Editor’s note: This is the first in a 10-part series examining significant events and the climate of the campus at Iowa State in each of this century’s decades. The stories are based on articles from the Daily during those time periods. Today’s article will take a look at the years 1900-1909.

In 1900, the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was beginning to grow as an institution of learning.

Still a relatively small school (enrollment was 1,334 students in 1903), ISC in the first decade of the century was building not only new structures and academic programs, but also an identity and a purpose.

ISC began the decade under the direction of President William M. Beardshear, a former Union soldier in the Civil War. Beardshear, who was admired by students, alumni and faculty alike, was instrumental in helping ISC develop as a school.

It was Beardshear who secured the college’s first state funding for operational expenses in 1900, and he also was the impetus behind inducing Iowa’s General Assembly to broaden state tax laws to include money for new campus buildings.

Beardshear’s tenure as president ended in 1902 when he was stricken by a fatal heart attack. He was replaced by Albert B. Storms, who for the most part followed Beardshear’s vision of what a land-grant institution should be.

Many of the school’s current buildings were raised during this time period, including Marston Hall, East Hall, Beardshear Hall and Curtiss Hall. Beardshear Hall was built in 1906 as a replacement for the school’s first hall, Old Main, which was decimated by fires in 1900 and 1902.

But Beardshear did not feature any student living space, as Old Main had. This prompted Storms to revoke Beardshear’s 1891 decision to outlaw fraternities and sororities. By the end of the decade, 30 greek houses had been established at ISC.

Students demonstrated extraordinary school spirit during the decade, as shown by the heavy concentration by the ISC Student (the predecessor of the Iowa State Daily) on intercollegiate competitions ranging from policy debates to football games.

One front-page preview of an upcoming football game against Drake in 1904 went so far as to exclaim in a bold headline, “We must beat Drake, we must beat Drake!”

And for the most part, ISC’s athletic teams were successful in the early 1900s. The football team, dubbed the Cyclones by a Chicago sportswriter in 1894 in reference to their ferocious play in a 36-0 upset of Northwestern, claimed several state championships during the decade. The ISC baseball and track and field teams also were crowned state champions numerous times.

Basketball, the new winter sport invented by Dr. James Naismith, was introduced to the ISC campus in 1908, when the Cyclone basketball team played its first intercollegiate game in a 53-35 loss to Kansas.

Equal excitement was expressed over more academic pursuits such as debates and oratory contests.

The Student ran articles every year announcing upcoming oratorical competitions, and hoards of students packed auditoriums on Friday and Saturday nights to listen to the speeches.

The first decade of the century also saw ISC students attempting to take a more prominent role in their school. Editorials addressing what students “owe to their college” graced the front page of the Student, and in 1904, the Cardinal Guild — the predecessor of the Government of the Student Bod — was formed.

Students often discussed problems similar to those aired today as well. A Student article from 1902 examined why students seemed apathetic toward Ames city elections.

But all in all, the campus during the first decade of the century was dominated by an attitude that ISC was coming into its own as a place of higher learning. In a time when few people pursued any education beyond high school, students at ISC were proud of their school, and they were proud of themselves. It was a feeling that would continue to blossom in the next decade.