In the first six weeks after Delyte Wesley Morris took over as president of decrepit Southern Illinois University in 1948, he gained ten pounds on the banquet circuit. Morris' nonstop message: S.I.U. would reverse its own sad state and with it the fortunes of the region—a depressed, despairing, violence-ridden enclave known as Little Egypt (or Egypt, after Cairo, Ill., the southernmost city in the state). "Not one of them had the foggiest thought that anything would come of our efforts," he says—and quietly adds that now "the change has come."
Morris' listeners had a right to be skeptical. The S.I.U. campus at Carbondale 16 years ago was a jumble of old, leaking buildings in a lifeless town whose only reason for existence was the fact that the Illinois Central Railroad had chosen to establish a division headquarters there. The school itself was a mediocre state teachers' college, whose sense of the future was typified by an earlier S.I.U. president whose pride it was to send back money to the legislature from the school's meager appropriation. Even Morris did not come with a big reputation. The son of an auto insurance salesman, he was born in Little Egypt, was professor of speech at Ohio State when he got the offer to head S.I.U.
Direct Approach. But Morris, 56, is a harddriving, restless fellow. From the start, he aimed for twin goals: improving life in the 31 sprawling counties of Little Egypt, and creating a school of excellence. He believes that "you can have pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake along with a practical, direct approach to society."
Now, by way of direct approach, teams of specialists from S.I.U.'s department of community development are constantly scouring the region, tempting new industries to settle there. The university's booming Vocational-Technical Institute offers some 160 courses ranging from cosmetology to court reporting, and 10,000 people take adult-education courses. In an area where only a decade ago only 19% of the population over 25 had attended high school, researchers at S.I.U.'s internationally known education department have strengthened dozens of local public schools by curriculum improvements and new teaching aids. University scientists have tackled such regional problems as water pollution, crop diversification and transportation. Even the S.I.U. symphony is a regional enterprise; half the members are students, and the other half are jobless coal miners and other amateurs.