Today Decides Tomorrow
into
our third
century
Timeline Design: Gregg Berryman
Editorial: Carol Berg, Casey Huff, Jim Jessee,
Bob Pentzer, Joe Wills
Photography: Jeff Teeter, Neil Tanner
Digital Pre-Press: Ed Heeter, Pennie Morejohn
© 2005 California State University, Chico
“The loveliest of places…”
John Bidwell’s original plat drawing of Rancho Chico.
Mechoopda tribe member and her infant child.
Birdseye view of Chico 1871, drawn by Agustus Koch. View from northeast shows downtown, Bidwell Mansion, and site of the future campus.
‘‘
It was early in March 1843 when we struck the trail of the Oregon Company on what is now
known as Chico Creek, Rancho Chico–to me one of the
loveliest of places. The plains were covered with groves
of spreading oaks; there were wild grasses and clover,
two, three, and four feet high, and most luxuriant.”
John Bidwell
•
The beauty of the land that John Bidwell encountered led
him to establish Rancho Chico and the teachers college that
is now California State University, Chico. The fertile valley
tract was rich with alluvial sediment from Chico Creek
and other nearby rivers and streams descending from
the Sierra-Cascade mountains. Long before the arrival of
European Americans, the Mechoopda people lived on Little
Butte Creek, just south of Chico, and camped in the summer
along Chico Creek.
Era One: Chico State Normal School 1887–1921
1887
Santa Fe Railroad
line completed
into Los Angeles.
1888
Nikola Tesla
invented the AC
electric motor.
1887
Thomas Edison
invented the light
bulb.
1888
National
Geographic
Magazine first
published.
1890
Massacre at
Wounded Knee.
1890
Ellis Island
welcomed
immigrants.
1891
Stanford
University,
founded in 1885,
opened its doors
to students.
1892
Basketball, a
game devised in
1891, introduced
into the state.
1894
The DeYoung
Museum in San
Francisco opened.
1897
San Diego State
Normal School
founded.
1895
First public
motion picture
showing in Paris.
1895
“Gibson girl”
drawings
idealized the
leisure-class.
1896
“Stars and
Stripes Forever”
composed by John
Philip Sousa.
1897
John G.
McDermott won
the first Boston
marathon in 2
hours, 55 minutes.
1898
Madame Curie
discovered
radium.
1898
Spanish-American
War victory
resulted in U.S.
Empire included
Guam, Puerto
Rico and the
Phillipines.
Annie and John Bidwell 1899
1899
San Francisco
State Normal
School founded.
1899
“Maple Leaf Rag”
was written by
ragtime black
composer Scott
Joplin.
1899
Eiffel Tower,
1010 feet, was
erected for Paris
Exhibition.
1900
Death of John
Bidwell of Chico.
1900
Life expectancy at
birth averaged 48
years for whites
and 33 years for
blacks.
1900
L. Frank Baum
wrote The
Wonderful Wizard
of Oz.
1900
Louis Tiffany won
acclaim for his
stained glass.
1900
Yosemite National
Park was created.
Cornerstone Ceremony Normal School 1888
First graduating class from Chico Normal School, 1891
Chico Normal School
W
ith the new millennium, California State University, Chico enters its third century of service as
a distinguished institution of higher education.
The University is proud of its progress from a normal
school to a teachers college to a state college to the present
university with its seven colleges and a graduate school.
Students entering the Chico State Normal School had
to sign a pledge to become teachers. Teacher training was
the sole mission of the school and the reason the Legislature authorized construction of the state’s third normal
school in April 1887 on a site donated by John and Annie
Bidwell—eight acres of prime land, his cherry orchard,
that are still the heart of today’s beautiful campus.
•
The cornerstone for Normal Hall was laid on July 4,
1888, the five-member faculty was hired between April and
August 1889, and the classes began in September. A year
later the training school was completed and students began
supervised teaching. The Chico State Normal School graduated its first class of teachers in June 1891. Over the years,
90 percent of the graduates honored their pledge to teach;
most of the rest disqualified themselves from teaching by
getting married.
