Headmaster Martin Cross

The first student tuition took effect in June 1275 at 483.84 credits per semester. There had been a promise that this would expire the following Spring. However, citing the financial strain, Cross and the Council extended the tuition till May 1277, then again till May 1278, and then again till May 1279.

During the 1260s and 1270s, the Global Academy of North Circlaria began contracting with schools and colleges throughout the Circlarian Realm upon their consent, prescribing each school a set curriculum which included set content and methods to teach on all subjects as well as criteria for grade evaluations. The latter specifically included sets of standardized tests required to be passed by students for graduation. If a given school published a test score average above a certain threshold, the Global Academy would give said school special funding; also, alumni from said school would receive favorable priority on a special roster for job placement.

Though Cabotton never fell under direct control of the Global Academy, it officially established a contract agreement with the international organization, after the measure passed University Council and was signed into policy by Headmaster Cross, and therefore established a parallel curriculum accordingly. This occurred in the Spring Semester of 1277, and was met with student protestors who deemed the decision unfair to the students. Up to this point, there were, within the Cabotton University student body, two camps: one deemed "progressives" and one deemed "traditionalists." On 10 May 1277, however, in protest to the above measure signed by Cross, was officially established the Cabotton University Liberal Party in opposition to the incumbent Headmaster. On 13 May was then established the Cabotton University Conservative Party in alliance to him.Nevertheless, the measure was passed and implemented with the promise that the funding would repeal University student tuition.

Though he promised that would be the case, Headmaster Cross did not appear to be acting on such a tuition repeal measure; so University Council Member George Deamann of the Liberal Party, in the summer of 1278, made a proposal for said tuition to be repealed, assuring that the University would meet the Academy funding criteria. Opposed to him was the Conservative, James Lach, who deemed the repeal to be too financially risky for the University Treasury. Siding with the latter, a very narrow Conservative majority in University Council rejected Deamann's proposal.

Almost a year later, in May 1279, University Council Member Sein Ormann, citing economic inflation exerting pressure on the Treasury, called for a measure to raise the tuition. This was opposed both by George Deamann and James Lach. Despite this, a narrow majority of the Council passed Ormann's proposal while Headmaster Cross, despite promising not to do so, signed his approval for this to be policy; hence tuition would increasing, starting in June 1281, to 658.80 credits per semester.

With the tuition and the subsequent tuition increase, the poor handling of North Kempton and the Acrean crisis, and the decision to have Cabotton University contract with the Global Academy of North Circlaria, the reputation of the incumbent Headmaster, Martin Cross, soured toward the end of his final tenure despite the progress made during up to this point. With this in mind, Cross decided that he would retire after 1279, and therefore endorsed the Conservative Council Member, James Lach, to succeed him. Lach appealed to the student body by citing Cross' complacency resulting from his extended time as the incumbent Headmaster. Lach also decried the existence of student tuition and the Academy-prescribed standardized tests which would begin in 1281. Lach, in turn, promised to eliminate tuition altogether by 1285, and negotiate with the Academy to waive the standardized test requirements. However, Cross tolerated all of this with the hope that Lach would succeed in defeating the rival Liberal candidate: George Deamann. Deamann had been promising to eliminate tuition altogether by June 1281, and also to reinstate the Snow-era research curriculum.

This latter agenda proved seeming too radical for the majority of the student body, however; and James Lach won the Headmaster election in September 1279.

Headmaster James Lach: 1280 to 1285

Immediately after his tenure began in January 1280, Headmaster James Lach made a public statement to the University Council to consider eliminating tuition. The Council voted down motion to debate on this, however; so Lach made a public statement to the student body, apologizing for the failure to eliminate tuition and assuring them that tuition would be kept affordable. Meanwhile, the same turn of events would happen regarding standardized testing. This, needless to say, led to a souring of reputation for the new Headmaster. However, Lach would also negotiate with West Horizon to establish a scholarship program for lightfire students as well as increase funding for the University Lightfire Program. This, coupled with negotiations for similar arrangements with the numerous international Circlarian lightfire trade businesses, led to Lach's reputation to recover. To note, such agreements were in line with the Cabotton University Constitution, for they were all non-profit measures.

