Geary Eppley
Encyclopedia
Geary Francis "Swede" Eppley ( December 30, 1895 – June 10, 1978) was an American university administrator, professor, agronomist
, military officer, athlete, and track and field
coach. He served as the University of Maryland athletic director
from 1937 to 1947, during which time the school's athletic teams won seven national championships. Eppley worked in various capacities for Prince George's County
and for private charities. He served in the United States Army
during the First and Second World Wars.
In 1914, he enrolled at the Maryland State College of Agriculture (now known as the University of Maryland
), but put his education on hold to serve in the First World War. Eppley served as a second lieutenant
in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment from March 11, 1918 to July 3, 1919. After the war, he returned to Maryland State, and earned letters in track
and football
in 1919 and 1920. He played on the football team
as an end. In track, he set the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
pole vault
record, and in football, he was named a second-team all-conference end. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture
in 1920. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi
, Omicron Delta Kappa
, Pi Delta Epsilon, and Phi Eta Sigma
honor societies, as well as the Scabbard and Blade
and the Pershing Rifles
.
of agronomy
in 1922, and in 1926, he earned a master of arts degree from what was by then known as the University of Maryland. He became the Maryland track coach during the 1930s, and his teams won two national championships. Jim Kehoe
, who was on one of Eppley's track teams and himself later became track coach and athletic director, said, "I thought he was a really good coach ... He was very aggressive, very well informed."
He was assigned as the university's dean of men
in 1936. The following year, Eppley became the athletic director
and served in that capacity until 1947; during his tenure, Maryland won one football
and six lacrosse national championships. He was a staunch supporter of athletics at Maryland, and routinely sat in the student section at the university's games.
In 1941, Eppley was activated from the Army Reserve
at the rank of colonel
, and was assigned to the office of the Army Chief of Staff
. After the conclusion of the Second World War, university president Harry C. Byrd
urgently requested Eppley's return as dean in 1945, saying, "You are absolutely essential to the successful operation of the university and if the university is an essential unit in our state and national existence, then it is certainly essential that you return to us." The school was experiencing a large influx in students as discharged veterans pursued their education under the G.I. Bill, and it strained the university's logistics. The enrollment of many wounded veterans increased the need for handicapped access
, and the sheer number of students meant dining facilities required waits of up to an hour. Also, the disproportionate number of male students to females created disciplinary problems. In 1947, Eppley wrote to the assistant dean of women in the defense of some fraternity brothers who had broken into a sorority, but conceded that "the drinking problem on the university campus is a little worse than usual due to the aftermath of the war."
Eppley served terms as the vice president of the Southern Conference
in the 1940s, and as its president in 1949. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, college athletics were marred by several scandals across the nation, and there were allegations of its overemphasis at universities. When the Southern Conference placed a ban on postseason bowl game
s, Eppley said, "As a member of the faculty, I am not over [sic] enthusiastic about bowls, but ... any over-emphasis is caused by the great desire of the American people to win." Maryland ignored the ban to participate in the 1952 Sugar Bowl
, and was sanctioned by the conference. The incident proved a major catalyst for the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference
(ACC) in 1953. Eppley later served as the president of the ACC.
From 1946 to 1958, he was the university's director of student welfare, and in 1964, he was named a dean emeritus
. In a controversial episode in 1953, Eppley confiscated thousands of copies of The Diamondback
student paper because of an exposé on living conditions in the female dormitories. Eppley played a pivotal role in the founding of the university's student union
and its chapel.
Eppley also served in numerous capacities for Prince George's County
government and non-governmental organizations. He was the Prince George's County Boy's Club director, master of the county grange, a county Welfare Board member, and the county Community Chest budget chairman.
board member, a member of the Masons
, the College Park Rotary Club, the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew at St. Andrews Church, and a vestryman
at St. Andrews Church.
. He was inducted in the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame
in 1982. The Geary F. Eppley Award is awarded annually to the university's senior athlete with the highest grade-point average.
