A Timeline of USD's History

1861: Dakota Territory is established. Yankton is named the temporary capital.

1862: First legislature of the Dakota Territory authorizes establishment of University at Vermillion. The authorizing legislation is signed by Governor Jayne on April 21.

1863: First South Dakota Board of Regents named.

1872: Railroad first reaches Vermillion.

1877: City of Vermillion incorporated.

1878: The Great Dakota Boom begins, leading to population growth.

1881: Federal government grants land to Dakota and Montana territories for university construction.

1882: Ephraim Epstein becomes USD's first president.

1882: First USD classes held at Clay County Courthouse.

1883: South Dakota Gov. Ordway signs bill accepting all USD real property, making it an official state University.

1883: USD's first academic unit, the College of Arts and Sciences, established.

1883: John Simonds becomes USD’s second president.

June 5, 1883: Closing exercises mark end of USD’s first school year.

1885: Construction of Old Main (then known as University Hall) completed.

1885: John Herrick becomes USD’s third president.

1885: West Hall construction is completed, making it USD’s second building and first dormitory.

1887: Edward Olson becomes USD’s fourth president.

1887: Students publish first issue of Volante.

1888: USD's first graduates are Clarence Antisdel, Charles Brinstad and Herbert Houston.

1888:  East Hall is completed, bringing USD’s total number of buildings to three.

1889: USD President Olson dies in a fall in Minneapolis; Howard Grose takes the helm of USD in 1890.

June 12, 1889: USD Alumni Association is created.

1889: Intercollegiate football begins with a tie game against South Dakota Agricultural College.

Nov. 2, 1889: South Dakota enters the Union as a state.

1891: Joseph Mauck becomes USD’s sixth president.

1893: Old Main is destroyed by fire.

1899: Reconstructed Old Main opens to students.

1899: Garrett Droppers becomes USD’s president and serves until 1906.

1901: School of Law begins offering classes.

1905: USD’s first armory opened; now known as The Belbas Center.

1906: USD’s new president, Franklin Gault, takes the reins of USD.

1907: School of Medicine begins offering classes.

1908: Original School of Law (now Arts & Sciences) building opens to students.

1914: Robert Slagle, namesake of the USD building, becomes president of the University.

1914: First "Dakota Day" celebration takes place.

1915: University men take part in military training to support country’s preparation for World War I.

1916: Division of Continuing Education established.

1919: USD Chapel, now Farber Hall, fills as servicemen lost in World War I are remembered.

1922: Poem by Mabel Richardson chosen for USD's Alma Mater song.

1922: USD joins newly established North Central Athletics Conference as a charter member.

1924: Dakotans and Strollers organizations established.

1924: Carl Gunderson ’90 elected South Dakota’s 11^th governor; he is the first South Dakota governor to have attended USD. Four generations of his family follow him to the University over the next 70 years.

1924: More than 7,000 fans attend Dakota Day football game, largest crowd in USD history.

1925: Auditorium and administration building (later named Slagle Hall) completed.

1925: USD Baseball team claims University championship.

1926: Inman Field, USD’s first football stadium, completed and ready for play.

1927: Graduate School, School of Education and School of Business Administration established.

1928: USD Football claims its first conference championship.

1929: Herman James becomes president of USD.

1929: USD’s “new” Armory opens, includes swimming pool and is site of many basketball triumphs.

1930: USD men’s basketball crowned North Central Conference champions.

1931: College of Fine Arts begins offering classes.

1931: Construction begins on USD's first student union, the South Dakota Union building.

1933: Enrollment falls to record low due to Great Depression, drought, and grasshopper infestations.

1935: South Dakota’s first electrical cooperative is formed near Vermillion in Burbank.

1935: I.D. Weeks becomes president, a position he would hold at USD for more than 30 years.

1936: Leslie Jensen, ’21, is elected South Dakota’s 15^th governor.

1936: New advisement program begins to help freshmen adjust to college life.

1939: E.O. Lawrence ’22 awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in developing the cyclotron, a high-speed particle accelerator.

1940: "Inman House" donated for use by USD presidents and their families.

1941: Alvin Zephier becomes USD's first Native American graduate.

1942: Programs accelerated and commencement moved forward to accomodate and encourage military service.

1943: Two USD alumni receive Congressional Medals of Honor: U.S. Army Capt. Arlo Olson ’40, for bravery in combat in Italy, where he was fatally wounded, and U.S.M.C. Captain Joe Foss ‘40 for his air-combat victories in the Pacific Theater of War.

1943: All academic work placed on quarterly schedule to coordinate regular classes with Army Specialized Training Program.

1946: Deluge of post-war students spurs expanions of several programs.

1946: After three years away because of World War II, USD Football returns to campus and plays a short, four-game season. First post-Pearl Harbor Dakota Day is celebrated.

1947: USD School of Law graduate George T. Mickelson ’27 elected South Dakota’s 18^th governor.

1949: Julian Hall opens.

1950: USD’s humor magazine “Hmm” replaces “The Wet Hen.”

1951: McKusick Law Library (now McKusick Technology Center) constructed.

1951: USD Football hoists the NCC championship trophy.      

1951: Sigurd Anderson, ’31, elected governor of South Dakota.

