xt70k649pg7r https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70k649pg7r/data/mets.xml Lexington, Kentucky University of Kentucky 19460822 minutes English University of Kentucky Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, 1946-08-jun22-ec. text Minutes of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, 1946-08-jun22-ec. 1946 2011 true xt70k649pg7r section xt70k649pg7r

Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board
of Trustees, University of Kentucky, June 22, 1946.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Univer-
sity of Kentucky met in the President's Office at 10:30 a.m., Saturday,
June 22, 1946. The following members were present: Judge Richard
C. Stoll, Chairman; J. C. Everett, H. S. Cleveland, R. P. Hobson and
H. D. Palmore. President H. L. Donovan and Comptroller Frank D.
Peterson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, were also present. Also
meeting with the Committee were Dean Thomas P. Cooper, Dean Leo M.
Chamberlain, E. B. Farris, R. E. Shaver and John Gess.

A, Contracts with Hartford Republican and Ohio County News.

Judge Stoll submitted contracts between the University of Ken-
tucky and the Hartford Republican and the Ohio County News, which pro-
vide that copies of the issues of the Hartford Republican from 1891 to
1925, and the Ohio County News from 1926 to 1945 be loaned to the Uni-
versity of Kentucky Library, under conditions of the contract copied
herein below. He recommended that the Committee authorize the Chairman
to execute the contracts.

The University of Kentucky Library proposes to borrow
the file of the Hartford Republican 1891-1925, to be placed
in the University of Kentucky Library and it is agreed'that
should said file be loaned to us, that we will:

1. Collate this file and return any duplicates which
may appear among it to you. We will keep this file in
bound condition and maintain it and keep it in good order,

2, We will lend you at any time any volume of the file
of the Hartford Republican which you may wish to borrow with
the understanding that lihen you have finished with it you
11will return it to the University of Kentucky Library for safe
keeping.

3. We understand that at any time you and your asso-
oiates wish to sell this newspaper and you desire that this
file pass as a part of the assets of the sale of said news-
paper, thnt such file vill be returned to you and we will
renounce all claim thereto, Files may also be removed from
Library at any time on demand of owner.

4. It is agreed and understood that this proposal was
presented to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees
of the University of Kentucky and that said Executive Committee
authorized the chairman and secretary to make this proposal
to you, a copy thereof having been incorporated in the minutes
of the Executive Committee meeting of June 22, 1946, and a
copy of this proposal will likewise be incorporated as a

part of said minutes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The University of Kentucky Library proposes to borrow
the file of the Ohio County News, 1926-1945, to be placed in
the University of Kentucky Library and it is agreed that
should said file be loaned to us, that we will:

1. Collate this file and return any duplicates which
may aprpr among It to you. We will keep this file in
bound mndition and maintain it and keep it in good order.

2. We will lend you at any time any volume of the
file of the Ohio County News which you may wish to borrow
with the understanding that when you have finished with
it you will return it to the University of Kentucky Library
for safe keeping.

3. We understand that at any time you and your associ-
ates wish to sell this newspaper and you desire that this
file pass as a part of the assets of the sale of said news-
paper, that such file will be returned to you and wve will
renounce all claim thereto, Files may also be removed from
Library at any time on demand of owner.

4. Future issues of the Ohio County News from May
1946, are to be furnished the University of Kentucky Library
in duplicate, one copy of which is to become the permanent
property of the University of Kentucky Library and one copy
thereof shall be attached to and become a part of the file
of said newspaper to be held by the University of Kentucky
Library upon the same terms and conditions as herebefore set
forth pertaining to the principal file of said newspaper.
Such future issues from May , 1946, are to be likewise
collated and cared for upon the same terms as hereinbefore
set forth.

5. It is agreed and understood that this proposal was
presented to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees
of the University of Kentucky and that said Executive Committee
authorized the chairman and secretary to make this proposal
to you, a copy thereof having been incorporated in the minutes
of the Executive Committee meeting of date June 22, 1946,
and a copy of this proposal will likewise be incorporated as
a part of said minutes.