In the summer of 1281, news broke of the escape of the darkfire figure, Ceri Mains, from the Mount Carris Perimeter, triggering a nationwide search. In response, Headmaster Lach signed a policy to boost support for the Campus Watch. In early September, Ceri Mains was spotted on Campus, prompting a lockdown and martial law. Mains would flee and later be captured in the Acrean Republic. Nevertheless, even after martial law measures were lifted, the turn of events left two groups of the student body decrying Lach's actions. The first group resented him for failing to catch Ceri Mains, while the other group resented him for having the Campus Watch overstep its bounds and violating student rights with the martial law measures. Some in the latter group, furthermore, began advocating for more rights for the Darkfire Community and even for darkfire legalization. Such a push would lead to ongoing calls from a growing section of the student body to bring an end to darkfire discrimination. The University Council, in response to this, voted to have the University Sports Mascot changed from Wrayth-Hunters to Stags.

In October 1281, intense rivalry erupted between two University students: Dyla Cormick and Kara Martins. Dyla, in October 1281, publicly challenged Kara to a spellfire duel, which would take place on campus a few days later. There was a call for Headmaster Lach to ban this from happening, an action completely within his power under the University Constitution. However, Lach turned the issue over to University Affairs, who allowed the duel to take place. This would lead to backlash against the Headmaster, who was seen by a growing number of people as careless and complacent.

Between 10 May 1282 and 23 May 1283 occurred one of the most noteworthy historical events: the Global Academy Strike. This was started when Global Academy Leadership refused to raise employee salaries and even refused to negotiate. For every affiliated school, classes stopped while striking faculty were accompanied by both supporters and anti-strike protestors. Around Cabotton University was built a stone wall made from spellmatter, later named "The Wall of Labor," to protect the campus and faculty from the anti-strike protestors. While this planted a sentiment among students for growing support for labor rights, Conservative University Council Members voted to have the University Slogan changed from "In Union for Progress" to "Together for Progress."

Meanwhile, the aforementioned tuition increase took effect in June 1281. And then in June 1284, a tuition increase to 748.44 credits per semester took effect. In September of that year, while the Headmaster position was not yet up for re-election, University Council seat elections took place. Up to this point, George Deamann, decrying Lach's policies, called for an end to tuition once and for all. And the elections resulted in the Liberal Party gaining the majority in University Council. Shortly afterward, Deamann endorsed for the Headmaster position a well-beloved former history professor, theatre actor, and assistant sports coach: John "Red" Waltmann.

In 1285, Deamann's new tuition elimination policy ran into opposition in the University Council. By the end of June that year, a compromise was reached to have tuition decreased, a measure signed by James Lach after popular pressure. Meanwhile, Waltmann campaigned on three promises: to have standardized testing waived, to ensure that tuition actually gets eliminated, and to expand on the existing housing locations established under Cross' tenure to contain actual classrooms. This platform proved more popular than what Lach ever hoped to promise. So, in September 1285, John "Red" Waltmann won the Headmaster election.

Headmaster John "Red" Waltmann: 1286 to 1287

Both the agenda to waive standardized testing and the one to eliminate student tuition failed to gain ground in University Council in the Spring of 1286. However, Waltmann recovered some of his reputation thus far by forming a new deal with West Horizon to have the tuition of lightfire students paid in full.

In February 1287, the Lykian Republic carried out an attack against the Retunian Republic by attacking the cities of Hasphitat, South Masonia, Egdir, and the Basin District, bringing an end to an ongoing war at the time. This triggered campus-wide panic, to which Waltmann dispersed by giving a public statement of assurance. He furthermore granted leave to students for bereavement and volunteer work.

Waltmann's reputation further improved when, effective June 1287, student tuition decreased to 560.95 credits per semester. Waltmann furthermore authorized refund checks be made to those University students in the Lightfire Program who had overpaid in tuition recently.

Passed by the University Council and signed by Headmaster Waltmann in September 1287 was a policy known as the Waltmann School Plan. Student capacity in the years leading up to this point had again become an issue. There was opposition to another renovation project on the Main Campus; and there was a push for increased student access to education across a larger region of the country. As mentioned before, completed in 1257 as part of the Student Housing Expansion Project was a John Fleming House campus in downtown Cabotton, a James Randall House campus North of Cabotton, a Thomas Adams House campus East of Cabotton, a Karl Deering House campus South of Cabotton, and an Alexander Norris House campus West of Cabotton. But said venues were only for expanded student housing purposes. As part of Project I of the Waltmann School Plan, each aforementioned location would be expanded to have each structure five levels tall and also contain a basement level; both the ground level and the basement level would be reserved for classrooms while the remaining four levels above would be reserved for student housing.