Edward T. Pierce
Principal
1889–1893
Normal School
Robert F. Pennell
Principal
1893–1897
Carlton M. Ritter
President
1897–1899
Training School
▲
1891
Enrollment
90
▲
1895
Enrollment
218
▲
1900
Enrollment
236
1901
California State
Polytechnic
School at San Luis
Obispo founded.
1903
Wright brothers
made the first
recorded plane
flight.
1905
Albert Einstein
announced his
Special Theory of
Relativity.
1901
Death of
Queen Victoria.
1903
Madame Curie
won the Nobel
Prize for her
radium research.
1905
Bird fanciers
formed the Audubon Society.
1906
San Francisco was
devastated by the
great earthquake
and fire.
1908
The Model-T Ford
was introduced.
1908
Picasso and
1906
Braque invented
Frank Lloyd
cubism.
Wright’s Robie
House designed in
Chicago.
1911
California voters
adopted women’s
suffrage.
1913
Humboldt State
Normal School
founded.
1911
Fresno State
Normal School
founded.
1913
Armory Show in
New York City
of Avant Garde
European art
stunned visitors.
1914
Lassen Park
became an active
volcano for seven
years.
1914
Austria-Hungary
declared war on
Serbia and World
War I began.
1916
Death of Ishi, last
Yahi survivor.
1920
Versailles Treaty
signed.
1916
Palace of the
Legion of Honor
Museum opened
in San Francisco.
1920
The U.S. population reached 106
million­–more than
half lived in urban
areas.
1920
Gandhi began his
civil disobedience
campaign in
India.
1920
18th Amendment
began 13-year
experiment with
prohibition.
1901 Graduating Class
Ethel Campbell 1910
Normal School assembly 1897
The Owl Club 1901
May Day festival 1911
S
tudents meeting the Normal School admission
standards enrolled in the Professional Department
where classes, except those labeled postgraduate,
were pre-collegiate in standing until 1906. The other
students began classes in the Preparatory Department.
With the growing of high schools, President Allison Ware
(1911–1918) abolished the Preparatory Department, and
all Normal School classes became collegiate in level.
Students had to master education theory and practice
and develop “sound moral character.” School authorities
required them to live in approved private housing and follow the same strict rules of conduct expected of the faculty.
In the early years, two presidents were dismissed for
reasons that included smoking and drinking.
Women often outnumbered men by more than five to
Charles C. Van Liew
President
1899–1910
one. The typical State Normal School student was a 17-yearold woman from northern or central California. In 1896,
four years after the game of basketball was invented, the
normal school organized a team for women. Social life at
the school revolved around student sports clubs in basketball, football, baseball, and tennis; sororities and fraternities; and the YWCA Club for men and women. The club held
a party at Bidwell Mansion each semester as long as Annie
Bidwell was alive.
The Chico State Normal School left several legacies to
the campus: its students adopted cardinal red as the school
color, organized the first student government, and published the Normal Record, predecessor of the Wildcat and
Orion. A faculty member organized a school-community
orchestra, forerunner of the North State Symphony.
Allison Ware
President
1910–1917
E. J. Miller
Acting President
1917–1918
Colusa Hall
▲
1905
Enrollment
250
▲
1910
Enrollment
286
▲
1915
Enrollment
410
Era Two: Chico State Teachers College 1921–1935
1921
First burial held
at Tomb of the
Unkown Soldier.
1922
Alice Paul of
the Women’s
Party proposed
the equal rights
amendment.
1921
Charlie Chaplin’s
Tramp was his first 1922
feature film.
The Lincoln
Memorial was
dedicated in
Washington, D.C.
1923
Authorities at
Stanford and
Chico State
forbade the
performance of a
new dance step,
“ The Chicago,” at
college dances.
1923
More than 13
million autos traveled the nation’s
highways.
1924
George Gershwin
performed his
Rhapsody in Blue
in New York City.
1924
All Indians born
in the U.S. were
guaranteed
citizenship.
1925
The Scopes Trial
challenged the
teaching of evolution.
1926
Robert Goddard
launched the
first liquid-fueled
rocket.
1927
Charles A.
