Les Dye Resigned.
Les Dye, assistant director of athletics and head football coach, resigned to
become freshman football coach at his alma mater, Syracuse University. A former Washington
Redskins professional football player, Dye became football coach at Clarkson in 1946 when
Clarkson reentered intercollegiate football after a three-year absence during World War II.
To replace Dye, Clarkson hired A. Barr "Whoop" Snively, former head coach at
Williams College. He had graduated from Princeton in 1924, after having attended the US
Naval Academy for one year. In his senior year as captain of the football team, he won the
Johnnie Poe Cup for outstanding ability and devoted contribution to Princeton football. He
went on to be chosen by Walter Camp as a member of his All-American team for 1923. In
1928, after a year at Rumford Falls, Maine, high school, he joined the staff at Williams for one
year before moving to Brown University for two years. Called back to Williams he coached for
10 years until Williams gave up football during the war. In 1942 he became an American Red
Cross field director with the 20th Infantry, 6
th
Division, until March 1945. From then until he
joined the Clarkson staff, he coached football, lacrosse, and hockey at Williams and then at
Maine.
Roos Retired.
Jack Roos, hockey coach at Clarkson for 19 years, retired from coaching to
devote full time to his logging operations in Ontario, Canada. Under his guidance, Clarkson
hockey teams had gained national prominence. The 1937-38 team probably was his best, for it
was named National Collegiate champions after defeating Princeton 8-3, Yale 3-2, and Ivy
League champion Dartmouth 7-0.
Summer Curriculum.
In June, a new nine-week summer term for freshmen was added to the
regular four-year program for engineering and chemistry majors. Freshmen completed their
second-semester work at the Malone Branch on June 4, and then moved to the main campus in
Potsdam for this summer session. By taking four courses, students added 10 additional credit
hours, allowing more time for the fundamental sciences and a greater number of liberal studies
courses. In October 1948, Clarkson had discontinued the full-length summer session it had
operated since 1943 as a wartime accelerated program.
Women Cheerleaders.
To build up sagging school spirit, the four members of the cheerleading
squad- Harold Houdek, Robert Fitch, Charles Garvey, and Al Bremer- decided to add spice to
their duties. Because a number of veterans on campus were married, Bob Fitch convinced
Grace O'Donnell, wife of Joe O'Donnell '50, and other student wives to join the squad.
Grace, along with Mary Juba (James Juba '51), Lynn Connell (Bill Connell '51), and
June O'Donnell (Jim O'Donnell '52) became Clarkson's first women cheerleaders.
Enthusiastically, they joined the men to lead the cheer on the Techers to beat St. Lawrence in
football on Snell Field.
