1870

(March 24) The Board of Trustees of Syracuse University signs the University's charter and certificate of incorporation. According to Rev. Jesse Truesdell Peck, first chair of the Board of Trustees, "The conditions of admission shall be equal to all persons..."

1871

(December 24) The University seal is adopted. It features the motto "Suos Cultores Scientia Coronat" (Latin for "Knowledge crowns those who seek her") encircling a laurel wreath.

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1871

The College of Liberal Arts is founded. Almost 100 years later, in 1970, it will become the College of Arts and Sciences.

1872

(June) The University establishes its official colors as pink and green.

1872

(June 22) The first issue of the University Herald, Syracuse University's first campus newspaper, is published.

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1872

(June 27) Syracuse University's first commencement is held at Wieting Opera House. Among the 19 graduates - nine with a Bachelor of Arts, 10 with a Bachelor of Science - is Mary L. Huntley, the only female member of the Class of 1872.

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1873

The College of Fine Arts is founded. It is the first four-year degree-granting college of fine arts in the nation. In 1972 it will become the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

1873

(May 8) The Hall of Languages is dedicated. It is the first building on the main campus.

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1873

(June) The University changes its official colors to rose and azure.

1876

(June) Sarah Loguen becomes one of the first African American women to earn a medical degree from Syracuse University's College of Medicine. She goes on to be one of the first African American women to become a physician in the United States and the first woman licensed to practice medicine in the Dominican Republic.

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1887

The Old Oval, an open area south of the Hall of Languages used for athletic events, is designed.

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1887

(Nov. 18) Holden Observatory is dedicated. The second building on campus, Holden Observatory includes a telescope tower with a rotating dome.

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1889

(October) The University's first football season begins. The team wins one practice game and loses one official game. Its second season is more promising, with eight wins and three losses.

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1889

Cornelia Maria Clapp is the first woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in biology.

1889

(June) The chimes of Crouse College, donated by John Crouse, are rung for the first time prior to the building's completion. For many decades, the brothers of Delta Kappa Epsilon will be responsible for ringing the chimes. In 1989, music students and faculty will found the Chimemasters who will officially take responsibility for ringing the chimes.

1890

(June) After student complaints about "babyish" pink and blue, Syracuse University's official color changes to orange.

1893

William Lewis Bulkley is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Syracuse University. He is the fourth African American in the country to earn a Ph.D., and the first to receive a doctorate in classical languages.

1893

The Block "S" is officially established as the insignia of highest attainment for a Syracuse University athlete at an Athletic Governing Board meeting. George H. Bond, Class of 1894, is the first to wear the Block "S" at a baseball game that spring.

1893

First-year students start wearing caps, later called "lids" or "beanies," distinguishing themselves from upper-class students. This decades-long tradition will continue well into the mid-twentieth century.

1893

(March 15) The Alma Mater is first sung in public by the University Glee and Banjo Club in a concert at the Wieting Opera House in downtown Syracuse. Junius Stevens, Class of 1895, is the author.

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1895

(June 8) The University Oval formally opens following improvements to the Old Oval. With the construction of Archbold Stadium in 1907, this open area south of the Hall of Languages will be used alternately as a rose garden, an ice skating rink, and a space for military drills during World War I before being rededicated as Kenneth A. Shaw Quadrangle in 2010.

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1895

(September) The College of Law is founded.

1898

(January) Women's basketball is established when the team plays its first regular game. The first intercollegiate basketball game at Syracuse University is played by the women's - not the men's - team.

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1900

(Fall) Winchell Hall Dormitory for Women welcomes its first residents. It is the first dormitory to be constructed on campus and marks the first time campus buildings formally cross University Place.

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1901

The College of Applied Science is founded. This is the predecessor of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

1901

(Jan. 5) Men's basketball plays its first intercollegiate game. The season will consist of four games total, with Syracuse University finishing with two wins and two losses.

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1902

(July) Syracuse University holds its first summer classes. These classes will be the precursor to Summer College at University College.

