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Looking back …

Fresno State began as a two-year teacher training school in 1911. At the time there was no educational institution in the area except public schools within 200 miles.

With $25,000 in operating expenses and $10,000 for the purchase of land, Fresno State Normal School began its first year of instruction. The new school began with a president, a limited faculty and 150 students, but no campus. Classes were held at Fresno High School until the new site was completed on 10 acres at University and Van Ness avenues in 1916.

C.L. McLane, a former superintendent of Fresno Unified Schools, served as the first president, a position he held for 16 years.

With 11 part-time and one full-time faculty, Fresno State Normal School  began the task of training and educating Valley teachers. Course offerings included manual training, domestic art, science and agriculture. The first class included 31 women and two men; they graduated with teaching certificates.

Two years after Fresno Normal opened, the school moved to temporary quarters at the present Fresno City site, which was then two miles beyond the city limits. The same year, Fresno Normal began its campus training school. This was the first laboratory elementary school in the state normal schools and one of the few then existing in the United States.

In 1914, a summer school was established at Huntington Lake. Extension courses were also offered throughout the Valley during the regular school year. Seven years later Fresno Normal School joined with Fresno Junior College and officially changed its name to Fresno State Teachers College. The school colors were switched from green and gold to cardinal and blue and the first football team was formed. At this time, the Collegian became the official school newspaper.

Fresno State became a full liberal arts college in 1936 and a university in 1972.

Much of the information for this article was taken from President Harold Haak's 1986 annual address.