* ** ** ** * **

1. On motion duly made, seconded and carried,
the above contracts are ordered approved
and the Chairman of the Committee is au-
thorized to sign each of the contracts.

B. Report on Housing at the University.

President Donovan requested permission to take up, first, the
question of temporary housing for married veterans. He stated that
he had asked several individuals to be present for advice and counsel)
and requested Dean Thomas P. Cooper, Dean Leo M. Chamberlain, E. B.
Farris, R. E. Shaver and John Gess to be present.

President Donovan read the following statement concerning the
housing at the University:

Shortly after V-J Day the University applied to the
Federal Government for 418 prefabricated houses at Charles-
toTvn, Indiana, and succeeded in securing 200 of these which
were deeded to the University at $l.00 per house, including
the furniture. However, these houses had to be rented to
veterans under certain conditions stipulated in the deed of
conveyance, Later we succeeded in getting 124 more houses
from Willow Run, Michigan. These houses were of a trailer
type and not as desirable as the first allotment. They were
not deeded to the University, but the University was com-
pelled to furnish the land on which they were located, sewage,
water and electric lines, and roads.

The 324 houses have been transported to the University
and most of them are now occupied. It has been a slow and
difficult job to get them prepared to receive families.
There have been many trials and tribulatiorms connected with
the project. It has also been costly and the University
has an investment of $75,001.16 in it, as of June 13. It
will cost many more thousands of dollars to complete the
housing project now planned. It is our expectation to be
able to recover this sum through the rents of the 200 houses
which we own.

Mr. Jack 'ryan, local resident manager of the Federal
Public Housing' Authority, has been of inestimable service
to us in securing these houses. He has served as liaison
officer between the University and the Federal Housing Auk
thority. I cannot say too much in praise of Mr. Bryan's
cooperation with the University.

These houses were located in the neighborhood of the
Observatory on the Experiment Station Farm. Dean Cooper
has been most cooperative in agreeing to permit us to erect
this village on the Farm. He was reluctant to give up so
much land, but realizing the need for housing for veterans,
he consented to permit us to use this part of the Farm.
When the project was started I had no idea that it would
take so much land and I was greatly surprised at the way in
which t1h land had to be treated in order to get the houses
placed on it. After these houses are removed it will re-
quire a great deal of work and a tremendous cost to put the
land back in shape for farming. It is my own view that the
land will never be vvtluable for anything except grqzing after
this project has been removed. Because of the necessity of
moving so much top soil by digging ditches for sewers and
water lines, and for the building of roads, this portion of
the Farm is certainly destroyed for experimental work in the
future.

Early this spring the City of Lexington was awvarded 180
housing units, which Mr. Bryan and the city officials agreed
to turn over to the University for the housing of veterans
provided wve would erect them on our properties. When we
first accepted these additional houses we thought they could
go on the land already allotted by DeRn Cooper for the
project. After the government engineers came and exr.mined
this land they refused to permit the houses to be built there.
They required that tiere be more space between the housing
units than we had used before and this naturally took up a
great deal more land. I again called on Dean Cooper for
additional land and I think I can say that he was greatly
disturbed by the demand being made upon the Experiment Station
Farm for additional acreage. I can fully appreciate his re-
luctance to have the Experiment Station Farm used for this
purpose. However, he, Dean Terrell of the College of En-
gineering, Comptroller Frank D. Peterson, an engineer from
the FPHA, and I, went over the Farm very carefully and finally
persuaded Dean Cpoper to permit us to place these houses on
the Farm at a location which he deemed would do least damage
to the Experiment Station Farm. This location was back of
'IwYhat is known as Shawnee Court, a part of a subdivision on
the Nicholasville Road about a mile or a mile and R quarter
from the University, Some thirty or more acres of land
were designated as the site of this project. Dean Terrell
of the College of Engineering made a survey of the territory
and the government engineers located the buildings, the
roads, the sewer lines, etc., which they would require us
to build. The entrance to this project was to be through
a drive named Shawnee Court running back to the subdivision
line, which we have recently discovered is within two feet
of our line. The two-foot strip of property is owned by Mr.
Morris Levy but apparently controlled by the people who live