1903

(Sept. 15) The Syracuse Daily Orange prints its first issue, making Syracuse University one of only 19 American colleges and universities with a daily student newspaper at the time.

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1906

Syracuse University establishes a Teachers College. In 1934 it will become the School of Education.

1906

(September) Sims Hall Dormitory for Men welcomes its first residents. The building will serve as student housing until being converted to offices for the Psychology Department in the 1960s and, later, the Department of Public Safety.

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1907

(Sept. 25) Archbold Stadium, the first concrete sports bowl in the nation, hosts its first football game. The stadium is a modern adaptation of the Roman Coliseum and seats up to 40,000 spectators.

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1907

(Sept. 11) Carnegie Library, partially funded by a $150,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie, opens with the transfer of the von Ranke collection from its previous home in the old library. At its centenary in 2007, it is believed to be one of only two university Carnegie libraries still in use for its original purpose.

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1908

The University establishes a Library School. The school will be renamed the School of Information Studies (iSchool) in 1974, making it the first library school in the nation to embrace the broader field of information.

1908

(Dec. 17) Archbold Gymnasium officially opens when it hosts the Junior Prom. The first classes will be held in the new gym on 1 March 1909. The building includes a swimming pool, indoor track, bowling alleys, and the nation's first indoor rowing tank allowing the crew team to practice in inclement weather. It is also the new home to the men's intercollegiate basketball team.

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1910

The University founds the College of Agriculture and purchases a farm with barns and livestock on Colvin Street. Due to declining enrollment, the college will close in the early 1930s.

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1911

The Graduate School is founded.

1911

(July 28) New York State establishes the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. Later known as the New York State College of Environmental Science and Forestry, it will remain a separate institution that enjoys a special relationship with Syracuse University.

1916

(April 29) Syracuse University's men's lacrosse team plays its first game. College of Forestry students introduce lacrosse to Syracuse students, and Forestry professor Laurie Cox is the team's first coach.

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1918

(Spring) The United States War Department establishes the Students’ Army Training Corps (SATC) in an effort to meet the need for more trained soldiers. Syracuse University will participate in this nationwide program later that year, with over 1,200 male students taking part on campus. The SATC is disbanded following the Armistice, but paves the way for the creation of the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at the University the following year.

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1918

(Oct. 28) Syracuse University holds its first adult education evening classes, making the University one of the first in the country open to nontraditional, part-time adult students. Later, the program will become the School of Extension Teaching and Adult Education, the precursor to University College.

1918

(October) The historic 1918 influenza pandemic hits Syracuse University, where large classes are suspended and students are asked not to go downtown. About 10 students and faculty die. The situation improves enough within a few weeks that classes are resumed.

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1918

The School of Home Economics is founded. It will later become the College for Human Development in 1971.

1919

(March 11) The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) conducts its first drills, with 120 students enrolled.

1919

The School of Business Administration is founded. Later renamed the College of Business Administration, by 2003 it will be known as the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

1921

Syracuse University establishes Syracuse-in-China, with a threefold mission of medical, evangelical, and educational work, in Chongqing, China. After World War II, the University will move the program, renamed Syracuse-in-Asia, to Taiwan, where it remained until its closure in 1980.

1922

The School of Public Speech and Dramatic Art is founded. Its various departments will become part of S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the College of Visual and Performing Arts in 1971.

1924

(Oct. 3) The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs formally opens.

1926

The Department of Journalism is established in the College of Business Administration. It will become the independent School of Journalism in 1934 before merging with the Department of Radio and Television to become the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1971.

1930

(June 8) Hendricks Chapel is dedicated. Seating 1,450, this non-denominational chapel is the third largest university chapel in the country at the time of its construction.

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1930

(Sept. 21) Hendricks Chapel holds student services for the first time. This same year, Hendricks Chapel Choir is established.

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1932

Al Wertheimer '33 wins Syracuse's first NCAA individual championship as a 126-pound boxer.

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1936

Syracuse University's boxing team, led by Coach Roy Simmons Sr., wins the University's first NCAA championship in any team sport.

