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The collection mostly includes the following series, biographical information, photographs, correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, speeches, subject files, scrapbooks, and congratulatory letters documenting Judson W. Foust's tenure as Central Michigan University's president, 1970, 1989.

The collection is organized by the following series: Biographical Information, Correspondence, Meeting Minutes, Photographs, Reports, Subject Files, Scrapbooks, and Congratulatory Letters. The collection includes Biographical Information, 1923,2002, about .25 cubic ft.; Correspondence, 1935-1978, about 1 cubic ft.; Meeting Minutes from CMU entities and educational related institutions and organizations, 1953-1968, about 1.5 cubic ft.; Photographs, 1960-1968, undated, about .25 cubic ft.; Reports from CMU entities and educational related institutions and organizations, and the State Senate investigation reports of CMU, 1954-1968, undated, about 2.25 cubic ft.; and Subject Files, 1955-1968, undated, about 3.5 cubic ft., on a wide variety of topics relating to education, CMU, and numerous CMU departments. There are six Scrapbooks, 1959-1967, and eleven Photograph Albums, 1958-1972 (2 cubic ft. total). Congratulatory letters on the occasion of Foust’s inauguration as CMU’s president on April 25, 1960, about .5 cubic ft; and his miscellaneous desk items, plaques, and awards are also included (2 cubic ft. total). Two folders of oversized materials including awards, a certificate, congratulatory notes, a resolution, and letter of appreciation from the Korean Orphanage complete the collection.

Of special interest to the researcher may be the Senate Investigation Report, 1965 (2 folders) in Box 5, which relate to the state investigation into the administration versus the faculty at CMU, following numerous complaints, which led to the formation of the Faculty Association, or union in 1967. Paul Evett was one of the professors who testified and was thereafter mistreated by the administration. Additional information may be found in the CMU. Faculty Association collection and in the Michigan. Legislature. Senate. Special Committee on Faculty-Administration Relationships at CMU collection.

Although there is some information regarding student protests or campus unrest, the researcher should view additional information on student protests and campus uprisings in the collection of Professor Joe DeBolt.

Another topic of interest in the Building Dedications and Photographs is the CMU Chapel. This building was built with state funds by Pres. Foust over the objections of CMU’s lawyer as an inter-denominational Christian chapel. After it was built, CMU had to repay the state for using state funds for inappropriate (religious) purposes.

Information on the Thailand Project, (part of the Inter-Institutional Affiliation Project), and Korean Orphanage, that CMU students supported, is also found in the collection.

In the Box and Folder Listing the following abbreviations are used: MI for Michigan, Dept. for Department, and Co. for Company. On folders where abbreviations for names were used, the full name is given in parenthesis at the end of the folder title.

The collection includes correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, reports, speeches, subject files and a plaque documenting Harold Abel's tenure as Central Michigan University's president, 1975-1985. There are very few personal materials in the collection. Of particular note are the materials documenting the Jane Fonda campus speech controversy, 1977-1978.

Except for some Biographical Information, 1975, 2002, undated (3 folders), the rest of the collection has no personal materials in it. The remaining series in the collection, all related to CMU or educational topics, include: Correspondence, 1972-1985 (approximately .5 cubic ft.); Meeting Minutes, 1976-1984 (approximately .5 cubic ft.); Photographs, 1981, undated (a few folders); Reports, 1964, 1985 (Approximately .5 cubic ft.); Speeches, 1976, 1985 (9 folders); most of the rest of the collection consists of Subject Files, 1973-1987. There is also one Plaque, 1977.

The collection includes a lot of financial, budget, fundraising, and Development Fund information in the collection because of the lean budget years experienced by CMU during President Abel’s tenure. Other topics documented at length in the collection include the Institute for Personal and Career Development (IPCD), commencements, December 1976-May 1985, the Jane Fonda Controversy, and Korean Hanyang University and Chung Ang University.

The only Photographs in the collection are in folders with Inauguration Materials, Development Board Meeting Minutes, and the Subject Files for the Perry Shorts Stadium Improvement and the Roscommon Property.

Oversized Michigan Senate Resolution No. 691, July 2, 1980, commending CMU administrators and deans for not taking a pay raise, is also included.

Abbreviations used in the finding aid include CMU for Central Michigan University, MI for Michigan, and Dept. for Department. Folder labels with acronyms used by President Abel are followed by the full organizational name, if known, in parenthesis at the end of the label.