 Lacking a museum, the university allowed professors into storage rooms to select art to decorate their offices, even though some of the paintings were very valuable.One art professor, Wesley M. Burnside, recognized the value of the collection and as a curator, started to sell, trade, and purchase pieces, eventually becoming the collection's acquisitions director, though his role was supposed to be limited to making recommendations to the faculty committee.Several art dealers recognized Burnside's inexperience in art dealing and took advantage of his naivete and lack of record keeping to make unfair trades or outright steal works.