{"id":2706,"date":"2012-03-01T22:07:51","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T04:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/?page_id=2706"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:22:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T21:22:48","slug":"dates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/archives\/history\/dates\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Dates in SAU History"},"content":{"rendered":"

1909<\/strong> The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 100, authorizing the establishment of four district agricultural boarding schools, one in each quadrant of the state, giving rural children access to a high school education. Columbia County\u2019s citizens raised funds to locate one of the schools at Magnolia.<\/p>\n

1910 <\/strong>Old Main, Dining Hall, Holt, and Jackson Halls were constructed.<\/p>\n

1911 <\/strong>Third District Agricultural School (TDAS) opened its doors a mile north of the city of Magnolia, in Columbia County, Arkansas.\u00a0 McCrary and Caraway Halls were constructed two years later.<\/p>\n

1912 <\/strong>The football team chose the Mulerider name.<\/p>\n

1914-21 <\/strong>E. E. Austin served as president.\u00a0 Curriculum emphasized agriculture for males and home economics for females.\u00a0 Coursework also included literature, history, and science.<\/p>\n

1919 <\/strong>The Muleriders had their first unbeaten football season. Dolph Camp, later to become the president of Southern State College (now SAU), played center on this team.<\/p>\n

1921-45 <\/strong>Charles A. Overstreet served as the last principal of TDAS and the first president of Magnolia A&M.<\/p>\n

1922 <\/strong>The yearbook was renamed The Mulerider<\/em>.<\/p>\n

1923 <\/strong>A student newspaper, the Bray<\/em>, began.<\/p>\n

1925 <\/strong>Act 45 made TDAS the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, Third District. Most commonly referred to as Magnolia A&M, it was a two-year junior college.<\/p>\n

1926 <\/strong>A National Guard Armory was constructed on campus. This facility was also used for A&M classes, basketball games, and plays. Students earned money to attend school as members of guard companies. Students and the Magnolia guard companies participated in U.S. wars from 1917 to 2009.<\/p>\n

1929 <\/strong>The North Central Association accredited A&M.<\/p>\n

1931 <\/strong>College student enrollment exceeded that of high school students for first time.\u00a0 High school classes ended in 1937.<\/p>\n

1936-37<\/strong> The New Deal\u2019s WPA constructed Cross Hall and Nelson Hall. A&M students built the Greek Theatre.<\/p>\n

1937 <\/strong>Sultan\u2019s Magnolia Belle gained nationwide recognition for milk and butter fat production and was awarded a gold medal as national champion by the American Jersey Cattle Club.<\/p>\n

1944 <\/strong>Overstreet Hall\u2019s construction began in 1940 and was completed in 1944.<\/p>\n

1945-50 <\/strong>Colonel Charles S. Wilkins served as president. Bussey Hall, Childs Hall, and Wilkins Stadium were constructed.<\/p>\n

1950-59<\/strong> Dr. Dolph Camp served as president. Dolph Camp Fine Arts Building, Graham Hall, Peace Library, and the President\u2019s home were constructed.\u00a0 A Counseling Center was also established.<\/p>\n

1951 <\/strong>Act 45 renamed A&M Southern State College (SSC), a four-year liberal arts college.<\/p>\n

1951-52<\/strong> Coach Elmer Smith\u2019s Mulerider football teams won back-to-back Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) championships.<\/p>\n

1955<\/strong> The North Central Association awarded SSC accreditation.\u00a0 Dr. Camp proclaimed a two-day holiday for faculty and students.<\/p>\n

1955-56<\/strong> The first tentative steps were taken toward integration of the college with admission of the first black undergraduate. Full integration was achieved only after 1964.<\/p>\n

1959-76<\/strong> Dr. Imon E. Bruce served as president. He conducted the largest building program in history of the institution \u2013 new gymnasium, new student center (now Bruce Center), Graham Annex (later Honor\u2019s South Hall), Greene Hall, Harrod Hall, Harton Theater, Magale Library, National Guard Armory, the Physical Plant, Talbot Hall, Talley Hall, Wharton Nursing Building, and Wilson Hall. Many original campus buildings were removed.<\/p>\n

1966-67<\/strong> Coach W. T. Watson\u2019s basketball teams won back-to-back AIC championships.<\/p>\n

1965-83<\/strong> Coach Margaret Downing\u2019s women\u2019s basketball teams won eight state and conference championships.<\/p>\n

1970<\/strong> Fraternities were established for the first time.<\/p>\n

1972<\/strong> Coach Rip Powell\u2019s Mulerider football team won the AIC championship.<\/p>\n

1974<\/strong> Master of Education degrees were instituted.<\/p>\n

1975<\/strong> A Branch campus was established in El Dorado and control assumed of Southwest Technical Institute in Camden for a three-branch SAU system.\u00a0 SAU El Dorado Branch became an independent community college in 1991.\u00a0 The Camden school remained an SAU branch community college, SAU Tech.<\/p>\n

1976<\/strong> Southern State College became Southern Arkansas University. Four schools were organized:\u00a0 Business, Education, Liberal and Performing Arts, and Science and Technology.<\/p>\n

1976-91<\/strong> Dr. Harold T. Brinson served as president.<\/p>\n

1980<\/strong> The first Murphy Lecture was delivered.<\/p>\n

1980-03<\/strong> Coach Steve Goodheart\u2019s baseball teams won nineteen championships, the most in school history, and played three times in the NAIA World Series.<\/p>\n

1984<\/strong> Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton delivered spring commencement address.<\/p>\n

1984<\/strong> Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke on campus for Democratic presidential candidate.<\/p>\n

