Campus Complexion Has Flexed With Innovations
The Greater Kentucky campaign was launched through the efforts of McVey and conducted by alumni, which made possible the construction of the concrete stadium, the Main gym and Memorial Hall, the auditorium which was completed in May, 1930. The three engineering colleges were combined into one, the College of Education was expanded, and the College of Commerce opened. Several agricultural buildings were added, the engineering quadrangle completed, a new Law College building was placed in operation, the Student Union building opened, and improvements rapidly progressed toward a greater University. President McVey brought the University through the depression but most of all he gave to the institution a respect for scholarship and a better understanding of what a university should provide for its students.
Leadership of the University changed hands when President McVey retired in 1940. Acting as president the following year was Dean Thomas P. Cooper of the College of Agriculture. In July of '41, Dr. Herman Lee Donovan was appointed fourth president of the University, an administration that lasted for fifteen years. During his administration the University promoted higher education in Kentucky. Just as his administration began, World War II broke out, bringing chaos to the University campus life.
In 1913 a Kentucky co-ed paused at a bench that still remains near Frazee Hall.
An early 1954 aerial view of the campus shows substantial lawns now devoted to classroom buildings.