UNEARTHED from the archives
Becoming UW-Platteville By James Hibbard, Archivist
In September 1958, in the comfort of his office
in Old Main, Bjarne Ullsvik, the new president of Wisconsin State College at Platteville, composed a letter to faculty, staff, and students entitled Look Ahead. In the letter, Ullsvik predicted that due to the steadily increasing enrollment “WSCP will soon outgrow its present facilities.” What Ullsvik did not, and could not see was that WSCP would experience tremendous growth, two mergers, and become a university, all in the short span of 13 years.
Wisconsin State College and Institute of Technology at Platteville: July 1, 1959
When Ullsvik became President in 1958, he knew a merger between the State College and the Institute of Technology was already in the works. The two schools already shared Royce Hall, a male residence hall. In addition, the Student Center that was scheduled to open in spring 1959, was financed jointly and centrally located between the schools at Main and Hickory. This merger, however, was not without its challenges. An Oct. 20, 1958 Exponent headline stated it bluntly: “Merger Presents Problems.” The article chastised the students: “If there are any students who have particular biases—attempt to forget them now!” For 50 years, the two schools had maintained an intense rivalry socially and athletically and it was not going to be forgotten so quickly. The most prominent illustration of the rivalry was on the football field. According to former history professor Tom Lundeen, “Because of the roughness of the games and fear of serious injuries, the two schools never played football with one another after 1925.” The merger, however, was completed on July 1, 1959. Ullsvik remained president, but Milton Melcher, President of the Institute of Technology, became the Dean of Technology. Significantly, the traditions of both schools were kept and the two most identifiable symbols of each school, the Normal School Bell and the Mining School M, were eventually combined into the official seal.
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LOOK AHEAD Bjarne Ullsvik led Wisconsin State College at Platteville through its merger with the Institute of Technology.
Wisconsin State UniversityPlatteville: July 1, 1964
Remarkably, only five years later, in June 1964, the Exponent expressed the frustration at another name change: “Throw your sweatshirts away; they’ve done it again. Since 1842, Platteville has etched six different names across its walls, stationary, sweatshirts or the like.” This time, however, Platteville was being promoted to university status. This name change derived from UW-Platteville’s Normal School origins. When the Normal Schools were established in Wisconsin in the 19th century, they were grouped together and administered by their own board of regents. From 1866 to 1927, the Normal Schools functioned primarily as three-year institutions for educating teachers. In 1927, when they were authorized to award four-year baccalaureate degrees, they became
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