Colorado College was founded in 1874 – the brainchild of General William Jackson Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, who envisioned an institution of great philosophical and scientific thought as a center for his new city. Over the next 150 years, CC would stretch and grow, finding itself through phases of great struggle and great triumph. For this issue, to mark the College’s Sesquicentennial, we look back at the decades that transformed this campus and feature some alums who used their time at CC as the foundation for future success.
1960s
The campus expansion of the previous decade continues with the building of Boettcher Health Center, Armstrong Hall, and Mathias (originally nicknamed “Superdorm”). Coburn is now too small for the growing student body, so Tutt Library is built.
The sixties usher in an era of protests on campus. In 1965, over 500 CC students and faculty march down Tejon St. to protest civil rights abuses in Alabama. There are also protests against restrictions to where students can live and how late women students can stay out. In 1968 and 1969, weekly anti-Vietnam War vigils are held at the Earle Flagpole, students participate in anti-war marches from campus to downtown, and protests are held at the entrance to Fort Carson.
There are campus teach-ins and a protest that shuts down Cascade Ave. In 1963, Lloyd E. Worner is the first CC alum to be appointed CC President. And, in 1968, talks begin about revising the academic calendar. A group of faculty work to create a first-of-its-kind, radical academic structure in which students would take just one class at a time.
On October 27, 1969, The Block Plan is adopted by a faculty vote of 72–53. ❉
1970s
And, in response to student demand, the Hub snack bar in Rastall Center begins serving 3.2% beer to students over 18. El Pomar Sports Center is built to accommodate CC’s growing athletics program and the construction of Packard Hall brings a new architectural style to campus. With the installation of a teletype machine to a single telephone line in Olin Hall, CC ushers in the computer age on campus.
The Block Plan begins at CC in the fall of 1970. The College is the first in the country to adopt this structure. Blocks are set at three and a half weeks, one at a time, nine blocks per year, with a maximum of 25 students in a class. This change to the academic calendar completely overhauls every aspect of campus life.
The percentage of women in the student body rapidly increases, and women’s rights and gay rights become a focus of campus initiatives. All dorms on campus now have the option of going coed. Cutler Publications is created, allowing student publications to be free of campus administration’s restrictions.
In 1974, CC celebrates its centennial anniversary. ❉
1980s
In 1982, CC develops a core curriculum that every student is required to take. The Rastall Center is demolished and, in its place, Worner Campus Center is built. Barnes Science Center is built and residence halls are renovated. Baca becomes the first offcampus facility.
During this decade, President Gresham Riley works to build CC’s national profile. There is a new emphasis on involving CC Athletics in the academic stature of the college. Women’s Soccer becomes a DI sport and, in 1986, they finish the season as second in the nation.
Changes in technology — such as video, pushbutton telephones, and personal computers — begin to alter life on campus. Student musicals such as West Side Story, Hair, and Cabaret are a popular part of campus life. The CC Debate Team is one of the most successful groups on campus. Student demonstrations protest Reagan and his economic policies. Traditional, formal dating becomes a thing of the past with students shifting more to a group date style, encouraged by the ever-changing social groups of the Block Plan. ❉
1990s
Throughout the nineties, CC continues its push for preeminence among liberal arts schools and defend freedom of speech in academia, while also bracing against a mild recession and the Baby Bust effects on enrollment. After years of change and turmoil, both at CC and in the world, there is a new sense of calm on campus, building to the announcement in 1993, that CC would be appointing its first woman president — Kathryn Mohrman.
Community service is a focus of student life. Rollerblading and skateboarding are the popular ways to get around campus. There is a push to change CC’s mascot from the tiger to the greenback cutthroat trout. In 1990, for the first time in CC history, the Men’s Cross Country team qualifies for the DIII National Championship. The Colorado Springs World Arena opens and is the new home for CC Hockey, with the team advancing to the national championship in 1996.
In 1992, the Gilmore Stabler Cabin is built outside of Divide, CO. The Big Three residence halls are all renovated and the space in the basement of Worner becomes the Tiger Pit and then the LEW (named for Lloyd E. Worner). With the start of the 1994–95 academic year, students are allowed to double major and, in 1995, students register for classes via computer for the first time in school history. That same year, Women’s Studies becomes a major at CC. ❉
FEATURED ALUMS
2000s
This decade continues the growth and excitement of campus life. Priddy Trips provide first-year students with an introduction to CC and events like Llamapalooza and Dance Workshop become mainstays of the student experience.
President Richard Celeste sets in motion plans that help shape the funding and faculty for CC academics. The early 2000s brings a revived push for equity and diversity to campus, both in academics and in student life. Several student groups focused on providing safe spaces for historically marginalized groups are founded. In 2005, the Women’s Studies program becomes the Feminist and Gender Studies Program.
This decade also sees change and growth in the layout of campus. 2003 brings the opening of Tutt Science Center and the Cornerstone Arts Center is built in 2008. In 2009, the Press at Colorado College is revived and there is a growth in academic studies of printing and the book. ❉
FEATURED ALUMS
2010s
The 2010s are a time of examining inequities both on campus and beyond its borders. In 2014, the Butler Center is established on campus and there is a new focus on diversity, inclusion, and intercultural exchange within student life. Students and faculty put efforts into having courageous conversations and making mental health a priority.
2014 also sees campus-wide protests in response to the ruling in the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. This decade features a long list of prominent guests on campus. Of special note on that list are the 2012 visit by President Barack Obama, who draws a crowd of more than 4,100 people to Cutler Quad, and the 2019 visit by Oprah Winfrey, who delivers the Commencement Address.
Toward the end of the decade, there are changes to campus in the form of the 2016 merging with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the 2017 Tutt Library renovation that makes it the largest net-zero academic library in the country, and the 2018 renaming of Slocum Hall to South Hall and Armstrong Quad to Tava Quad. ❉
COLORADO COLLEGE: A TIMELINE OF OUR HISTORY
Want to know more about the history of CC? Want to see what life on campus was like through the years? Visit our new timeline and explore the decades of Colorado College.