Construction on Project I began in June 1289 and was completed in May 1290. This program in the years to come would prove to be a resounding success.

Meanwhile, Waltmann's policies for Cabotton University gained him popularity even outside of the University, leading to a growing call for him to run for the Ereautea Provincial Governor position, which was up for election in September 1287. Waltmann answered the call and made such a campaign, having George Deamann, who he had appointed to be the Chief Administrator of the Main Campus, to manage the Headmaster role in his absence. On 16 September 1287, Waltmann won the Governor election, and on 18 September, announced his resignation as Headmaster effective 24 December. Per University Constitutional protocol, Chief Administrator George Deamann would serve as Interim Headmaster for the remainder of the term.

Headmaster George Deamann: 1288 to 1297

As Interim Headmaster of Cabotton University, George Deamann continued Waltmann's policies. In doing so, he oversaw the implementation of Waltmann School Project II, which added one Waltmann School for every county in the province of Ereautea. After University Council passed this measure in September 1293, construction began in June 1295, finishing in May 1296.

Meanwhile, in 1291, a large portion of the student body called on Deamann to run for election officially as a Headmaster. Deamann answered that call with a promise to expand on the Waltmann School agenda, and to fight against a proposal forwarded by Conservative Council Members for a tuition increase. Deamann's opponent, James Lach, who opted to run for a second non-consecutive term, voiced concern that the Waltmann School initiative was adding to financial costs for the University Treasury, and also stated that more focus should be placed on the University lightfire-crafting programs in terms of improvement standards. Such a plan for the latter, however, involved discontinuing the scholarship program with West Horizon, damaging Lach's popularity.

As a result, Deamann won the 1291 election.

Up to this point, the Global Academy of North Circlaria provided extra "Tiered Funding" to those universities and schools demonstrating top competitive placements per criteria for scholars performing well in the lightfire industry. The Academy also awarded Accreditation to national education systems performing well overall, giving them a special form of credibility for said education departments to establish Global Academies of their own. Throughout the Retunian Republic came a growing call for the Retunian Education Department to obtain such Accreditation in order to be able to establish such a credible Academy. There, early on, was debate between the conservative National Diplomatic Party and the liberal National Progressive Party on whether to establish such an Academy in Combria or in Ancondria respectively. In January 1292, Headmaster Deamann declared Cabotton University neutral on that debated matter but otherwise announced plans to engage the University in the Tiered Funding and Accreditation efforts.

Such efforts floated Deamann's reputation with the exception that the Global Academy of North Circlaria denied the highest level of Tiered Funding to the University due to another Circlarian school earning that Tier. This, coupled with mounting expenses resulting from the Waltmann School initiative, led Conservative University Council Members in October 1293 to voice concern over the University Treasury and, subsequently, to call for an increase in student tuition. The original proposal called for a tuition increase to 890.95 credits per semester; however, with the help of the Headmaster Deamann, Liberal University Council Members managed to form a bipartisan compromise so that said tuition would only increase to 667.01 credits per semester instead. Headmaster Deamann gave a final signature on this, and the increase took effect in June 1295.

Nevertheless, Deamann received backlash from the student body over allowing the tuition increase. Fearing Conservative candidates winning back University leadership positions, Deamann, in 1297, announced his retirement and endorsed one of his allies, Karl Reich, for the Headmaster position. Reich promised, should he win the Headmaster position, to focus on having Cabotton University help the Retunian Education Department to receive Global Academy Accreditation and to ensure Cabotton University's role in the establishment of a Retunian-led Global Academy. He also vowed to reduce tuition and put in place rules to keep it affordable, and furthermore to continue the Waltmann School expansions. Running against Reich for the Headmaster position was the Conservative, John Crone, who also vowed to reduce tuition but only upon the condition that the University would receive more grants from the banks. He also supported the Global Academy Accreditation effort but proposed a policy designed to minimize costs to the Treasury. Lastly, Crone vowed to place a freeze on the Waltmann School expansion program. With the student perceiving Crone's agendas as too reactionary and Reich's proposals as appealing, Karl Reich won the University Headmaster election of September 1297.

