On January 12, 1975, the Columbia Missourian reported on the controversy surrounding the announcement of Dr. Arland F. Christ-Janer as the new President of Stephens College. The College, still marketed as a women’s college today, was founded as the Columbia Female Academy in 1833. The original Columbia College (see yesterday’s entry) was chartered that same year for the education of men. William Switzler recounts in his 1882 History of Boone County, Missouri that:

“The early friends of education and liberal culture in Columbia were not satisfied with the establishment of Columbia College, designed exclusively for the education of their sons, but contemporaneously with their noble and self-sacrificing efforts to found this institution were measures to organize an Academy of a high order for those times, for the education of their daughters.”

Christ-Janer assumed the role of President in 1975, and would remain for eight years. He is the most recent male president of Stephens College as of 2023. He had previously held the top job at Cornell College in Iowa, Boston College in Massachusetts, and New College in Florida. He had resigned from Boston College after trying to “please both sides” during difficult protests over Black issues and the Vietnam War. He had close ties to Stephens College before his appointment; his family was friends with influential former Stephens President James Madison Wood and since 1934, two of his three brothers served on faculty. Two of his brothers-unclear if its the same two, also married “Stephens girls.” When he was announced as leader in January 1975 there was an immediate reaction from some of the students and faculty. The Columbia Missourian reported:

“Despite student and faculty dissension, Dr. Arland Christ-Janer has remained calm and collected after the announcement of his appointment to the presidency of Stephens College this week. The choice by the Board of Curators had been unexpected by many students and faculty members who had supported another candidate - a woman - during the 10-month search for a new president. The vacancy was left by the retirement of Seymour Smith last May. Some students made-posters and protested, and some faculty members urged the passage of a resolution to demand the 52-year-old Christ-Janer's resignation.

Student and faculty dissension is not new to Christ-Janer, who faced student protests over Vietnam and racial issues as president of Boston University from 1967-70. During one protest, in which blacks occupied an administration building while demanding increased financial aid for blacks and greater admission of black students, Christ-Janer slipped into the building through an unguarded rear door and negotiated with the protestors, according to the Boston Globe.

Students and faculty members later grew critical of him, said one graduate student, who attended Boston University from 1967-70. “Christ-Janer became the target of student protests because he failed to take a stand," the graduate student remembered. “He tried to please everybody." Following his abrupt resignation in 1969, Christ-Janer was quoted as saying he'd "had enough of student unrest in the recent years." He left Boston's presidency to head the College Entrance Examination Board.”

After eight years Christ-Janer retired and was replaced by Stephens’ first female President, Dr. Patsy Sampson. The new Stephens tradition of a woman leading the women’s college lasts to the present day, with Dr. Dianne Lynch holding the role in 2023.

The traditional home of the Stephens College President, was and is still the President’s Mansion on Locust Street, across from the Locust Street Expressive Arts Elementary School (formerly Lee Elementary School). It was built by President James Madison Wood in 1926 and is listed as a contributing property on the National Register of Historic Places South Campus Historic District. The nomination form, prepared by local architectural historian Debbie Sheals in 2005 describes the mansion as follows:

“This two story Georgian Revival style house occupies the south end of the campus. It was built in 1926, and has two additions; a two-story side ell was probably built in the late 1930s or early 1940s, and a low garage on the back appears to have been added in the late 1950s or early 1960s. (Both additions were in place by the time the 1958 Sanborn map was made.) The back wall of the house is very close to Locust Street, and the façade faces north, to the campus. A curved driveway leads across the wide front lawn to the entrance of the house. The building has ornamental motifs that are similar to Wood and Columbia halls, with Classically inspired ornamentation, red brick walls, and multi-light windows. The original house has a low hipped roof and a symmetrical façade, with an accentuated central entrance bay. The front door is topped by an arched fanlight, and surrounded by a classical entablature. A triangular pediment tops the central bay, and brick quoins accent the corners of the bay and the main block of the house. The roofline has a wide cornice, topped by a low parapet wall, and there is a pair of gabled dormers on the front slope of the roof.

The two story ell, which is on the east side of the house, is nearly as large as the original house. The ell has very similar styling, with matching windows and brickwork. It has a flat roof, and a parapet and cornice that match those of the original part of the house. A secondary cornice runs along the first floor ceiling line on the addition. The garage addition on the back of the house is much simpler, with flat red brick walls, and no windows or added ornament.

The flat roof of the garage contains a patio accessible from the back of the house. The President's House is highly intact and in fair to good condition; the garage is the only modern exterior alteration of note, and it is not highly visible from the front of the building.”

Inspired, in part, by the preservation of historic homes on college campuses, our group, CoMo Preservation, hopes to help homeowners, landlords, and institutions prevent the destruction of historic architecture. Original period styles might be replicated, but will forever lack the social history of authentic structures. The preservation of historic buildings is necessary for Columbia’s residents, students, and visitors to achieve a sense of place and, it follows, for our city’s continued economic success. If you want to join us in our mission, signup on our mailing list for news and updates.

Sources

• Bursh, Cheryl; Kubissa, Dave (January 12, 1975). Christ-Janer keeps calm, cool though controversy at college. Columbia, Missouri: Columbia Missourian. Accessed January 12, 2023.

• Switzler, William F. (1882). History of Boone County. St. Louis, Missouri: Western Historical Company. p.226. OCLC 2881554.

• Sheals, Debbie (May 2005). Stephens College South Campus Historic District National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. Columbia, Missouri: United States Department of the Interior. Accessed on January 12, 2023.

• Crighton, John Clarke (1970). Stephens: A Story of Educational Innovation. Columbia, Missouri: American Press.

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