Click on any image for further information
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The rising price of gasoline (41 cents per gallon in the spring of 1973) hit the wallets of students everywhere during the latter 70s. It was only the beginning of new challenges in paying for education.
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The Tri-College bus system was inaugurated to (hopefully)
ease parking problems for all three F-M colleges.

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3 years after the MSC Mistic was suspended over issues of sexuality, few gave a second glance to more provocative ads in the MSU Advocate.

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Plans for the 90th anniversary of Moorhead
State (click cover to read entire issue of Alumnews)

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Al Noice conducts the MSU stage band, 1970s.
Click for a sound file of MSU band performance of "Grove Merchants." (mp3 file).

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Few musicals symbolized the 70s so well as
Don Quixote's pursuit of windmills -- click on program
cover to read the full program.

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As some leisure-time activities (like bowling at
the small campus alley) declined, new activities
grew; the lanes would be removed in the early 1980s
for a weights-and-exercise center.

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Click cover to examine the performance program.

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Tom McGrath was a cornerstone of the MSU English
Department in the 1970s.  (read McGrath's views
on "Pushing boundaries in literature").

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The Journal of the Social and Behavioral Sciences was
created in the 1970s to publish the best student research
papers of a given year.  The Journal continued into the 1990s when
the Student Academic Conference was developed as a replacement. 
(Click cover above to read the 1975 issue of the Journal -- this is a large
file -- over 66 MB-- and will take some time to load and read with Adobe).

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TIMELINE                       (**some linked documents require Adobe reader)

September, 1974 -- The administration assures students that the school has sufficient fuel oil for even a "harsh winter."  In addition, lawsuits filed across the state challenge the regulation that freshmen are required to live on campus. 

October, 1974 -- Overall enrollment in the state college system declines for the second straight year, to 4700, with rising costs being the main reason why fewer students are choosing college.

October, 1974 -- 24 women in the MSC faculty file suit, claiming that the college is violating the Equal Pay Act by paying women lower salaries for the same work load as that given to male faculty.

November, 1974 -- Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion," a new show (debuting in 1973) with rising popularity, airs an episode that was taped in Moorhead two weeks earlier; popular movies among the students this month -- The Longest Yard, starring Burt Reynolds, Death Wish, starring Charles Bronson, and Benji, starring a dog.

December, 1974 -- State College Board considers ordering colleges to drop majors that have "low enrollment" for cost of operation, raising fears that this would lead to further layoffs.  In better news, regulation requiring freshmen to live on campus is repealed.

January, 1975 -- After consuming a record 819,000 gallons for heating oil in 1974, MSC Vice President of Administrative Affairs issues an energy conservation plan for 1975.

January-February, 1975 -- Advocate publishes series of articles on Moorhead State history, to mark 90th anniversary of founding of the college in 1885. College holds official celebration at local Ramada Inn (where many students can legally buy alcohol).

April, 1975 -- MSU New Center is featured at national Change in Liberal Education (CILE) conference.

May, 1975 -- MSU administration announces that tuition reciprocity with North Dakota, and another tuition increase, are "virtually assured" outcomes of the current Minnesota legislative session.

August, 1975 -- As a result of actions taken by the Minnesota legislature, all state colleges become universities.  Moorhead State University officially marks the occasion on August 1 (read commemoration speech).

September, 1975 -- Classes begin with overcrowded dorms, where some sleep in lounge areas while room repairs are completed.  Thanks to a tuition reciprocity agreement with North Dakota, NDSU students can more easily attend MSU classes.

October, 1975 -- Campus wrestles with how the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act should be enforced in classrooms, dorms, etc.

October, 1975 -- Advocate profiles Diane Hitterdal, first female officer in the Moorhead Police Department; editor asks, why are there no female security personnel at University? See essay on women at MSU during the 1970s.

December, 1975 -- MSU President Dille meets with Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council to discuss future needs for off-campus housing for the growing number of off-campus students, older-than-average and married students.

January, 1976 -- The "bicentennial year" begins with sub-zero temperatures, heavy snows, and an ongoing study of how MSU can provide more parking.

February, 1976 -- The MSU Health Center is renamed Hendrix Health, in honor of Noble Hendrix, who as Dean of Students, modernized the health services in the 1960s.

March, 1976 -- Serious planning begins to implement the Title IX changes in athletics (see the first planning document for Title IX at MSU).

April, 1976 -- Advocate publishes feature articles on Title IX issues.

May, 1976 -- MSU baseball team ends season with a disappointing 2-12 conference record.  Rising costs of sports equipment, travel and expenses are being raised about the future of some team sports at MSU.

September, 1976 -- Although the budget remains tight, MSU begins fall classes with rising enrollment, dorms fully occupied, a victory over Concordia College in their annual football game -- and the annual complaint that the school sells "more parking permits than there are spaces for parking" (permits are $9 per quarter of classes).

October, 1976 -- The majority of MSU students say they plan to vote for Jimmy Carter in the upcoming election. Some say they hope his "moral values" will help the nation recover from Vietnam and Watergate.

November, 1976 -- MSU alumni of the 1960s talk to Advocate reporter Tim Connolly about going to Moorhead State in the early sixties. "It was nice," says one, "small enough to know everyone and be a part of everything that went on." But "students are always about the same," says another, noting that nostalgia colors every memory.