Headmaster Karl Reich: 1298 to 1309

After years of effort under Waltmann and Deamann, Headmaster Karl Reich, in 1298, finally succeeded in having the University Council pass a measure to negotiate with the Global Academy of North Circlaria to wave the Standardized Exit Exam requirement. And thus said requirement terminated in January 1299. In September 1299, the University Council passed Waltmann School Project III, which set out to build one Waltmann School for every Retunian Province and Territory. Construction for this began in June 1301 and finished by May 1302.

In the summer of 1299, Karl Reich broke years of expressed neutrality on behalf of the University by publicly endorsing the National Progressive Party-led effort to have an international Global Academy established in Ancondria near the city of Silba, named the Global Academy of Ancondria. This endorsement prompted those representatives in the Basin District on behalf of the Province of Ereautea to vote accordingly, adding remaining key votes for the Retunian Council to officially pass the measure.

Inflation, along with mounting costs of the Waltmann School expansions, led Conservative University Council Members to propose yet again, in October 1299, to increase student tuition. Reich and Liberal Council Members took the same approach as Deamann, and had passed and implemented a compromise on the matter, leading student tuition to increase only to 864.86 credits per semester effective June 1301.

In the summer of 1301, leadership in the Big Five Banks of Hasphitat opted to liquidate loans made to businesses associated with the Global Academy of Ancondria. Such a move would trigger a crash in tradestone markets, leading to a collapse in the Retunian economy and massive job losses. Many Retunians, as a result, opted to enroll in universities while unemployed in order to pursue educations in the meantime. Such an influx impacted Cabotton University while current Cabotton University students, impacted by the economic downturn, faced hardship as they struggled to pay the increased tuition rates.

To combat the influx of new students, Headmaster Reich established an Entrance Aptitude Exam designed to limit enrollment. Such a move was deemed controversial. However, Reich preserved his popularity by convincing University Council, in October 1301, to have the tuition decrease to 541.08 credits per semester starting June 1303.

And so came the 1303 Headmaster election cycle, during which Reich promised to have the University secure emergency funding from Great Northern and Remikran Union Banks to pay for Waltmann School Projects IV, V, and VI. The stipulation here was that said banks would provide said funding as soon as they received copies of the Waltmann School expansion plans approved by University Council when the time came.

Reich, furthermore, pledged to further reduce student tuition and also to strengthen the University's stake in the new Ancondrian Global Academy. Meanwhile, his opponent, Tyler Lach, who was the son of James Lach, vowed to stop the Waltmann School expansions, secure loans from the banks in order to minimize tuition increases, and to withdraw from the Ancondrian Global Academy effort in the hope of securing higher confidence from future investors.

Said promises made by Lach were mostly deemed by the majority of the student body as reactionary with the exception of the promise regarding the bank loans. While there was no specific University Constitutional stipulation against such a practice for non-profit purposes, there had, up to this point, been an "unwritten promise" laid by the founders of the University decades past, carried by University leadership figures since, to not borrow money. This idea was deemed dangerous and radical by the majority of the student body; and so, as a result, in September 1303, Karl Reich won re-election as University Headmaster.

Having been approved by University Council and signed into policy by Headmaster Reich in September 1304, Waltmann School Project IV officially began construction in June 1307 and finished in May 1308. Said expansion set up a Waltmann School for every county within the Retunian Provincial Domain.

Since the 1281 Ceri Mains incident, Cabotton University's policy regarding darkfire had been relatively lax, albeit with tough academic accountability measures still in place. The September 1305 University Council seat elections yielded a Liberal majority; and in the following month, after pressure from the student body, the incumbent Council passed, and Karl Reich signed, a revised policy removing the academic penalties and reversing expulsion measures to give affected students additional chances in education. Half of the student body heralded this as an achievement of progress, in terms of granting more rights, while the other half decried Reich as having gone too far and having become morally corrupt. Conservative sentiment on the matter manifested in them gaining a majority in University Council during the September 1306 seat elections. Such a majority was maintained in the September 1307 elections but was razor-thin. In the September 1308 elections, Liberal Council Members regained the majority. Like the Conservative majority before, the new Liberal majority was razor-thin; however, observers in favor of Karl Reich had high hopes for the Headmaster and University Council elections in 1309 in that such would yield a much stronger Liberal majority. This was based upon the notion that many Cabotton University students collaborated with Peter Quora in his darkfire study of June 1308 in the Mount Carris region, and gave accounts of darkfire that resonated with many in the student body.

