1950:
May 16: Fr. Steiner announces a twenty million dollar fund drive, half of which is to be spent on a field house, an administration building, a residence hall, and a new chapel.
September: Enrollment is 8758 students.
Dental hygiene program starts with a sixty thousand dollar grant from the Kellogg Foundation.
November 11: The new library opens on the McNichols campus. The book collection numbers over 150,000.
1951:
The first St Bernard, Titania bought by the student union as the official U of D mascot.
February: Theta Phi Alpha, a sorority of Catholic women establishes Phi Chapter at the university, with 38 charter members.
April 13-14: Ed Sullivan is Master of Revels at the Annual Spring Festival held at the State Fair Coliseum. Duke Ellington and his orchestra play at the dance.
May 17: A six pound fossil tooth and a seven pound portion of a three hundred pound mammoth tusk from Alaska are given to the biology dept.
July 13-23: City of Freedom, a show staged to celebrate the City of Detroit's 250th year, is produced on campus.
Fall: The University has about 260 full-time instructors, add in the part-time and it's around 400.
1952:
January: The University celebrates its seventy-five birthday.
May 25: Memorial Building is dedicated.
Fall: The Law School moves to Dowling Hall.
November 15-25: "Light Up the Land" is presented in the Memorial Bldg.
1953:
Ask the Professor radio program established.
December 29: Titana Van Gerd, St. Bernard, official mascot of the University gives birth to a litter of nine puppies.
1954:
April 23: Groundbreaking for Reno Hall.
August 16: Groundbreaking for the Student Union.
September: The Chemical Engineering dept starts a new master's program.
1955:
Friends of the Library started.
May: Grove is blocked off at Livernois.
September: Reno Hall opens.
October 14: Enrollment is 9075.
October 24: First telecast from the WTVS studio on campus.
November 27: Dedication of the Student Union
1956:
April: Benny Goodman and his orchestra play at the Spring Carnival.
April 10: Harry Belafonte lectures on folk music in the Student Union Ballroom.
Campus police department is established.
September: Employees of the university get a free tuition benefit, formally it had been fifty percent off.
October 6: WTVS 56 moves from the 3rd floor of the library to the Smith Media Center.
October: A map library is established in the room vacated by Channel 56.
December 4: Jean Stunyo, arts major, wins a silver metal in diving at the Olympics in Melbourne Austrailia.
December 9: The Smith Radio-TV Center is dedicated. The building is a former mortuary on Puritan.
December 9: Fr. Steiner announces a plan for education through television, outlining a four program series including both credit and non-credit courses.
1957:
March 14-15: Polio is in the neighborhood. The Women's League sponsors a Salk vaccine clinic. 2500 students get their first shot at the Student Union.
August 8: Groundbreaking for the Briggs Building. Liberal Arts will have a home of their own for the first time.
1958:
Fall: Department of Geography added.
Summer: The last of the Titan mascots sold--and the end of the 'saga of the St. Bernards."
September: Parking permits are now required to park on campus.
1959:
February 6: A new Jesuit Seminary, Columbiere College in Clarkston, opens.
April: Favorite student hangout, The Peter Pan, known as "the Pan" has been around for 32 years at 16875 Livernois.
September: The National Science Foundation awards U of D a grant of eight thousand dollars "for the furtherance of undergraduate participation in scientific research projects."
December: The University receives another NSF grant of over fifty thousand dollars for a summer institute for high school students.
