When Horace Hale became president, he believed his major responsibility was to build public support for the university. A former regent, Hale cajoled legislators into visiting the campus and lobbied to increase state funding.

Hale also began to develop the campus, planting 700 trees, building sidewalks through the mud and constructing more buildings. A dam was built in the ravine between the President’s House and Old Main, forming what is now called Varsity Lake.