The 1990s were indeed a decade of prosperity featuring campus building improvements, growing enrollments and maturing programs.

Video Clip: Basil Clark speaks about the importance of SVSU in the community (56K-compatible) Required

More than $60 million in campus improvements took place in the decade of the 1990s. The long-awaited West Complex, the largest structure on campus, opened in 1996. The multipurpose facility serves as the main entryway to the university's core campus and links the Leland L. Doan Center with the Arbury Fine Arts Center. Other improvements include the renovation of the football stadium in 1991, the addition of Founders Hall in 1995 and the Bell Tower in 1998, and construction of Instructional Facility #3 in 1999.

During the decade, enrollments grew to record levels. In fall 1990, on-campus enrollment was just over 6,000, but by fall 1999, it had grown to just over 8,000. And, the university began attracting a higher quality of students. In fall 1998, for example, 38 members of the record-sized freshmen class were high school valedictorians and salutatorians and one third had grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.

While domestic enrollment grew, international enrollment also flourished. The decade opened with less than 50 international students and grew to 335 students by fall 2000. According to President Eric R. Gilbertson, international students "have clearly helped to make this campus a more cosmopolitan place."

SVSU's academic excellence also was recognized through accreditations. In 1994, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools renewed SVSU's accreditation for 10 years, the longest renewal in the university's history and a sign of the university's level of performance, integrity and quality. Specific academic programs received accreditation by national agencies for the first time, including education, graduate-level nursing and occupational therapy.

More than 500 people gathered in 1993 to celebrate SVSU's 30th anniversary and to reflect on SVSU's humble beginnings in the basement of Delta College to its growth on a 782-acre campus, from a first graduating class of 10 students to an alumni body of more than 12,000. SVSU President Eric R. Gilbertson summed up the occasion. "What we hoped was going to happen is what happened. Hopes became a reality."

New faces came to campus and beloved pioneers said "good-bye" - from the retirement of SVSU's second president, Jack M. Ryder, in 1991 to the conclusion of the work of the Triskelions in 1994 to the death of College of Nursing founder Crystal M. Langue in 1999.

The decade of the 1990s was one of growth, prosperity and change. It continued to build on the accomplishments of the past and laid the groundwork for the "next steps' into the future.

Credits | Add to these pages | Comments or Questions?
Last modified April 24, 2001