in this section. The residents of the neighborhood have de-
cided that it would not be desirable to have this road used~
and also that the project would damage their property in
that it would probably throw more water into their street,
which is Plready located on lowv ground. The basements of
the homes of this neignborhood are often flooded when wve have
flash floods such as the one which occurred last Sunday, June
16. If we proceed to locate the project at this point,
there is a possibility that wre may have a damage suit filed
against the University.

Ihen these recent problems arose, and Mr. Peterson was
given some warning by the property owners of Shawnee that
they objected to our locating the new housing project there,
I felt that it was a responsibility that only the Board of
Trustees could assume. For that reason I have asked the
Executive Committee to meet today that you may understand
just what we are up against.

As a further explanation, I should say that upon your
authorization the Comptroller has investigated the possibil-
ity of purchasing additional acreage near enough to the Uni-
versity on which to locate these housing units. However,
he has been unsuccessful and has not found any land for sale
within a reasonable distance of the University.

You are as well aware of the need for additional hous-
ing as I am. The demand for homes for veterans who wrish
to attend the University is almost unlimited. We have en-
dbavored as best we could to take care of as much of this
demand as possible. If we cannot use the acreage back of
the Shawnee settlement on the Experiment Station Farm, I
think the project is definitely blocked. Personally, I
doubt the wisdom of accepting any more houses, which apparent-
ly are available for the City of Lexington, as revealed in a
telegram to me from Senator Stanfill, in whl-ich he states
that the National Housing Authority informed him that 20 ad-
ditional family dwellings for veterans have just been allotted
to the City of Lexington.

The Experiment Station Farm is a most valuable piece
of land for scientific research in agriculture. We cannot
afford to look upon it as a site for buildings without under-
standing thoroughly that if it is used this way we destroy
its usefulness for experimentation in agriculture.

I am placing this problem before you, requesting that
you use your wisdom in determining what is the proper decision
for the University to make in facing this critical problem.

Members of the Committee considered the problem of temporary
housing and, after some discussion, it was decided to go to the Ex-
periment Station farm and inspect the proposed site east of Shawnee
Court on Nicholasville Road. The Committee recessed the meeting
at 10:15 and made the inspection. They returned to the office of
the President at 11:00 o'clock and continued the discussion of the
housing problem.

Mr. Hobson made a motion to bring the problem down to two propo-
sitions: 1. That the University abandon the project; 2. That if the
University shall not abandon the project, where shall the project be
established. He then moved that the project be established and locat-
ed. W-Thereupon the following action was taken:

* * * * * * * * * *

2, Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried,
the proposed temporary housing project is
ordered located and authorized built.

The Committee returned to a discussion of the location of the
site of the proposed project, and, after a full discussion, the fol-
lowing action as to the location of the project was taken:

* * * * * * * * * *

3. Upon motion duly made, secord ed and carried,
the project is located in the pasture field
east of Shawnee Court, extending southward,
and a roadway is ordered built from Nicholas-
ville Road to the project on University prop-
erty. President Donova,.n and the Comptroller
are authorized to make decisions on detail
matters that may arise in connection with the
establishment of the project and road.

* ** * ** * ** *

C. Opinion of Attorney General in Graham Case.

President Donovan stated that he had received a letter addressed
to Mr. Robert P. Hobson, member of the Board, from the Attorney Gen-
ewal to the effect that the Board is not authorized to pay the At-
trney's fees incurred by members of the Board of Trustees in their
successful defense of the case of Harper and Molloy versus James H.
Gr.Rham and others. The opinion was read and ordered inserted in
the minutes.