1985<\/strong> The first Amfuel Lecture was delivered.<\/p>\n

1988<\/strong> Water Tower was first decorated as an illuminated holiday candle.<\/p>\n

1991<\/strong> Brinson Art Building was completed.<\/p>\n

1991<\/strong> The Joe D. and Deane Reid Woodward Visiting Artist series was established.<\/p>\n

1991<\/strong> The Faculty Senate began.<\/p>\n

1992-01 <\/strong>Dr. Steven G. Gamble served as president.\u00a0 Brinson Art Building, Cross Hall, Dolph Camp Fine Arts Building, and Nelson Hall remodeled.\u00a0 The gym (named for W. T. Watson) was expanded into the Dr. Kathryn Smith Brown HKR Complex.\u00a0 Last original campus buildings removed.<\/p>\n

1993 <\/strong>Business\/Agriculture-Business Building completed.<\/p>\n

1994<\/strong> The first Emerson-Thomas-Crone Lectureship was instituted with an address by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.<\/p>\n

1995<\/strong> Southern Arkansas University became member of the NCAA Division II and joined the Gulf South Conference.<\/p>\n

1996<\/strong> The inaugural Walz Lecture in History was delivered.<\/p>\n

1997<\/strong> The Muleriders led by Coach Steve Roberts won their first Gulf South Championship in football.<\/p>\n

2002 <\/strong>Dr. David F. Rankin was selected as President.<\/p>\n

2002-09<\/strong> Dr. Rankin\u2019s Blue and Gold Vision launched the second greatest building program in school history that included the Reynolds Center, Honors and East Halls (later renamed Fincher Hall), University Village, Band Hall, a Wharton Nursing Building addition, Mulerider Stables, lights for baseball field and a remodeled Wilkins Stadium, including artificial turf with Mulerider Logo. The Mulerider Activities Building and a Science & Technology Center were to be completed in 2010. Plans were laid for an Agricultural Center.\u00a0 Alumni made donations of marble fountain, walking trail, and monumental signs.<\/p>\n

2003<\/strong> The Welcome Center at the President\u2019s former home was established for the Alumni Association and SAU Foundation. Mulegating began there prior to football games.<\/p>\n

2003<\/strong> An Honors Program began.<\/p>\n

2004<\/strong> The Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Service Center was completed.<\/p>\n

2004<\/strong> The Dr. Kathleen Mallory Distinguished Lecture series began.<\/p>\n

2004-08 <\/strong>Master\u2019s degrees were instituted in agriculture, business, computer science, and public administration along with new programs in master\u2019s of education degrees. Academic reorganization included inauguration of Colleges of Business, Education, Liberal & Performing Arts, and Science & Technology, and a School of Graduate Studies.<\/p>\n

2005 <\/strong>The Farmers Bank Lecture series began.<\/p>\n

2005<\/strong> Acquisition of the Governor Ben Laney farm doubled campus acreage, the largest expansion of land holdings since 1910.<\/p>\n

2006<\/strong> The Muleriders won their first Gulf South Championship in baseball. A second title was followed in 2009.<\/p>\n

2009<\/strong> Centennial celebrations included Governor Mike Beebe\u2019s re-enactment of signing Act 100 (1909) at the state capitol; first Founders Day at SAU on April 1; free concert by country western star Tracy Lawrence, a former SAU student; Great SAU Mule Ride to re-enact 1912 football\u2019s team\u2019s trips to away games; a Boomtown Classic football game in El Dorado with traditional arch-foe, the University of Arkansas at Monticello, originally also one of four state agriculture schools established in 1909; and Book signing for James F. Willis, Southern Arkansas University: The Mulerider School\u2019s Centennial History, 1909-2009<\/em> (2009).<\/p>\n

2010<\/strong> SAU founding member of Great American Conference<\/p>\n

2010-2021<\/strong>\u00a0Academic Building Construction. Opening of Science Center (2010); Agricultural Center (2013); Norvell Engineering Building (2016); Education Building (2021); Expansion of Oliver Band Hall (2021)<\/p>\n

2010-2016<\/strong>\u00a0 Athletic Facilities Construction. Expansion of Walker Baseball Stadium at Goodheart Field (2010); Completion of Story Arena (2014); dedication of Mulerider Softball Complex, including Dawson Field (2016)<\/p>\n

2011<\/strong> Mulerider Activity Center opened<\/p>\n

2015<\/strong> College of Business named for Dr. David Rankin<\/p>\n

2015-2023<\/strong> Dr. Trey Berry served as SAU president<\/p>\n

2017<\/strong> Love and Loyalty Capital Campaign launched<\/p>\n

2018<\/strong> Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree program accredited<\/p>\n

2020<\/strong> Ozmer and Alexander-Warnock Farmstead dedicated<\/p>\n

2020<\/strong> SAU pivoted to online course delivery and remote work in March as the coronavirus pandemic spread; resumed classes in the fall on an altered schedule<\/p>\n

2021<\/strong> Initial class for Doctor of Education in Rural and Diverse Educational Leadership<\/p>\n

2023<\/strong> College of Liberal and Performing Arts named for Joan and Jack Dempsey<\/p>\n

2024<\/strong> Dr. Bruno Hicks appointed SAU president<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1909 The Arkansas Legislature passed Act 100, authorizing the establishment of four district agricultural boarding schools, one in each quadrant of the state, giving rural children access to a high school education. Columbia County\u2019s citizens raised funds to locate one of the schools at Magnolia. 1910 Old Main, Dining Hall, Holt, and Jackson Halls were… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":811,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-2706","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4259,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2706\/revisions\/4259"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}