Men's Club Room

In another phase of their lives, the young men wanted a club room on campus where they could congregate to socialize. Before their own dormitory was built, the men, who boarded in homes over town, had no place to gather to talk and to form a cohesive bond as students of Henderson as did the girls in their dormitory. So the young men approached President Womack, who listened to their ideas.

In response to their numerous requests for such a facility, President Womack finally had worked out a plan to provide a club room. In a called meeting of the men on September 23, 1932, he announced that the College would construct a men's club room and an extra classroom in the north end of the old Alumni Foundation. At Mr. Womack's request, Frank Koon, president of the student body, named a committee of six to arrange for furniture and formulate the rules for its operation: Tom Elzen, Raymond Davis, G. O. Richardson, Guy Robbins, Thurman May, and Sam Strong.

The Men's Club Room opened formally on Monday October 31, 1932, with all students, even the women, invited to inspect the facility from 3 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. Thereafter, it would be open only to men from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. each school day; but the Room opened on Friday to remain open until midnight on Sunday.

The Room was furnished with a radio, a gift from President Womack, a reading lamp, tables, and inexpensive straight chairs." This was a center “where the men may come together and enjoy themselves instead of loafing on the street corners.” The men had complete authority over and responsibility for the conduct of the Room.” They were “not to permit any misconduct” within its confines. The men were most grateful to President Womack for the Room, because only after untold effort on his part was the project completed”. And they were "indeed fortunate to have such a splendid place to spend their winter evenings in study and jovial entertainment”.