Said observers also based their hopes in the University Council sessions of October 1308, during which Liberal Members proposed to lower per-semester tuition in response to the economic fallouts of 1307, but the Conservative majority had blocked it. In October 1308, Liberal Members brought up the measure again, and, after compromise, had the tuition lowered to 540.00 credits per semester. The hope from observers at this point was that there would be a push to lower the tuition even further without the Conservatives in the way, and that popular support would sway the next election cycle accordingly.

And so came the year 1309, during which the Headmaster elections would be held that September. For this cycle, Karl Reich would be running against the Conservative candidate, Patrick Dean, for re-election to the Headmaster position. Reich, this year, promised to expand on the rights of the Darkfire Community by ending the remaining measures constituting academic discrimination. He also promised to continue with the Waltmann School Projects and to work with the newly-established Ancondrian Global Academy to receive Tiered Funding in the future. Meanwhile, Patrick Dean vowed to stop the Waltmann School expansion initiative, keeping the schools already established so far. He also aimed to fix the perceived financial strain on the University Treasury, using whatever means permitted by the University Constitution and to even consider bank loans as a last resort. Dean vowed also to bring back darkfire penalty policies, including trespassing darkfire offenders from the University campus.

Observers and many members of the Cabotton student body anticipated, to this point, that Karl Reich would handily defeat Patrick Dean in the 1309 Headmaster election. Such encouragement was bolstered in September 1309 when the 1309 Revolution in the Basin District thrusted Holz Finzi to a position to lead a provisional Retunian government which legalized all forms of darkfire, and Headmaster Reich complimented this by giving praise and endorsements as well as reached out to the Lake Maern Reserve to open negotiations and fund a scholarship program for darkfire students.

This, however, triggered surprising resentment from a growing majority of the Cabotton student body over allegations that Reich was going too far to favor the darkfire community. And this demographic notably included those who had formerly supported Reich but were now shifting their support toward Patrick Dean. As a result, on 16 September 1309, Patrick Dean defeated Karl Reich, winning the Headmaster election.

Headmaster Patrick Dean: 1310 to 1327

By the end of the first week of January 1310, the University Council, which now had a Conservative majority, passed a measure, signed by the new Headmaster Patrick Dean, a policy that put a freeze on the Waltmann School expansion agenda. In February 1310, the University Council had intense debates on the financial strain having been placed on the University Treasury, at the end of which the Council finally approved and the Headmaster signed a measure to consult with the Great Northern and Remikran Union banks for loans. In signing this measure, Dean made a public statement to the student body that this would be only for the following year.

Under Karl Reich's tenure, the University and the Retunian Education system had gained the long sought-after Accreditation from the Global Academy of North Circlaria. And therefore, the University was independent of having to waive the Exit Exam requirement even though it had been doing that for some time. However, Headmaster Dean, in March 1310, signed a measure to establish the Cabotton University Standard Exit Exam as a requirement University-wide for graduation.

Over the following summer, Dean restored the academic and trespassing penalties against students of the Darkfire Community, scrapping further talks with the Lake Maern Reserve in the process. He also signed a measure granting extra powers, extra funding, and extra resources to the Campus Watch to enforce these rules. And in November 1310, he signed a measure approved by University Council to have the Wall of Labor fully demolished, a process that was complete in May 1311.

Between 1311 and 1312 a war occurred between the Retunian Commonwealth and the former-Province of Gymia, renamed the Reformed Federal Estates of Retun, the latter of intended to defeat Finzi's forces and gain jurisdiction over the Basin District. Liberal University Council Members put forward a measure during that time to have Corps from Cabotton University sent to aid in the conflict. However, Dean and the Conservatives blocked the measure, declaring neutrality on such politics.

Meanwhile, between 1309 and 1315, the Retunian Republic transitioned from using the Retunian Credit currency, based on Remikran Union fiat standards, to Commonwealth Credits, based on darkfire unit output. And during this transition, both currencies were accepted as legal tender to give time for the transition to be complete. Initially, Cabotton University accepted the older Retunian Credit currency as payment for tuition, which was at 540.00 credits per semester. However, in June 1311, University Council voted in a measure to utilize the new currency, setting student tuition to 31.76 Commonwealth Credits per semester.

