Cyrus H. McCormick of Chicago also donated money to the school. Another building was acquired through these donations, a chapel in South Jackson across from the railroad depot. It was renamed the McCormick Chapel. Besides church services it was used as a school. Transition in the early 1900s At this time the institute's owning body, Central University, was going through tough financial times of its own. They had lost a few programs and faced low enrollment. Central University therefore merged with Centre College, which it had split from with three decades before. All institution control went to Centre College's main campus in Danville and the university changed its name to Central University of Kentucky. (It changed back to Centre College in 1918 due to a Kentucky legislation ruling). All the buildings in Richmond in 1906 were used for a new institution, known as Eastern Kentucky State Normal School; today it is Eastern Kentucky University. In October 1906, control of S. P. Lees Collegiate Institute was passed to the Southern Synod of Kentucky (Presbyterian Church), which had been responsible for Central University before the consolidation. Around this time (by 1911) the board of trustees sold a piece of property on Highland Avenue to the Jackson Grade Common School. It built an elementary school and, later, a high school. This became Jackson Independent Schools, locally known as Jackson City School. Upgrade to a junior college In 1917, the board of trustees elected John C. Hanley as president of Lees. The board hired him to upgrade the institution to a junior college. By doing so, it would have to meet the standards of the accreditation of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to be declared a "junior college" i.e. biology labs, cafeteria, dormitory space, curriculum, library, extracurricular activities, efficient faculty (with the degrees standard to teach), and so on. In response, Lees did start a Boys and Girls Basketball teams. They used the neighboring Jackson City School's Gymnasium (now their old gym) as their home court and adopted a mascot, the Bearcats (changed to Generals around the 1950s). But by 1925 when Hanley left to become president of Sayre School in Lexington, Kentucky, the school had failed to become a junior college. In October 1927, Lees Collegiate Institution finally became Lees Junior College, offering two years of college coursework. Even following this, there were arguments about accreditation. Jackson Hall (co-ed dorm) also