In an effort to save River Falls from the fate of other teachers colleges, that of remaining small and limited, President Eugene H. Kleinpell proposed a Foundation in the 1940’s as a means of pulling the institution up by its own bootstraps. The general plan was to interest the community in building a fieldhouse for the college and the high school, so the slogan “Feed the Falcon Fieldhouse Fund” was adopted. If 5,000 former students contributed $10 a year for five years, the Foundation could reach its goal of $25,000. This first campaign proved to be disappointingly slow in obtaining results. By the end of 1950, only $13,837.10 had been received.