1939

(June) Wilmeth Sidat-Singh graduates from Syracuse University. While a student, Sidat-Singh is the football team's first African American quarterback and leads the basketball team to an undefeated season in his senior year.

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1943

During World War II, Syracuse University offers training for Air Corps cadets and establishes an Army Specialized Training Program and the War Service College. The programs prepare men and women for military service and establish a relationship between the University and service members.

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1943

Chancellor Tolley quietly admits approximately 100 Japanese American students from internment camps. One of those students, Warren Tsuneishi, will write to Tolley in 1983 that the Chancellor's "act of moral courage in the face of opposition immeasurably strengthened [his] own belief and confidence in American democracy."

1943

Although the University had offered nursing certificates since 1915, the School of Nursing is formally established in order to assist the war effort. Later renamed the College of Nursing, it will remain part of the University until 2006.

1945

The College of Fine Arts undergoes a reorganization that establishes the School of Music, School of Art, and School of Architecture.

1946

The School of Extension is reorganized as University College, offering adult education to non-traditional students.

1946

The University welcomes over 7,000 returning World War II veterans under the GI Bill of Rights, more than doubling its total enrollment from the previous year, thus increasing the number of faculty and academic programs. The "GI Bulge" strengthens a long-standing relationship between the University and veterans and is the catalyst to the continued growth of Syracuse University.

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1947

WAER radio station, which delivers news and provides experience for radio broadcast students, acquires an experimental license. The station will acquire a permanent license in 1951.

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1951

The 1951 senior class commissions a statue of the Saltine Warrior. Luise Kaish wins the honor of sculpting the warrior and asks a member of the Onondaga Nation to pose for the bronze statue.

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1952

The Army Comptrollership Program is established. Run in cooperation between the Maxwell School and the School of Management, the Program offers active duty soldiers and civil service employees the opportunity to improve resource management within the Armed Forces through a specialized program leading to a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). The program will be renamed the Defense Comptrollership Program in 2006.

1953

(February) The University opens the Hoople Center for Special Education Building, one of the first special education buildings on a university campus in the nation.

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1955

(December) Men's intercollegiate basketball home games moved to the War Memorial, which remained the team's home until the 1961-62 season.

1955

(December) The School of Social Work is founded.

1956

Football player Jim Brown is named All-American. He will be the first Syracuse University player wearing the famed 44 jersey to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Ernie Davis and Floyd Little will go on to wear this number as well.

1957

The separate men and women students' governing bodies, the Men's Student Government Association and the Women's Student Government Association, merge into the Joint Student Government Association, later known as the Student Association.

1958

The School of Architecture becomes a separate entity from the College of Fine Arts.

1959

Syracuse in Florence, the University's first study abroad program, opens.

1959

The Syracuse University football team becomes national champions after an undefeated season. Coached by Ben Schwartzwalder, the team defeats the University of Texas, 23-14, in the Cotton Bowl (Jan. 1, 1960).

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1961

Syracuse University begins offering training programs for Peace Corps volunteers. Several schools and colleges, including the Maxwell School, the School of Education, the School of Nursing, and University College, will serve as training centers until 1967.

1961

The International Student Office is established with Virginia Torelli as the first Foreign Student Adviser.

1961

(Dec. 6) Ernie Davis, one of three great Syracuse football players to wear the number 44, is the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.

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1961

Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks at the annual Summer Sessions dinner at Syracuse University. He delivers a speech titled "Facing the Challenges of a New World."

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1963

(Fall) The Military Photojournalism Program is established at the Newhouse School with Professor Fred Demarest as its first director. The program is intended to improve the quality of military photojournalism.

1964

(Aug. 5) The Samuel I. Newhouse Communications Center, designed by architect I.M. Pei, is dedicated. President Lyndon Johnson delivers his Gulf of Tonkin Speech at the event.

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1964

Joseph I. Lubin gives Syracuse University the Lubin House at 11 East 61st Street in New York City. The house serves as a multiservice satellite for current and prospective students as well as alumni.

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1965

During Martin Luther King, Jr.'s second visit to the University, he delivers a speech titled "The Role of Education in the Civil Rights Movement."