1951: School of Business earns AACSB accreditation for the first time.

1950s: Jimmie and Cliff Daniels (both 1958 graduates) become first black student-athletes to start on USD’s basketball team. Brooklyn, N.Y. natives, the Daniels serve as USD’s starting guards for three seasons.

1952: Construction begins on Noteboom Hall.

1954: Charlotte Noteboom Hall accepts first tenants.

1955: Alumnus Joe Foss ‘40, at age 39, is elected governor of South Dakota.

1957: School of Business building (later named Patterson Hall) completed.

1958: Expansion of graduate programs, including new offerings in geology, physical education, humanities, business administration, business teacher education and natural sciences.

1963: Ground broken for Coyote Student Center.

1965: USD enrolls first fourth-generation student, Richard Gillis.

1966: E.Q. Moulton becomes USD’s president.

1967: Construction of I.D. Weeks Library completed.

1968: First graduates of USD’s dental hygiene program earn their diplomas.

1968: Richard Bowen takes over as president of USD.

1969: East Hall converted for use as academic space.

1970: USD students take roles in University Senate for the first time.

1973: Shrine to Music Museum, now known as the National Music Museum, opens in original campus library facility.

1976: W.O. "Doc" Farber steps down as chair of the Department of Political Science after 38 years of leadership; he would continue to mentor students until his death in 2007.

1976: U.S. Air Force Major George “Bud” Day ‘49 awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his resistance and bravery as a POW in Vietnam. He was captured in 1967 and released in 1973.

1977: USD President Charles Lein takes his post at the University.

1977: Final season for football at Inman Field and basketball in USD’s New Armory.

1978: Harvey Wollman is elected as South Dakota’s 26^th governor. His brother, alumnus Roger Wollman ‘62 Chief Justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court, swore Harvey in.

1978: William Janklow ’64, ’66 elected 27^th governor of South Dakota and serves for eight years. He is reelected in 1995 and serves for another eight years.

1978: USD Football wins outright NCC championship for first time since 1951.

1978: Dr. Warren “Doc” M. Lee, founder of the Black Hills Playhouse, dies at age

1979: Construction of the DakotaDome, the region's only domed arena, completed.  Coyotes win 23-17 over University of Nebraska-Omaha in first D-Days game indoors.

1981: New School of Law building constructed.

1982: USD names Joseph McFadden University president.

1982: Strollers perform 60^th annual show in Slagle Hall.

1982: Al Neuharth ’51 founds the newspaper, The USA Today.

1983: Tom Brokaw ’64 begins a 22-year career as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News.

1983: USD celebrates a centennial, observing 100 years since the beginning of classes in 1882.

1982-85: USD women's basketball wins North Central Conference Championship three consecutive years under Coach Chad Lavin; they advance to three straight NCAA Regional Tournaments as well.

1985: Beede Hall becomes first residence hall with co-ed living in South Dakota.

1985: Construction begins on new W.H. Over Museum.

1986: George S. Mickelson ’63, ’65 elected governor of South Dakota; he was reelected in 1990.

1986: USD football team advances to first-ever national championship game but fall to North Dakota State University.

1989: Betty Turner Asher becomes first woman to serve as USD president.

1989: The Freedom Forum, founded by Al Neuharth ‘51 gives its first Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism to Walter Cronkite.

1993: USD’s first fifth-generation student, Annie Gillis, begins classes at USD.

1997: James W. Abbott becomes first USD alumnus to serve as president of USD.

1997: Old Main undergoes major renovation and reopens for academic use after a 24-year hiatus.

2001: Permanent roof installed on DakotaDome, replacing original pressurized roof.

2003: Renovations completed on the E.O. Lawrence Telecommunications Center and building renamed the Al Neuharth Media Center.

2004: Derek Miles ’96, ’98, represents the U.S. in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He goes on to pole-vault for the U.S. in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, where he finishes fourth.

2004: Dean Belbas Center (originally the Armory Building) restored and reopened to house admissions, financial aid and registrar's office.

2006: USD formally announces intention to move athletic programs to NCAA Division I.

2007: School of Medicine celebrates its centennial in newly constructed Lee Medical Building.

2007: Campaign South Dakota, a fundraising effort launched in June 2001, concludes after raising more than $133 million.

2009: Muenster University Center opens to students.

2009: USD's new business school, Beacom Hall, opens to students.

2010: With 10,151 students, USD exceeds 10,000 mark for first time.

2010: Coyote Village, a suite-style student housing unit, opens for first residents.

2010:  Dennis Daugaard ’75 is elected South Dakota’s 32^nd governor.

2010: In an improbable upset, USD Football defeats the University of Minnesota on the road, 41-38.

2011: USD Fitness Center opens.

2011: New USD logo adopted for all University teams and materials.

2011: Students, faculty and staff enlisted to help Clay, Union and Yankton County citizens sandbag and relocate during Missouri River flooding. National Guard units housed on campus during the summer.

2012: Aalfs Auditorium and Skinner pipe organ renovated in Slagle Hall.

2012: USD students and administration choose official Coyote statue; sculptor is a USD alumnus.

2012: USD celebrates 150^th anniversary of its founding; April 21 declared the date of Charlie Coyote’s birthday.