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Why Henry Suzzallo was the worst UW President ever
YellowSnow
Moderator, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 35,437 
Excerpt here from the "official" history of the crew. Suzzallo was such a academis obsessed piece-of-shit that he tried to fire the row boat corch, in addition to running off Gloomy Gil.
It was right after the end of the 1916 racing season that the simmering issues built up over the years between Conibear and the University came to a boil. There are conflicting accounts of what exactly transpired to send Hiram Conibear back east for a six month "leave of absence". The Tyee suggests it was Conibear who volunteered to "go east to study methods used by the coaches of other crews" (1), however George Pocock paints a more likely scenario.
Henry Suzzallo had taken the reins of the University as president in 1915. His dedication to education went hand in hand with a perception that athletics were over-prioritized on campus and out of control. There was much speculation that Washington would send the crew to Poughkeepsie in 1916 - the student board even revoked the previous limitation made in 1914 - and businessmen were lining up to commit the necessary funding. Newspaper accounts in May, quite possibly planted by Conibear or his friends, had them on their way. Suddenly everything went quiet, the trip vaporized, and a couple of weeks later Conibear was gone. The efforts to revoke the 1914 agreement, or the aggressive campaign to go east may have put these two strong-willed men at loggerheads. Whatever the reason, according to Pocock, his popularity and personality led Suzzallo to fire him. Rusty Callow, at the end of his fifth year at the University and now ASUW President, reportedly then stepped in on behalf of Conibear and persuaded Suzzallo to back down. The compromise, according to Pocock, was that Conibear stop meddling in campus politics and take a six month leave (2).
Conibear was gone in time to see the 1916 Harvard/Yale race and the IRA, and then spent the summer back teaching rowing in Chautauqua, New York, where he had spent time years before. He then landed at his brother-in-law's ranch outside of Chicago, before returning to Seattle in January of 1917 to begin coaching again.
It was during this leave of absence that the Pococks decided to take a lucrative offer from Bill Boeing to build pontoons for float planes. Although gone from the Tokyo Tea Room, the brothers would stay in close contact with the rowing program at Washington.
Captain Tom Cushman and teammate Paul McConihe opened fall turnouts for the freshmen that year, with about forty young men in attendance, and held practices throughout the autumn. Come the first week of February, 1917, both freshmen and varsity contingents were on the water with Conibear back barking instructions from his megaphone.
Cushman, after being hospitalized for appendicitis, was replaced as captain by Ward Kumm prior to the departure for California and the Triangular. Leaving early to escape another miserable winter in Seattle, the crew had two weeks of training in the Bay area that greatly improved their morale and their stroke. On April 14th, although challenged by California halfway through the course, the team pulled away to win by five lengths over their closest rival, Stanford.
There would be no trip to the IRA that year, so thus would be the last victory for Hiram Conibear. On September 10, 1917, in his backyard, Coach Conibear climbed a fruit tree (a plum or apple tree, depending on the source) and fell, breaking his neck. He died instantly.
Rowing at Washington, with an already uncertain future under the University President and now stunningly without the man who had built it, would survive the next two years solely on the grit and will of the Seattle community and the legacy Conibear left - the men of the Varsity Boat Club, and the Washington Rowing Stewards.
It was right after the end of the 1916 racing season that the simmering issues built up over the years between Conibear and the University came to a boil. There are conflicting accounts of what exactly transpired to send Hiram Conibear back east for a six month "leave of absence". The Tyee suggests it was Conibear who volunteered to "go east to study methods used by the coaches of other crews" (1), however George Pocock paints a more likely scenario.
Henry Suzzallo had taken the reins of the University as president in 1915. His dedication to education went hand in hand with a perception that athletics were over-prioritized on campus and out of control. There was much speculation that Washington would send the crew to Poughkeepsie in 1916 - the student board even revoked the previous limitation made in 1914 - and businessmen were lining up to commit the necessary funding. Newspaper accounts in May, quite possibly planted by Conibear or his friends, had them on their way. Suddenly everything went quiet, the trip vaporized, and a couple of weeks later Conibear was gone. The efforts to revoke the 1914 agreement, or the aggressive campaign to go east may have put these two strong-willed men at loggerheads. Whatever the reason, according to Pocock, his popularity and personality led Suzzallo to fire him. Rusty Callow, at the end of his fifth year at the University and now ASUW President, reportedly then stepped in on behalf of Conibear and persuaded Suzzallo to back down. The compromise, according to Pocock, was that Conibear stop meddling in campus politics and take a six month leave (2).
Conibear was gone in time to see the 1916 Harvard/Yale race and the IRA, and then spent the summer back teaching rowing in Chautauqua, New York, where he had spent time years before. He then landed at his brother-in-law's ranch outside of Chicago, before returning to Seattle in January of 1917 to begin coaching again.
It was during this leave of absence that the Pococks decided to take a lucrative offer from Bill Boeing to build pontoons for float planes. Although gone from the Tokyo Tea Room, the brothers would stay in close contact with the rowing program at Washington.
Captain Tom Cushman and teammate Paul McConihe opened fall turnouts for the freshmen that year, with about forty young men in attendance, and held practices throughout the autumn. Come the first week of February, 1917, both freshmen and varsity contingents were on the water with Conibear back barking instructions from his megaphone.
Cushman, after being hospitalized for appendicitis, was replaced as captain by Ward Kumm prior to the departure for California and the Triangular. Leaving early to escape another miserable winter in Seattle, the crew had two weeks of training in the Bay area that greatly improved their morale and their stroke. On April 14th, although challenged by California halfway through the course, the team pulled away to win by five lengths over their closest rival, Stanford.
There would be no trip to the IRA that year, so thus would be the last victory for Hiram Conibear. On September 10, 1917, in his backyard, Coach Conibear climbed a fruit tree (a plum or apple tree, depending on the source) and fell, breaking his neck. He died instantly.
Rowing at Washington, with an already uncertain future under the University President and now stunningly without the man who had built it, would survive the next two years solely on the grit and will of the Seattle community and the legacy Conibear left - the men of the Varsity Boat Club, and the Washington Rowing Stewards.
Comments
Gloomy Gil got off easy.