EventsThatShapedEasternWashingtonUniversity

Fromitshumblebeginningsasaone-buildingteacher’sacademytoathrivingcampusthatcovers300acresandoffersmorethan100fieldsofstudy,EasternWashingtonUniversityhasevolvedintoa

nationallyrecognizedinstitutionoverthepast125years.Aswecelebratethismilestone,wetakealookbackatthemanymoments,bigandsmall,thatmadeEasternwhatitistoday.

April 3, Benjamin P. Cheney Academy opens

its doors. Annual tuition is $30.

Washington becomes a state. Plans for the

State Normal School at Cheney begin to

formulate.

Construction completed on new Normal School

building.

Benjamin P. Cheney agrees to donate $10,000 to build a teacher’s academy at Cheney, Washington Territory.

First class graduates from the Cheney Academy.

State Normal School opens in Cheney.

Work begins on an addition to the academy building, but before addition is complete, the entire building burns to the ground. Pomeroy Building in downtown Cheney becomes the temporary home for Normal School students.

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Normal School reopens with W.B. Turner as fourth

president. Tuition is free.

First football team plays for Normal School.

Henry Smith is hired as first athletic director in

Normal School history.

Total land occupied by Cheney Normal

School: 13 acres.

Normal School closes at end of spring term.

The Rhododendron yearbook is predecessor to Kinnikinick.

First academic departmental-ization at Normal School cre-ates Art, Professional (Educa-tion), Biology and Agriculture, English, Foreign Languages, History and Social Science, Manual Training, Mathemat-ics, Music, Physical Science and Physical Training departments.

Volume 1, Number 1 of Kinnikinick published.

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16In the early morning

hours, Normal School main building burns to

the ground, destroying all school records, library

and teaching materials in the building.

Administration Building(now Showalter Hall)

is dedicated.

Monroe Hall formally opens as the women’s

dormitory with a dining room seating 200. Room

and board is $4 per week.

First correspondence and extension courses are

approved and offered.

Cheney State Normal School is accredited for

the first time.

Planning for new Normal School building begins.

Noah Showalter becomes first president of Normal School with title change from principal to president.

“Herculean Pillars” framing walkway to Administration Building front entrance are constructed of granite from old Cheney Normal building.

First issue of The Journal, a weekly student newspaper, is first real newspaper published on campus.

State Board of Education authorizes Cheney Normal School to change from semester calendar to quarter academic calendar.

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25Gov. Clarence Martin signs the bill designating the normal schools as colleges of education; school at Cheney becomes Eastern Washington College of Education.

Senior Hall formally opens.

Room and board for all dorms: $6 per week.

Sutton Hall is dedicated by Sen. W.J. Sutton, for

whom it is named.

Proposed commons fails to materialize.

Depression is felt at Cheney State Normal

with salary cuts to keep the greatest number of people on the payroll.

American Association of Teacher Colleges fully

accredits Cheney Normal School as a four-year

teacher college.

First Cheney State Normal School four-year diploma is awarded to Hazel Tormey.

Board of Trustees begins planning for a central dining “commons.”

President’s House is completed; President Hargreaves and family move in.

New law gives normal schools the right to grant Bachelor of Arts in education degrees.

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“Degree Bill” passed by the Legislature gives the colleges of education permission to grant degrees in fields other

than education, making EWCE a liberal arts college. 43

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New library building is completed.

Male enrollment drops as U.S. enters World War II.

Athletic Council recommends discontinu-

ance of football due to shortage of players.

Field House is completed and dedicated.

Martin Hall opens.

Library is officially dedicated as Hargreaves Hall; Administration Building is dedicated as Showalter Hall.

“Trailerville” (house trailers) provides temporary housing for married ex-servicemen enrolling at EWCE.

Radcliffe Hall is remodeled for use as Eastern’s first student union building.

Buildings occupy original athletic field, leading to construction of a new athletic field to the west.

President Harry Truman’s train stops in Cheney; he drives around EWCE campus.

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ROTC begins operation at EWCE as Division of Military Science and Tactics.

New women’s dormitory is named Louise Anderson Hall, commonly called “L.A. Hall.”

Campus School (Robert Reid Lab School) is completed.

For the first time in a half-century, students are charged tuition and fees.

“Greeks” are admitted to EWSC; fraternities are permitted to make affiliations with national Greek organizations.

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The Easterner replaces The Journal student

newspaper.

Monroe Hall closes for repairs, reopening in the

fall as a men’s dorm.

Dr. Donald Patterson named president.

Isle Hall opens as the new student union

and bookstore.

Eastern Washington College of Education be-

comes Eastern Washington State College to reflect the

shift toward a liberal arts emphasis.

Science building is dedicated.

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JFK Library opens; Hargreaves Hall is remodeled for Department of Home Economics; Dr. Emerson Shuck is named president following resignation of Dr. Patterson.

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First part of multi-phase physical education complex is constructed to house

P.E. Department classrooms and offices.

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EWSC campus: 114 acres.

Construction begins on JFK Library, Student Union

Building additions, new dormitory for women and

Dressler Hall (a men’s dorm).

Kingston Hall is completed for departments that

become the School of Business.

Board of trustees votes to change school mascot

from Savage to Eagle.

New men’s dorm, Pearce Hall, opens.

Tawanka Commons opens.

Ruth Cheney Streeter, granddaughter of Benjamin Cheney, visits campus.

In response to shootings at Kent State University, a group of 250-300 students march on the ROTC department, demanding termination of ROTC program. Col. Andy Pribnow addresses protestors; brief scuffles ensue; crowd disburses.

