The story
History
Background
The movement for a public high learning institution in northwestern Ohio began in the late 1800s as part of the growth in public institutions during the Progressive Era to meet demands for training and professional development of teachers. During the period, people of northwestern Ohio campaigned for a school in their region to produce better quality education and educators. The movement argued that the existing universities, Ohio State University in Columbus, Miami University in Oxford and Ohio University in Athens, were distant and the region lacked a state-supported school of its own.
Lowry Bill
In 1910, the Ohio General Assembly passed the Lowry Normal School Bill that authorized Governor Judson Harmon to appoint the Commission on Normal School Sites to survey forty communities for two sites for normal schools, one in northeastern Ohio and one in northwestern Ohio. The commission examined population within a 25-mile (40.2 km) radius of each community, along with railroad and transportation infrastructure, the moral atmosphere, health and sanitary conditions and site suitability.
Bowling Green offered four possible sites and became one of four finalists including Fremont, Napoleon, and Van Wert. Despite the town being the home of John Lowry, Napoleon was ruled out because the commission found it had numerous saloons. Fremont was eliminated mainly due to the specific stipulations imposed by the President Rutherford B. Hayes Memorial Commission. Bowling Green was chosen on November 10, 1910, over Van Wert in a 3–2 vote by the commission. The site located on 82.5 acres (0.334 km2) of primarily rural land and a small town park, nearby railroad and transportation infrastructure, its central location in the region, and Bowling Green's dry status were major factors that the town was chosen by the commission. At the same time, the commission chose Kent for a school in Northeastern Ohio. Over the years 1911 and 1912, the board of trustees was appointed by the Governor and elected a school president on February 16, 1912. A campus plan was created and $150,000 was appropriated to develop the campus and construct the first buildings.
Founding
The school opened on September 15, 1914, as Bowling Green State Normal School in two temporary locations at the Bowling Green Armory and at a branch school in Toledo for the 1914–1915 academic year. The first honorary organization of the college, the Book and Motor was conceived around this time. It initially enrolled 304 students from Ohio, Michigan, and New York who were taught by 21 faculty members. The school graduated its first class in 1915, consisting of 35 certified teachers. University Hall and Williams Hall opened that year, the school's first two permanent buildings. Two years later the first baccalaureate degrees for teacher education were awarded. The university began to invite notable guests to campus during the 1917–1918 semester, including the Zoellner Quartet, and the Ben Greet Shakespearean Players.
On March 28, 1920, a tornado, part of the 1920 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak, damaged three of the school's buildings. The tornado touched down near Bowling Green and strengthened as it moved into Ottawa County where it killed two people in Genoa.
Early expansion
Over the next decade the school expanded academic facilities, athletics and student life, as enrollment grew to over 900 students. On October 28, 1927, Ivan "Doc" Lake, a BGSU graduate and sports editor of the Daily Sentinel-Tribune, established the nickname "Falcons". Lake thought the nickname fit with the school's colors. Prior to "Falcons," sports writers used various other names, including: "B.G. Normals", "Teachers", and the "B.G. Pedagogues". The school achieved the status of college in 1929 when the Emmons-Hanna Bill renamed it to Bowling Green State College (BGSC). At the same time, the college expanded its curriculum through the addition of the College of Liberal Arts, now known as the College of Arts and Sciences.
Great Depression
Enrollment levels held steady into the Great Depression, with enrollment surpassing 1,000 for the first time in 1931. However, in 1933, the Ohio State Senate Welfare Commission proposed a plan to convert the school into a mental health institution. Students, faculty and administrators organized with the Bowling Green community to counter the proposal. The Student Protest Committee coordinated with the faculty and administration to organize a campus rally and march through the downtown Bowling Green. Members of the Protest Committee then launched a letter-writing campaign to community leaders throughout northwest Ohio, which helped convince the state legislature that closing the school would be counterproductive. The measure was defeated by a 14–5 vote. A few years later, in May 1935, the college was granted university status and changed its name to Bowling Green State University. The university added the College of Business Administration to the existing College of Education and College of Liberal Arts. Within a year BGSU added master's degree programs in Education, English, History, Social Science and Mathematics. In 1938 the university adopted an official tenure policy. In 1939 the university began training pilots, led by instructor Mike Murphy at the Findlay Airport. In 1939, the university established The Committee for Gifts, Endowments, and Memorials, its first private endowment fund.
World War II
The 1940s, including World War II and its aftermath, brought big changes to BGSU. The war caused a drastic decrease in male enrollment and by 1943, the university canceled dances and formals, citing the lack of male students.