Lindbergh flew
solo non-stop
New York to Paris.
1927
Academy of
Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences
was established.
1928
Walt Disney’s first
sound cartoon
introduced
Mickey Mouse.
1924
Cecil B. DeMille
filmed The Ten
Commandments.
1924
Stalin succeeded
Lenin in Russia.
1925
First television
transmitted in
England.
1926
Kodak produced
16 mm film.
1927
Babe Ruth hit
60 home runs.
1927
The Bauhaus
building opened
in Germany.
1928
Amelia Earhart
flew solo across
the Atlantic.
English Class at Sisson, Mt. Shasta 1920
Bidwell Hall Girl’s Organization 1924
Chico Normal School after fire 1927
Cornerstone for Administration Building 1929
C
hico Normal School became Chico State Teachers
College in 1921, and the next fourteen years were
marked by growth and change. Under President
Charles Osenbaugh (1918–1930), student population
increased, the teacher training program was expanded,
and the college also began educating students who planned
to transfer to another college after two years. The college
added new bachelor’s degree programs, all
related to teacher education.
•
Administration Building construction 1929
The purchase of Bidwell Mansion in 1924 increased the
size of the campus and provided the college with its first oncampus housing. Bidwell Mansion, renamed Bidwell Hall,
housed women for ten years and men for two.
The face of the campus changed on August 12, 1927,
when Normal Hall was destroyed by fire. Under President
Osenbaugh’s supervision, the central core of the campus
was rebuilt much as we know it today. President Osenbaugh
died shortly after the administration building (Kendall
Hall) was opened in 1929, and President Aymer Jay Hamilton (1931–1950) supervised completion of the project,
including Laxson Auditorium and Trinity Hall.
C. M. Osenbaugh
President
1918–1930
Bidwell Hall
Old Gymnasium
▲
1925
Enrollment
500
Kendall Hall
1929
New York Stock
Market crashed.
1929
Commander
Richard Byrd flew
over the South
Pole.
1929
The California
Highway Patrol
was established.
1930
First analog
computer was
operated.
1929
Academic
Awards were first
announced.
1930
Pluto was
discovered in
Arizona.
1929
Hemmingway
wrote A Farewell
to Arms.
1930
1931
“Star Spangled
James Joyce’s
Ulysses was
Banner” was
declared obscene adopted as the
by U.S. customs.
national anthem.
1930
Congress created
the Veterans
Administration.
1931
Ernst Lawrence
invented the
cyclotron.
1932
Summer Olympic
Games were held
in Los Angeles.
1932
Drought and
windstorms turned
the Great Plains
into a Dust Bowl.
1933
1935
California adopted Richter scale was
its first sales tax.
developed.
1933
King Kong atop
the new Empire
State Building
filled movie
theaters.
1933
F.D. Roosevelt
launched the
New Deal.
1929
The Museum
of Modern Art
opened in
New York.
1935
The board game
Monopoly caught
the imagination of
millions.
1935
The Social
Security Act
reserved funds
for pensions and
unemployment.
1935
Penguin Press in
London launched
the paperback.
1936
Howard Hughes
set the U.S. crosscountry airspeed
record of 9.5
hours.
1936
Jesse Owens ran
and long jumped
to four gold
medals in the
Berlin Olympics.
1936
Fallingwater
House was built
in Pennsylvania
by Frank Lloyd
Wright.
Women’s basketball team leaving for Reno
1924 football squad
1924 Block C Club
Wildcat student newspaper 1930
T
eachers College students set precedents that have
become tradition at Chico. With a new focus on
intercollegiate athletics, the Block C Club, organized
in 1923, provided social and political campus leadership
for 40 years. The name Wildcats originated with the 1924
football team that won the first athletic championship for
Chico State Teachers College. The yearbook took the name
Record, and in 1926 the campus newspaper, the Wildcat,
began 50 years of continuous publication.
