History of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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The history of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee starts at one of the three dates shown on the university seal, depending on the exact sense intended.
On February 5, 1849, higher education began in Wisconsin when 17 boys arrived for prep classes in space borrowed from the Madison Female Academy. This date is now celebrated in Wisconsin as Founders Day. On July 26 of that year, the University of Wisconsin was established.
In 1885, public higher education began in Milwaukee with the founding of the Milwaukee State Normal School.
In the fall of 1956, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was created as a result of the merger between the old University of Wisconsin and the former Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee (a successor of the Milwaukee State Normal School). The newly-created university consisted of the Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee campus and University of Wisconsin Extension at Milwaukee, an auxiliary of the University of Wisconsin. The new university was considered a part of the University of Wisconsin.
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[edit] Predecessors
In 1880, the Wisconsin state legislature passed a law requiring the Board of Regents of Normal Schools to form a normal school in the Milwaukee area in order to meet the growing demand for higher education by the city's soaring population. The Milwaukee State Normal School at 18th and Wells Streets opened for classes in 1885, with John J. Mapel as president. Over the next 42 years, the Milwaukee State Normal School saw 7 different presidents, the addition of music and liberal arts programs and rapid growth from an initial enrollment of 46. In 1909, the Milwaukee State Normal School moved from downtown to its current location near the lakefront when a new building, now Mitchell Hall, was completed.
In 1922, the State Normal School Regents voted to discontinue college courses in an effort to refocus on the instruction of teachers. The Milwaukee State Normal School then began to offer education-related four year degrees. In 1927, the Milwaukee State Normal School changed its name to the Milwaukee State Teacher’s College. The Milwaukee State Teacher's College quickly dropped all non four-year degree programs and offered its first Bachelor of Science degree program in 1937, for education. After World War II, the school also added a graduate program for education. In 1946, J. Martin Klotsche became president of the college. (He would remain head of the evolving institution until 1973.) In 1951, when the Legislature empowered all state colleges to offer liberal arts programs, the Milwaukee State Teacher's College changed its name to Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee, which became part of the University of Wisconsin five years later.
[edit] Since 1956
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was founded in the belief that "if metropolitan Milwaukee was to be great, it would need a great urban public university" [1]. In 1955, the Wisconsin state legislature passed a measure to create a large public university that offered graduate programs in Wisconsin's largest city. The current University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was established in 1956, as a result of the merger between the old University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee (WSCM). The new university consisted of the WSCM campus near the lakefront and the University of Wisconsin extension in downtown Milwaukee. The first commencement of the new University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was held on June 16, 1957. On June 13, 1958, Milwaukee's Socialist mayor Frank P. Zeidler was the first person to receive an honorary doctorate from the university. Enrollment grew from 6195 in 1956 to 9354 in 1962 and new academic programs, colleges and schools were created to meet student demands. In 1988, the UW System designated eight Centers of Excellence at UWM. In 1994, UWM was designated as a Research II University (now a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive) by the Cargegie Foundation. In the 50 years since adding the Milwaukee campus to the UW System, UWM has expanded to 12 schools and colleges and now offers 84 undergraduate programs, 48 graduate programs and 20 doctoral degrees, with a university-wide focus on academic research, teaching and community service.
In 1964, the campus of the neighboring private women's institution, Milwaukee-Downer College, was purchased by the State to expand the UWM campus; Milwaukee-Downer College had previously merged with Lawrence College to form the present Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. [2] The university had already purchased the former campuses and buildings of the old Milwaukee-Downer Seminary and Milwaukee University School along Hartford Avenue [3].
In 2005, UW-Milwaukee surpassed UW-Madison in the number of Wisconsin resident undergraduate students as well as graduate students.[4]
Since the implementation of the "Milwaukee Idea" [5] in 1999, a campaign conceived by former chancellor Nancy Zimpher to strengthen its ties to the surrounding community and the city of Milwaukee, the university has been listed in the top 10 of the 25 “best-neighbor” urban colleges and universities in the U.S. by the New England Board of Higher Education.[6].
Many critics, however, are quick to point out that the university has veered from its commitments to the city in recent years, citing amongst other things, the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in its student body. In 1999, the University laid out plans to have the share of students of color at UWM mirror the percentage of people of color in the Milwaukee Metro area. According to the 2000 Census, that percentage was 26%, but as of today students of color make up only 17%. [7] In 2005, this lack of diversity led to hundreds of students marching into the chancellors office in protest of what they saw as UWM's lack of commitment to its own standards.[8]
[edit] Institutional milestones
- 1885 - Milwaukee State Normal School opened for class at 18th & Wells in downtown Milwaukee
- 1892 - University of Wisconsin began to offer classes in Milwaukee
- 1909 - Milwaukee State Normal School moved to its present location at the lakefront
- 1920 - The UW Extension Division, formed in 1907, took over responsibility for UW instruction in Milwaukee
- 1927 - Milwaukee State Normal School changed its name to Milwaukee State Teachers College
- 1928 - UW Extension opened Milwaukee Center downtown
- 1951 - Milwaukee State Teachers College became Wisconsin State College-Milwaukee
- 1956 - Wisconsin State College-Milwaukee merged with University of Wisconsin and the UW-Extension in Milwaukee became part of the new UW-Milwaukee
- 1961 - The 8.6-acre Milwaukee-Downer Seminary site, including 3 buildings, was purchased
- 1963 - UW-Milwaukee offered its first PhD degree in Mathematics
- 1964 - UW-Milwaukee purchased the Milwaukee-Downer College campus
- 1965 - UW-Milwaukee purchased the 6.3-acre Milwaukee University School campus
- 1970 - Three residence towers, collectively called Sandburg Halls, opened for student housing
- 1988 - UW System designated eight Centers of Excellence at UW-Milwaukee
- 1994 - UW-Milwaukee was designated as a Research II University (now a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive) by the Cargegie Foundation.
- 2000 - UW-Milwaukee was named among top 102 public doctoral research universities in nation
- 2001 - Wisconsin's Governor announced honors academy at UW-Milwaukee
[edit] References
- University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Commencement Program, distributed at each semester's commencement ceremony.
