Legislators headed by State Rep. J. Robert Traxler, right, meet with Dr. Sam Marble, second from left, and news reporters to explain plan for new college in 1963. SVSU AT 50!: Saginaw Bay State College Was Tentative Name of School
October 13, 2013
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Saginaw Valley State University is approaching its 50th anniversary, November 2013.
But hardly anybody remembers it was first tentatively called Saginaw Bay State College.
And that it had started two years earlier as a private college that held its first classes at Delta College.
That was in 1965 as planning was in progress; but the state institution was preceded by a private school, Saginaw Valley College, that opened in November 1963 -- thus the half century mark now being celebrated.
A class on the SVSU history was recently offered at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute by Dr. Brad Jarvis, Associate Professor of History, and Dr. Basil Clark, Professor of English, co-authors of the new history of the University, 1989-present. Clark is also the author of an earlier volume, SVSU: The Early and Formative Years.
Attempts to establish a four-year school at Delta College date back to 1962, a year after Delta opened as a tri-county tax supported community college.
The State Board of Education decided the private school would not meet area needs and guided the transition into a four-year regional state-supported college.
The Governor's Blue Ribbon Committee on Higher Education cited an anticipated 49 percent increase in student demand over the next 10 years as the reason for the new college.
The committee noted that Saginaw, Bay City, Midland was one of four metropolitan areas in Michigan lacking nearby access to higher education.
Gov. George Romney signed a bill in July 1965 providing for establishment of the new Saginaw Bay State College.
After some site issues were resolved, it became the 11th tax supported institution of higher education in Michigan.
William Groening, who headed a group that raised $4 million for the new school, said the Delta College area of Bay County would be unacceptable as a site, leading to selection of the property on West Side Saginaw Road at Pierce Road in Saginaw County.
Among donors, the Wickes Foundation of Saginaw and the Dow Foundation of Midland each pledged $1 million for the new college.
J. Bob Traxler, state representative and later Member of Congress, was one of the key planners of the new college in 1963.
The first meeting of the Board of Control of Saginaw Bay State College was held Saturday, Oct. 16, 1965.
Jim Barcia, former state senator, was an early graduate and received an honorary doctoral degree to boot.
Congressman Bart Stupak, from the Upper Peninsula, who made national headlines in a health care debacle last year, is one of the best known SVSU grads. He is now a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
About a dozen former Cardinal athletes are playing, or have played football in the NFL, including Jeff Heath who sprang into action this season as a defensive back with the Dallas Cowboys at the pre-season Hall of Fame Bowl.
Graduate Meera Chopra is a noted actress in India.
SVSU grads are among the nation's top women's basketball coaches, Suzy Merchant at Michigan State, Gail Goestenkors at the University of Texas, and Sue Guevara at Central Michigan.
There have been 39,303 graduates, with this year's class of 987 the largest in school history.
The university's strategic plan calls for increasing the number of minority students and has a list of other goals, including:
Increased diversity/inclusiveness in the curriculum and in co-curricular activities
Increased support for student achievement and success
Increased internationalization of the campus through inbound and outbound programs and sister-institutional relationships
Enhanced and expanded of academic programs in response to student and regional needs
Meet or exceed the goal of 1,754 first-time-in-college students (FTICs) in fall 2013, and 2014.
Increase enrollment in undergraduate mechanical and electrical engineering programs by 30% over three years, from 373 in the fall 2011 to 485 in fall 2014.
Meet or exceed the goal of enrolling 1,150 new transfer students annually from fall 2012 to fall 2014.
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