyterian Church-affiliated private college, began talks with City and trustees about a relationship with the campus.
In the summer of 2010 Dubuque pulled out, with a critical letter;25 Dr. Dobler resigned and John Holst, former superintendent of Sitka's public schools, was hired as manager. Property was sold to pay off the debt, which totaled about $10 million.
In February of 2011 the core campus was handed over to Alaska Arts Southeast, the parent of Sitka Fine Arts Camp. The camp had been held at Mt. Edgecumbe High School facilities for several years; in June of 2011, they came home.
2012 was the 100th anniversary of the ANB; Isabella Brady, granddaughter of Peter Simpson, founder of the Sitka Native Education Program, prominent Presbyterian and Kiks.ádi Clan Mother, died at 89.
2012-2014 Fine Arts Camp, Sitka Sound Science Center, the Island Institute, the Sitka Summer Music Festival collaborated on new cultural and science programs centering on education. In 2012 the Sheldon Jackson School and College Oral History Project began, in an effort to preserve and share the history and experiences of staff and students. In 2013 the Alaska Travel Industry Association conference was held on campus, the largest convention ever held in Sitka. The Fine Arts Camp harnessed phenomenal amounts of volunteer skill and labor to do major work on buildings, including historic preservation work on the National Historic Landmark buildings.
19 Neil Munro, “A Personal Evaluation of Mission in Alaska and Yukon Presbyteries” at http://www.yukonpresbytery.com/history/Interviews/munromemories.htm, 1994. Retrieved March 2013.
20 Sitka Sentinel January 20, 2002 p 1 (referring to vote to close in 2000, and accreditation)
21Sitka Sentinel 9/17/2001, page 1
22 Sitka Sentinel November 8 2007 p 1
23 Sitka Sentinel June 27 2007 p 1
24 Sitka Sentinel November 8 2007 p 1
25 Sitka Sentinel June 10 2010 p 1
