PPT Slide
In 1920, geographical factors paid off for the new school, however, when pharmacy was added to forestry and agriculture as part of the Institute’s curriculum (the closest school being in Washington), and four students enrolled that year in a program directed by Eugene O. Leonard, for whom the current pharmacy building is named. Student activities expanded also, including the addition of various clubs and team sports. In 1921, Ralph H. Hutchinson (for whom the quadrangle in the middle of lower campus is named) became Director of Physical Education and Athletics and (as a graduate of Princeton) established Princeton’s Bengal Tiger as the Institute’s mascot.
But these were not the “roaring ‘20s. An agricultural depression in the wake of World War I and political infighting in the legislature stifled expansion of the school and nearly brought about its demise. By 1925, one-third of the Institute’s 1200 students were enrolled in college, as opposed to vocational, courses, and movement increased to make the school a four-year college. Instead, in 1927, the Institute became the Southern Branch of the University of Idaho.