Despite promises made otherwise, the practice of Cabotton University taking loans from banks was renewed in 1311, and then again in 1312. In 1313, the University Council determined that the loans would be regularly-occurring for the remainder of Headmaster Dean's first term as well as the entirety of the next term, but that measures would be taken to regulate the amount borrowed.

And so arrived the Headmaster election year of 1315, during which Patrick Dean ran for re-election. During this cycle, Dean promised to strengthen Cabotton University's alliance with House Maderon, a key entity leading the new Global Academy of Ancondria. Dean also promised to form another contractual agreement with West Horizon to allow their input when considering updates to the University Lightfire Curriculum. Dean, that year, was challenged by Lydya Swan, who vowed to repeal the darkfire penalty policies and restore Karl Reich's policies, to place a hard stop on Cabotton University taking out additional bank loans while arranging to have existing loans paid back in full, to repeal the University Exit Exam requirement, to restore the Waltmann School expansion agenda, to eliminate the University policy having the University negotiate Tier Funding from the Global Academy of Ancondria due to unreasonable criteria placed on Cabotton University students, and to terminate any contracts with West Horizon due to its role in the ongoing Great Ancondria War.

Despite Swan's promising agenda, there still remained fear and prejudice within the student body against the Darkfire Community. Furthermore, many prioritized concern over the financial strain that her agenda would place upon the University Treasury. This, combined with Patrick Dean's public appeal in favor of solid leadership and willingness to collaborate with outside organizations to achieve prestigious agendas, won Dean re-election for the Headmaster position in September 1315.

The Commonwealth Credit started initially as having more value than the old Retunian Credit. However, as time went on, the Commonwealth Credit began losing its value due to drastic shifts in the darkfire extraction industry. And before long, inflation began to result. Though wages rose accordingly, so did prices. And in October 1315, the University Council voted to raise student tuition to 810.00 Commonwealth Credits per semester, a change that would take effect in June 1317.

Throughout his second term, Headmaster Dean focused on constant negotiation with House Maderon and the Global Academy of Ancondria for Tier Funding as well as maintained the ongoing deals with West Horizon. And during the 1321 Headmaster election cycle, Dean vowed to continue his policies as he ran for re-election. Opposing him that year was Joseph Crondle, who vowed to restore Darkfire Community protections, to withdraw from negotiations regarding Tier Funding and focus on more on diplomacy with the other involved schools, and to reverse the recent tuition increase while placing a rule to stop future tuition increases.

Still, prejudice against the Darkfire Community and admiration for solid incumbent leadership led Headmaster Dean to winning re-election for a third term in 1321.

The weakness and volatility of the Commonwealth Credit became especially apparent through the years that followed, as both wages and basic costs continued to rise. Headmaster Dean was an avowed opponent of the new currency and voiced his agreement with Basin District Council Member George Borwell, who voiced consistently a proposition to re-establish the Retunian Credit. As inflation with the Commonwealth Credit continued, the University Council voted in October 1321 to have student tuition increase to 972.00 Commonwealth Credits per semester effective June 1323. Tuition would then increase to 1134.00 credits in June 1327.

In May 1327, former Administrative Assistant, Sara Lyons, revealed to the public Headmaster Dean's decision to meet privately with figures of the Combrian Confederation to form a business deal with them in order to have Cabotton University Corps assist the forces of the hostile nation in exchange for a payment both toward the involved students and to the University. Such a business deal served as a grotesque violation of the University Constitution. Further investigation into the matter revealed that Dean had also formed a similar deal with the Reformed Federal Estates of Retun during the 1311-12 War. University Affairs heard the dispute as its Arbitrator Panel voted unanimously to have University Council vote on Headmaster Dean's dismissal and expulsion, which the latter approved on 2 May 1327. In the process of this, a grievance with charge of treason was submitted to the Commonwealth Supreme Court in the Basin District, though the Court tossed the case and had the charges dropped. They did so at the urging of Prime Minister Finzi in the hopes of avoiding the trigger of the far-right organization, the Knights of the Common Good, who had chapters within Commonwealth territories.

Nevertheless, with Patrick Dean's departure from the position, his appointed Chief Administrator, Mit Orus, per University Constitutional protocol, became Interim Headmaster to finish out Patrick Dean's term.

