1920:
Thespian Club founded. Wendell Hall was elected the first president. The first production was Shakespeare’s As You Like It, staged at Orchestra Hall in the spring.
Kappa Beta Pi, law sorority, Lamda chapter established at the university.
1921:
January 19: Delta Sigma Pi (Commerce), Theta chapter, begins with 22 charter members. The house was located at 16925 Monica Ave.
September: Department of Aeronautical Engineering inaugurated.
October 2: Father John McNichols S.J. is installed as university president.
October 3: Sigma Sigma Alpha organizes.
October 10: The Law School inaugurates day classes.
October 26: First meeting of the Radio Research Society in the engineering bldg.
December: Fr McNichols announces the purchase of forty-two and a half acres by the university for its new site.
1922:
Beta Sigma Pi, a local Polish social fraternity is formed at the University.
Department of Architectural Engineering started in the College of Engineering. It will eventually become the School of Architecture in 1965.
January: The University Theatre founded. It is the outgrowth of the Thespian Club which had begun in 1920.
January 1: Newspapers announce the purchase of land for a new campus at Livernois and Six Mile.
Chi Sigma Phi organizes as an engineering fraternity. Their house was at 16260 Dexter.
March: Funds for a building to be known as the Reilly-Lansing Memorial in memory to C.J. Reilly and his son Lansing are donated to the university.
April: A drive to raise $125,000 for a new stadium begins. The fund contains pledges for $80,000 by the 28th. Eventually $127,000 is raised, an amount equaled by the Dinan brothers.
June 28: Groundbreaking for the new stadium at Livernois and Six Mile. John A Russell turned the spade. This will be Dinan Field.
Fall: B. S. in physical education is added.
September: Detroit Union rents the first floor and basement of a house at 627 E. Jefferson and opens the first union quarters. A union fee of $10 is placed on tuition.
Pearl K. Quermbach organizes the Coeds’ Union. Theresa Schneider, first president. Membership is 115 in the first year
Day school at Commerce and Finance opens with 45 freshman.
October: “Freres” social fraternity organized.
November: The Coeds’ Union opens its first quarters in the Engineering building.
November: Groundbreaking for the powerhouse.
1923:
Union pin adopted.
First Yearbook “The Red and White” appears, edited by Donald J. McGaffey.
Formation of the Intra-Fraternity Council.
November: The library contains about fifteen thousand volumes.
1924:
Delta Phi Epsilon. foreign trade fraternity, Zeta chapter organized.
University teams are now referred to as the Titans.
May 3: Plans for the new U of D completed and approved.
September: Rev. George A. Keith, S.J., appointed first Dean of Men.
October: Varsity News fee placed on tuition. Varsity News Magazine appears.
November: Alpha Sigma Nu, National Jesuit Honor Society, Detroit charter is granted.
1925:
Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish social fraternity establishes a XI chapter at the University.
Argon, a local, social fraternity founded.
January: Dept. of Aeronautics wind tunnel is completed.
January 18:
Delta Pi Kappa, journalistic fraternity, organizes at the University with 18 charter members. John J. Slevin, editor Varsity News is the first president.
February 15: First Annual Frosh Frolic at the Book-Cadillac Hotel.
March: Miss Florence Donahue appointed first Dean of Women.
June 10: ‘D” Club organized to include all that have ever won a Varsity letter.
June 12: Mary Quinn, Marcella V. and Kathleen G. MacHale are the first women to receive master’s degrees from the university.
September: Grand Rapids Club organized.
October: A student band of 45 make a first appearance in new red and white uniforms. Charles Schumm is first band director, Arthur Schuman, first drum major.
November 26: Groundbreaking for the faculty building on Six Mile Road.
The John P. Scallen Medal is awarded for the first time to Francis J. Bowler.
1926:
Five hundred Elm saplings planted on the new campus.
Chi Delta Theta, a local Architectural fraternity, founded at the University.
Fr. McNichols places the Detroit Union in charge of a drive to raise $25,000 for a 'Soldier's Tower' to be erected on the new campus in memory of those students who died in the late war while in service to the country.
January: First co-ed basketball team organized.
March: Alpha Chi (Local) social fraternity organized with 16 charter members.
March: A petition circulates asking that the Charleston be allowed at the university’s annual J-Hop.
April: Band fund drive begins.
April 16: Architectural fraternity Chi Delta Theta was organized.
May 4: First annual Soph Prom, General Motors Ballroom.
Jerry L. Dixon is the first African-American to graduate from the law school.
May 30: The cornerstone of the new faculty building on the McNichols Campus is laid by Bishop Gallagher. The proceedings are dampened somewhat by a thunderstorm.
December 15: The hymn “Alma Mater” written by James S Pooler and Paul M. Mertz, authors of the first Union opera, is taught to students at a smoker in the gymnasium.
December 19: Premier of the first Union opera, “Marry Ann” at Shubert- Detroit. General chairman of the opera committee, Cornelius F. McIntyre. Book by James S. Pooler. Lyrics by Paul M. Mertz and Angelo Lorenzo. There were seven evening and two afternoon performances. 11,229 paid admissions.
1927:
Kappa Sigma Delta, an engineering fraternity founded at the university.
Omega Beta Pi, Iota Chapter, a Pre-Med fraternity established. The house was located at 16803 Prairie Ave.
February: the name of the year book, “Red and White” is changed to “The Tower.”
March: Dramatic society “The Jesters” organized by cast and chorus of the first Union opera. James Shea, first president.
April 22: First Jubilee Junior-Hop, Crystal and Fountain Ballrooms, Masonic Temple.
June 24-August 15: Everything but the Law School, Night School, and the High School moves to the new campus on Six Mile and Livernois.
September: Enrollment is now 2,738.
October: The library is moved from the downtown campus to the third floor of the engineering building. At this time there are about 50,000 books in the collection.
October 8: Unveiling of the tablet on the Memorial Tower bearing the names of the 12 U of D students killed in the Great War. (The majority were not killed in combat, but by influenza.)
October 11: A civic banquet is held in the great hall of the new Engineering Building as part of the festivities during a four day celebration marking the university's Golden Jubilee. John Russell, from the class of 1883, was a speaker.
1928:
Father McNichols renamed university president for another six years.
October 30: An AAUP chapter is formed at U of D. It has nine members and Dr. Muttkowski, chair of the biology dept., is president.
November 28: The university submits an application to the Detroit City Clerk for the closing of three streets and four alleys in order to build a hospital.
1929:
Gamma Epsilon Phi, a Jewish engineering fraternity is founded at the university. The house was located at 3754 Monterey Ave.
January: Tower fee is added to tuition.
April 28-May 4: The third annual union opera Hoofs My Dear is at the Temple Theatre.
October 9: Victor Kolar, Detroit Symphony Director, composes March of the Titans for the university.
November 6: Physics students start a radio station in the Science Bldg. W8MA operates at a frequency range from 7000 to 3500 kilocycles.
