days: the challenge of advertising for financial support and students; the challenge of building a stable faculty; the challenge of developing and maintaining a campus on limited funds; and the challenge of making the liberal arts concept palatable to a church constituency somewhat suspicious of anything containing the term liberal! Jeremiah considered developing the faculty his first priority. Several members of the original faculty had not completed their graduate programs and were anticipating further study. It was difficult to retain teachers due to the low salary scale. By the end of the first year, the faculty was a troubled group. Finding new faculty members, however, was a real problem. "There were not too many teachers knocking at the door,"2o since Cedarville was not yet an established institution. During the 1953-54 school year, Cedarville lost its most noted faculty member. Dr. Frank Albert Jurkat was the only member of the Presbyterian faculty who chose to continue with the school when it became Baptist. Jurkat was known throughout the community and to the young Baptist students as "Old Cedarville." He had joined the faculty in the fall of 1895, and was invited to continue on the faculty by the Baptists in 1953. "He taught Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, and History and conducted approximately 24 classes a week, though some of his classes were limited to one or two students."21 Jurkat devoted his entire life to Cedarville College. Heritage Alumni claim he used to stand outside his classroom and pass food to students he felt were in need. He served cheese and crackers at his exams because he believed students performed better on tests with a little something in their stomachs. Carl Smith, a 1925 graduate, described Professor Jurkat as by far the most popular professor on campus.22 When it became apparent that the school was going to have to merge or close its doors, Jurkat looked forward with anticipation to the new leadership. When he realized that leadership stood for the very principles for The Varsity Basketball team of 1959. nO/Chapler XIII
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=