1797 > 1863 > 1897 > 1900 > 1940 > 1980 > present day
Paradigm University and a Research Mission - 1980
Following the Second World War, Paradigm experienced a period of extensive growth. In 1955, the university hired a large corporate architectural firm to oversee the expansion of the campus facilities. By the beginning of the 1960's, architects had proposed abandoning the traditional campus master plan in favor of a "more efficient modern plan." Though the Trustees were skeptical about many aspects of the plan, including the proposed construction of 3 high-rise dormitories, many aspects of the proposal were implemented. A single high-rise dormitory and several low-rise dormitories were completed by 1965. Subsequently, the Department of Resident Life determined the high-rise dormitory to be both financially and socially unfeasible. Plans to build two additional behemoth residence halls were set aside. An addition to Memorial Library was built during the early 1970's that nearly tripled the size of the facility, making it one of the five largest university libraries in the world. Also during this time, the College of Engineering built a "state of the art" research building adjacent to the Old Field House and the Space Sciences Research Tower was completed nearby at the end of the decade. The 1970's and 1980's also saw the growth of the Paradigm Hospital and School of Medicine. Research dollars poured in necessitating the rapid, some might call it haphazard, expansion of the medical complex. Early in 1980 a bio-hazard containment incident at the Medical Research Laboratory briefly threatened the entire campus community. The University President R. Chamberlain Wilson appointed an oversight board to make recommendations concerning safety at laboratory facilities on campus. The pressure to expand facilities for intercollegiate athletics necessitated the construction of the Paradigm Arena and the expansion of Paradigm Stadium. Grumblings were heard, but often ignored, from many alumni groups who claimed that the traditional collegiate spirit of Paradigm was being abandoned in favor of corporate sponsorship. The NCAA confirmed this suspicion when it sanctioned the basketball team for recruiting and scholarship violations. The Division One national championship was forfeited in 1978 because a corporate sponsor had given several players "perks." President Wilson promptly dismissed both the head coach and the athletic director. An athletics honor and advisory board was appointed to monitor intercollegiate competition. During the late 1960's and early 1970's Paradigm saw a period of student unrest not unlike that evident at other institutions during the Vietnam era. Students lobbied for more participation in the formation of university policies and by the mid-1970's President Wilson had expanded student participation in institutional governance. In 1979, the university convened the first parking committee to deal with the unsightly problem of automobiles on the lawns. By 1980, parking had taken on crisis proportions in the university. Faculty who had once lived in a neighborhood of town adjacent to the campus began to relocate to suburban developments. Greater numbers of faculty, staff, and students required automobiles on campus, thus what was once a campus dominated by wooded areas and rolling fields became transformed into a sea of asphalt. Students and faculty often joked that the Director of Campus Parking (often jovially labeled the "Dean of Parking") was second only to the Provost and President in power wielded on campus. By the close of the 1980's it was apparent that development on campus was rapidly approaching build-out. In 1980, when the Center for Advanced Discourse was built at the edge of Paradigm Forest, members of the campus community protested the reckless development of the campus and the lack of a viable plan for the future. Through out the 1980's numerous committees were formed to look into the problem of growth. Provost E. L. Wilkins declared, "Paradigm had reached its maximum capacity," and noted that, "no future growth of the campus was possible with out the demolition of many of the older less efficient portions of the campus."
1980 Facts:
Enrollment: 9953 (ugrad) /1450 (grad)
Faculty and Staff: 3420
Tuition, Room and Board: $14,250/year
Facilities: 5,364,945 GSF
Parking Spaces: 5,428 (surface) / 921 (structured)