C. K. Studley
Acting President
1930 –1931
Pioneer Day grew out of the Normal School Senior Day–
an open house with a picnic and a dramatic production to
interest high school seniors in attending the college. In
1924 Senior Day temporarily became Pioneer Day in honor
of the gold rush. Five years later Pioneer Day became the
celebration’s permanent name. The selection of Little Nell
and Sheriff, a parade, and intracampus competition (including the longest-whiskers contest and tug-of-war across
Chico Creek) were added to the festivities.
R. D. Lindquist
Acting President
1931–1931
Laxson Auditorium
▲
•
1930
Enrollment
588
Trinity Hall
▲
1935
Enrollment
680
Era Three: Chico State College 1935 –1964
1937
The Golden Gate
Bridge opened.
1937
Julia Morgan,
architect,
designed San
Simeon (Hearst’s
Castle).
1938
Herb Caen’s
column began
to appear in the
San Francisco
Chronicle.
1938
The HewlettPackard Company
was founded.
1938
Adventures of
Robin Hood was
filmed in Bidwell
Park.
1938
Introduction of
the ball-point pen
by Ladislao and
George Biro.
1940
California’s
freeway system
was begun.
1940
Caves of Lascaux
were discovered
in France.
1941
The Japanese
bombed Pearl
Harbor. The
U.S. entered
World War II.
1943
Presence of
heavy smog first
observed in July in
Los Angeles.
1941
Citizen Kane,
directed by Orson
Wells, opened.
1943
Rationing of
food and fuel
supported the war
effort.
1944
Mark I, the first
large-scale digital
calculator, was
operated at
Harvard.
1944
D-Day invasion
launched to free
Europe.
1945
V-J Day
celebration in
San Francisco
became unruly.
1945
United Nations
chartered in San
Francisco.
1947
The California
Legislature’s Joint
Fact Finding
Committee on
Un-American
Activities
investigated
communism in
Chico.
1945
The Atom Bomb
was dropped on
Japan, ending
World War II.
1947
Los Angeles State
and Sacramento
State Colleges
were founded.
1947
Jackie Robinson
broke the color
barrier of major
league baseball.
Campus view in the 1930s
1948
The U.S.
recognized Israel
as a sovereign
state.
1948
The Berlin
blockade
heightened the
Cold War.
1948
Edwin Land
introduced the
Polaroid instant
camera.
Bidwell Hall interior 1940s
T
he state legislature converted its teachers colleges
to state colleges in 1935 and permitted them to offer
liberal arts and other degree programs not directly
related to teacher education. As a result, Chico State Teachers College dropped Teachers from its name and expanded
its degree programs to the arts, sciences, and business.
Eleven years later, the legislature authorized further
expansion, including some graduate studies. By 1950,
Chico State had added ten graduate programs. In 1961 the
college came under the jurisdiction of the newly created
California State University and Colleges Board
of Trustees.
•
Economics and war affected the college. During the Great
Depression, Chico State College fostered part-time student
employment and helped students enroll in new federal assistance programs. Bidwell Hall was closed as a residence
too expensive for students. With America’s entry into World
War II, enrollments dwindled from 808 in 1941 to 284 in
1944. Student activities continued during the war, but most
intercollegiate sports were canceled, and physical education emphasized fitness training.
As the war ended, veterans returned to campus in unprecedented numbers. By 1947 college enrollments passed
the 1,000 mark and continued to climb. Bidwell Hall was
used for classes and faculty offices until new buildings
could be constructed. It would later become a State Historical Park.
Glenn Kendall
President
1950 –1966
A. J. Hamilton
President
1931–1950
Continuing Education Center
▲
1940
Enrollment
806
Aymer Jay Hamilton School
Ayres Hall
▲
1945
Enrollment
478
1949
Long Beach State
College founded.
1949
The U.S. Air Force
completed the first
non-stop flight
around the world.
1950
Golden State
celebrated
Centennial year.
1953
DNA molecule
discovery
triggered a
revolution in
biology.
1954
Independent,
noncommercial
TV station, KQED,
was founded in
San Francisco.
1953
Hillary and
Tenzing became
the first team to
climb Mt. Everest.
1954
Silicon transistor
was developed.
1953
Korean War
ended.
1954
Polio vaccine
was produced by
Jonas Salk.
1954
Disney’s Davy
Crockett series
swept nation.