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1965

The Honors Program is established in the College of Liberal Arts with Mary Marshall as its first director. It will be relaunched as the Renée Crown University Honors Program in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2001.

1966

Syracuse University becomes one of the nation's first universities to offer independent study degree programs. A grant from the Carnegie Foundation facilitates the development of a new Bachelor of Liberal Studies for adults.

1969

More than one hundred African American students hold a peaceful demonstration which leads to the founding of the African American Studies Program (1969) and the Martin Luther King Jr. Library (1971). The demonstration also leads to the opening of the Community Folk Gallery, later the Community Folk Arts Center, in January 1973.

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1970

(May) In response to the killing of four Kent State students by the Ohio National Guard, Syracuse University students shut down the campus. Part of demonstrations at universities across the nation, protests at Syracuse University are mostly peaceful, though students do barricade entrances and damage windows on campus.

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1971

People's Place, an independent, student-run coffee shop, opens in Hendricks Chapel.

1971

Disability rights pioneer Burton Blatt founds the Center on Human Policy, a Syracuse University research and advocacy organization aiming to promote the most pressing causes for people with disabilities.

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1972

The College of Visual and Performing Arts is created. It comprises the School of Art, the Department of Drama, the School of Music (later the Setnor School of Music), and the Department of Speech Communication (later Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies). The College will later include the School of Design and the Department of Transmedia.

1972

(September) Ernest S. Bird Library opens to the public, containing over 10 million items relocated from the Carnegie Library and the storage annex at the Continental Can Building.

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1975

(July 1) In compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, Syracuse University establishes its Department of Women's Athletics and formally supports five women's teams: field hockey, basketball, volleyball, tennis, and swimming and diving.

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1975

The University establishes the Office of Minority Affairs. The Office's services include a Minority Students Advisor Program (MSAP), a tutorial program, and student services. It will later be renamed the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

1976

The School of Computer and Information Science is founded. It will later become part of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

1977

(December) After members of a Native American student organization protest and petition against the Saltine Warrior, the University agrees that the athletic mascot should be removed. The change becomes effective the following year. The University will not have an official mascot until Otto in 1995.

1980

The School of Information Studies helps pioneer the iSchool movement by joining the "Gang of Three," including the School of Library and Information Sciences (later School of Information Sciences) at the University of Pittsburgh and Drexel University's College of Information Science and Technology.

1980

(Sept. 20) The newly-constructed Carrier Dome hosts its first football game when the Orangemen defeat Miami (OH) 36-24. At the time of its construction, the Dome is ranked as the fifth largest domed stadium in the United States and the first of its kind in the Northeast. Syracuse played all of its home games in 1979 away from campus as the Dome was built.

1980

One of many mascots considered as a replacement for the Saltine Warrior, a fuzzy orange is introduced and grows in popularity. It is known as "the Orange" until 1990, when cheerleaders will begin calling it "Otto."

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1982

(July 1) The University's men's and women's athletics departments merge under the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) umbrella. The women's athletics program was previously part of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women.

1983

(September) The University hosts its first Coming Back Together, a reunion for African American alumni, the first of its kind in the nation. It will later expand to include Latino alumni.

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1985

(Oct. 18) The Hildegarde and J. Meyer Schine Student Center is dedicated.

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1985

(January) Syracuse University observes Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, an event started by Rev. Richard Phillips. The University's celebration grows over the years to become the largest campus event honoring King in the United States.

1988

(Dec. 21) A terrorist bomb destroys Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 passengers and crew as well as 11 people on the ground. Among the victims are 35 students studying abroad with Syracuse University.

1989

(Jan. 18) A memorial service for the 35 study abroad students killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 is held in the Carrier Dome. At this service, Chancellor Melvin Eggers announces what will become the Remembrance and Lockerbie Scholarship programs: 35 annual memorial awards for Syracuse University students in their senior year and two memorial scholarships for students from Lockerbie, Scotland to study for one year at the University.

