Endborough College

Endborough College is a private, co-educational institution of higher learning, located in the North Park section of the City of Endborough, the state capital of Endover in the Commonwealth of Baker Park.

History

Established in 1888, the school held it's first class with 5 women and 2 men on April 17 in that year, seven weeks after the University of Baker Park opened its doors to a group of 15 men.

The Council of State of Baker Park granted a charter to allow the establishment of the University of Endover effective September 29, 1888, which was a Saturday; however, no students were enrolled officially until March 1889 when University College and Christ Chapel College officially became the "The United Colleges of the University of Endover" with Grace Brethren and St Stephen's Colleges joining the fold in time for the fall term in September.

EC reaped a windfall when the Board of Controllers of Grace Brethren sold the freehold on four parcels of land totaling 3.5 acres to Anthony Ross-Griffith--one of the most famous land speculators in Baker Park in the pre-Commonwealth period (1880-92) who was said to own nearly 20% of the State of Endover in 1891 in violation of the Council's Regulatory Instrument of 1885--who quietly transferred the titles to a Trust under the control of the Board of Overseers; less than 24 months later Catalpa Hall College had given up the freehold on their original 1.5 acre property just prior to their move to the University to an unknown third party, which ended up being added to the EC campus. Those two acquisitions, plus a couple of other smaller parcels that came into the College's hands over the next 24 months, have been estimated to have cost UE the modern equivalent of CBP$8.5 million in lost revenue.

There was considerable pressure applied to the College after the establishment of the Commonwealth by the Endover House of Representatives to become a part of the University, which was aggressively rejected by the good burghers who were in charge; at one point a suggestion was made that perhaps the college should pick up and literally move farther away to demonstrate their resolve. “We were here before they showed up. Let them move”, responded Karl Dietrich, the Provost of EC for 24 years.

Endborough College was unquestionably the most secular of the various establishments across the city that educated men & women in the period prior to the Commonwealth; some of the others had deeper religious connections, and some had stronger ties to a particular immigrant community, but EC never considered itself anything but a place open to anyone who wished to attend. Like other independent houses, there were numerous opportunities available for students to pay for tuition through work/study schemes, 'presentation letters'--which were commitments from benefactors to cover the student's costs as long as he/she maintained an exemplary record, i.e., a private scholarship—and 'local stipends', which was the equivalent public pledge.

These well established schemes, coupled with an impressive subscription list—donors who pledged a fixed amount annually to ensure that the best faculty possible could be brought on—and the school's first major endowment in 1896. provided by an anonymous benefactor that some believed at the time was Prince Frederick himself (in fact, it was later revealed to be Peter Zeller, one of the state's founding fathers, for whom Zeller County is named--although the Prince Regent also made a sizable contribution when his son Prince William married Princess Helena, both of whom attended the school) put it on a solid financial footing that allowed the College to invest in expansion of the physical facilities.

The school always attracted a higher number of female students from its earliest history, for reasons that have been theorized through the years but never definitively proven; it was not the least expensive option available, which might've been a draw for parents looking to see their daughters get an advanced education; it didn't have a curriculum that was aimed at a feminine study body, in contrast to St Anne's College which was an exclusively female establishment on the east side of Endborough City; and as previously noted, it didn't have a religious orientation to recommend it to families hoping to keep young ladies chaste & devout in the same way that Evangeline College—originally located in Lower Endborough, southwest of EC, prior to merging into the University in 1894—was noted for.

Nickname

The exact origins of the school's association as specifically German is layered in different stories; as the one college that refused to come under the auspices of the University of Endover, they were generally derided and mocked by their larger rival.
When the state school adopted their Scottish influenced colors and symbolism, EC still carried the association as a college which was predominantly German influenced; the Board of Overseers were exclusively made up of men of German heritage between 1888 and 1911, but the reality was much different. Nearly all of the faculty and a predominant portion of the student body in 1898 were of English, Irish--and yes, Scottish--Protestant origin
Beginning at the start of the 20th Century, when discussing "the other place", Endover usually referred to EC as "The Germans", in a way that was considered derogatory in spite of the fact there were several colleges within the University that had even stronger German origins that were still important to those houses.

EC students began to welcome and revel in the use of the name that was supposed to be derogatory; to this day, students of all ethnicities and religious persuasions understand the context of declaring themselves "Germans".

Sports

EC was one of the charter members of the UAC in 1929; they had a representative physical education department that offered competitive athletic activities on an intramural level as well on an intercollegiate basis.
There were official teams from the 1930's onward for tennis, gymnastics, basketball, golf, swimming and track & field; later field hockey & lacrosse were added for women, soccer & baseball for men.
EC teams have captured 46 UAC National Championships (excluding Men's and Women's basketball), most among schools that do not sponsor football.

Women's Basketball

In the summer of 1947, the school hired Aldine Atkinson as Director of Women's Physical Education and head varsity coach for tennis, basketball and field hockey; the 38 year old had been discharged from the National Guard after serving five years as a physical training and first aid instructor for recruits. After the first two days of practice for the upcoming 1947-48 basketball season, Atkinson kicked all of the junior and senior players off the squad, then held a campus wide tryout to find half a dozen new prospects; losing seven of the first nine games, the team came together to win 6 of the final 9 games to finish 8-10, the only losing season in Atkinson's career.

Beginning with the 1952 Endover-Ezra Universities League title, EC won 16 league championships in the next 21 seasons and captured 13 National Championships in the same span; from 1961-65 they won 103 consecutive games, and following that loss, won another 42 games in a row over the next two seasons, both defeats coming at the hands of University of Endover. Atkinson announced her retirement in 1972, just prior to the end of the regular season; that team went on to win the National Championship four seasons after the end of their eight year run.
She was replaced for the 1973 campaign by the most prolific scorer in Baker Park history regardless of gender, 32 year old Mary Ellen Domagal. In 1976, EC reclaimed the EEUL title, starting a period of five consecutive, and seven of eight appearances in the Final Four, winning the Championship five times and finishing both second and third once.

Domagal retired after 30 years in 2002 as the winningest coach in UAC history; she was succeeded by Caren Hunter--a 1988 EC grad--who has continued on the tradition.
EC holds the record for most National Championships won (32), conference titles won (33 regular season and 11 tournaments) and in spite of not playing in the title game for the first 13 years of official college basketball, they have played in nearly half of the championship contests (41 of 83) held.

In 2021, Hunter led the Germans to five consecutive wins to capture the first Drawkland Collegiate Invitational Tournament, defeating Heshima and Usian University from Banija in front of 39,000 at Cliffside Court in Sadeg--the largest crowd to witness a game involving a Baker Park college team in history.
The team's first ever participation in NSCAA competition ended with a record of 23-14, which marked the most losses ever in a single season, as well surpassing the number of games lost by any senior class over a 4 year span in 73 years.