A Magazine from California State University, ChicoSpring 2012 Issue

You are here: CSU, Chico | Chico Statements | Spring 2012 | California State University, Chico

California State University, Chico

California State University, Chico

1972-2012

Written by Marion Harmon, Anna Harris, and Casey Huff. Design by Francie Divine

In 1972, the college became California State University, Chico. Academic programs, previously grouped by schools, were reorganized into colleges. In 1982, the 119-acre main campus was dedicated as an arboretum. Now, in 2012, the University also manages 800 acres of farmland, 240 acres of rangeland, and 2,330 acres of ecological reserves.

CSU, Chico has come a long way since its founding, expanding beyond the imagination of the Normal School’s first students. Yet, as the 125th anniversary reminds us, CSU, Chico is a place of enduring traditions, growth, and transformation.

To view the captions, please hover over each photo.

Back to main article page

CSU, Chico Era Photos 2008: One of the campus's newest buildings, the Student Services Center was built following environmentally conscious standards established by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Hairstyles: The 1970s witnessed the advent of some unique and often elaborate hairdos. The feathered look was a style made popular by Farrah Fawcett of Charlie's Angels fame. Young men often wore their hair just past the ears and jawbone, with equally dramatic mustaches and beards. Flirty bobs, natural afros, tapered sideburns, and accessories like headbands and cool shades (and that tux) were also commonly seen in the yearbook pages of the 1970s and beyond. 1989: Students celebrating at their commencement ceremony after receiving their diplomas. Nowadays, more than 3,000 students graduate each year from Chico State's seven colleges and five schools. 1991: Wildcat spirit ran high at a rally during Homecoming week. 2012: A student captured on the newly remodeled First Street Promenade, which was converted from an active roadway to a pedestrian walkway. A sign of the times, she holds her coffee and sunglasses in one hand while texting on her smartphone with the other. 1984: The cylindrical room located at the corner of the Meriam Library, near Warner Street, has been the planetarium since 1975. A majority of the financial backing came from James and Betty Jane Roth. 1975: Visiting alum Thomas Fleming, founding editor of the San Francisco Sun-Reporter, the longest-running African American weekly newspaper. 1988: Harlen Adams in the theatre named for him. Educator, thespian, world traveler, Adams taught at Chico State for 35 years before retiring in 1974. He produced some of Chico State's most memorable productions and served as executive dean from 1950–1965, directing a period of major growth in the campus. 1975: Geography professor David Lantis, who taught at Chico State from 1957 until 1991. In 2004, Lantis and wife Helen funded a $2.1 million faculty chair, the largest gift for an endowed professorship in the University's history. 1975: Students walking across one of the campus's seven footbridges. Chico State is one of the few campuses that has a creek running through its grounds year-round. 1979: Tau Gamma Theta fraternity members marching in the Pioneer Day Parade in front of the La Grande Hotel between 4th and 5th Streets on Broadway. 1990: Students Tony Cuellar and Laura Pratt 'test the aerodynamic capacity of the common household bubble,' according to the Record. Leisure activities on campus in the 1990s included playing Hacky Sack and tossing Frisbees. 2005: The student-run This Way to Sustainability Conference has grown over the years to host more than 1,400 participants from throughout California and Oregon. Workshops focus on ways to build a sustainable society. 1988: Alum John Pugh's Academe mural on the side of Taylor Hall, one of the entrances to campus. Pugh's career as a muralist began with this mural, painted in 1980–1981, when he was still a student. Pugh has gone on to create more than 200 large-scale trompe l'oeil murals, and he is considered one of the best in his field. | In 2003, Pugh was named Humanities and Fine Arts' Distinguished Alumnus. He returned to Chico that summer to refurbish the mural, much to the delight of Chicoans who visited him long into the nights as he repainted the wall. After the new Arts and Humanities Building is completed on the site, Pugh will repaint the mural. 2009: From left: Students Ji Her, Bao Vue, and Mova Lor at the Asian American Excellence Conference that Vue co-organized.
Share
Interactive magazine

Check out the full interactive version of the complete magazine.

browse
 every page

arrow

Alum Notes

John Concannon

John

CONCANNON (BS, Business Administration, ’85) is a fourth-generation vintner at Concannon Vineyard.

Read more

Tanja Poley

Tanja Poley

(BS, Business Administration, ’94) is the human resources manager for the News & Review, headquartered in Sacramento.

Read more

Kathy Crusco

Kathy Crusco

(BS, Business Administration, ’87) is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Epicor Software Corporation.

Read more

Submit
yours now

arrow