The 1910s were marked by state funding disputes, dormitory growth, WWI and the Spanish Flu.

Tension grew between the Teachers College and their new supervising board, the state-wide Board of Control, about the Board’s drive to reduce costs. The new Board condemned the “ambition” of the Teachers College to grant college degrees, recommended that the institution revert back to the status of a largely two-year normal school, and made alarming budget cuts.

However, Seerley Hall was still completed in 1911 (it rained on moving day, so books for the new library were carried through a utility tunnel); Sabin Hall, a labschool for community children, in 1911, the multi-faceted Bartlett Hall complex between 1914-15. “Three times as many women applied as could be accommodated. The Board was so impressed by this response that it requested two additional wings before the initial portion of the project was completed.” In 1919, a second greenhouse (now known as Wright Hall), was added to the campus, to be used for classes in vocational agriculture.

In the face of the Board’s meddling, a spirit of perseverance filled the student body. The May Day Fete came into being in 1913 to celebrate the defeat of the State Board of Control’s proposal. “In the morning, the weather was perfect and the parade, consisting mostly of decorated carriages and automobiles was as beautiful a sight as is ever seen in Cedar Falls.…Luncheon on the lawn was well attended and a general informal feast was certainly enjoyed.” wrote the College Eye. The May Day Fete tradition lasted for over twenty years.

With the onset of WWI, all male students were to undergo military training, led by Major F.N. Mead, a local physician attached to the National Guard. For the women, President Seerley sought a woman instructor who not only had medical education but was also “equally qualified in physical training for women”; his search proved unsuccessful. As the war progressed, the college began losing more male students despite the subtle pressures of the student newspaper to encourage students to study with military training on campus rather than enlist.

Despite male enrollment decreasing, overall enrollment grew in the 1910s from 1,108 to 1,423. The school was also swept up in the anti-German sentiment of the war. A mass burning of German books at the College Hill City park on April 30, 1918 occurred with the permission of President Seerley. “A large crowd of students saw the flames consume the hated German books and made merry while the flames danced.” Questions of loyalty were raised concerning the German-born Head of the Department of German and French, John B. Knoepfler; enrollment in German classes suffered and ceased to be included on the list of available majors.

By 1918, an epidemic of Spanish influenza was spreading across the country. The college hospitals were filled to capacity and at least two students had died as of President Seerley’s October 1st report. His second report, on October 9th, reported improved conditions. “Much hospital space unoccupied,...epidemic not increasing,...ninety-one percent of the children in the Training School in attendance.” President Seerley requested all students who had been absent because of the flu be given individual instruction to make up their credits.