Willard Duncan Vandiver’s presidency of Southeast Missouri Normal School marked two firsts: Vandiver was our institution’s first leader selected from the faculty and, although four “principals” had served in the twenty years before him, Vandiver was, in fact, the first to hold the title of President.
Appointed in 1893 amid a severe economic depression, President Vandiver – the former science department chair – brought much needed stability and leadership to Southeast at a critical time. He diligently canvassed the region recruiting students. And in Jefferson City, Southeast’s president lobbied against an 1895 bill in the Missouri General Assembly to abolish the three state Normal schools.
These presidential duties increasingly drew Willard Vandiver into the world of politics. In 1896, Vandiver ran as the Democratic nominee for Congress to represent Missouri’s 14th District. Regents’ president Louis Houck granted him a one-month leave without pay that fall to campaign. Vandiver’s eventual election to Congress prompted his resignation as college president in March 1897.
Ironically, in Washington, DC, Vandiver earned his special place in Southeast and Missouri history by coining the state’s unofficial slogan: Show-Me.
As the story goes, Congressman Vandiver declared: “I am from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.”
Perhaps Vandiver Hall and the Show Me Center are both named for him?
