In May, Kent State University celebrates two milestones: 115 years since being established as a school and 90 years of operating as a university.
On May 19, 1910, Ohio Gov. Judson Harmon signed the Lowry Bill into law, calling for the establishment of two new normal schools, one in Northwest Ohio and one in Northeast Ohio. The school created in the northwest was Bowling Green State Normal School and the institution in the northeast was Kent State Normal School.
The bill was created to address a lack of public institutions with schools of education in the northern half of the state, as, at the time, the only universities with teacher education programs were Ohio State University, Ohio University and Miami University. All three schools were located in the southern half of the state while the majority of the growth, population and need for teachers were in northern Ohio.
May 1935 - President McGilvrey's Longtime Dream Realized
From the start, Kent State’s first president, John E. McGilvrey, intended that the Kent State Normal School would one day become a university. This position was met with resistance both from within the institution and from outside. Some faculty, administrators and members of the community preferred that Kent State remain a small, teaching college. Around the state, administrators at other universities feared that if Kent State became a university, funds from the state would be stretched more thinly. McGilvrey's critics (and enemies) were already at odds with his outspoken, passionate personality and McGilvrey’s dogged pursuit of Kent State’s university status was one more thing they took issue with. It was one of the disagreements between McGilvrey and Kent State's Board of Trustees that led some board members to dismiss McGilvrey from his position as president in 1926.
'Kent State University from its hilltop visions dimly the greatness of its future.'
In 1929, the Ohio General Assembly authorized the addition of colleges of liberal arts and sciences for both Kent State and Bowling Green State and legitimized the granting of baccalaureate degrees in education (which Kent State had been conferring since 1915). With that, Kent State Normal College became Kent State College.
Then, on May 17, 1935, Ohio Gov. Martin L. Davey signed into law a bill that had passed unanimously in both houses of the state legislature. The new law added schools of business administration and graduate programs, leading to master’s degrees at both Bowling Green and Kent State. In spite of remaining opposition, which included the current president of Kent State, James Orzo Engleman, Kent State College became Kent State University.
In 1910, Martin L. Davey was on the Kent Board of Trade, whose members were the original founders of Kent State Normal School. No doubt, it was his support of Kent State becoming a university that helped the bill. pass into law.
Former president McGilvrey, who had been warmly welcomed back to Kent State as President Emeritus in 1934, was in Columbus to witness the signing of the bill into law and the realization of his dream of Kent State becoming a university, 25 years later. Upon returning to Kent from Columbus, weary but triumphant, McGilvrey observed, “Kent State University from its hilltop visions dimly the greatness of its future.”
At an afternoon gala celebrating the signing in Columbus, which included civic groups, faculty and students, Kent State University cheerleader Jo Cotman led the first official university cheer: “C’mon Gold, C’mon Blue. Let’s go Kent State U!”
Later, members of the faculty and the Kent State Student Council met for what the Kent Stater described as “the year’s worst baseball game,” which ended in a tie after three innings. The student council president declared the students the winners of the game after discovering that President Engleman, the faculty umpire and the faculty scorekeeper had conspired to cheat the students of one out per inning. Spectators at the game said that the student council members were “too dumb to know about it.”
