Ralph Kiddoo Hickok 1931-1941

In 1930 Dr. Ralph Kiddoo Hickok accepted the position of President of Western College. He was president for ten years, 1931-1941. He was born in 1880 in Nebraska and educated at Wooster College and Princeton University. Prior to becoming Western’s president, Dr. Hickok was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York. The Great Depression hit Western very hard. Salaries of faculty were cut and enrollment declined. Even though he faced these problems, Dr. Hickok was the first president to gather the history of Western. He formed a faculty club, started the first student newspaper “Western Round Up” and relaxed many of the rules for students. An orientation week was started in 1938 for incoming students. In March 1941, President Hickok suffered a serious heart attack and resigned in February in 1942.