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• May: The College unveils its new governance structure, which includes an Academic Assembly and a Community Senate. The structure was developed as part of the institutional self-study and resulted in an innovative system of governance in which students, faculty and administrators held seats in each of the legislative bodies. This mixing of students in the governing bodies of the College reflected the spirit of student involvement of the 1960s and 1970s. The self-study was guided by a board of educators from across the country and included Dr. Nevitt Sanford, author of influential books advocating changes in the American system of higher education.
• Other programs begin, including Summer School Without Walls; College Expectations, a summer program for college-bound high school students; Coach Terry Bocian's athletic summer camps; and Bruce Early's summer music camps.
• New majors are added to the curriculum, including Communication Arts, Geography, and Religious Studies.
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In 1969-70, Aquinas undertakes a complete self-study, reexamining the college from top to bottom. It is a collaborative effort involving administrators, faculty, staff and students. |
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• The theater program in the Carriage House has to be discontinued because of fire marshal concerns about the building.
• Aquinas Institute for Religious Education (AIRS) program is discontinued. |
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| The main movers of the Eastown project pose for this early 1970's photo. In back row, Dr. Norbert Hruby, president of Aquinas College; Sr. James Rau, O.P. Front, from left, Aquinas faculty Linda Easley, Thomas Edison, and Michael Williams. |
Sr. Aquinas Weber O.P. confers with Jim Geib, manager of the Hammer and Cortenhof Hardware Store in Eastown. |
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| Ms. Betty Jennings tries her hand at the harp during one of the early Ireland program semesters. |
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1972 |
| • Semester-in-Ireland program is begun by Gertrude Horgan. |
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| 1973 |
| • Administrators, faculty and student representatives participate in an all-college retreat at Harbor Springs, Michigan. The goal of the Harbor Springs retreat was to continue the work of the institutional self-study of the late 1960s. |
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| • The Eastown Community Association is founded and funded for the first three years of its existence by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, obtained by the College. Aquinas professors Tom Edison, Linda Easley and Michael Williams, and Sr. James Rau produce "Eastown!," a nationally distributed book which is a case-study of how a not-for-profit institution like Aquinas can preserve the neighborhood in which it is situated. |
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| 1974 |
| • Commencement speaker Shirley Chisholm appears amidst much controversy. Chisolm , U.S. Congresswoman from the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of New York City and figure during the Watergate hearings, had been a supporter of Roe v. Wade, and this support caused an outcry, including death threats. She delivered her commencement address under tight security. |
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To hear more about the controversy, click here. This audio clip is from "Historically Speaking," an oral history of Aquinas College. |
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Aquinas students (from left) Alice Popiel, Tim Wessley, Janet Robach and others join Sr. Thomasine Bugala O.P. and a Zen Buddhist monk for a tea ceremony in Kyoto, Japan. |
Bernadette Robach, Mary Jo Muench, Michelle Robach, Tom Engebretsen (from left) and Sr. Thomasine Bugala O.P. have tea with a Buddhist monk in Kyoto, Japan, 1974. |
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Renowned theologian Bernard Lonergan S. J. speaks
during the 1974 celebration of St. Thomas Aquinas'
700th anniversary. |
Rev. Mark Heath O.P. preached at the opening Mass of the festivities celebrating the 700th anniversary of Thomas Aquinas, January 27. |
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• The first Aquinas College Jazz Festival is held. |
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C. Arthur Woodhouse, the first lay member of the Aquinas College Board of Trustees. |
A 1970s business student experiences work in the real world. Note the state of the art computer equipment. |
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| Student Al Duke serves an internship as an assistant in the Work Release Program at the Kent County Correctional Facility, 1975. |
Joe McCormick takes water samples as part of his field experience in 1975. |
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| • The College begins to enter the new age of computers under the guidance of newly hired faculty member Tom Dooley and veterans Lee Jacokes and Charles Frydrych. Since the era of personal computing is just beginning, the early efforts are very much improvisational, with students and faculty learning about the new machines simultaneously. |
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| 1976 |
• Emeritus College begins. |
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| 1977 |
• The Master of Management program is accredited. |
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The 1970s saw a rise in the number of preprofessional internships offered as part of a student's preparation for careers. Here a student intern works in a laboratory. |
Student Mark John experiences field research first hand, taking samples from a nearby river. |
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| 1978 |
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• Coach Terry Bocian becomes Athletic Director.
• Pattie Tibaldi leads the women's basketball teams to victory after victory.
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The Aquinas College "Tommies" become "the
Saints."
• After a fire, the former stable is renovated as Bukowski Pastoral Center, later Bukowski chapel. |
| (At left) The beer tent becomes a regular feature of Gala Weekend, here pictured in 1978. |
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| Sr. Jean Paul Tilmann, O.P., and Sr. Aquinas Weber O.P. stand at the intersection of Lake Drive and Wealthy Street, the hub of the Eastown district. |
In October, 1979, students celebrate Oktoberfest with a tug of war wearing classy Alpine hats. |
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