December, 1976 -- Staff at the Office of University Relations ask students to contribute photographs toward the publication of a 1977 yearbook, the first attempt at a yearbook since 1971.  The slim volume will sell for $4.95.

January, 1977 --  While some students debate President Jimmy Carter's recent pardon of Vietnam-era draft evaders, the MSU Career and Placement Office announces plans to refocus efforts.  With a "tough job market," the Office will move from helping seniors learn about jobs to "proper planning during one's entire college experience."  Workshops to "improve job-seeking skills" are being scheduled throughout the winter quarter.

March, 1977 -- Advocate editorial expresses concern that grades at MSU are being inflated; "students getting workless A's" harm the school's reputation.

April, 1977 -- A bill supported by all the state universities is stalled in the legislature.  The bill would grant special "emeritus status" to long-serving faculty, permitting them to teach one-third class loads and act as mentors to new faculty.  The bill is never enacted.

May, 1977 -- MSU Vice-president Robert Hanson resigns to accept position as president of Winona State University.

May, 1977 -- As graduation looms, Student Affairs office releases results of a "dropout survey" conducted in the fall quarter -- primary reasons for students dropping out of school are financial problems; feeling isolated; seeking a different program or major; and "boredom" with classes.

September, 1977 -- Fall enrolment now exceeds 6000.  Minors in Fine Arts and Humanities Studies join Women's Studies as programs in the MSU Humanities program.

October, 1977 -- The Advocate focuses on "Student Power" on campus, citing changes in programs and facilities to meet student needs.  Looking back over the pervious ten years, Roland Dille notes "the day that the students stop being interested in what goes on here is the day we are dead as an institution."

November, 1977 -- As chair of the MSU Computer Sciences department, Professor Martin Holoien predicts that computer programming will become the "fastest growing profession" in the coming decade -- "the job placement rate for computer science majors is 100 percent."

November, 1977 -- Advocate interview with 'Paul,' an MSU student who is gay; Paul hopes that the college will encourage a "gay conscientiousness group" so that "homosexuality on campus will become more open."

January, 1978 -- Most members of the Student Senate abstain from voting on a resolution that "no student will be discriminated against because of sexual orientation" -- resolution fails for lack of votes.

February, 1978 -- Dennis Mathiason, professor of chemistry, offers a night class on the techniques of developing solar energy.

March, 1978 -- MSU Housing Office begins remodeling dorms to provide better handicap access.

April, 1978 -- Student Senate passes resolution in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment.

May, 1978 -- MSU seniors graduate, with much publicity for Ed Schultz (quarterback) and Jeff Tesch (tight end) who will receive free agent tryouts in the NFL after their standout college football careers.

September, 1978 -- Tuition reciprocity now exist with both North and South Dakota, raising enrollment above 6600.  As classes begin, Moorhead Police investigate charges that two MSU students assaulted a Concordia College freshman while "stealing his beanie."

October, 1978 -- MSU Associate Dean of Students Eileen Hume takes part in a community open forum on abortion, in which she states she opposes abortion but feels "no woman should be required to have a child."

November, 1978 -- Opposing candidates for Congress, Glen Westrom (DFL) and Arlan Stangeland (GOP) debate in Clay County, disagreeing over the proper level of funding for the US Department of Education. Stangeland wins the election.

February, 1979 -- In a publicity event, members of the Minnesota Vikings (NFL) play an on-campus exhibition basketball match against members of the MSU track team; the Vikings win 97-47.

March, 1979 -- MSU track star Ron Graham is honored after winning the NAIA Indoor Championship for the 2 mile run, the first MSU athlete to win a a national title.  The Dragon Track team goes on to win its 9th NIC indoor title in 10 years.

April, 1979 -- Hundreds of MSU students help sandbag homes along the Red River in the worst spring flooding in ten years.

May, 1979 -- As seniors prepare to graduate, the likelihood of another tuition increase is announced; it seems "inevitable," a state education press release states, that tuition raises will become "annual or bi-annual events." 

September, 1979 -- Classes begin with over 7200 full- and part-time students registered, a record enrollment. But on-campus housing is filled beyond its 2340 bed capacity.

September, 1979 -- The 10th anniversary of the Tri-College agreement is marked with record cross-college class arrangements; 2500 NDSU and Concordia students attend at least one MSU class and 1900 MSU student take a class at NDSU or/and Concordia.  The future looks promising.

October, 1979 -- When campus maintenance officials announce that Neumaier Hall has "sunk slightly to one side" by about one inch, a student suggests in the Advocate: "everyone should go up to the fifteenth floor and run to the opposite side to push it back"

November, 1979 -- With enrollment rising, MSU requests a $1.25 million increase for more housing in the next biennial budget.

November, 1979 -- Minnesota Governor Albert Quie, on a visit to Moorhead, warns students that revoking the study visas of Iranian students in the US would be unwise. "It's time to use cool heads" to protect the lives of Americans held hostage in Iran.

December, 1979 -- Moorhead State looks at inaugurating a comprehensive "Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures" statement.  The policy seems "a logical idea," given that the dorms are now co-educational and "male faculty feel some women students act seductive for better grades."