Victor Cicero Kays (July 7, 1882 – January 20, 1966) was an American
educator
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
,
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
and the founding president of
Arkansas State University
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...
, originally known as the First District State Agricultural School of Arkansas. Kays was the driving force behind the conversion of a regional agricultural training school in
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the f ...
into a four-year university. The transformation was successful even through the country's battle with
The Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and two world wars.
Early life
Kays was born on July 24, 1882, in
Magnolia, Illinois
Magnolia is a village in Putnam County, Illinois, Putnam County, Illinois, United States. The population was 260 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa, Illinois, Ottawa Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, Micropolitan Statistical Area ...
. The son of farmers, John A. Kays and Mary Alice Kays, Victor had five siblings. Upon graduating high school from
Henry, Illinois
Henry is a city in Marshall County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,464 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Henry is named after General James D. Henry, and was initially ...
, Kays studied for three years at
Northern Illinois State Teachers College and was student coach for the school's first football team before completing a bachelor's degree in 1902. Kays advanced his education at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
, where he was a member of the very first
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team. While at Illinois he earned a second bachelor's degree, in science, in 1906. After finishing school, his first job was teaching and coaching at the
Savanna High School
Savanna High School (SHS) is a public high school in the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD), located in the city of Anaheim, California in the United States. Savanna was established in 1961 and is one of eight comprehensive high schools w ...
in
Savanna, Illinois
Savanna is a city in Carroll County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,783 at the 2020 census, down from 2,945 at the 2010 census. Savanna is located along the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Plum River. Going from north to so ...
, but he also worked on the family farm. Due to his poor health, which prevented his continued work on the farm, he resumed his higher education degrees by attending
New Mexico A&M College, where he completed bachelor's and master's degrees in agriculture in 1909 and then worked as an experiment station laboratory chemist in
Mesilla Park, New Mexico
Mesilla Park is a neighborhood located on the south side of Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Residents of Mesilla founded the community through a land company in 1887, shortly after Las Cruces became the county seat of Doña Ana County. ...
.
Academic career
Upon the completion of his master's degree in New Mexico, Kays became the director of an agricultural school in
Wetumpka, Alabama
Wetumpka () is a city in and the county seat of Elmore County, Alabama, Elmore County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 7,220. In the early 21st century Elmore County became one of the f ...
. During his time in Alabama, he met Arkansas state senator Charles E. Bush of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
and, with his motivation, he helped Kays become the principal for the First District agricultural school. This school was one of four throughout the state established by the Arkansas General Assembly through Act 100 in 1909. On June 1, 1910, Kays took the reins of the school, and on October 3, 1910 he and his newly hired faculty, welcomed 189 students for the first day of classes.
Initially, the classes of the First District State Agricultural School of Arkansas met in rented quarters upstairs in a downtown Jonesboro building while the new agricultural school and two residence halls were being built on a 442-acre plot of farmland east of town. As Kays nurtured the young institution and its growing student body, he emphasized instruction in advanced farming methods, such as crop rotation. He was instrumental in acquiring the first herd of Holstein dairy cattle in the state with the intent of utilizing them, and not only for training the students in livestock farming, but for providing dairy products to the campus residents.
In 1915, the Arkansas General Assembly appointed an investigating committee to examine the performance of the agricultural schools. The committee's report praised the school facilities and its leader, saying, "We find Professor Kays a most excellent gentleman, of indispensable value as the head of such a school....The only deplorable fact in regard to his service to the state is that he is paid a mere pittance for his services." Besides his leadership in academic and financial matters, Kays was known as a "hands-on" president who was just as likely to be helping with the construction of a campus building or reviewing student behavior in the residence halls as performing his traditional duties.
Initially, in 1918 the school started offering a two-year college-level program and was known as the First District State Agricultural School of Arkansas. It was renamed First District Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1925 and attained accreditation by the
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), also known as the North Central Association, was a membership organization, consisting of colleges, universities, and schools in 19 U.S. states engaged in educational accreditation. It ...
in 1928. By 1930, the college began offering a four-year degree program, but a major setback occurred the following year when fire destroyed the main building that housed all classrooms and offices. In order to maintain, all classes met in the campus dairy barn as well as other alternate quarters the next day. Kays immediately began formulating plans for a replacement facility that was completed within the following year. Known as
Robert E. Lee Wilson
Robert Edward Lee Wilson (March 5, 1865 – September 27, 1933) was the creator and owner of Lee Wilson and Company, a group of large cotton plantations in the American South, plantations in Mississippi County, Arkansas. Acquiring much of his f ...
Hall, named for the patron Wilson family of
Mississippi County, it was dedicated in November 1932. In 1933, the Arkansas General Assembly renamed the institution Arkansas State College.
During her time as a U.S. Senator,
Hattie Caraway
Hattie Ophelia Wyatt Caraway (February 1, 1878 – December 21, 1950) was an Americans, American politician who became the first woman elected to serve a full term as a United States Senate, United States Senator. Caraway represented Arkansas. Sh ...
of Jonesboro was often called upon by Kays with the intent of strengthening his academic programs and help with securing federal government funding for construction and special projects. During their collaboration, they were credited not only for adding at least nine buildings across the campus, but for establishing military training schools on campus in support of the war effort.
Personal life
Kays married Bertie Hale of
Paragould
Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley's Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta ...
(
Greene County) on June 12, 1917, and they had a son, Victor Hale Kays. In 1936, Kays and his wife built a Tudor-style residence on Aggie Road, across from the campus, where they lived during the last seven years of his presidency and the remainder of his life. This house is now known as the
Victor Cicero Kays House. Beyond the classroom, Kays formed a charitable foundation, the Arkansas State College Foundation, to assist with institutional finances. What is today known as Kays Foundation is still actively supporting Arkansas State University.
Later life
After retiring as president in January 1943, Kays was named president emeritus and retained as business manager. After his successor's resignation in 1945, he served as acting president for nearly a year. The board of trustees of Arkansas State College awarded Kays an honorary doctor of laws degree on May 25, 1956. The citation summarized his contributions to the college's early success and cited his leadership that promoted "educational opportunities and advantages to the rural, as well as the city youth, of Arkansas." Following a brief illness, Kays died in Jonesboro on January 20, 1966, and was buried at Jonesboro Memorial Park Cemetery.
["Victor C. Kays, ASC President Emeritus, Dies." Jonesboro Sun, January 21, 1966, p. 1.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kays, Victor Cicero
1882 births
1966 deaths
20th-century American educators
American men's basketball players
Schoolteachers from Arkansas
Arkansas State University people
Educators from Illinois
Founders of universities
Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players
New Mexico State University alumni
Northern Illinois University alumni
People from Jonesboro, Arkansas
People from Putnam County, Illinois