King's College history

May 1947: The first annual Coronation Ball is held, bringing together “the Kingsmen” and “the ladies from College Misericordia” at Irem Temple Country Club.

Bishop Hafey blesses the space on December 3, 1948.

The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory was established in 1949 in Palisades, New York, and is a leading research institution focusing on global climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, nonrenewable resources, and environmental hazards.

1950: Father Henry Malone is encouraged to form the “Little Theatre Group” by Academic Dean George DePrizio, a devotee to the fine arts.

1951: Three hundred King’s students sign the “Freedom Scroll” and contributed to the purchase of the Freedom Bell, a gift to the city of Berlin from the United States as a symbol of anti-communism.

1952: King’s acquires the Lehigh Valley Coal Company Building on North River Street and officially moves into what is now known as the Administration Building.

1953: King’s College acquires Marion Apartments and continues operating the building as a dormitory.

Columbia celebrated its bicentennial in 1954 during a period of steady expansion.

After Doctor Crawford’s death in 1960, Doctor Robert A. Cook, former president of Youth for Christ International, becomes the second president of The King’s College.

E. W. King Library and Administration Building (1962) houses King’s Administration on the first floor, while the Library resides on the second and third floors.

1965: Ground is broken on a new twelve-story dormitory—also carrying the name Holy Cross Hall—that will house 400 students.

1968: Doctor Lou Rader of the English Department creates the Honors Program and serves as the director.

1969: As part of the College’s four-fold expansion program, the Corgan Library finally opens its doors to eager students, staff, and faculty.

May 1970: King’s participates in the City of Wilkes-Barre’s first annual Cherry Blossom Festival and River Regatta; King’s came in third.

1971: King’s College celebrates its 25th anniversary with a ball and concert. “The Spirit of Man” statue—which today resides outside the old Chapel of Christ the King—is given as an anniversary gift from the University of Notre Dame.

King’s retained its degree-granting powers in divinity until 1974, when AST was incorporated by An Act to Incorporate Atlantic School of Theology (1974), which granted AST the power to confer degrees in its own name and in its own right.

1975: The physician assistant program is established.

White Hall (1976) houses classrooms, faculty and staff offices, and the E. Ward King Auditorium.

May 1982: Renovation begins on Hafey-Marian Hall, gutting everything except the basement.

Columbia College was the undergraduate liberal arts school for men until 1983, when women began to be admitted.

In alignment with the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, the new policy prohibits underage students from keeping alcohol in their room and carrying open bottles and cans throughout campus.

Mitchell Hall (1985) is a residence hall for students and also includes coaches offices.

1986: A faculty parking lot is converted into Holy Cross Court and serves as campus park and meeting place for students to socialize between Hafey-Marian, Holy Cross Hall, and the Library.

1988: Construction begins on Leo F. Flood Hall, a new dormitory that opened to students for the fall semester.

Since 1989, King’s Business School has grown into a leading management institution – and one of the largest in London.

1991: King’s offers its first master’s degrees in finance, reading, and health care administration.

1994: With the growth of science students and more degree offerings, the new Charles E. and Mary Parente Life Sciences Center is added to campus.

During the administration of President Stanislaw, a $12.5 million financial campaign came to a successful conclusion in 1998 with $15 million being raised.

A student-activities center, Alfred Lerner Hall, opened in 1999 and features the Roone Arledge Auditorium and Cinema.

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.

A nursing program was created to fulfill the critical need for nurses in the years ahead and, in 2001, the Peeke School of Christian Mission was created to honor the life’s work of M. Catherine Peeke, King graduate and missionary.

In December 2002, the College dedicated a new athletic Student Center Complex that seats 1,200 and features an indoor track, a weight training room, exercise space, a hospitality room, and faculty offices for athlete personnel.

2003: King’s participates in Pennsylvania’s Miles of Mules public art project.

The College’s “Hope” Mule took students 163 hours to create and was unveiled in May 2004 at the Fine Arts Fiesta on Public Square.

2006: King’s joins Wilkes University in moving their campus bookstores to the Barnes & Noble on Public Square.

To challenge the minds of the region’s residents and address issue of faith and culture, King in 2007 established the Buechner Institute in honor of writer and theologian Frederick Buechner.

In the years following the signing of the Community Benefits Agreement in May 2009, the new campus in Manhattanville has taken shape.

2011: Saint André Bessette—known as a healer for his devotion to the sick and afflicted—becomes the first Holy Cross Congregation member to attain sainthood.

By 2013, King had seven schools including the College of Arts and Sciences and Schools of Business and Economics, Education, Nursing, Applied Science and Technology, Behavioral and Health Sciences, and the Peeke School of Christian Mission.

2015: Renovations of the former Ramada Hotel on Public Square are finished.

President Whitaker assumed his new duties in August 2016 and, at the university’s opening Convocation, told faculty and staff that his top priorities including strengthening academic programs, improving Bristol’s campus, and reemphasizing King’s Christian character.

In 2017, the university opened the first two buildings on the new Manhattanville campus, the Jerome L. Greene Science Center and the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

The new Mulligan Center for Engineering opened for the Fall 2019 semester.

2020: Following in the steps of others nationwide, King’s moves all classes to virtual learning in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.