Colleges: The Growing Importance of Ike U.

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As physician for the high school football team in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in 1961, Dr. Scott W. Skinner fretted about the fact that many of the hard-working but unbookish kids he knew probably would have a tough time getting into a college. A mediocre student himself at Muhlenberg, Skinner was convinced that many local youngsters would do all right if a school would just give them a chance. Impulsively he dashed off a letter to a man he had never met but had always considered "a hero of mine and a unique person in history" — Dwight Eisenhower. Skinner asked Ike's help in starting a college.

Last week Seneca Falls (pop. 7,500), nestling in central New York's bucolic Finger Lakes area, was abustle with a big celebration. Restaurant owner Toots Shor was there. So were Film Magnate Spyros Skouras, Nelson and Happy Rockefeller, Bob Hope, Harold Stassen. And Dwight Eisenhower. They were all present for the groundbreaking ceremonies for Eisenhower College.

"Out of Your Minds." That happy event would never have taken place, says Scott Skinner, "if we had really understood the problems and not just gone blundering ahead." Actually, Ike's reply to Skinner's letter back in 1961 was little more than a note of cautious interest written, in fact, by Eisenhower's secretary. But it was enough for Skinner, 41, who teamed up with Insurance Broker John Rosenkrans, 40, a fellow vestryman at Seneca Falls First Presbyterian Church. Together they sought support of state Presbyterian Church officials who, Skinner recalls, told them: "You two guys can't start a college—you're out of your minds."

Undaunted, they canvassed Presbyterian pastors, who in turn found about 1,300 prospective students. The Seneca Falls Presbyterian church pledged $100,000. An 18-man committee was formed, but not an educator was on it to provide professional advice, so Skinner and Rosenkrans went prospecting.

The New York State Department of Education recommended Earl J. McGrath. So did Presbyterian officials, who by now were warming to the idea. So did the Ford Foundation. Asked Rosenkrans: "Who is McGrath?" He and Skinner found out soon enough. Buffalo-born Earl McGrath had been U.S. Commissioner of Education under President Truman and president of the University of Kansas City. The prospectors located him in New York, where McGrath, 62, was teaching at Columbia and directing research in higher education. Skinner went to see him and opened the conversation with: "What are we doing to help the C+ high school student?" Two and one-half hours later, McGrath agreed to advise the group; eventually he became so enthusiastic that he agreed to become the college's first president. Recalls Skinner: "I could have hopped home—I didn't need to fly."