Commonwealth of Kentucky
Office of the Attorney General
Frankfort

June 15, 1946

Mr. Robert P. Hobson
Attorney at Law
Kentucky Home Life Building
Louisville 2, Kentucky

Dear Mr. Hobson:

This will acknowyledge receipt of your letter of June
13, 1946, in which you recall to our attention the case of
Harper v. Graham. You have sought the opinion of this
office as to whether under Section 271.245 KRS the Uni-
versity of Kentucky is authorized to pay the attorney's fee
incurred by the members of the Board of Trustees of the Uni-
wrsity of Kentucky in their successful defense of the above
styled action and if so, whether it would be paid out of
state funds or out of one of the trust funds of the University
of Kentucky.

Section 271.245 KRS above mentioned was enacted at the
regular 1942 session of the General Arsembly and appears as
Chapter 40 in the compilation of the Acts of that session.
In order to give the necessary construction to the Act, we
cpy it in full as follows:

"AN ACT relating to corporations, and to provide
indemnification for officers and directors thereof
in respect of certain liabilities, costs and ex-
penses.

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Common-
wealth of Kentucky:

"1 Each director or officer, and their personal
representatives, of a corporation created under the
laws of this State shall be indemnified by the cor-
poration against claims, liabilities, expenses, and
casts actually and necessarily incurred by him or
his estate in connection writh, or arising out of
any action, suit or proceeding in 1thch he is made
a party by reason of his being, or having been, an
officer or director, except in relation to matters
as to'which he shall be adjudged in such action, suit
or-proceeding to be liable for actual negligence or
misconduct in the performance of his duties as such
director or officer.

"12. The right of indemnification herein provided
for shall also apply in respect of any amount paid
in compromise of any such claim a sserted against
such director or officer (including expenses and
costs actually and necessarily incurred in connec-
tion therewith), provided the board of directors of
the corporation shall have first approved such pro-
posed compromise settlement and determined that the
director or officer involved was not guilty of actual
negligence or misconduct; but in taking such action
any director involved shall not be qualified to vote
thereon, asnd if for this reason a quorum of the
board cannot be obtained to vote on such matter it
shall be determined by a committee of three dis-
interested stockholders appointed by the stockholders
at a duly called special or regular meeting."

In order t determine the query submitted by you, it is
necessary to determine whether the legislature intended this
Act to apply to private and public corporations or whether they
limited its application to one of these two cla8sifications.
A reference to the title of the Act discloses that it refers
to corporations generally and does not attempt to restrict its
application either to private or public corporations.

Passing now to the body of the Act, wie find that it
applies to directors or officers, etc. of a corporation cre-
ated under the laws of this State. The use of the word "under"
we fe.el to be of quite Importance. The Board of Trustees
of the University of Kentucky, constituting a body corpornte,
ms not created as a corporation under the laws of the Common-
realth of Kentucky but was created a corporation by the laws
of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. On the other hand, private
corporations are not created by any law of the Commonwealth
of Kentucky but are created under laws enacted by the General
Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This view tends
to reflect the intention of the legislature to be that the
Act should apply merely to private corporations and not to
public corporations. Proceeding further to the second
sction of the Act, we find that where a quorum of the Board
of Directors of the corporation cannot be obtained to vote
on the approval of the ecpenses under the conditions set out
in Section 2 of the Act, then the matter shall be determined
by a committee of three disinterested stockholders appointed
by the stockholders at a duly called special or regular meet-
Ing. The use of this method of providing for the approval
of claims as 'set out in Section 2 of the Act strengthens the
intention of the legislature to deal purely with private
corporations and not with public corporations, inasmuch as
the University of.Kentucky is operated by a Board of Trustees,
without stockholders,

In view of the foregoing, it is the opinion of this
office that Section 271.245 KRS which was enacted at the
regular 1942 session of the General Assembly, does not au-
thorize the payment of the attorney s fee incurred by the
members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Ken-
tucky in their successful defense of the action hereinabove
mentioned.
Yours very truly,

(Signed) Eldon S. Dummit
Attorney General.