In 2006, the campus recreation center was dedicated as the Geary F. Eppley Recreation Center. His daughter, Frances Eppley Tobin, said, "It's a perfect building for him, because he was so dedicated to athletics and physical fitness." The university had unsuccessfully sought to sell the facility's naming rights to a corporate sponsor. An alumni group had petitioned to rename the Adele H. Stamp Student Union
in honor of Eppley, who had organized its creation, but were rebuffed by the university. The school's administration later agreed to dedicating the recreation center to Eppley after an important patron threatened to cut off donations.
Agricultural science
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. -Agriculture and agricultural science:The two terms are often confused...
, military officer, athlete, and track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
coach. He served as the University of Maryland athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
from 1937 to 1947, during which time the school's athletic teams won seven national championships. Eppley worked in various capacities for Prince George's County
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
and for private charities. He served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the First and Second World Wars.
Early life and education
Eppley was born in 1895 in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In 1914, he enrolled at the Maryland State College of Agriculture (now known as the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
), but put his education on hold to serve in the First World War. Eppley served as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment from March 11, 1918 to July 3, 1919. After the war, he returned to Maryland State, and earned letters in track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
in 1919 and 1920. He played on the football team
Maryland Terrapins football
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
as an end. In track, he set the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, as were at least 19 other schools...
pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
record, and in football, he was named a second-team all-conference end. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
in 1920. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Kappa Phi
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society established 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education"...
, Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...
, Pi Delta Epsilon, and Phi Eta Sigma
Phi Eta Sigma
Phi Eta Sigma is an American freshman honor society. Founded at the University of Illinois on March 22, 1923, is the oldest and largest freshman honor society and now has more than three hundred chapters throughout the United States and more than 1 million members.-Eligibility:Any first-year...
honor societies, as well as the Scabbard and Blade
Scabbard and Blade
Scabbard and Blade is a college military honor society founded at the University of Wisconsin in 1904. Although membership is open to R.O.T.C. cadets and midshipmen of all military services, the society is modeled after the U.S. Army and its chapters are called companies and are organized into...
and the Pershing Rifles
Pershing Rifles
The Pershing Rifles is a military fraternal organization for college-level students, founded by then 2nd Lieutenant John J. Pershing in 1894 as a drill unit at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln...
.
Professional career
Eppley joined the faculty as an assistant professorProfessor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
in 1922, and in 1926, he earned a master of arts degree from what was by then known as the University of Maryland. He became the Maryland track coach during the 1930s, and his teams won two national championships. Jim Kehoe
Jim Kehoe
James Henry Kehoe, Jr. was an American athletics coach and university administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of Maryland from 1969 to 1978, during which time he was responsible for the hiring of future Hall of Fame coaches Lefty Driesell, Jerry Claiborne, Bud...
, who was on one of Eppley's track teams and himself later became track coach and athletic director, said, "I thought he was a really good coach ... He was very aggressive, very well informed."
He was assigned as the university's dean of men
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
in 1936. The following year, Eppley became the athletic director
Athletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
and served in that capacity until 1947; during his tenure, Maryland won one football
Maryland Terrapins football
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
and six lacrosse national championships. He was a staunch supporter of athletics at Maryland, and routinely sat in the student section at the university's games.
In 1941, Eppley was activated from the Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
at the rank of colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
, and was assigned to the office of the Army Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff of the United States Army
The Chief of Staff of the Army is a statutory office held by a four-star general in the United States Army, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, and as such is the principal military advisor and a deputy to the Secretary of the Army; and is in...
. After the conclusion of the Second World War, university president Harry C. Byrd
Curley Byrd
Harry Clifton "Curley" Byrd was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician...
urgently requested Eppley's return as dean in 1945, saying, "You are absolutely essential to the successful operation of the university and if the university is an essential unit in our state and national existence, then it is certainly essential that you return to us." The school was experiencing a large influx in students as discharged veterans pursued their education under the G.I. Bill, and it strained the university's logistics. The enrollment of many wounded veterans increased the need for handicapped access
Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity...
