By Roger J. Di Paolo
Record-Courier Editor
Alfred G. Yawberg is a footnote in Kent State history, whose dubious claim to fame is the shortest tenure of any of its presidents.
He lasted only three days. And he never even set foot in the president's office.
The Cuyahoga County educator was named to head Kent State during a tumultuous week in June 1933 that saw the ouster of his predecessor by a rump meeting of the Board of Trustees, an Ohio Senate inquiry into that action, the arrest of a trustee on a bad check charge, the ouster of the same trustee and, finally, the reinstatement of the president Yawberg was named to replace.
Small wonder, then, that the next trustee named to the Kent State board reportedly had a mandate from the governor to "get Kent State out of the headlines."
It was 75 years ago this week that readers of the Evening Record learned that President James O. Engleman had been asked to resign as president by two members of the college's board of trustees.
Engleman, who had served as president since 1928, dug in his heels and flatly refused to quit, setting in motion a chain of events that left many wondering who, if anyone, was running Kent State.
Engleman's chief nemesis was David Ladd Rockwell, a Democratic Party leader and onetime "boy mayor" of Kent, who was no stranger to getting rid of Kent State presidents. He was a trustee in 1926, when Kent State's first president, John McGilvrey, was fired, and was on the board when McGilvrey's successor, David Allen Anderson, avoided a similar fate by agreeing to resign his brief tenure.
Rockwell and an ally, trustee John R. Williams, demanded Engleman's resignation at a board meeting on June 19, but because they were unable to rally a majority of the five-member board, the meeting was recessed for 10 days.
"The president has indicated he will fight ... to the limit," the Evening Record reported on June 27, 1933. The paper acknowledged it had suppressed news of the resignation demand for more than a week "with the thought that it might possibly be aborted," sparing Kent State adverse publicity.
A day later, a special committee of the Ohio Senate announced an investigation into the ouster of President Engleman, and forces on both sides were summoned to Columbus. Among those lining up in support of the president were Kent Chamber of Commerce president W.W. Reed, druggist Hale B. Thompson and Police Chief St. Clair West; the latter two would play a pivotal role in subsequent events.
"The weapon which the delegation took to Columbus is Dr. Engleman's fine record of achievement," the Evening Record reported, noting Kent State's growth in enrollment and improved academic status.
Engleman, for his part, said he was determined to remain in office and demanded that his opponents state why he should be removed. "Common decency," he said, required a reason for their actions.
The president had received a 71-1 vote of confidence from the Kent State faculty, dealing a blow to his opponents' contention that he was an ineffective leader. Petitions supporting him also were signed by 675 students.
While the Senate committee was meeting in Columbus, Rockwell and Williams -- who had ignored a subpoena to testify -- went ahead with the Board of Trustees meeting that had been set for June 29. They were joined by a third board member, Alma Zinninger.
The three-member majority fired President Engleman and hired Yawberg. The meeting, held in the president's office, took seven minutes.
Engleman refused to recognize the board's action. He also refused to surrender the keys to his office, which wouldn't have helped "President" Yawberg anyway, because a policeman had been stationed outside the door, barring anyone from entering it.
A day later, Rockwell appeared before the Senate panel, where he defended the board's action. "The president has no tenure in office," he said. "He has no inherent rights. We don't have to appoint him for life."
Then Rockwell found the tables turned. Hale Thompson had Police Chief West arrest him on a bad check charge; although the incident was unrelated to his service as a Kent State board member, it did little to enhance his credibility.
"This is the yellowest thing of which I ever heard," Rockwell said of his arrest, vowing to contest the charge.
It turned out, though, that he had even more to worry about in Columbus.
Rockwell had returned to the Kent State board in July 1931, when Gov. George White had placed him on it as a recess appointment. That meant, however, that he had never been confirmed by the Ohio Senate.
Following his arrest, the Senate voted 16-1 against his confirmation. He was no longer a Kent State trustee.
With Rockwell's ouster, the revolt against President Engleman collapsed. On July 1, the Kent State board -- minus Rockwell -- voted 3-1 to reinstate the president, bringing a close to Alfred G. Yawberg's brief tenure.
"With a broad grin as evidence of the happiness which he made no effort to conceal," the Evening Record reported, Engleman was welcomed back to Kent State to the office he would hold for another five years.
Engleman, Rockwell and John R. Williams remain a presence at Kent State 75 years later. All have buildings named in their honor.
Judge Carl Friebolin was named to succeed Rockwell on the Kent State board. According to KSU historian Philip Shriver, "his one instruction from Governor White (was) 'to get Kent State out of the headlines.'"
With Rockwell no longer a trustee, calmer times did prevail. It probably would have been difficult, anyway, to have topped "the week that was" in June 1933.