1955
Disneyland
opened near
Anaheim.
1956
Don Larsen of
New York Yankees
pitched a “perfect
game” in the
World Series.
1955
Rock’n’roll
emerged.
1955
McDonald’s
standardized fast
food.
1955
Crest added
fluoride to
toothpaste.
1956
Martin Luther
King emerged as
a leader against
segregation.
1956
Elvis Presley
became first
rock star.
1957
Dodgers and
Giants baseball
teams moved to
California.
1957
Fullerton,
Hayward, and
Stanislaus State
Colleges founded.
1957
The Soviet Union
launched the first
satellite, Sputnik.
D
Lassen/Shasta Halls
Modoc Hall
▲
1950
Enrollment
1,474
1959
Alaska and
Hawaii became
the 49th and
50th states.
1960
Dominguez Hills,
San Bernardino,
and Sonoma State
Colleges founded.
1960
The Pill, first oral
contraceptive, was
FDA approved.
Yuba Hall
Taylor Hall
Performing Arts Center
▲
1955
Enrollment
2,212
1963
Hitchcock’s The
Birds brought
winged terror to
Bodega Bay.
1963
1962
President John
California became F. Kennedy was
the nation’s most
assassinated.
populous state.
1963
1962
Pop Art evoked
John Glenn was
critical debate
the first American and popular
to orbit the earth. controversy.
The student body changed dramatically in the postwar
years. Students came to Chico from greater distances than
before—many from the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California, a few from out-of-state and abroad. With the
sudden growth in enrollment, students and faculty could
no longer know the entire campus community personally.
Some students focused their social activities on a fraternity,
sorority, residence hall, or other student group. Veterans,
re-entry, and other older students spent most of their lives
off campus. Thus, while the number of campus cultural and
social events increased, a smaller proportion of students
became involved in them.
Glenn Hall
Sylvester’s-Cafe-By-The-Creek University Center
College Library
1962
Glenn Dumke
was named
Chancellor of the
California State
College system.
Sheriff candidate, Pioneer Day
uring the sixteen-year administration of President
Glenn Kendall (1950–1966), students and faculty
quadrupled in number; twelve major buildings
were completed and construction was started on another
two; and new professional majors were offered in
agriculture, engineering, journalism, microbiology,
nursing, and social welfare.
To meet the critical postwar housing shortage, the college clustered rows of temporary family housing units, Vets
Village, where Whitney, Plumas, and Tehama Halls now
stand. A few years later the college built Lassen and Shasta
Halls, the first permanent on-campus housing. Several land
purchases expanded the campus to 119 acres and added
the college farm, initially 645 acres.
Siskiyou Hall
1958
U.S. launched
its first satellite,
Explorer I.
1960
Winter Olympics
were held at
Squaw Valley.
1957
Frisbee disc toy
was introduced.
Little Nell Linda Brandt 1959
Shurmer Gymnasium
1958
Northridge State
College founded.
Acker Gymnasium
Sutter Hall
Langdon Engineering Center
▲
1960
Enrollment
3,329
Physical Science
Era Four: California State University, Chico 1964–1986
1965
California State
College at
Bakersfield was
founded; Paul
Romberg of Chico
State became its
first president.
1965
Race riots in Watts
shook Los Angeles
and the nation.
1967
Oroville Dam
was completed.
1967
First human
heart was
transplanted
by Christian
Bernard.
1968
Martin Luther
King, Jr. and
Robert Kennedy
were both
assassinated.
1969
Apollo XI landed
on the moon.
1971
The California
population
exceeded 20
million.
1970
First “Earth Day”
celebrated
1972
Opening of the
Bay Area Rapid
Transit (BART).
1972
Frank Lloyd
Wright’s Marin
Civic Center was
completed.
1974
Oakland Athletics
won a third
consecutive World
Series.
1974
President Richard
Nixon resigned.
1972
Nixon’s visit to
China renewed
relations.
1965
Miniskirts swept
into fashion.
1974
California State
University system
enrollment
exceeded
300,000.
1974
Hank Aaron
beat Babe Ruth’s
record of 714
home runs.
