History
of MSUM
Moorhead Normal to Minnesota State
University Moorhead
Moorhead
State Normal School
In
1885, State Senator Solomon G. Comstock introduced legislation to begin a
normal school. He felt "it would be a fine thing for the Red River
Country and especially for Moorhead." Comstock's donation of six
acres of land ensured the Legislature's selection of Moorhead
for a normal school, and soon $60,000 was appropriated for the Main
Building. Senator Comstock's "fine thing" would earn him the
title, "father of the college."
Five faculty members, including the school's first president,
Livingston Lord, enrolled 29 students in August 1888.
It was a simple time, but also a time of growth.
Nearly 350 students enrolled in 1904 with expansion a high
priority.
Moorhead
State Teachers College
In
1921, the need for high school teachers led the state Legislature to
authorize the awarding of a bachelor of science degree equipped for the
education of teachers from kindergarten through high school.
The school earned the name Moorhead State Teachers College.
Enrollment increased until the Depression hit in 1929.
MSTC was struck by fire in 1930, and all student records were
destroyed. All
that remained were 25,000 books in ashes and a stark shell.
But classes resumed within the week, and by 1932 a new
administration building was erected, the "birth of the greater MSTC."
The end of World War II saw returning GIs swarm to campus, swelling
enrollment and increasing the numbers of students who did not wish to
become teachers.
In 1946, this change led the State Teachers College Board to grant
a bachelor of arts degree in addition to the bachelor of science degree.
Moorhead
State College
During
the 1950s, the college experienced strong development in the liberal arts
and professional curricula.
Because of that increasing diversity and breadth of purpose, the
institution became Moorhead State College in 1957.
Growth was constant during the late 50s and 60s. Cooperation was a
goal, with the development of Project E-Quality (now Minority Student
Affairs) making the college one of the first in the region to have such a
plan. Further
cooperation among colleges was emphasized in 1969 with the creation of the
Tri-College University--Concordia College, North Dakota State University,
and Moorhead State.
Moorhead
State University
In
1975, the state Legislature granted a new title to the college--Moorhead
State University--representing the expanded choice of more than 90
programs and majors. Enrollment reached a high of 9,200 full- and
part-time students in fall 1990. Enrollment
declined during the first half of the 1990s to 6,200 in 1996.
Programs were broadened to include business and accounting, which
attracted nearly one-fourth of MSU's majors.
Moorhead State continued to emphasize its strong liberal arts
preparation, and attracted more and more non-traditional students.
Minnesota
State University Moorhead
In
1998, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees
approved a policy authorizing the seven state universities to change their
names if they wished to do so. Accordingly,
after consultation with students, faculty, staff, and alumni, MSU
President Roland Barden requested of the MnSCU Board the campus’s fifth
name change to Minnesota State University Moorhead.
The change was approved and effective July 1, 2000.