Going to Colorado College satisfied my need for adventure”

Robert “Pat” Mailhouse ’46

When I was 16 in 1938, I decided to hitchhike out west. I was living in New Haven, Conn. My parents said it was all right with them but when the time to leave drew close, they withdrew their permission. So very early one morning I snuck out with just a small suitcase full of clothes and $10 in cash. My first ride was a milk truck heading to Derby, Conn. I hitchhiked all the way to Wisconsin, sending my parents just one postcard from Chicago.

In Wisconsin, I headed to Madison to see my uncle, who was a professor of botany at the university. When I reached the school I was informed that my uncle was at a summer place on Lake Mendota. So I walked out there. While walking across a field one afternoon I saw their station wagon going along the road. I waved and ran and my suitcase fell apart and there I was. They were so surprised to see me. I told them I was on my way to Colorado and they told me they were going there too and invited me along. That night my uncle sent a telegram to my parents that read, “Picked up peripatetic Pat in pasture this p.m.”

When we got to Colorado, my uncle and I climbed Longs Peak together. We had a great time in Colorado. At the end of the visit, I started my hitchhike home. When I arrived I went straight up to bed without saying hello, slept a long time and then came downstairs much to my parents’ surprise.

My best friend’s dad was head of the board of admissions at Yale University. I told Professor Noyes that I wanted to go to school in Colorado. Although my father and grandfather graduated from Yale, I was not interested in the formality of the school, such as wearing a suit every day, and I wanted to be out west. He said, “I know just the school for you, Colorado College. A former Yale professor is there, I will give him a call.” One phone call and I was in.

I graduated from Hillhouse High School in 1940 and in the fall I reported to Colorado Springs to begin college. I loved CC and soon joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Lew Worner tried to get me to join his fraternity. I smile when I see the Worner Center and his portrait. I volunteered at the radio station, was in one dramatic play in which I had exactly one word to say. I was a manager of the baseball team and I studied at the Navajo Hogan Roadhouse on North Nevada Avenue, where I first sampled a snack similar to Fritos. We loved going to The Broadmoor hotel and one of my professors owned Seven Falls. The Garden of the Gods was our playground and my fraternity house bedroom window perfectly framed Pikes Peak.

World War II interrupted my studies. I remember crossing from the drugstore and going toward Bemis Hall. Some of my classmates yelled out the window, “Did you hear about Pearl Harbor?” I replied, “Who’s she?” Many Americans were unaware that Pearl Harbor was a military installation when it was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941.

Later, at our fraternity house, we gathered by the radio to hear President Roosevelt’s speech declaring war. One of my fraternity brothers said, “Listen to them toying with our lives.” He was right. Several of our fraternity brothers did not return, including my best friend, Bert Stiles.

During the war I served in the 9th Army Air Corps, 409th bomb group in England and France. This was before the Air Force was a separate branch of the military. I was in ground-to-air support operating a radio direction finder. I returned to the United States in August 1945 after VJ day and went right back to Colorado College. In order to get out earlier, I switched my major from History to Education. While I enjoyed the courses, I didn’t think I would be a teacher. But my professor thought it was a good fit and I did teach at the high school in Rocky Ford, Colo., for a year.

I have remained close to Colorado College and have been back to visit, including my 50th reunion. I kept in touch with many of my classmates, although few are still alive. I was there twice when my granddaughter, Shannon Dunn ’10, was a student, including her graduation.

It’s my pleasure to establish the Robert “Pat” Mailhouse 1946 Endowed Scholarship and I thank the Walton Family* for joining me in this fund. Going to Colorado College satisfied my need for adventure. Despite the interruption of World War II, my undergraduate years at CC were among the happiest years of my life. That’s why it is so important to extend similar experiences to students who are as excited about Colorado College as I am. I hope this fund will give students with limited financial means the support they need to attend CC. I also have made provisions for the college within my estate plans, which I hope will also ultimately benefit students with aspirations to attend CC.

*In 2010, the Walton Family Foundation awarded Colorado College a $10 million matching grant for high-need, first-generation students. The college’s goal is to match the grant with an additional $10 million from other donors, ultimately creating a $20 million infusion of new endowed scholarship funds by 2015. Funds that established the Robert “Pat” Mailhouse 1946 Endowed Scholarship were matched dollar-for-dollar by the Walton grant.

If you are interested in learning more about the Walton Fund match before it expires, contact the Colorado College Advancement Office at (719) 389-6163.