1975
War finally ended
in Vietnam.
1975
The Bic
disposable razor
was invented.
1975
The world
population
exceeded
4 billion.
1966
St. Louis Gateway
Arch completed.
Graduate School established
1975
A severe August
earthquake struck
Oroville area.
E
Bell Memorial Union
Robert Hill
President
1966–1970
1976
The Concorde jet
flew from Paris
to Washington
in less than four
hours.
Over a period of eighteen years, academic divisions,
departments, and programs were organized into schools
until, in 1986, President Robin Wilson approved their
redesignation as colleges.
The mid-’60s marked a turning point for the institution
as Chico students, capturing the mood and concerns of
students throughout the country, embraced the free speech
movement and staged anti-war protests. Some of the demonstrations were peaceful; others were not. Demanding
reform in higher education, a core of students and faculty
challenged authority at all levels. It was a period of rallies,
marches, sit-ins, grade inflation, and experimental courses.
High energy and intense involvement were in the air.
Whitney Hall
Physical Science Addition
Plumas Hall
Lew D. Oliver
President
1970–1971
Holt Hall
1965
Enrollment
5,734
1976
Bicentennial of
the United States
was celebrated.
First Street sit-in 1969
nrollments continued to soar in the late 1960s and
early ’70s, as post-wartime “Baby Boomers” graduated from high school. Enrollments grew more
slowly in the ’80s and fell back in the early ’90s. New
growth came when the Baby Boomers’ own children, as
well as new immigrants, began to increase enrollments.
The college gradually assumed the character of a regional
state university as it increased its offerings in the arts and
sciences, developed more professional programs, and
introduced graduate classes.
During the administration of President Robert E. Hill
(1966–1970), the Graduate School was established. The institution’s name caught up with reality when, in 1972 under
the leadership of President Stanford Cazier (1971–1979),
Chico State College became California State University,
Chico.
▲
1976
Christo built his
Running Fence,
25 miles from
Petaluma to the
Pacific.
▲
1970
Enrollment
10,108
▲
1975
Enrollment
13,138
1977
The Oakland
Raiders won the
Super Bowl.
1977
California’s harsh
two-year drought
ended.
1977
The Star Wars
trilogy opened.
1977
First personal
computer
(Apple II) was
introduced.
1977
Roots series set
television viewing
record.
1978
Proposition 13,
the constitutional
initiative
amendment
relating to
property taxes,
was approved.
1978
“Birth of first
test-tube baby.”
1980
Ninety million
watched “Who
Shot JR?” episode.
1980
Rhodesia became
Zimbabwe.
1980
NASA created
dramatic photos
of Saturn.
1980
Mediterranean
fruit flies
threatened
California’s fruit
harvest.
1981
Twentieth
anniversary of the
California State
University and
Colleges system.
1980
Mt. St. Helens
erupted in
Washington.
1981
Sandra Day
O’Conner was
the first woman
appointed to
Supreme Court.
1980
Ronald Reagan
elected to
first term.
CAVE established 1966
1982
W. Ann Reynolds
became second
Chancellor of
the California
State University
system.
1982
Maya Lin’s
Vietnam Veterans
Memorial opened
in Washington
D.C.
1981
AIDS emerged.
1984
Summer Olympic
Games were held
in Los Angeles.
1985
San Francisco
49ers won the
Super Bowl.
1984
Philip Johnson’s
AT&T Building in
New York brought
post-modernism
to the public.
1985
New Coca Cola
beverage failed.
1986
Space craft
Challenger
exploded, killing
seven.
1986
Halley’s Comet
returned.
Ten meter Earth Station
T
he 1960s and ’70s was a period of constructive social reform that has left its mark: shifting emphasis
from traditional extracurricular activities to more
socially and environmentally responsible interests. The
Associated Students established the innovative Community
Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE), an organization
that has served the community since 1966 and become a
model for service education. Recycling, alternative transportation, and increased recreation, health, and fitness opportunities are now well established. Educational opportunity programs, collective bargaining, student evaluation
of the faculty, the free speech area, special majors, new
programs in international, ethnic, and women’s studies–all
have their roots in the ’60s and ’70s.
