People sit on the grass near Memorial Auditorium, listening to an orchestra playing on College Green.

Born of Bobcat Spirit

100 years of alumni support—from Memorial Auditorium to a record-breaking Giving Day

Peter Shooner | October 7, 2022

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On May 16, 1922, thousands of Ohio University alumni across the country gathered in small groups for dinner, and to mark a landmark occasion. Dubbed “Ohio University Day,” this event 100 years ago kicked off OHIO’s fundraising campaign to build what is now Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium—the first alumni campaign of its kind in the University’s history.

The desperately needed auditorium would require the University to raise $300,000, or $104 from every graduate. And that’s what happened: Small gifts from more than 3,100 alumni brought the campaign over the finish line, and in 1928, “MemAud” forever became part of College Green and the OHIO experience.

This April, almost exactly one century later, Bobcats around the world celebrated OHIO Giving Day and another first, raising a record $865,877 from 2,041 donors in just 24 hours. These generous gifts will go on to fund experiential learning programs, research, internships, co-curricular activities and more for the next generation of Bobcats, experiences that will endure long after their time at OHIO.

In this way, today’s gifts will have an impact as permanent as the walls of Memorial Auditorium, named in honor of John Templeton and Martha Jane Hunley Blackburn, OHIO’s first Black male and female graduates, respectively. It is not just the shared halls, brick pathways or even the buildings that connect us. It is the shared OHIO experience that every Bobcat knows forever bonds us to each other and to OHIO’s past, present and future.

As OHIO President Elmer Burritt Bryan wrote in the May 1922 Ohio University Bulletin:

“The University is a spiritual thing, born of the spirit and nurtured by the spirit. If the buildings of Ohio University should be destroyed in an hour by fire or earthquake, the University would live on. It dwells in the hearts of men and women in the form of ideals, loyalty, and the spirit of sacrifice. Without this spirit, an institution may exist as a temporal thing; with it, it becomes immortal.”

Feature photo: From hosting U.S. presidents and world dignitaries to Commencement ceremonies and Concerts Under the Elms, Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium is the keeper of many OHIO alumni memories and a testament to a spirit of alumni giving that has endured for 100 years. Photo  by Ben Wirtz Siegel, BSVC ’02

The 1923 Athena Yearbook features an architect’s drawing for what would become Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Image courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

The 1923 Athena Yearbook features an architect’s drawing for what would become Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Image courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium’s West Portico hosted many OHIO graduation ceremonies, including the 1949 Summer Commencement pictured here. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium’s West Portico hosted many OHIO graduation ceremonies, including the 1949 Summer Commencement pictured here. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Known then as Alumni Memorial Auditorium, the building was a flurry of student activity in the late 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Known then as Alumni Memorial Auditorium, the building was a flurry of student activity in the late 1940s. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses a crowd estimated at 15,000 from the West Portico of Memorial Auditorium on May 7, 1964, as part of a five-state tour in support of his War on Poverty program. Bronze plaques on the West Portico commemorate the many distinguished guests and history makers who have visited campus – from Martin Luther King Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt to several U.S. presidents. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses a crowd estimated at 15,000 from the West Portico of Memorial Auditorium on May 7, 1964, as part of a five-state tour in support of his War on Poverty program. Bronze plaques on the West Portico commemorate the many distinguished guests and history makers who have visited campus – from Martin Luther King Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt to several U.S. presidents. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Many a student gathering – both in peace and protest – have taken place outside Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Many a student gathering – both in peace and protest – have taken place outside Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Martha Jane Hunley Blackburn [SEATED] is seen with her 1916 yearbook graduation painting at a 1979 reception held in her honor. In 1999, Alumni Memorial Auditorium was renamed in honor of Blackburn, OHIO’s first Black female graduate, and John Newton Templeton, the University’s first Black male graduate, who earned his Ohio University degree in 1828. The East Portico of the building houses the African American Alumni Heritage Wall. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Martha Jane Hunley Blackburn [SEATED] is seen with her 1916 yearbook graduation painting at a 1979 reception held in her honor. In 1999, Alumni Memorial Auditorium was renamed in honor of Blackburn, OHIO’s first Black female graduate, and John Newton Templeton, the University’s first Black male graduate, who earned his Ohio University degree in 1828. The East Portico of the building houses the African American Alumni Heritage Wall. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

The 1990 Baker Peace Conference is held at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

The 1990 Baker Peace Conference is held at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections

Incoming students and their parents attend the 2019 Bobcat Student Orientation inside Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo by Akira Jakkson

Incoming students and their parents attend the 2019 Bobcat Student Orientation inside Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo by Akira Jakkson

World culture and the arts collide during Ohio University’s second Global Arts Festival. The event brought guests from around the world to campus for six days of workshops, lectures, exhibitions, a symposium and performances, culminating in the 10th World Music and Dance Concert, held March 26 at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo by Joe Timmerman, BSVC ’23

World culture and the arts collide during Ohio University’s second Global Arts Festival. The event brought guests from around the world to campus for six days of workshops, lectures, exhibitions, a symposium and performances, culminating in the 10th World Music and Dance Concert, held March 26 at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Photo by Joe Timmerman, BSVC ’23

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