Northwest Missouri State University history

Classes began on June 13, 1906, with a lab school teaching Maryville's children (that was eventually named the Horace Mann school) in kindergarten through third grade.

Although Mike the Dog served as an unofficial mascot during Northwest’s early years, the student body adopted the identity as Bearcats in 1916 after a basketball coach at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, asked a Northwest coach whether his “fighting Bearcats” were ready to play.

Having made his or her first appearance in 1918, The Stroller appears weekly in the student newspaper and remains preserved in anonymity.

Northeast Missouri State Teachers College May 20, 1919 Governor Fredrick D. Gardner signs legislation that changes the name of all the state’s teacher-education schools from “state normal schools” to “state teachers colleges.”

Homecoming week is a time-honored tradition at Northwest that dates back to 1924 and culminates with a grand parade and football game.

In 1946, he established the first support for federally funded education, which would help ensure this access.

The class of 1948 gifted Northwest with a bronze memorial bell in honor of all soldiers who fought and died during World War II, especially those fallen soldiers who attended Northwest or who once lived in northwest Missouri.

On July 21, 1949, the Board of Regents changed the name to Northwest Missouri State College.

University President Robert Foster announced his plan to build the Bell Tower in 1965 and it was completed entirely with funds donated by University alumni and friends.

In 1969, Missouri Governor Warren Hearnes pushed for switching St Joseph Junior College from a two-year school into a four-year state college.

Centrally located on campus, the open-air Memorial Bell Tower is an iconic structure that was completed in 1971 to memorialize students, faculty and others who had served the country, including the military.

The final name change occurred August 14, 1972, when the Board of Regents, recognizing the evolution of the school into a comprehensive institution, changed the name to Northwest Missouri State University.

In 1985, when the passage of House Bill 196 changed the University’s mission from an open enrollment, regional, multipurpose university to Missouri’s only statewide public liberal arts and sciences institution, the name of the University was Northeast Missouri State University.

In 1987, Northwest unveiled its Electronic Campus Program, the first such program among public United States colleges.

Those fears came to the forefront in 1988 when Shalia Aery, commissioner of higher education under Governor John Ashcroft, announced a plan to close the school.

The Joyce and Harvey White International Plaza has existed on the Northwest campus since the fall of 1998 as a tribute to Northwest students and alumni who have come to the University from other nations and as a reminder of the size and diversity of our world.

The Missouri Academy of Science, Mathematics and Computing was founded at Northwest in 2000.