The test of time
Axtell reflects on 47 years of teaching at SIUE
Holly Meyer
Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: 50th Anniversary Special Edition
The group of people on the helicopter ride before the one Axtell took had an unexpected surprise when they flew over the Freund property.
"The farmer came out with a shot gun and shot the helicopter," Axtell said.
Kerber said the farmer had notified the sheriff's department of his intentions to shoot at the helicopters if they kept flying over his property.
"They came back, landed and looked over the rotors to see what damage had been done," Axtell said. "You could see a couple of places on the rotor where the shot had hit it."
Despite the gunfire, Axtell still was able to see an aerial view of the property, but the pilot stayed away from the Freund property, Axtell said.
Even though there was some resistance to the university, it had a lot of local community support.
The Southwestern part of Illinois that includes Madison and St. Clair counties was the second-most populated area in the state behind Chicago.
"There were no students in this area that ever had any college education," Axtell said. "We were the first ones to give them an education."
Even though some people in the region may have had a college degree, the number was low.
Harold See, Southern Illinois University vice president and dean of the Southwestern campus, ghost-authored a thorough study, proving the area had a disproportionately low number of higher education degree honors, according to Kerber.
When the Edwardsville campus opened in 1965, Axtell started teaching on the new campus.
"We were the ones that really started this area out in terms of education," Axtell said.
Kerber said between the years of 1957 and 1970, the university grew rapidly. However, the growth of the university was slowed by a number of factors including the Vietnam War, the removal of SIU President Delyte Morris and the creation of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
The removal of Morris left the university without his political clout, and the IBHE restricted and controlled the resources to universities in an attempt to take the politics out of the state university system.
"The farmer came out with a shot gun and shot the helicopter," Axtell said.
Kerber said the farmer had notified the sheriff's department of his intentions to shoot at the helicopters if they kept flying over his property.
"They came back, landed and looked over the rotors to see what damage had been done," Axtell said. "You could see a couple of places on the rotor where the shot had hit it."
Despite the gunfire, Axtell still was able to see an aerial view of the property, but the pilot stayed away from the Freund property, Axtell said.
Even though there was some resistance to the university, it had a lot of local community support.
The Southwestern part of Illinois that includes Madison and St. Clair counties was the second-most populated area in the state behind Chicago.
"There were no students in this area that ever had any college education," Axtell said. "We were the first ones to give them an education."
Even though some people in the region may have had a college degree, the number was low.
Harold See, Southern Illinois University vice president and dean of the Southwestern campus, ghost-authored a thorough study, proving the area had a disproportionately low number of higher education degree honors, according to Kerber.
When the Edwardsville campus opened in 1965, Axtell started teaching on the new campus.
"We were the ones that really started this area out in terms of education," Axtell said.
Kerber said between the years of 1957 and 1970, the university grew rapidly. However, the growth of the university was slowed by a number of factors including the Vietnam War, the removal of SIU President Delyte Morris and the creation of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
The removal of Morris left the university without his political clout, and the IBHE restricted and controlled the resources to universities in an attempt to take the politics out of the state university system.
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