Chronology of University Events
With over 125 years of history, Walla Walla College, now University, has seen its share of trials, tragedy, and celebrations. Here, listed in chronological order, is just a sampling of events that have shaped who we are. Sources include Terrie Aamodt’s “A Bold Venture : a History of Walla Walla College” (1992) and “60 Years of Progress : the Anniversary History of Walla Walla College” (1952).
| 1892 | December 7 | Walla Walla College holds its first class, enrollment 103 |
| 1896 | May 18 | First graduation, three graduates |
| 1897 | April 25 | First Mountain Ash tree planted on campus |
| 1899 | August | College Bakery opens |
| 1901 | March 31 | WWC is incorporated |
| 1902 | Nov/Dec | Typhoid epidemic in College Place; three students die |
| 1903 | January | Smallpox epidemic in College Place |
| 1909 | April 22 | Jubilee Program celebrates paying off the college debt |
| May 24 | First baccalaureate degree issued | |
| August 6 | Artesian well drillers strike water supply | |
| 1910 | October 13 | The laundry and boiler room at the back of North Hall (old Administration building) catch fire; a wind shift saves the residence hall section |
| 1911 | October | New power plant replaces one destroyed in 1910 fire |
| 1913 | January 27 | University of Washington grants accreditation to the preparatory department of WWC for one year |
| March 28 | College Place SDA church (1st Village Hall) opens | |
| Autumn | WWC enrollment reaches 400 students | |
| 1914 | March 9 | Broom-making business discontinued |
| May | Collegiate Association is created (precursor of ASWWU) | |
| Sept. 9 | Bachelor of Music degree instituted | |
| 1915 | May | Western Collegian (the first yearbook) is published |
| 1916 | February | Snow storm leaves 48 inches of snow in 54 hours |
| September | Collegian (a monthly magazine) is first published | |
| 1917 | May | Mountain Ash (the renamed yearbook) is first published |
| Eleven college students graduate—a new record | ||
| May 24 | Alumni Association organized | |
| 1918 | November 3 | Flu epidemic; college closes for about a week |
| 1919 | January 18 | College Place SDA church (the first Village Hall) burns |
| January 28 | Fire destroys the fourth floor of the old Ad Building | |
| 1920 | April | WWC church opens (the second and current Village Hall) |
| 1922 | Spring | ASWWC replaces Collegiate Association |
| 1924 | Science Building (Bowers Hall) completed | |
| 1925 | February 5 | Collegian becomes a weekly paper |
| 1926 | January 21 | College enrollment reaches 500 students |
| 1927 | April 28 | OPS is established |
| Fall | Johnson Music Conservatory completed | |
| 1928 | Fall | AGA is established |
| 1931 | Mar. 31-Apr.1 | Flood in College Place covers a few streets in 4-5 ft of water (second photo) (film) |
| April 22 | First accreditation report denies accreditation to WWC | |
| 1933 | July 1 | Fire destroys most of Rachel Oakes Preston House (women’s residence hall) |
| October 17 | WWC admitted to the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of Seventh-day Adventists by the Board of Regents (denominational accreditation) | |
| 1934 | Autumn | Conard Hall completed |
| 1935 | January 15 | WWC receives senior college accreditation from the University of Washington |
| April 3 | WWC receives four-year accreditation from the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools | |
| 1936 | 1936 | Conard Hall dedicated |
| July 15 | 6.0 earthquake rattles windows at WWC | |
| 1938 | August 4 | Fire in the West Hall basement |
| 1939 | Spring | Columbia Auditorium opens (second photo) |
| 1940 | Dec. 12 | Men’s residence hall quarantined because of influenza epidemic |
| 1942 | Martin Airfield is built in College Place | |
| 1944 | May 11 | Peterson Memorial library is inhabited |
| 1945 | Dec. 24 | City of College Place is incorporated |
| 1947 | Summer | School of Nursing opens at Portland Sanitarium |
| September | Sittner Hall, though unfinished, is occupied | |
| 1948 | Autumn | Master in Biology approved |
| 1950 | June | Master in Education approved |
| 1954 | August | Marine station property is purchased at Rosario Beach, near Anacortes, Washington |
| Autumn | First Mask is published | |
| 1957 | October | Over 100 residence hall students are incapacitated by the flu |