Headmaster Mit Orus: 1327 to 1333

Headmaster Mit Orus, in January 1327, immediately terminated the deals with the Combrian Confederation, a move that would later trigger retaliation in the form of a Combrian pilot leading an air raid on the University Campus in the spring of 1329.

Orus vowed to run for the Headmaster position officially during the 1327 Headmaster election cycle. With his agenda being nothing more than about continuing the policies started by former Headmaster Dean, and Orus' opponent, Marya Grace, promising to restore Darkfire Community rights, to repeal the lightfire deals with West Horizon, and to put a limit on tuition increase increments, it seemed that this election would finally result in another win for the Cabotton University Liberal Party. Once again, however, it was resentment by the Cabotton University student body against the idea of expanded rights for the Darkfire Community that led Mit Orus to win.

Headmaster Orus was the incumbent Headmaster during the Neurovirus Pandemic of 1329-30. During this time, he ordered classes to cease while implementing intense quarantine measures and increasing funding to the University Medicine Program to research and come up with a vaccine and effective treatments against the disease. Also, with warfare brewing with the Combrian Confederation, Orus also expanded the power of the University Corps and Campus Watch. As the Pandemic and threat of war subsided, Orus, in 1330, authorized the resuming of classes at the University while invoking special curriculum to help affected students to graduate on time.

Meanwhile, student per-semester tuition increased to 4873.48 Commonwealth credits in June 1328, to 13784.99 credits in June 1329, to 44'801.21 credits in June 1330, to 146'947.98 credits in June 1331, to 517'991.64 credits in June 1332, to 1'761'171.58 credits in June 1333, and to 9'334'209.37 credits in June 1334.

Such tuition increases would have an impact on politics in the 1333 Headmaster election cycle, during which Mit Orus announced that he would retire, and subsequently endorsed the Conservative candidate, Howard Korran. Taking from Retunian Prime Minister Alex Schraber, Korran promised to continue the policies in place with exception to place special emphasis on negotiating for increased Tier Funding from the Global Academy of Ancondria. In opposition to Korran ran Eric Monaron, who promised to regulate both tuition and loans to the University, and to replace the Standard Exit Exam requirement with one of holistic evaluation.

Prominent on Monaron's campaign team was an Education professor named Chloe Glade, who pushed to have Monaron's agenda include restoring the Waltmann School expansion program, and to restore Karl-Reich-era Darkfire Community rights. However, Monaron not only rejected these two agendas outright, but also succeeded in having the rest of the campaign team vote Glade out of her role. In response, Glade, in June 1333, established a platform of her own and ran as a write-in Liberal against Korran and Monaron. Her agendas expanded to include the repealing of the joint program with West Horizon, the complete termination of taking out bank loans, the complete termination of student tuition, the negotiation of grant fund increases, the complete restoration of Karl-Reich-era darkfire rights, and the complete restoration of the Waltmann School expansion agenda.

However, a large enough number of the student body saw Glade's platform as too radical, resulting in division in the opposition against the Conservatives. As a result, Howard Korran and a Conservative majority in Council, won the elections of September 1333.

Citing instability with the Commonwealth Credit and the burden of loan paybacks, the University Council in October 1333, with virtually no opposition within, voted to have student tuition to increase, starting June 1335, to 53'204'993.42 credits per semester.

Headmaster Howard Korran: 1334 to 1345

As the new Headmaster, Howard Korran, in January 1334, set mandates for all students to test for the Neurovirus and receive vaccines before enrolling in classes. The remainder of his first term, 1334 to 1339, consisted mainly of taking a more aggressive approach to receiving Tiered Funding from the Global Academy of Ancondria, tightening the criteria for passing the Standard Exit Exam, and taking a stricter approach against the Darkfire Community. However, it was during this time that public sentiment regarding the Darkfire Community began to shift at last; and in June 1334, Headmaster Korran, in an act of consolation, signed an approval measure from University Council to repeal the trespassing and academic penalties against said Community, albeit with the standard rules of academic accountability remaining in place.

Prime Minster Schraber had succeeded in passing measures to stop hyperinflation of the Commonwealth Credit. However, the timing of this came at around the same time the student tuition of 53'204'993.42 credits per semester took effect at Cabotton University. Thus, pressure mounted on Headmaster Korran to reduce it. In October 1334, an intense debate in University Council led to the passage of a measure to do just that by establishing a credit line with the Linbraean Royal Treasury. Korran signed it; and, in June 1336, student tuition decreased to 39'903'745.06 credits per semester. Per successive yearly Council votes, it would then decrease to 17'734'997.81 credits in June 1337, to 4'433'749.45 credits in June 1338, and then to 1'773'499.78 credits in June 1339.