Agreement allows persons with AA degrees from state community colleges to enter EWSC with junior class standing.

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70Turnbull Laboratory for Environmental Studies

opens on Turnbull Wildlife Refuge.

Special Events Pavilion is completed.

Old field house burns to the ground, damaging Cadet Hall, Drama and Radio-TV buildings and automobiles parked on

Washington St.

Eastern Washington State College becomes Eastern

Washington University; academic departments are

grouped into schools and colleges.

Red Barn is renovated for Campus Security and

Visitor’s Center.

Day care service is offered by EWU for

the first time for students’ children.

Master of Social Work degree is authorized.

Seattle Seahawks hold first summer camp at EWSC.

New field house is built and named for Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe, a native of Pennsylvania, who had no affiliation with Eastern.

EWU Foundation is created to help support the University.

Mount St. Helens eruption closes EWU for a week.

Reese Court is dedicated in honor of Coach William B. “Red” Reese (pictured right).

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Committee hearings, EWU students, faculty, staff, administrators and trustees voice unilateral opposition

to a proposal to merge EWU into WSU.

KEWU radio station upgrades to 10,000 watts of broadcasting power and a fully automated compact disc studio – one of the first in the U.S.

Mountain West Athletic Conference (women’s sports) merges into the Big Sky Conference, bringing

all EWU intercollegiate sports into the BSC.

USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev approves a sister university agreement between Kalinin State University and EWU.

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103 Rep. Ken Jacobsen introduces a bill in the Washington State Legislature to rename EWU “Spokane State University.” The bill later dies.

104All campus food services are handled in the remodeled and expanded Pence Union Building;

Baldy’s opens on the second floor.

Pence Union Building smoking lounge closes as the University begins to comply with Washington’s indoor clean air law.

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EWU and WSU agree to establish a joint center

for engineering and technology in Spokane.

EWU is admitted to the Big Sky Conference.

Eight buildings on EWU campus are designated

smoke free.

EWU drops intercollegiate baseball program due to

budget cuts.

EWU football game is televised for the first time.

EWU initiates a campuswide recycling program.

Lisa Brown, EWU professor of economics, is elected to Washington State Senate.

Enrollment at EWU: 8,500; campus size: 51 buildings

on 315 acres of land.

President H. George Frederickson gets approval from Board of Trustees to

obtain property in Spo-kane to replace space the

University leased in the Bon Marche Building.

Washington Student Lobby (WSL) is founded;

Associated Students agree to help fund it by

contributing $1 per student enrolled at EWU.

The four-story EWU Spokane Center opens for

use with 33 classrooms andspace for 800 students.

Student photo identification cards are issued to all stu-

dents as a standard practice.

School of Business is accredited by American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.

Official centennial observation is held April 14 with former President Gerald Ford as guest speaker.

Former United Nations Secretary Kurt Waldheim is selected commencement speaker; after speaking, he plants a tree between Patterson and Monroe halls.

EWU Foundation purchases former Farm Credit Bank building in downtown Spokane.

In an effort to gain admission to the Big Sky Conference, EWU home football games moved from Woodward Field to Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.

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Mandatory $35 technology fee is instituted to pay for improved computing and

Internet services for students.113

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ASEWU announces a proposal for a new recreation center across from the Pence Union Building; Married

Student Court would be razed to make way.

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For the third consecutive year, EWU is named one of the “Great Colleges for the Real World.”119

EWU and Gonzaga University announce a dual degree program, joining EWU’s School of Social Work and Gonzaga Law School; graduates may receive both a law degreee from GU and Master of Social Work from EWU.

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Eastern’s first black fraternity, Beta Phi Pi, begins operating during Black History Month.

Gov. Gary Locke signs a bill allowing EWU to offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.

Eastern awards its first Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees at Commencement.

Looking Back:Do you have a favorite memory or story from your days at Eastern? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Just send your memories and photos to: Eastern Magazine, 300 Showalter Hall, Cheney, WA 99004-2445 or easternmagazine@mail.ewu.edu. Over the course of Eastern’s anniversary year, we’ll share as many stories as possible in the magazine. (List compiled by University Archivist Charles V. Mutschler. See more of Eastern’s history at: www.ewu.edu/compendium)

EWU football team earns Big Sky Conference championship.

State Sen. Jim West calls for legislation to merge

EWU into WSU.

Former Jore School, a one-room schoolhouse, is moved

to campus from its original site near Newport, Wash., to become the Cheney Normal

School Heritage Center.

Washington Student Lobby and the ASEWU call for a student member to be added to Board of Trustees.

Construction of new central mall begins between the li-brary, Patterson Hall, the PUB and Tawanka Commons.

State Higher Education Coordinating Board moves to end turf wars in Spokane, recommending EWU focus on existing programs and make Cheney campus its priority.

Stephen Jordan becomes EWU president; Jordans move into President’s House on Cheney campus, becoming the first family to live there since the Fredericksons.

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EWU hosts Associated Press western headquarters for tallying election results from 10 western states.

Washington State Archives breaks ground for a new

building on EWU’s campus; the state plans to build a

crime lab to the west of it.

Dr. Rodolfo Arévalo becomes Eastern’s 25th president; he

is the state’s first Hispanic president of a four-year

public institution.

Eagles win men’s basketball Big Sky Conference champi-onship, earning the team’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Computing and Engineering Building opens; the $26 million facility is equipped with 21st-century labs and state-of-the-art classrooms.

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