Page:A History of the University of Chicago by Thomas Wakefield Goodspeed.djvu/289

 THE FIRST YEAR 251 versity evening on October 11, and all the members of the faculty were invited. On November 1 the Baptist Social Union gave a reception to the professors in the Grand Pacific Hotel and greeted them with a great attendance. On November 18 the Trustees entertained the faculty in Cobb Hall. Commenting on the affair, the University of Chicago Weekly said : The feature of the occasion was the costume of the professors and fellows. They wore the cap and gown. Some of the solid citizens didn't know what to make of the rig But there is no denying that the general impression given by the Oxford outfits was very good. The reception lasted until eleven o'clock. The arriving and departing guests could not have failed to notice the brilliant appearance of Cobb Hall and the dormitories. Eight hundred and eighty-eight windows were ablaze with light and not a shade was down. It is impossible to give a detailed list of those present, but they certainly were a representative body of the learning and culture and wealth of Chicago and the West. The student activities of the first year may perhaps be said to have begun with their registration and matriculation. Desiring to enter the University, the student first registered an application card with the Examiner. He then, if he had the money in his pocket, sought the Registrar's office and paying five dollars received a matriculation card. Application cards began to be filed in August and a good many were made out before the opening day. The first matriculation cards, however, showing that the student had paid the fee and was a member of the University, were not issued until Monday, October 3, two days after the opening. The application cards and the matriculation cards were then arbitrarily numbered to agree with each other. It thus happens that the question as to who was the first student to enter the University of Chicago can never be settled. According to F. J. Gurney, the Assistant Recorder for many years, the most that can be said is that the first twenty matriculation numbers assigned in the University were as follows: No. Name Classification 1 Theodore Elias De Butts Graduate 2 Joseph Leiser College 3 William Bishop Owen Graduate 4 George Gerard Tunell Graduate 5 George Eustis Robertson Unclassified