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1990

(April 22) The Place of Remembrance is dedicated. This memorial to the 35 Syracuse University study abroad students killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 also includes a memorial to passengers Glenn and Paula Bouckley of Clay, New York.

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1994

The School of Education establishes a Disability Studies Program, the first in the nation. The program examines a range of issues confronting people with disabilities, including race, gender, policy, law, the media, and cultural representations of disability.

1995

(March 24) Syracuse University celebrates its 125th anniversary and its first National Orange Day on March 24.

1995

(December) Chancellor Shaw names Otto the Orange as the official Syracuse University mascot.

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1997

The Joseph and Shawn Lampe Athletic Complex is dedicated. The Complex currently encompasses the Carmelo Anthony Basketball Center, Ensley Athletic Center, Iocolano-Petty Football Wing, Manley Field House, Roy Simmons Sr. Coaches Center, the Syracuse University Soccer Stadium, and several athletic fields.

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2001

(Fall) The School of Social Work, the School of Nursing, and part of the College for Human Development merge to become the College of Human Services and Health Professions. It will later be renamed the College of Human Ecology (2007) before becoming the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in 2011.

2001

(October) The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center opens to provide a safe space and support for students, faculty, and staff.

2003

The WellsLink Leadership Program is established. It supports first-year students of color through academic, social, and cultural enrichment activities and services.

2003

(April 7) The Syracuse University men's basketball team wins the NCAA Division I championship in New Orleans. Coached by Jim Boeheim, the team defeats the Kansas Jayhawks, 81-78.

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2005

The Coalition of Museums and Art Centers (CMAC) is formed to bring together seven different University arts centers under one umbrella.

2005

(Aug. 15) The University and Haudenosaunee communities jointly announce the Haudenosaunee Promise Scholarship Program for admitted, full-time, first-year students from the Six Nations, honoring the historical and cultural relationship between the University and the Haudenosaunee.

2005

(Nov. 12) Syracuse University football's number 44 is retired. This uniform number was made famous by such players as Jim Brown '57, Ernie Davis '62, and Floyd Little '67.

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2009

(Sept. 24) The Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center opens. This state-of-the-art facility houses the men's and women's basketball programs.

2011

(June) The University opens the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, an interdisciplinary academic institute focused on advancing the lives of the nation’s military veterans and their families, a first in higher education.

2015

The field hockey team wins the NCAA championship, becoming the first women's team at Syracuse University to win a national championship. This is the University's second national championship within 24 hours. The previous day, the men's cross country team also won the national championship.

2015

Syracuse University physicists make history with their role in the detection of gravitational waves, confirming a major prediction of Albert Einstein's 1915 general theory of relativity.

2015

(Jan. 19) The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA) is established to serve as the University's single point of entry for all veteran and military-related programs and initiatives.

2016

(March) Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams advanced to the Final Four.

2016

(May 6) Members of the Chancellor's Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion develop and disseminate a statement to be read at all major public events to acknowledge that Syracuse University sits on Native land. The land acknowledgement will first be used by Chancellor Syverud at the New Student Convocation on 25 August 2016. Through this statement, Syracuse University acknowledges with respect the Onondaga Nation, firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee, the indigenous people on whose ancestral lands the University now stands.

2017

(July 27) The Board of Trustees endorses the Campus Framework - Vision for Excellence, a 20-year roadmap meant to guide future campus planning and development. The Framework aligns with the University's Academic Strategic Plan, seeking to support academic excellence, enrich all aspects of student life, and create a diverse and vibrant campus setting that is inclusive and accessible to all.

2017

University College opens the Center for Online and Digital Learning (CODL), a One University initiative to drive Syracuse University's expansion into online education.

2017

(August) Syracuse University launches Invest Syracuse: Advancing Academic Excellence and the Student Experience, an initiative designed to bring to fruition the ideas and proposals of the Academic Strategic Plan.

2018

(Spring) Construction begins on the National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC). The NVRC will function as the center of veteran life on campus, in the community, and across Central New York.

2019

(January) The College of Law launches JDinteractive, the first fully interactive online Juris Doctor program to be accredited by the American Bar Association.