EMU FIRSTS
Take a look at a few of the milestones that made EMU a trailblazer in education and beyond.
ACADEMICS, PROFESSORS, STAFF
1849-1892
Established in 1849, Michigan State Normal School was the first teacher education institution west of the Alleghenies (and the sixth in the U.S.).
Adonijah Strong Welch served as the school’s first president in 1852.
Music courses debuted in 1854 under the direction of Albert Miller.
Michigan State Normal School was the first college to establish a geography department (1885) and offer physical training courses (1888).
1892-1935
MSNS was the first U.S. normal school to establish a four-year curriculum, leading to its renaming as Michigan State Normal College in 1899.
In 1901, MSNC became the first institution to offer industrial arts courses.
In 1915, MSNC pioneered a teacher training program for working with children with disabilities, making it the first of its kind in the U.S.
1935-1979
Graduate courses were first offered in partnership with the University of Michigan in 1939, with degrees conferred by U-M.
The school was renamed Eastern Michigan College in 1956, then Eastern Michigan University in 1959.
The Women’s Studies Program, established in 1973, was the first in Michigan.
1979-TODAY
In 1979, John W. Porter became EMU’s first Black president.
The first endowed professorship was created in 1985 through a bequest from the estate of M. Thelma McAndless.
EMU created the state’s first teacher education program to prepare students to teach in urban schools (1991).
M. Joanelle Long was awarded EMU’s first Ed.D. (Doctor of Education degree) in 1994.
Dr. Susan Martin became EMU’s first female president in 2008.
BUILDINGS, CAMPUS
1849-1892
Michigan State Normal School was the first tax-supported college in Michigan open to men and women alike (1849).
Old Main, MSNS’s first building, was funded by Ypsilanti citizens and dedicated in 1852.
The first campus library was founded in 1852 by Professor Daniel Putnam, who curated a modest collection of books, periodicals, and public documents, serving without pay.
1892-1935
Starkweather Hall, built in 1896, was the first U.S. teachers’ college building dedicated to religious activities.
In 1931, McKenny Hall became the nation’s first social center at a teachers’ college.
1935-1979
King and Goodison Halls opened in 1939 as MSNC’s first women’s dorms.
In 1964, EMU established its first Board of Regents, following a new state constitution mandating local boards for state institutions.
1979-TODAY
Halle Library was the first U.S. university to install an automated storage and retrieval system for library use.
In 2021, EMU renamed its College of Engineering and Technology to the GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology, marking the first donor-named college in the University’s history.
STUDENT LIFE
1849-1892
Andrew Jackson Blackbird, a member of the Odawa Nation, was the first person of color to attend in the late 1850s.
Escaped slave H.P. Jacobs, a school janitor, enrolled Anna, Mary, and Samuel in the music conservatory, making them the first Black students in school history.
The Normal News, the first student newspaper at a public institution, launched in 1881.
1892-1935
In 1897, faculty member Alice Eddy Snowden helped a group of women form the first Greek letter sorority on campus (Pi Kappa Sigma).
The MCSC library (Old Main) was the first in the state to use student assistants (1918).
1935-1979
Dorothy Fry was crowned Eastern’s first Homecoming Queen in 1948.
Lee Snow bowled the first perfect game at McKenny Lanes in 1973.
In 1977, EMU won its first Forensics National Championship.
1979-TODAY
EMU football won its first MAC Championship and first bowl game (California Bowl) in 1987.
Andrew Gloster earned EMU’s first Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 2006.