Colorado School of Mines History Timeline

The 1970s was a decade of change -- regional and national politics, energy policy, environmental concerns -- that impacted the School's academics and research, the minerals industries, and graduates' job prospects. Mines continued to develop its humanities program and established a new environmental sciences program, although not without protest over impacts on the traditional technical curriculum. This was also a time of anxiety for what was still a culturally conservative institution, with the country experiencing civil disorder, the Viet Nam war, OPEC and the energy crisis, student protests, and the draft. The School weathered controversies over mandatory ROTC, objectionable content in the Oredigger student newspaper, freedom of expression, and the knowledge of sweeping college radicalism elsewhere. The School grew its resources as a residential campus. The number of women and ethnic minority students, while still a significant minority, continued to increase and further changed the face of Mines.

• Guy T. McBride is appointed president.
• The campus Commons is established when 15th St. is closed and many of the buildings on either side are demolished.
• The College Union is formally dedicated as the Ben Parker Student Center.
• The Florence Caldwell Women's Residence Hall, the first women's dormitory, is named in honor of the School's first woman graduate. 
• Digital Equipment Corp.'s PDP-10 is the new computer on campus, with 50 million characters of storage space, 6 teletypes, and a dial-up service.
• Conflicting arguments on mandatory ROTC for male freshmen lead to fears of demonstrations and outside "anarchists" agitating on campus. For the first time, a group of freshmen women sign up for Military Science 101.
• This year's E-Day features the topic of environmental pollution. 
• The Nils A. Swenson Intramural Field is dedicated; Swenson was an alumnus and an Olympic medal-winning athlete.

• The Cecil H. and Ida Green Graduate and Professional Center (Green Center) is completed.
• Ronald C. Williams, reportedly the School's first African American graduate, earns his B.Sc. in Mineral Engineering-Physics in 1971.
• Mines establishes an affirmative action plan and a Human Relations Committee to address complaints of discrimination.
• The Geophysics Department records the underground nuclear blast set off at Amchitka Island in the Aleutians.
• Responding to a complaint about too many women and "beatnik types" on campus, the Athletic Director responds: "The faculty members (coaches) are certainly not beatniks nor liberals. Intercollegiate athletics is one of the last strongholds of discipline and authority on most college campuses."
• Joan Stratton, track & field star, is the first woman student to be named "Athlete of the Week."
• Mines Little Theatre puts on its first performance.

• The First National Conference on Minority Participation in Earth Sciences and Mineral Engineering is held at CSM.
• The Metallurgy Department acquires a number of "desk-top calculators" that can be programmed and can add, subtract, multiply and divide.
• The CSM Environmental Corps is formed with a goal of applying the students' technical backgrounds to environmental problems.
• Seniors make plans to push an ore cart from the campus to the State Capitol Building for the first time to promote E-Day 1972.

• The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo results in unusual growth in student enrollment.
• The School's Centennial celebrations begin on September 8, the reported date of the Territorial School of Mines' first class in 1874. (The School's opening day was actually delayed until Sept. 15.)
• A 6-week engineering course for Colorado's minority teens introduces them to the possibilities of a career in engineering.
• Mineral City is built on the campus quad by students for the Centennial. The City includes an assay office, jail, livery stable, and saloons. The "city council" passes ordinances for the City limits including:
  • All are required to dress in 1874-period attire.
  • All men caught within Mineral City limits must wear a handle bar mustache or a "reasonable facsimile." All women must wear a garter.
  • All students "are required to conduct themselves in a responsible mature manner." This means no loaded guns (bullets or blanks) without a permit.
• The Mines Veterans Organization reforms; there are over 100 student veterans attending Mines.
• The 2nd Annual Orecart Push and parade travels to the Capital, fueled by a reported 50 cases of beer.