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The university continued expanding facilities including its first student union, The Falcon's Nest, and new cottage-style dorms for social groups and learning-living communities, and dedication of the Wood County airport. Bowling Green was one of 240 colleges and universities to take part in the V-5 and V-12 Navy College Training Programs to supplement the lower enrollment during the war. The programs offered students a path to a Navy commission, enrolling cadets in regular college courses as well as naval training. Faculty were added to accommodate the military training programs.
Student life adapted to the wartime era with efforts such as the War Relief Committee, blood drives and War Bonds initiatives. In December 1942 Sherwood Eddy spoke on campus on topics relating to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. In July 1944 the university was selected by officials at Camp Perry as a potential camp for temporary prisoners of war.
Post-war era expansion
In the post-war era, BGSU constructed temporary structures to keep up with the increased housing demands for veterans and their families. BGSU added 40 trailers to house male and married students in 1945, known as "Falcon Heights". In 1946, the university added 15 steel buildings to house male students in an area near the football stadium that became known as "Tin Pan Alley". By the late 1940s, the student house shortage became so severe that the nearby National Guard Armory and ODOT garage were converted to house male students.
The Federal Housing Authority provided two wooden barracks, ten trailers, and more steel buildings. The BGSU Army ROTC was established on campus in 1948 as enrollment increased dramatically in the post war era. The university continued to add academic programs as the enrollment increased during the mid to late 1940s, including the Graduate School in 1948 after Dr. Emerson Shuck led the effort to create school. In 1948 the university hosted the world premiere of the last play by Lennox Robinson, The Lucky Finger. By 1950, enrollment grew to new record highs, with over 5,000 students.
1951 saw major changes when Ralph W. McDonald was appointed the fourth president in school history, following the retirement of Frank Prout. McDonald was the first university president from outside Ohio and came to BGSU with a focus on improving teacher education and certification standards. Prior to becoming president, he served as the Executive Secretary of the Department of Higher Education of the National Education Association for seven years. Under McDonald, BGSU reorganized its three colleges to group common departments together within each college. Reflecting the Cold War era, BGSU added an Air Force ROTC program and a Department of Air Science and Tactics. BGSU continued to add programs and in the early 1950s added a Master of Education (M.Ed.) and a Master of Science (M.S.) in Education. The university constructed new residence halls during the decade, Prout Hall in 1955 and Founders Quadrangle in 1957. The new student center opened in 1958.
1960–1990
The College of Education experienced rapid growth and expansion during the 1960s when the university added various specialized education programs, including majors in special education, school psychology, guidance and counseling and vocational rehabilitation counseling. It expanded arts and music programs when the music department became the College of Education's first "school", renamed the School of Music in 1961. Specializations in guidance and counseling were added to the Master of Arts and Master of Education degrees in 1964; as well as a new department for teaching college administration. By 1965, BGSU's College of Education enrolled 5,470 students and was ranked the 16th largest producer of teachers in the United States. The university added new academic, administrative, and athletic facilities during the 1960s. Memorial Hall, later known as Anderson Arena, opened in 1960.
The new Administration Building opened in 1964 and the William T. Jerome Library opened in 1967. Student activism became common in the 1960s, reflecting the various social and political events of the time period. Vietnam War protests were common in downtown Bowling Green and on campus.
In 1969, a Black Student Union formed to encourage unity, scholarship, leadership, culture and political awareness of African Americans students. The majority of student activism at BGSU was peaceful and Bowling Green was the only public college or university in Ohio to reopen in the spring of 1970, following the Kent State shootings during anti-war protests. Bowling Green added two colleges in the early 1970s when the College of Health and Human Services opened in 1973 and the School of Music was elevated to the College of Musical Arts in 1975.
In addition to the new colleges, the BGSU Popular Culture Center opened in 1970 as one of the first pop culture centers in the United States. In 1978, the university established the University Honors Program.
Throughout the 1970s construction continued, starting with the Mathematical Sciences Building, followed by the Offenhauer Towers in 1971 and Industrial Education & Technology Building in 1972. The Business Building and the Industrial Arts Building opened in 1973 and University Hall received renovations in 1974 that included new seating, an improved sound system, and air conditioning in the auditorium. In 1979, the Student Recreation Center and the Moore Musical Arts Center opened. In 1970, the Board of Trustees ended an alcoholic beverage ban on campus. The Cardinal Room, an on-campus eatery, began serving beer. A growing trend in the late 1960s and early 1970s was the development of large apartment complexes adjacent to campus.
