History of the University of Kansas
Lawrence residents had originally proposed opening a private Free-State college in the town when it was first settled, in the summer of 1854.
The law was conditioned upon a gift from Lawrence of a $15,000 endowment fund and a site for the university, in or near the town, of not less than forty acres (160,000 m2) of land.
The site selected for the university was a hill known as Hogback Ridge or Mount Oread,[6] which was owned by former Kansas Governor Charles L. Robinson.
[1] The University of Kansas officially opened on September 12, 1866, with 26 girls and 29 boys registered in the preparatory school.
[7] It was one of the earliest public institutions of higher learning to admit women and men equally in the United States.
A student of the early 1870s was writer and journalist Frank Harris, who describes in Volume 1 of his memoirs (My Life and Loves, 1922) the intellectual climate he found in the university at that time.
In May 1886, professor Edgar Henry Summerfield Bailey first proposed the cheer that would evolve into the "Rock Chalk Jayhawk, K.U.” chant.
[11] In 1893 the Kansas Legislature authorized $50,000 for the construction of a new physics and electrical engineering building, a structure resembling a French chateau now remembered as "old" Blake Hall.
In 1895, the first long distance ship-to-shore message using underwater wireless technology was transmitted by physics and engineering professor, Lucien I.
Due to the graciousness of William B. Thayer and his wife, the university received their personal art collection, valued at $150,000.
In March 1880, several KU faculty voted to establish a first-year medical course, which was eventually approved by the Board of Regents.
[18] On May 13, 1923, William Allen White became the first KU alumnus to win a Pulitzer Prize, which was awarded to him for his Emporia Gazette editorial “To An Anxious Friend” that defended free speech.
Under severe pressure from Kansas Governor Walter Huxman and several civil rights leaders, the Kansas Board of Regents voted to prohibit the practices which had prevented African American students from completing their educational careers at the KU School of Medicine.
In honor to the 276 KU men and women who died in World War II, the Memorial Carillon and Campanile were formally dedicated on May 27, 1951.
[23] On March 26, 1952, the KU men's basketball team won its first NCAA National Championship over St. John's, coached by Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen.
On February 17, 1962, the Kansas Board of Regents voted to replace the original Fraser Hall, claiming it had "outlived its usefulness."
[12] In one of the worst tragedies in KU history, a firebomb blasted throughout the Kansas Union in early 1970, causing nearly $1 million in damages.
[12] In 1972, KU began celebrating Carrie Watson Day in honor of the first and longest-serving librarian in the school's history.
[24] On February 21, 1978, former U.S. President Gerald Ford and several dignitaries dedicated the new KU School of Law, Green Hall.
Led by Danny Manning, the KU men's basketball team won the NCAA championship for the first time in 36 years on April 4, 1988, in Kansas City, Missouri.
[25] In 1993, the KU Edwards Campus was established in Overland Park, Kansas in order to provide adults with the opportunity to complete college degrees and to further their education.
[26] The Edwards campus began providing programs developmental psychology, public administration, social work, systems analysis, engineering management and design.
In athletics, the men's basketball team made it to the Final Four in 2002 and lost the National Championship in 2003 to the Syracuse Orangemen.
The football team, led by former coach Mark Mangino, won the 2008 Orange Bowl and finished the season 12–1.
After rebounding from a late-game deficit, tournament Most Outstanding Player Mario Chalmers made a three-point shot to force overtime.
[29] On 1 May 2024, KU students joined other campuses[30] in setting up encampments and protesting against the war in Gaza[31] and the alleged genocide there.
They also called out the university's relationship with local company ICL, the manufacturer of white phosphorus, an illegal weapon used to commit war crimes by Israel.