• The CSM Centennial is in full swing. In addition to Mineral City, the School invites dignitaries from around the globe; celebrates with a Founders Day Convocation, and holds public concerts.
• Basic Engineering becomes a degree-granting department.
• An Intensive Course in English for Foreign Engineering and Science Students (ICE for short) is established.
• New Student Orientation's Songfest includes singing and learning School traditions, but concludes with the "tradition" of pelting the freshmen with eggs (not approved by campus administration).
• Alpha Delta sorority is officially established on campus.
• As a prank, Guggenheim's dome is decorated as a Coors beer can for E-Day.
• During the Centennial 1974-1975, CSM loses two of its most well-known alumni boosters - Denman (Den) S. Galbraith (Class of 1949) and S. Power (Pi) Warren (Class of 1913).

• The Campus Master Plan calls for the "creation of a cohesive campus; a campus in which student life and activities play an important role."
• CSM is educating 90% of all undergrad geophysical engineers and 25% of all mining engineers in the US (Engineering Manpower Commission Report.)
• An expansion program aims to increase student enrollment from 1,600 to about 3,000. On-campus housing is inadequate for the demand. For the first time a floor in Morgan Hall is reserved for women students.
• For Fall 1975, women now make up 10% of the student body (compared to 4% in 1971); ethnic minorities make up over 2% compared to 0% in 1971.
• Green Center's Friedhoff Hall gets the installation of a 66-foot long fiber and mineral tapestry.
• Jazz trumpet musician Dizzy Gillespie performs in concert at Bunker Auditorium.
• Students gather for the 3rd Annual Colorado Mines Peak Climb near Berthoud Pass.
• CSM loses alumnus Colonel Wendell W. Fertig. Fertig served in the Philippine American guerrilla force in WW II, returned to Mines as Professor of Military Science, and was a prominent member of the Alumni Association.

• CSM is a designated National Bicentennial Campus.
• Dr. Beatrice E. Willard, a nationally recognized environmental expert, is appointed Professor of Environmental Sciences.
• A Foucalt pendulum is installed in Meyer Hall's atrium. The pendulum, designed by a student, measures 8 meters long.
• Casino Night, sponsored by the Single Student Housing Association, draws over 400 people with waiting lines to get in all night.
• Members of Blue Key apprehend students trying to wrap the light bulbs of the 'M' with green paper for St. Patrick's Day. 
• Athletic Director Fritz Brennecke retires after 29 years at Mines.
• A formal program of intercollegiate women's athletics "may become a reality" at Mines due to Title IX. Willa Maylink is Mines' first woman coach.

• Students spend from $50-$150 on their books and supplies each semester.
• Suggestions to turn off the 'M' to conserve energy lead Blue Key to look into alternate energy sources.
• The Board of Trustees no longer requires house mothers in the fraternity and sorority houses. 
• High Grade, CSM's literary magazine, is launched.
• This year's E-Day forum theme is, "What Happens When the Oil Runs Out? Embargo and Depletion."
• Thirty-eight silver diplomas lettered in gold are awarded to the Anniversary Class of 1927.

• The Board of Trustees commissions a study of the future graduate of CSM—what becomes the Future Graduate Profile.
• The Ben H. Parker Student Center is renovated, with a grand opening for Homecoming.
• Enrollment increases by over 2%, up over 50% from 1973’s pre-Oil Embargo numbers. Women will represent 17% and minorities 4% of the new students.
• The Board of Trustees starts a program to recruit Native American Indians.
• CSM discontinues mandatory ROTC, making the program voluntary for all.
• The Computing Center's DEC processor is overwhelmed and students frequently can't get access to a computer terminal or face a “JOB CAPACITY OVERLOADED” message.
• Campus is emblazoned with slogans such as "Infinite Credit" for Senior Day.

• Weaver Towers residential dorm is constructed.
• The new Library addition is dedicated and the Library named for Arthur Lakes, early professor and Colorado geologist.
• Prospector Park, which was built in the 1930s to provide temporary residential housing, is demolished.
• An International Office is established to assist foreign students and maintain records and admissions data.
• A minor in Environmental Sciences is approved, but the Program still lacks departmental status after 2 years.
• The Honors Program in Public Affairs is established to provide opportunities to broaden students' intellectual and cultural environment.
• The first female officer is commissioned through the ROTC program in 1979.
• A Spring Music Festival is held at the Green Center; it is described as the first concert series ever held at Mines.
• Mines Magazine changes its format to be less of a technical magazine and focus more on alumni services.