D. Sale of Smith Hall Property.

It was explained that the Board of Trustees had,previously au-
thorized the sale of Smith Hall# otherwise known as the Chi Omega
house, because the building is in need of reconditioning and renova-
tion, and it would require a large sum of money to reactivate it as a
dormitory for girls,

The Secretary submitted a letter addressed to the Executive Com-
mittee and signed by Robert M. Odear, for and on behalf of the Maxwell
Street Presbyterian Church, requesting that the University divide the
property into two tracts, and that same be sold separately and as a
whole. The following letter was read:

KEENON, HUGUELET & ODE.AR
Lexington, Kentucky

June 22, 1946

Executive Committee
Board of Trustees
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky

Gentlemen:

On account of another engagement I found myself unable
to stay to present this matter to you personally, so I will
appreciate if you will consider, in writing.

The Maxwell Street Presbyterian Church owns the property
upon which its church is located upon the corner of Lexington
Avenue and Maxwell Street. The University owns the property
directly in the rear upon which there is a very large old
residence.

We understand that the University is contemplating selling
this property.

The church would like to acquire as much of the vacant
space between the church and your resiAence property as pos-
sible. We would like to ask you, therefore, if the proper-
ty is put up at auction to put up at first in two tracts,
one tract being from your north line back to within approx-
imately ten or twelve feet of the main wall of the residence,
and the other tract being the balance of the property on
which the residence is located.

If you would offer the property in two tracts first,
first offering the larger tract with the residence on it
and then the small tract near the church and then offer the
property as a whole, I do notsee-how this could help but
bring at least as much money for the University and possibly
more, and it would be of great benefit to the church.

The logical thing for the purchaser of the residence
property to do is to put in a new entrance from Lexington
Avenue any way and for this reason we are of the opinion
that the residence would bring almost as much money without
the, small tract as it would sold as a whole. Furthermore,
the church could afford to pay a substantial price for the
small tract.

This church merits your special consideration for num-
erous reasons, We serve a very large number of your students
and attract many of them to Sunday School and church who might
not otherwise attend.

We have always been on the friendliest terms! with the
University and when you desired property which you owned for the
Field House Site we sold to you without bickering at a price
which you said was agreeable to you,

For these and other reasons, we believe we merit your
earnest consideration in a matter which we trust will be
mutually advantageous.

Very truly yours,

(Signed) Robert M. Odes m

The members of the Committee discussed the request and took the
following action:

4. Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried,
it is directed that when the Smith Hall
property is sold, that it be divided and sold
separately and as a whole, and the President
of the University and the Comptroller are au-
thorized to accept the highest bid or bids
for the property.

E. Contract, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., with Aeronautical
Research Laboratory.

President Donovan submitted a description of a proposed project
by Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., to be done by the University of
Kentucky Aeronautical Research Laboratory. He also submitted pur-
chase order #SC-5606 in the amount of $5400 from Joseph E. Seagram
& Sons, Inc. He stated that the details had been worked out with
Professor A. J. Meyer, Director of the Laboratory, and that Professor
Meyer recommends that the project be accepted and begun at once.
The President stated that he recommended approval of the contract,
and the Committee took the following hetion:

4+ * * * * 4 * * * *

5. Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried,
the J6seph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., project
is ordered accepted by the University and the
Aeronautical Research.Laboratory is directed
and authorized to do the research work request-
ed. The action of the Comptroller in signing
the agreement be and same is hereby ratified
and approved.

F. Contract with Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company to Cross
UniversLty Proerty.

President Donovan submitted R contract between the Central Ken-
tucky Natural Gas Company and the University of Kentucky whereby the
Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company requests right-of-way to cross
University property. There was some doubt expressed as to where the
easement was to be granted and the effect of same. After full dis-
cussion, the contract was referred to a committee composed of Dean
Cooper, Professor Frank Murray, and the Attorney General for study,
with the request that they re-submit the contrmot to the Committee,
wvi th recommendation.

