homecoming celebration was held in 1939. World War II brought such a decline in enrollment that the college nearly closed. When William Wilson Hill assumed the presidency in 1944 after Greenhill left, he commissioned studies to determine if the institution should continue as a four-year college. Hill began with only 92 students, so he set out to recruit veterans. With more men on campus, the interest in sports was revived, and servicemen were aided financially in going to college by the GI Bill, which increased the educational level of a generation of men. Tiger Stadium was built in 1952. The first campus fraternities were established during Wilson's presidency. The college gained a reputation for teacher education in the region and state through the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The mission of the institution was broadened in 1957 when, under the leadership of Delos Culp (1954–1963), the school's name was changed to Livingston State College. Graduate-level classes were added, and the state board of education began awarding master's degrees in professional education under a new graduate division. Kelly Hester Land was awarded the first master's degree, and a writing scholarship competition and building are named for her. Under John E. Deloney (1963–1973), the college had substantial growth, so it expanded its campus, to more than with a lake surrounded by nature trails, open to the community as well as college population. In 1967, the U.S. Office of Education approved a grant for the institution to receive campus renovations and updates. During the same year, an act of the Legislature created Livingston University with its own Board of Trustees. In 1969, a longtime historic landmark in Sumter County, the Alamuchee-Bellamy Covered Bridge (built 1861), was restored and moved on campus by the Sumter County Historical Society. It spans the northeast corner of Duck Pond behind Reed Hall. The number of faculty was increased during Deloney's presidency as well, and the school's colleges and divisions started taking shape. In 1973, Asa N. Green (1973–1994) became president; he oversaw the establishment of the Ira D. Pruitt School of Nursing and dual-degree programs with Auburn University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He worked to establish a consortium of 13 schools to create a marine biology program and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. More buildings were added and renovated across campus. During the late 1970s, an area was reserved on campus for the construction of