By the 1970s approximately 4,000 students lived in private, off-campus housing. On campus, Darrow Hall became the first co-ed residence hall in 1972 with men and women inhabiting alternating floors.
In 1981, the university hosted Xing-Fang Olu, a geneticist from Fudan University to study cytogenetics, and sent its own Jong Sik Yoon to teach at Fudan in return. This was the first such exchange in Ohio since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1984, ties were strengthened with Fudan University, along with then Xi'an Foreign Language Institute, following a visit to China by then-University President Paul Olscamp, and establishment of more regular exchange programs.
The School of Technology was given college status in 1985 and renamed the College of Technology. The university expanded many of the technology and science facilities during the 1980s, including constructing the Planetarium and Physical Sciences Building. In 1985, Ronald Reagan became the seventh president or president-elect to visit the university after Warren G. Harding, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford.
1990–2019
During the 1990s, the university renovated and constructed many buildings. The Stroh Center, a 5,000-seat arena to replace the aging Anderson Arena, opened in 2011, hosting basketball and volleyball in addition to graduation ceremonies, concerts, and other events.
In 2009, the university began construction on the Wolfe Center for the Arts. The 93,000-square-foot (8,600 m2) facility opened in 2011 with performance space, as well as work and classroom areas for art studies of the School of Art, the Department of Theatre and Film, and the College of Musical Arts. That same year, BGSU built a $40 million residence hall project that included two new residence halls, one a traditional-style dorm and a second suite-style for upperclassmen. The residence hall project added more than 800 beds. In the fall of 2011, BGSU opened The Oaks dining hall.
The Oaks was constructed with sustainable designs that included a hybrid solar and wind power system to fulfill Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), an electric-powered truck to distribute food on campus, and a rooftop garden. The building used sustainable and recycled construction materials.
In Fall of 2016 the university began offering a degree in Mechatronics engineering. In 2016 and 2017, three major renovations were complete to three original campus building, totaling about $70 million. The former South Hall was re-opened in fall 2016 after undergoing a $24 million renovation and renaming to The Michael and Sarah Kuhlin Center. The building is home to BGSU's School of Media and Communications. Following a $25 million renovation and restoration, University Hall re-opened in Fall 2017. It was originally built in 1915 as one of the first buildings on campus. Today, University Hall houses the Office of Admissions, classrooms and active learning spaces. Also, in Fall 2017, Moseley Hall reopened, following a $21 million restoration and renovation. Moseley Hall, built in 1916, originally housed the university's agricultural science program. Today, it features technologically advanced laboratories for chemistry, biology, geology, and medical lab science.
2020–present
In June 2020, the College of Health and Human Services created two schools, a School of Nursing and a School of Physical Therapy. In July 2020, the College of Business became the first named college on campus when it was renamed to the Allan and Carol Schmidthorst College of Business following a $15 million donation. The renaming coincided with the moving to the College of Business from the Business Administration Building to the new Maurer Center, a $44.2 million structure built onto the former Hanna Hall.
Athletic and recreational facilities
Most athletic and recreational facilities are located on the eastern half of campus. The Student Recreation Center is a 185,000 sq ft (17,000 m2) facility that includes two swimming pools, four weight rooms, a cardio room, an elevated running track, an Activity Center for aerobics and a large sports center which accommodates basketball, tennis, volleyball, and badminton and other sports. North of the center lies Perry Field House, a 127,000 sq ft (12,000 m2) athletic facility with a 100 x 60 indoor synthetic turf, four batting cages, and a 200-meter track encircling four courts for basketball, volleyball, or tennis. The Slater Family Ice Arena is a 5,000-seat ice hockey arena that is used by various teams and clubs as well as public use. The rink is also home to the Black Swamp Ice Frogs, a special needs hockey team. The arena also includes a smaller ice sheet for curling, figure skating, youth ice hockey, and public skating. The Eppler complex is the oldest building on campus for athletics and is the main practice area for cheerleading, gymnastics, dancing and fencing. At one time it housed the original natatorium. Doyt Perry Stadium is a 28,600 seat football stadium located on the eastern edge. The Stroh Center is an on-campus venue for athletics, concerts, commencement, lectures, and numerous campus and community events. The facility serves as the home for the Falcons men's and women's basketball and volleyball programs. Notably, the structure is one of the most environmentally friendly buildings on campus, designed to achieve challenging Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bowling Green State University, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4