G. Request of Mr. Willip.m Blanton to Use University Bleacher
Seats .

A request for the use of the bleachers used on Stoll Field and in
the Alumni Gymnasium was submitted, and after a general discussion as
to the condition of the bleachers and the policy of the Board permit-
ting bleachers to be used off the campus, it was recalled to the at-
tention of the Board that the bleachers were now under the control of
the University of Kentucky Athletic Association, and that the Board
of Directors of that Association would have to act upon the request.

Whereupon the Board referred the request to the Board of Direct-
ors of the Athletic Association.

HI. Chemistry Department Fully Accredited.

President Donovan stated that he was greatly pleased to report
that the Chemistry Department of the University had been fully ac-
credited by the American Chemical Society. He read the following
letters:

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

343 State Street
Rochester 4, New York
June 14, 1946

President H. L. Donovan
University of Kentucky
Lexin, ton, Kentucky

Dear Pr4sident Donovan:

We are pleased to inform you that the latest report
of this Committee, "Progress Report Number 13"1, is appearing
this month in the June 10 issue of C10MICAL AND ENGINEERING
NEWS. It contains the statement that the University of Ken-
tucky has been added to the list of schools the Society
deems qualified to offer professional training for chemists.

Very sincerely yours,

(Signed) Erle M. Billings
Secretary
Committee on Professional
Training.

June 19, 1946

Dr. Erle M. Billings
343 State Street
Rochester 4, New York

My dear Dr. Billings:

Your letter of June 14, informing us that your commit-
tee has added the University of Kentucky to "the list of
schools the Society deems qualified to offer professional
training for chemists", came today. It is needless to ray
m are greatly pleased with this news. The University of
Kentucky is pledged to support the Department of Chemistry
so as to develop one of the outstanding departments in our
region, As evidence of this support, the budget of the
Department of Chemistry for the academic year of 1946-47
is $79,150 for operation and maintenance, and $"25,000 for
capital outlay. The total budget for the Chemistry Depart-
ment in 1940-41 was $37,728. This wvill give you some evidence
of the change that has taken place during the past five years.
In addition to increasing the budget, we have very materially
increased and improved the personnel of the Department.

Cordially yours,

(Signed) H.L. Donovan
President.

The information was ordered received and copied into the minutes.

I. Recess for Luncheon.

The Executive Committee recessed at 1:00 p.m for luncheon, feiich
,vas served in the Presidentts Office, and at 1:45 pom. continued
discussion of the business on the agenda.

J. Budget Increased

President Donovan stated that it was desirable to complete the
repair work begun on the Chemistry Building arnd to install equipment
in the Chemistry laboratory as recommended by Dr. Dawson, heed of the
Department. The President recommended that $25,000 be allotted to
the Chemistry Department for capital outlay purposes.

The Committee discussed the recommendation aend took the following
action:
* * * * * * * * * *

6. Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried,
the sum of $25,000 is appropriated for the
Department of Chemistry for capital outlay
purposes, and the Comptroller is ordered and
directed to transfer sname from unappropriated
surplus of the University budget.
* * ** * * * * * *

K. Revision of Rules Governin Non-Official Broadcasts from the
UniversitZ of Kentuckyj

President Donovan read a letter from Elmer G. Sulzer, of the
Department of Public Relations, concerning changes in the rules cover-
ing non-official broadcasts from the University of Kentucky. The
letter is Rs follows:

May 28, 1946

Dr. H. L. Donovan
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky

Dear President Donovan:

I am suggesting that you recommend to the Board of Trustees
at its next meeting a slight revision of our current "Rules
Governing Non-Official Broadcasts from the University of
Kentucky", a copy of which I am enclosing.

Under Item 6, I recommend the addition of stations of 1,000
wVattst power for which a charge of $50 -should be made for
broadcasting footbatll games and a charge of $20 for basket-
ball games.

I am suggesting also a change in the paragraph under 6
starting "The above charges....".. The suggested revised
paragraph should read: "The above charges apply to individ-
ual stations only. In the clse of regional or state networks,
the charges list