By Staff Writer: Trevon Dowling
If you’ve been attending ENMU for any length of time, it’s all but certain that you’ve at least heard of the Golden Library. For newer students, it might just seem like a curious name, maybe hyping up the Library’s invaluable usefulness for students and faculty alike.
It might then be surprising for some to learn that this rich font of knowledge and resources is named in honor of Dr. Floyd Golden, ENMU’s longest-serving president and one of the most influential individuals in the history of the school. Serving as the educational superintendent in Portales in the late 1920s, Golden helped to pioneer the idea that there should be a college in eastern New Mexico at a time when the closest higher education institution available to most eastern New Mexicans was Texas A&M University.
Eastern New Mexico’s delegates were heavily outnumbered in their efforts to secure authorization for the construction of a normal school in the region. Despite the odds being against them, they were eventually able to get the needed approval in 1910 and 30,000 acres of land were put aside for the construction of the institution. Even so, it was not thought that the school would ever come to be, with the legislature not actually required to have the school built.
The project sat in limbo until 1927, when the Senate and House passed a bill to create Eastern New Mexico Normal School, as it was then called, in Portales. In 1932, the amount of land to be used was increased to a more generous and manageable 100,000 acres. The next year, the Administration Building, which has fallen into disrepair from years of neglect, was cleaned and repaired in time for a Thanksgiving celebration, honoring everyone who had worked long and hard to turn a school in eastern New Mexico from a dream into a reality.
In 1934, the school finally had its first semester, opening its doors to students for the first time under the name Eastern New Mexico Junior College. The decision to retool the institution from a normal school into a two-year college was made by Dr. Golden, who believed that it would have a greater benefit to students and the community. The institution’s leadership consisted of Dr. Donald MacKay as President and Dr. Golden as Dean.
One Tuesday morning before a football game against New Mexico A&M (today known as New Mexico State University), a number of historic decisions were made. Students and faculty decided on the Greyhound as the school’s mascot. ENMJC’s colors were chosen as silver and green. The Chase itself was given its name at this meeting as well. The fact that all of these landmark decisions were made 89 years ago and have remained unaltered since then is definitely something to think about. While the outcome of the subsequent football game against New Mexico A&M seems to have been lost to history, we do know for certain that it was not a loss for the Greyhounds.
Eastern New Mexico Junior College was so successful that three-year and four-year degrees were added in 1939 and 1940, respectively. The school was appropriately renamed to Eastern New Mexico College. Unfortunately, Dr. Donald MacKay was involved in a vehicle accident in 1939. His iron willpower saw him through and he was back working at Eastern several weeks later, well in advance of his doctor’s recommendation. However, come 1942, Dr. MacKay would step down as President of ENMC as a result of his health conditions from the accident and Dr. Golden step in as acting president, later becoming the president.
As World War 2 raged overseas and many students left to volunteer for service, ENMC would have been left in a tricky spot were it not for an ingenious solution put into place beforehand. ENMC opened an aviation school with the government’s support, training pilots in
the use of aircraft at an old air base several miles away. With the opening of the school, ENMC was able to keep its faculty on and its finances secure throughout World War 2 despite a massive reduction in the number of enrolled students during the war, and in addition served the greater good of the country.
In 1947, Eastern New Mexico College was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, which was a great victory for the college and roundly celebrated by students, faculty, and alumni. Then, in 1949, Eastern New Mexico College would start up Master’s programs and fully come into its own as the Eastern New Mexico University we all know and love. In 1953, ENMU earned the honorable distinction of being the youngest college ever accredited for its 4- and 6-year programs.
Finally, in 1960, Dr. Floyd Golden would retire, concluding his distinguished career as a leader in education. Dr. Golden had been the superintendent of schools in Eastern New Mexico and helped to create Eastern New Mexico University, lobbying the government for land and funds well before it was ever created. He had served as the Dean at Eastern for seven years, and as President for twenty more. Without Dr. Golden to spearhead the creation of the college and then work to maintain it through the Great Depression and World War 2, our great school would most certainly not be what it is today. We owe a lot to Dr. Golden, and the Golden Library could not have a more appropriate namesake.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. Floyd Golden and ENMU’s history, it is highly recommended that you check out the book Eastern New Mexico University: The Golden Years, written by Dr. Golden himself.
Source: https://www.enmu.edu/about/news-and-events/enmu-news/general-news/2304-the-golden-years-part-1