After Playboy magazine named CSU, Chico the nation’s
number 1 party school, Pioneer Week of 1987 erupted in
riots, and President Wilson then canceled the annual celebration, ending a tradition dating back to 1927. Students
began putting their energy into other celebrations and
events.
Televised classrooms permitted students in off-campus
learning centers to join on-campus students in regular
university classes. Students at industrial sites in several
states, even countries, studied in campus degree programs
via satellite links and the Internet. The University had the
technical ability to provide its students direct worldwide
links via satellite, telephone, and Internet. CSU, Chico
provided more distance education courses via satellite than
any other CSU campus.
Since 1964 students have won numerous championships
and awards in athletics, forensics, engineering, business,
journalism, livestock judging, and other competitions. The
campus had more international students than ever before,
more students of color, more older students, more students
with disabilities, and more students with financial aid and
scholarships.
Butte Hall
Student Health Center
Thematic Dormitories
Meriam Library
Stanford Cazier
President
1971–1979
Robert L. Fredenburg
Acting President
1979–1980
Robin S. Wilson
President
1980–1993
Boiler-Chiller Plant
▲
1980
Enrollment
13,873
Student Recreation Center
▲
1985
Enrollment
14,534
Era Five: California State University, Chico 1987–2005
1987
Margaret Thatcher
won rare third term
to lead Britain.
1988
George Bush
elected 41st
president.
1987
Supreme Court ruled
Rotary Club must
admit women.
1988
Bomb destroyed
Pan Am 747 over
Scotland, killing
259.
1989
A 7.1 earthquake
rocked the
California Bay
Area.
1990
The Berlin Wall
tumbled-East and
West Germany
reunified.
1989
U.S. invaded
Panama to oust
General Manuel
Noriega.
1990
Iraq invaded
Kuwait, triggering
the Gulf War.
1991
October firestorm
swept through
Oakland hills.
1992
Bill Clinton
elected to
first term.
1991
Operation
Desert Storm
freed Kuwait.
1992
North American
Free Trade
Agreement
reached.
1993
The Internet
launched the
“information
highway.”
Sold out at Nettleton Stadium
Warner Street corridor
E
nrollment slowed in the late ’80s, as the state
suffered through a recession, then grew in the late
’90s. The ’80s saw large enrollments in career-oriented majors, while the ’90s brought renewed interest in
the humanities, liberal arts, and social sciences. Computers helped students register for classes and locate library
books, and many courses were offered through or assisted
by e-mail and the Internet.
With growth in enrollment, the campus also grew.
Tehama Hall, the John O’Connell Technology Center, and
the Warner Street Project were completed, and the Student
Health Center and the BMU were expanded. The University
received a generous donation for the construction of Nettleton Stadium, and a new soccer stadium was completed.
CSU, Chico focused greater attention on student learning environments with new programs such as Freshman
Orientation, Getting Connected, and Courselink. The Center
•
1994
California State
University,
Monterey Bay
founded.
1995
California
Maritime
Academy joined
CSU System.
1994
A 6.7 earthquake
jolted Los Angeles.
1995
San Francisco
Museum of
Modern Art
opened.
1994
Nelson Mandela
elected president
of South Africa.
1995
Oklahoma City
federal building
bombed.
1996
First cloned
sheep, “Dolly,”
born.
1996
1997
Summer Olympics Charles Reed
held in Atlanta.
succeeded
Barry Munitz as
1996
Chancellor of
Internet use
CSU System.
exceeded 30
million.
1997
Pathfinder landed
on Mars.
Tehama Hall
for Learning and Teaching stimulated discussion about
theories and practices of teaching and learning, and the
Technology and Learning Program assisted faculty in using
new technology in their classes. Meriam Library opened a
24-hour computer lab, the first such facility in the CSU.
Athletics also underwent important changes. CSU, Chico
dropped its wrestling and swimming programs in the late
’80s and football in 1997, shifting focus to a few highquality programs and offering athletic scholarships for the
first time in its history.