, and the sheer number of students meant dining facilities required waits of up to an hour. Also, the disproportionate number of male students to females created disciplinary problems. In 1947, Eppley wrote to the assistant dean of women in the defense of some fraternity brothers who had broken into a sorority, but conceded that "the drinking problem on the university campus is a little worse than usual due to the aftermath of the war."
Eppley served terms as the vice president of the Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...
in the 1940s, and as its president in 1949. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, college athletics were marred by several scandals across the nation, and there were allegations of its overemphasis at universities. When the Southern Conference placed a ban on postseason bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
s, Eppley said, "As a member of the faculty, I am not over [sic] enthusiastic about bowls, but ... any over-emphasis is caused by the great desire of the American people to win." Maryland ignored the ban to participate in the 1952 Sugar Bowl
1952 Sugar Bowl
The 1952 Sugar Bowl featured the top ranked Tennessee Volunteers, and the third ranked Maryland Terrapins. In the first quarter, Maryland scored on a two-yard touchdown run Ed Fullerton, giving the Terrapins a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, Fullerton threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Bob...
, and was sanctioned by the conference. The incident proved a major catalyst for the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
(ACC) in 1953. Eppley later served as the president of the ACC.
From 1946 to 1958, he was the university's director of student welfare, and in 1964, he was named a dean emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
. In a controversial episode in 1953, Eppley confiscated thousands of copies of The Diamondback
The Diamondback
The Diamondback is the independent student newspaper of the University of Maryland, College Park. It was founded in 1910 as The Triangle and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the Diamondback terrapin...
student paper because of an exposé on living conditions in the female dormitories. Eppley played a pivotal role in the founding of the university's student union
Student activity center
A student activity center is a type of building found on university campuses. In the United States, such a building is more often called a student union, student commons, or student center...
and its chapel.
Eppley also served in numerous capacities for Prince George's County
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
government and non-governmental organizations. He was the Prince George's County Boy's Club director, master of the county grange, a county Welfare Board member, and the county Community Chest budget chairman.
Personal life
He married Elizabeth Flenner in 1925, and together, they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Frances, and one son, Geary W. Eppley. Geary F. Eppley was the honorary president of the Prince George's County Alumni Association of the University of Maryland, an American Cancer SocietyAmerican Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
board member, a member of the Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, the College Park Rotary Club, the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew at St. Andrews Church, and a vestryman
Vestryman
A vestryman is a member of his local church's vestry, or leading body. He is not a member of the clergy.In England especially, but also in other parts of The United Kingdom, Parish Councils have long been a level of local government rather than being solely ecclesiastical in nature...
at St. Andrews Church.
Death and honors
He survived his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1976. Eppley died on June 10, 1978, of a heart condition at Leland Memorial Hospital in College Park, MarylandCollege Park, Maryland
College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...
. He was inducted in the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame
University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame
The University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1982 by the M Club Foundation to honor student-athletes, coaches, and administrators who made significant contributions to athletics at the University of Maryland...
in 1982. The Geary F. Eppley Award is awarded annually to the university's senior athlete with the highest grade-point average.
In 2006, the campus recreation center was dedicated as the Geary F. Eppley Recreation Center. His daughter, Frances Eppley Tobin, said, "It's a perfect building for him, because he was so dedicated to athletics and physical fitness." The university had unsuccessfully sought to sell the facility's naming rights to a corporate sponsor. An alumni group had petitioned to rename the Adele H. Stamp Student Union
Adele H. Stamp Student Union
The Adele H. Stamp Student Union, commonly referred to as "Stamp", is the student activity center on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. First constructed in 1954 , the building was renamed in 1983 for Adele H. Stamp, who served as the university's dean of women from 1920 to 1966...
in honor of Eppley, who had organized its creation, but were rebuffed by the university. The school's administration later agreed to dedicating the recreation center to Eppley after an important patron threatened to cut off donations.