A Look Back Through Time
1870s
1873 | The College of Liberal Arts is founded, with Rev. John W. Lindsay appointed first dean. It is located at 20 Beacon Street. |
1873–79 | The School of Oratory, a department of CAS and housed in the same building, includes faculty member Alexander Graham Bell, who teaches “Culture of the Speaking Voice.” A paid year’s leave allows him to perfect a medium for transmission of speech over wires. The first public transmission is from that building to the Atheneum Reading Room. |
1874 | The School of All Sciences (later, graduate school) opens. John W. Lindsay is appointed acting dean. |
1877 | Helen Magill, who was the only female in her class at Boston Public Latin school, earns her PhD in Greek, the first woman to earn a doctorate in the United States. |
1880s
1881 | Alice Stone Blackwell, daughter of famous suffragist Lucy Stone, graduates from CAS with honors and as class president (she received an honorary degree from BU in 1945). |
1886 | Founding of Klatsch Kollegium, an annual CAS festival involving students and, often, faculty. Continued until 1954. |
More from the 1880s
1890s
1891 | CAS Class of 1891 creates a yell: “B.U. Boom la la! / Nonaginta Una! / Ya! Ya! Ya!” |
1896 | The Men’s Club of 1896 was founded “on account of the comparative weakness in numbers of the male contingent of the College of Liberal Arts.” |
More from the 1890s
1900s
1903 | A Bostonia report states that although study in France would be good for students, most prefer to go to Germany because it is beneficial for their careers. |
1907 | Initiation of the system of having majors and minors. |
More from the 1900s
1910s
1910 | The School of All Sciences is renamed the graduate school. The matriculation fee is $10 for the MA and $25 for the PhD. |
1914 | After discussion of a need for a dean of women, Agnes Black, professor of elocution in CAS, is appointed Advisor of Women. |
1917–19 | World War I: CAS is very involved in war work. It provides training for women to become sick room assistants, has groups of students working with faculty volunteers to study issues related to the war; offers a course on Red Cross work; collects books for soldiers; women students knit sweaters for soldiers. CAS student council passes resolutions condemning Germany and support President Wilson. |
More from the 1910s
1920s
1923 | CAS holds world fellowship week with speakers to discuss “the race question.” |
1924 | Admissions pressure on CAS is so great that it has to turn away 100 students hoping for admission. |
1924 | Hazing of CAS students requires that freshmen have to wear red caps, girls wear braids with green ribbons. |
1924 | Lucy Jenkins Franklin (CAS 1883, MA, PhD) is inducted as the first dean of women. |
More from the 1920s
1930s
1934 | CAS (unusually) has more male than female students. |
1936 | Founding of the Department of Psychology, drawing together other separate departments. |
More from the 1930s
1940s
1941–45 | World War II: Only three of 11 men’s dorms at BU are occupied; students participate in war work; regular activities such as orchestras and bands stop because of lack of male students. Thirty one members of the Class of 1946 died; they received their degree posthumously. |
1944 | CAS begins to plan for a post-war curriculum including, especially, a better foreign area and language curriculum and higher standards and more intense courses. We should expect two hours of preparation for each hour of lecture. |
More from the 1940s
1950s
1951 | Enrollment in Russian language has increased by 100% since the start of the Korean War. |
1955 | Martin Luther King, Jr. receives his PhD in systematic theology. |
More from the 1950s
1960s
1965 | Representative Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY) speaks in CAS on “the legislative politics of desegregation.” |
1965 | Numerous discussions and teach-ins on the Vietnam War, often with the participation and leadership of Professor Howard Zinn. |
1968 | Howard Zinn travels to North Vietnam to arrange for the release of captured pilots. He says that North Vietnam will negotiate when the bombing stops. |
More from the 1960s
1970s
1970 | CAS and BU students join in the national unrest over the war in Vietnam. The student union calls a two-day strike in February; and 50–80% of students skip classes. |
1975 | Elie Wiesel accepts a permanent appointment as the Andrew W. Mellow Professor in the humanities with his base in the University Professors and the Department of Religion. |
More from the 1970s
1980s
1982 | Founding of the Department of Archaeology, the only stand-alone archaeology department in the United States. |
1984 | CAS achieves the $100 million mark in grants. |
More from the 1980s
1990s
1996 | The College of Liberal Arts is renamed the College of Arts & Sciences. |
1997 | Professor of English and Creative Writing Robert Pinsky is named US Poet Laureate. |
More from the 1990s
2000s
2006 | In his Strategic Plan, President Robert A. Brown commits to “strengthening the College of Arts and Sciences as central to the quality of our academic programs,” and looks forward to growth in the size of the faculty by as many as 100 positions in ten years. |
2007 | Virginia Sapiro is appointed the 12th dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and dean of the graduate school—the first woman to occupy those positions. |
2009 | A CAS Task Force on the First Year Experience submits a report that provides a blueprint for future development of a first year experience to support student integration and success. |
More from the 2000s
2010s
2011 | BU signs an “in perpetuity agreement” and makes a $10 million investment to become a partner in the 4.3 meter Discovery Channel Telescope in Arizona, extending its partnership with the Lowell Observatory for the benefit of BU astronomy researchers and students. |
2013 | Bombs explode at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Among the witnesses, injured, and helpers are many BU student, faculty, and staff. Statistics graduate student Lingzi Lu is killed by the explosion, and a fellowship fund is established in her name. |
2014 | Founding of the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies within the College of Arts & Sciences, incorporating the former Department of International Relations and the many BU area studies programs. Adil Najam is appointed the first dean. |
2015 | Ann Cudd is appointed the 13th dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and dean of the graduate school. |
2019 | Stan Sclaroff is appointed the 14th dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and dean of the graduate school. |