In 1997 and 1999, the baseball team won NCAA Division
II national championships. The University joined the California Collegiate Athletic Association, considered by many
the nation’s top NCAA Division II conference, in 1998.
CSU, Chico’s direction in the ’90s was shaped by a
25-member task force that helped create the Strategic Plan
for the Future. The plan has been updated and continues
to set a course for CSU, Chico. One of the plan’s five key
priorities–serving the educational, cultural, and economic
needs of Northern California–was highlighted by the popular President’s Lecture Series, which featured seven Nobel
Peace Prize winners coming to campus to speak from 1999
to 2003.
O’Connell Technology Center
Tehama Hall
Nettelton Stadium
Manuel A. Esteban
President
1993–2003
Parking Garage
Sapp Hall
▲
1990
Enrollment
16,209
1997
Wildcats won
Division II World
Series.
Bell Memorial Union Addition
▲
1995
Enrollment
13.586
1998
Mark McGuire hit
70 home runs.
1998
John Glenn
returned to space
after 36 years.
1998
Titanic sailed into
film history.
1999
California
sesquicentennial
celebrated.
2000
George W.
Bush won close
presidential race.
1999
World population
exceeded six
billion.
2000
2001
Genome Project
Silicon Valley dot
provided a human “com boom” went
blueprint.
bust.
1999
World scrambled
to cope with
Y2K computer
problems.
2001
Terrorists killed
thousands in Sept.
11 tragedy.
2001
Apple launched
the iPod music
player.
2002
Salt Lake City
hosted the Winter
Olympics.
2002
Roman Catholic
Church rocked
by molestation
charges.
2002
The War in Iraq
began.
Chico Creek Reserve, 2000
2003
CSU, Channel
Islands founded.
2003
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
won California
recall election.
C
University Village
2005
Terrorists
struck London
underground.
2005
Lance Armstrong
won a seventh
Tour de France.
2004
Tsunamis
devastate South
Asia.
2005
CSU approved
to confer Ed.D.
degrees.
2005
California
population
exceeded 35
million.
2004
Boston Red Sox
won World Series.
Ag Day on campus
hico set new records for enrollment size and number
of applications at the start of the 21st century, and
continues to be one of the most popular California
State University campuses. As state support lessened during
the budget reduction years of 2003–2005, the CSU increased
student fees to help offset the impact to programs. In
2005, Chico students approved a new campus fee to build a
recreation center. It complements Yolo Hall, built in 2002,
which has classrooms, labs, and offices for the Departments
of Kinesiology and Parks and Recreation Management.
In 2005, work began on the $34 million Student Services
Center, which will house admissions, financial aid, and other
offices.
Private donations to CSU, Chico have increasingly played
a part in ensuring the University’s ongoing quality. A fundraising campaign to boost scholarships for students raised
$16.7 million. Among the programs aided by the donations
2004
The Sundial
Bridge opened in
Redding.
CSU, Chico’s 2005 Master Plan
is the President’s Scholars Program, which gives awards to
incoming freshmen with superior academic profiles.
Interdisciplinary initiatives have broadened students’
perspectives on learning. The Book in Common program
selects a new book each year that students read in a variety
of classes. The Humanities Center in Trinity Hall promotes
cross-disciplinary discourse. The Bidwell Environmental
Institute, supported by four of CSU, Chico’s colleges, offer
students a wealth of educational and research opportunities. A significant part of the education takes place at
three locations: the 3,950-acre Big Chico Creek Ecological
Reserve, the 300-acre Butte Creek Ecological Reserve, and
the 80-acre Eagle Lake Field Station near Susanville.
CSU, Chico has come a long way since its founding in
1887. The frontiers of knowledge and the tools of teaching
have expanded beyond even the imagination of the school’s
first students. Yet, as the annual Founders Week events
remind us, CSU, Chico is a place of enduring traditions as
well as growth and transformation. The University looks
forward to its 125th birthday in 2012 with excitement and
confidence.
Student Services Center
Scott G. McNall
Acting President
2003–2004
Paul J. Zingg
President
2004
Yolo Hall
▲
2000
Enrollment
15,788
▲
2005
Enrollment
15,513