UNLV 50th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION
RELATED LINKS:
RESOURCES
- See how much the campus has grown
- Watch a clip of the 1959 Howdy Dance, Rebel Roast or Freshmen Dance.
COME BACK SOON FOR AUDIO FROM NEVADA SOUTHERN'S (UNLV) FIRST COMMENCEMENT
Visit the UNLV 50th website to learn more about upcoming ways to celebrate our history. View the exhibit photo gallery
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Today, UNLV has come a long way from the high school dressing rooms that once served as its classrooms. Thanks to the dedication of faculty, staff members, students, generous donors and Las Vegas residents over the past half century, the university has much to celebrate.
1951 First College-Level Classes Offered in Las Vegas
The movement to bring an institution of higher learning to Southern Nevada began in the early 1930’s when community members urged their representatives in the State Legislation to encourage the development of college level educational program. In 1951 Maude Frazier, Las Vegas Assemblywoman and former Superintendent of Schools of Las Vegas, introduced a bill to create a junior college. The bill ultimately passed but was later declared unconstitutional by the Attorney General. The Board of Regents for the University of Nevada then authorized the establishment of extension classes in Las Vegas as a “branch” of the University of Nevada (Reno). University administrators asked Jim Dickinson a junior member of the English department, to go to Las Vegas and teach basic freshman courses.
In the fall of 1951 Jim Dickinson, the administrator of the new extension program, and two part-time instructors, Dr. Arthur Palmer and Ms. Lee Pivornick, organized classes in English, geography and French. There were no classrooms, no campus and no buildings for the first twenty-eight students who signed up.
Classes were taught at Las Vegas High School’s auditorium in the evening; whenever a play was staged, classes were cancelled. Each course cost $7.50 with a maximum fee of $23.00 per semester. As courses gained in popularity, more part-time instructors were hired to teach during the day and classes were held at other locations: Rancho High School, the First Baptist Church Annex, the city recreation center and local bowling alley. The auditorium box office at Las Vegas High School served as Dickinson’s office. The 1800-volume library of donated books lived in a closet.
Although the situation looked grim, the call for more services and more courses became stronger. Las Vegas was becoming the state’s second population center; and the population growth statistics kept the political pressure on Reno to continue offering classes.
1954-1955 Land Acquired for a Campus
In 1954 the extension program became the University of Nevada Southern Regional Division, popularly known as Nevada Southern.
The Las Vegas community, state assemblywoman Maude Frazier and donors Estelle and Howard Wilbourn pressured university regents to acquire land for a campus in 1955. The Wilbourns offered a gift of 60 acres of land along the two-lane dirt road known as Maryland Parkway. They offered an additional 20 adjoining acres for purchase for $35,000. The state legislature agreed to appropriate $200,000 for a new building on the campus, on the condition that Las Vegas residents raise money for the additional land. In 1955 R. Guild Gray, superintendent of schools, established the Campus Fund Committee, with the help of Frazier and Archie Grant, to raise the needed funds.
Las Vegas kicked off the campaign with a one-hour telecast featuring Strip entertainers, civic leaders and educators. Enthusiastic Nevada Southern students, aided by high school seniors, supplemented community fund-raising efforts with a house-to-house “porchlight campaign” held on May 24, 1955. Ultimately Las Vegas raised $135,000 --- $100,000 more than required to buy the additional land. The extra $100,000 was used for supplies, books and other equipment needed for the new building.
1957 First Campus Building Completed
In April 1956, Maude Frazier turned the ceremonial first shovelful of dirt to initiate construction on the university’s first building. On September 10, 1957, 498 students attended the first classes held on campus in the new 13,000-square-foot building, which was later named Maude Frasier Hall.
By 1958 Frazier Hall could no longer accommodate the increasing enrollment and a second building, Archie Grant Hall, was opened. Two years later the gym (now the Marjorie Barrick Museum) and the science and technology building (now Lily Fong Geosciences) were completed. The first round floor of the James R. Dickinson Library (now the William S. Boyd School of Law) opended in 1963 and the social science building (Wright Hall) opened in 1964.
1964 First Graduating Class at Nevada Southern
Nevada Southern remained under the University of Nevada’s control despite its expansion. In fact, officials required students to spend a year in Reno before graduating. After fighting to become a degree-granting institution, regents finally authorized the establishment of a baccalaureate program in 1960.
In 1964 Nevada Southern held its first commencement, graduating twenty-nine students as the Centennial Class in honor of Nevada’s 100th anniversary as a state.
In 1965 the college became the semi-autonomous Nevada Southern University (NSU). Donald Moyer served as its first chancellor and then became its first president in 1968, when the university won complete autonomy under the state’s higher education system.
1969 The Univeristy Adopts its Current Name with Board of Regents’ Approval
In the fifty years since granting its first degrees, UNLV has built more than 100 buildings, developed dozens of graduate programs, created partnerships with the community, fielded nationally ranked sports teams, founded an alumni association, promoted scholarship, established a fundraising foundation, and recruited diverse and talented students and faculty from across the country and around the world.
2007 The Second Fifty Years
Looking ahead to the next fifty years, opportunities abound for this pioneering institution. At his inauguration in April 2007, David B. Ashley, UNLV’s eighth president, declared, "We will remain unwavering in our commitment to honoring the past with bold steps forward. We shall transform ourselves as a university. In this process, we will transform both the lives of our students and the future of this community."