Columbia College history

The college purchased the estate of Doctor James Bennett and formally dedicated the buildings and grounds as the Christian College campus in 1852.

1853 The first graduation ceremony is held.

Columbia College was founded in 1854 as Columbia Female College by the Methodist Conference of South Carolina.

The College, located on Plain Street, now Hampton, in Columbia, SC, opened to students in October 1859.

Only three students graduated in 1862 and four the following year.

In August, more than 600 people converge on campus to witness a total solar eclipse, the first one in Missouri since 1869.

1871 On January 25, former art and music student at Christian Female College Lavinia “Vinnie” Ream unveils her commissioned likeness of President Abraham Lincoln in the rotunda of the United States Capitol, where it still stands today.

1883 President William A. Oldham (Fifth). The Conservatory of Music is founded.

Its Teachers College (1887), with the city for a laboratory, is one of the best known in the nation, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons (1767), together with the Presbyterian Hospital and allied institutions, forms the nucleus of one of the country’s renowned medical centres.

Barnard College, one of the Seven Sisters schools, was founded in 1889 (when it also became affiliated with Columbia); it remains an undergraduate liberal arts school for women only.

Columbia College Chicago was founded in 1890 as the Columbia School of Oratory by Mary A. Blood and Ida Morey Riley, both graduates of the Monroe Conservatory of Oratory, (now Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts).

By 1892, the School of Mines (now Engineering), the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the School of Nursing, the School of Library Service (now closed), the School of Architecture and the Law School had been established, as had the precursor to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

1893 President Franklin P. St Clair (Sixth) dies several months after taking office.

In 1896, Columbia College in the City of New York was renamed Columbia University in the City of New York, with the undergraduate school retaining the name Columbia College.

In 1897, the Morningside campus opened its doors.

The college moved to its present location, across the street from Columbia in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, in 1898.

1899 The first telephone comes to campus.

1900 The dedication of St Clair Hall, planned to be a joyous celebration of Luella St Clair’s accomplishments and Franklin St Clair’s memory, is darkened by the death of their young daughter Annilee.

1903 Women’s basketball is the school’s first competitive athletic team.

In 1904, the College dropped “Female” from its name and moved to Eau Claire after benefactors Frederick H. Hyatt and Col.

1911 The golden jubilee is celebrated 10 years late due to President St Clair’s desire to build Dorsey Hall before inviting alumnae back to campus.

1912 President St Clair secures funds from trustees, alumnae and friends to erect the stone entrance, Rogers Memorial Gate, as a memorial to President Rogers.

1914 The Christian College Alumni Bulletin is first published and the first May Queen, Hazel Davies Banks, is crowned.

1919 A natatorium is built at a cost of $25,000.

1920 Built under the direction of President St Clair in the last year of her presidency, Missouri Hall is used as a dormitory for 65 years.

1926 The 75th anniversary of the school’s chartering is recognized.

1943 Jane Froman ’26 is the first female volunteer to entertain troops overseas during World War II. She is severely injured in an airplane crash en route to a European USO performance.

The school left its partnership with the Pestalozzi-Froebel Teachers College in 1944 with a revised name, Columbia College, and Norman Alexandroff serving as its president.

1951 The centennial celebration features an address by United States Senator J. William Fulbright and a memorable performance by Froman.

1958 The first annual alumni homecoming is held on campus.

In 1961, Mirron (Mike) Alexandroff, became president and created a liberal arts college with a progressive social agenda.

1963 The Christian College National Alumnae Association, now Columbia College Alumni Association (CCAA), is organized.

In 1964, the campus survived a fire that destroyed the Old Main classroom building and the East Wing Dormitory.

1968 The first scholarships to international students are offered through President Hill’s connections to the Experiment in International Living.

1969 Kirk Williams is the first and only male resident student to enroll for the fall semester.

In 1970 the college changed from a four-year conservative all-female college to a liberal coeducational college, and changed its name to Columbia College.

1971 Baseball records the school’s first modern athletic victory, over Central Methodist College.

He won the bronze again in 1972.

1973 The college begins to offer four-year degree programs and founds the Extended Studies Division during this academic year.

Columbia was awarded full accreditation in 1974 by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and purchased its first building in the South Loop at 600 S. Michigan Ave.

1975 The Evening Campus is founded and the college’s first computer arrives on campus.

1977 President Bruce B. Kelly (14th). Rick Bueltmann ’78 is the first Columbia College athlete to earn All-American accolades.

1980 With the largest gift in school history at the time, Virginia Southwell Singletary encouraged the generosity of others.

Varmus remained on the faculty of the University of California, where he became a professor of biochemistry and biophysics in 1982.

1983 Women’s volleyball plays its first season.

1989 Softball achieves the first NAIA No.

1990 The men’s basketball team makes the college’s first athletic NAIA national tournament appearance.

In 1992, Doctor John B. Duff was named president and during his tenure, the school changed its name to Columbia College Chicago, expanded its educational programs, and added to its physical campus in the South Loop.

In 1995, Columbia College offered its first graduate degree with a Master of Arts in Teaching, followed by a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice.

1996 The first graduate degree program, Master of Arts in Teaching, is offered.

1998 The women’s volleyball team wins its first-ever NAIA national championship.

1999 The women's volleyball team wins its second NAIA national championship.

In January 2000 Varmus was appointed president of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and he subsequently founded the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to making medical and scientific literature freely available to the public.

2001 The women's volleyball team wins its third NAIA national championship.

2004 The school’s largest single gift to date, conferred by Carol Vinkemulder Frobish ’49, provides unrestricted funds to be used in the college’s best interest.

2008 Proud of being a military-friendly institution, the first annual Military Recognition Day is held on the main campus.

2012 A new tradition begins when new students and Scooter the Cougar “Storm the Gate” during fall orientation.

2013 American Midwest Conference champions for the second year in a row, the men’s basketball team wins a school-record 35 games and earns its first No.

2015 Bill Wright ’09 becomes the first online graduate to be tapped president of the CCAA Board of Directors.

2016 The college transitions into a three-school structure with three founding deans: The School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, the School of Business Administration and the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics.

2018 Softball team claims national runner-up in NAIA Softball world series and eSports places second in Collegiate Championship.

2019 New Hall opens on main campus; updated Columbia College lettering added to Rogers Gate.