| 1958 | Cafeteria (later named Kellogg Hall) is built | |
| October | College drills a new artesian well to replace 1909 well | |
| 1959 | January | Enrollment raises above 1400 for first time |
| 1962 | October 20 | College Church (now University Church) holds first service (construction video) |
| 1963 | April 25 | KGTS-FM goes on the air for first time |
| 1964 | Walla Walla Valley Academy (WWVA) opens in current location | |
| April 29 | Kretschmar Hall officially named, dedicated November 1st | |
| 1965 | August 22 | Smith Hall dedicated |
| Nov. 14 | College Bakery closes | |
| 1966 | West Hall, College Bakery, old swimming pool, old academy/normal building and the academy annex all removed during the school year | |
| February 27 | Music department moves into the Fine Arts Center, dedicated December 4th | |
| 1967 | June 2 | Life Sciences building (Rigby Hall) is dedicated |
| 1969 | Alumni Gym (Winter Education Complex or WEC) is opened | |
| 1970 | October | Highrise women’s residence hall (Foreman Hall) opens |
| October 3 | Biology Lodge near Tollgate, Oregon burns | |
| 1971 | October 11 | Engineering Department is accredited by the Engineers’ Council for Professional Development |
| 1972 | April | Board approves the purchase of Hallmark Apartments, which opened in September |
| December | College is reaccredited for ten years | |
| 1973 | May 17 | OPS ceases to function |
| 1974 | January 13 | Clyde and Mary Harris Art Gallery opens |
| Autumn | Harris Pine Mills opens in College Place | |
| 1975 | January 8 | Fire in a building adjacent to Foreman Hall damages the residence hall building |
| 1976 | October | Enrollment tops 2000 for first time |
| 1977 | Health Sciences Offices open | |
| 1978 | Nursing Residence Hall, Portland Campus (Howard Hanson Hall) opens | |
| Spring | OPS reinstated | |
| March 23 | Columbia Auditorium is destroyed by fire | |
| Autumn | Classes begin in Industrial Technology Center (now Canaday Technology Center or CTC) (second photo) | |
| 1980 | April | Sociology and Social Work department is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. |
| 1981 | Havstad Alumni Center opens. | |
| September 4 | College laundry closes (second photo) | |
| 1988 | January | First Master of Social Work classes taught |
| 1994 | Nov. 3 | Lindgren Chemistry Wing (Rigby) dedication |
| 1996 | August 20 | New College Store ribbon cutting |
| 1997 | School of Social Work and Sociology opens campus in Missoula, Montana | |
| April 27 | Chan Shun Pavilion dedicated | |
| 2001 | School of Social Work and Sociology opens campus in Billings, Montana | |
| May | Lindgren Hall (Rosario) opens | |
| 2003 | Autumn | Original Administration building demolished (second photo) (third photo) |
| Sept. 16 | Mountain View Apartments official opening | |
| 2004 | August 22 | Rogers Adventist School (new) ribbon cutting |
| Dec. 17 | Rogers Elementary School demolished | |
| 2007 | April 28 | Grand opening of new Administration building (second photo) |
| September 1 | Walla Walla College officially becomes Walla Walla University | |
| 2008 | Summer | Soccer field Completed |
| 2009 | Summer | The Hebbel-Janke Softball Complex (women's) completed & dedicated on October 4th |
| 2010 | March | The Express expansion completed |
| November | Nursing, Health, PE, and Social Work remodeling of WEC finished | |
| 2011 | November 3 | Atlas Opens |
| 2015 | Master of Arts in Media Ministry (changed to Cinema, Religion, and Worldview in 2018) established | |
| 2015-2016 | June - December | College Avenue reconstruction project; Before (General Campus 2015) - After (General Campus 2016) and Before (College Place 2014) - After (College Place 2016) |
| 2017 | Bowers Hall remodel; Before (Bowers Hall 2017), Renovating (Bowers Hall 2017), Ribbon Ceremony (Bowers Hall 2017), and After (Bowers Hall 2018) | |
| 2017 | Move of Counseling and Testing Center and University Health Care and remodel of the University Bookstore | |
| 2020 | March 13 | Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, campus closes and all classes and tests go online for the end of Winter quarter and all Spring quarter. Graduation 2020 is held online for the first time in history! |
| June | First doctorate degree offered: Doctor of Social Work | |
| 2021 | August | A new well starts to be drilled |