E.B. Lemon Oral History Interview (4 of 4)

The fourth and final interview in this series with E.B. Lemon starts with the main duties he was charged with as Dean of Administration at Oregon Agricultural College. Likening the position to a vice-president, Lemon saw that his primary duty was to the president of the institution whom he felt he needed to help in any way necessary. When reflecting on the many decisions that he made, remembers that it was a busy time and there wasn’t a lack of work to be done. One example came from the influx of military men into the university. After the war, there were more students than the institution could handle. Space became a major issue, both in regards to teaching and housing students. Eventually the university took over the hospital at Camp Adair and transformed it into married student housing.

Another marker of change was the creation of a four-year liberal arts program. While Lemon states that he wasn’t overly involved in the process, he believed that the college should have pushed for the program long before. According to Lemon, a large part of the delay came from fears at the University of Oregon about their curriculum being duplicated.

Outside of the university, Lemon was very active in the community. This is especially apparent with his involvement and dedication to Rotary and also the reorganization of Benton County. Never one to sit idle, Lemon manages to leave behind quite a legacy.