Moving History Forward: – The Moritz Brakemeyer Story – Part II

Part 1 of the Moritz Brakemeyer story finished with Coeur d’Alene Junior College (CJC) preparing to open its doors for the first time. As anticipated, the doors opened as planned Sept. 18, 1933, but it soon became apparent there were serious issues facing the school. Issues that would strain the school’s ability to stay open.

CJC’s biggest problem was enrollment. Only 55 students attended classes at City Hall on the first day, and the financial break-even point was 85 full-time registered students. The student count rose to 74 during the year, but even that number was insufficient to pay all the bills.

The second biggest problem was curriculum and accreditation. CJC’s curriculum was based on the University of Idaho syllabus. Idaho had worked with Brakemeyer to create a two-year liberal arts course of instruction, which permitted easy transition to the four-year school.

The U of I had also signed on as the accreditor for the college and an audit of the CJC program revealed no science classes met minimum enrollment requirements, so credits earned in science would not be transferrable.

Despite the issues, CJC's first year was successful academically. Five students graduated May 31, 1934, but the dark clouds of poor enrollment and accreditation carried over to Year Two.

Brakemeyer worked hard to recruit students and promised to meet accreditation requirements. Taking him at his word, the board approved an expanded curriculum. But Brakemeyer’s best efforts to increase the student count again fell short. The Class of 1935 saw 24 students graduate, but an enrollment count of only 80 kept the school in the red.

Brakemeyer lobbied the Legislature for a junior college taxing district to provide revenue, but that effort failed. Desperate to keep the school viable, he reportedly emptied his personal savings account to purchase materials for a third year.

Plans moved forward for Year Three, but less than two weeks before classes were set to start, the college announced a one-week delay. A few days later, another statement from the college revealed the delay had been extended to nine days. On the day the school was finally scheduled to start, word was distributed that President Moritz Brakemeyer had resigned his position, effective immediately. He had accepted a position as an administrator with the U.S. government’s Civilian Conservation Corps and seemed to have walked away.

Because of the crisis caused by Brakemeyer’s departure, the school year was delayed even further. Classes would eventually start, albeit in crisis mode organizationally and financially.

Coeur d’Alene Junior College would survive, but it did so without its founding father. In fact, Brakemeyer would never return to public education, instead pursuing public service jobs with U.S. government agencies. He passed away June 11, 1980, at the age of 91, and to this writer’s knowledge, he never returned to Coeur d’Alene to see the highly successful junior college that his dream produced.

Future stories are planned which detail the next steps in forming the institution that is now North Idaho College.

    Coeur d’Alene Junior College’s First Graduate: Pictured is Margaret Lee (Ellicott), a Coeur d’Alene High School graduate (1930) and a transfer to CJC from the University of Idaho. She was named the first Coeur d’Alene Junior College graduate in 1934 after earning the highest academic achievement in her class for the school year.