Korran ran for re-election in 1339, to be challenged once again by Eric Monaron. Korran promised that year to continue the University policies in place while appointing a Negotiation Committee for Tiered Funding from Ancondria. Meanwhile, Monaron successfully swayed University Affairs in actually expelling Chloe Glade, who had been motioning to challenge him again, on false charges of "disturbing the peace." Monaron, in turn, carried an agenda literally the same as that of 1333, with exception being that he had now begun to tolerate the policies involving the credit line with Linbrae and Korran's Tiered Funding agenda. Monaron, outrageously, also stated that he would raise student tuition to the same rate as it was, starting in June 1337, to help balance University Treasury finances.

Needless to say, Monaron's apparent incompetence in the face of the incumbent policies in place, as well as the successful effort thus far to lower tuition, led Headmaster Korran to winning re-election in September 1339.

Korran's second term, between 1340 and 1345, saw improvements in the achievement of Cabotton students and alumni in the lightfire industry. However, the newly-formed Negotiation Committee began gaining an unfavorable reputation in Ancondria for being too aggressive, leading Ancondrian entities to place soft-sanctions on the University. Furthermore, bank loan debts began mounting for the University. And, with the Commonwealth Credit beginning to experience inflation again, tuition began to increase. It increased to 1'034'541.54 credits per semester in June 1340, to 1'182'333.19 credits in June 1341, to 1'330'124.84 credits in June 1342, to 1'625'708.13 credits in June 1343, and to 1'950'849.76 credits in June 1344.

In March 1344, Prime Minister Alex Schraber, after public pressure, resigned from his post and was succeeded by Interim-Prime Minister George Borwell. Borwell would sign an amendment to the Retunian Constitution to, among other fixes, re-establish the old Retunian Credit as the official currency. In response to this, the Cabotton University Council, in October 1344, voted to have student tuition set at 1620.00 Retunian Credits per semester effective June 1345.

The year 1345 was, once again, a year for Headmaster elections. For this cycle, Headmaster Korran ran for re-election on the promise to push for more Tier Funding from Ancondria and to keep existing policies in place. Challenging him, this round, was Lora Kotimer, who promised to restore Karl-Reich-era protections for the Darkfire Community, to restore the Waltmann School expansion agenda, and to establish a student-elected Decision Committee in order to regulate any tuition increase proposals that may come in the future.

The sentiment of the majority of the student body, by this point, had finally swung in favor of the Darkfire Community. Furthermore, Korran had become too closely associated with former-Prime Minister Alex Schraber, who had a notorious reputation by that point. As a result, Lora Kotimer won the 1345 Headmaster election while the Cabotton Liberal Party gained a strong majority in the University Council.

Headmaster Lora Kotimer

Headmaster Kotimer, in January 1346, restored the Waltmann School expansion agenda, and succeeded in getting the Great Northern and Remikran Union banks to resume the expansion funding present during the end of former Headmaster Reich's tenure. The University Council, in September 1346, passed Project V, which established one Waltmann School in every county for the remaining Commonwealth Territories by May 1348.

Kotimer also repealed the Standard Exit Exam and relaxed academic accountability standards to accommodate those in the Darkfire Community, as well as re-established the Karl-Reich-era Darkfire Scholarship Program. In June 1346, the University Council passed, and Headmaster Kotimer signed, the first Main Campus renovation project in seventy-two years, which established the School of Darkfire in the Northwest part of Campus, the School of Gyro-Engineering in the Northeast, the School of Dymensional-Crafting in the Southwest, and the School of Aerospace Engineering in the Southeast. Construction on this renovation began June 1347 and was completed in May 1348.

Throughout her campaign, as well as throughout the month of January 1346, Lora Kotimer had vowed to repeal the credit line with the Linbraean Royal Treasury. However, an impasse in University Council had forced her to back down on this. In consolation, Kotimer, in January 1348, established another grant fund contract, this time with the Lake Maern Reserve, funded by the ongoing Retunian Darkfire 100-Week Project. She also repealed the Tier Funding Negotation Committee and re-classified Tier Funding as only added bonuses.