Oakland University started off as Michigan State University-Oakland, opening its doors in the fall of 1959. South Foundation Hall held classes taught for 570 students with a $255 per year tuition. Business, education and engineering were “concentrations” within a common liberal arts curriculum, taught by a total of 24 faculty members. It was a humble beginning.

Throughout the ’60s, OU would see an architectural boom, breaking ground on 16 buildings. In 1963, the university’s name was changed to Oakland University so it could appear on the very first diplomas delivered to students graduating in April. By 1969, OU had over 5,000 students enrolled, five major schools, a graduate program and summer options. The university also started competing in intercollegiate sports.

In 1970, OU officially became an independent university. The college’s first chancellor, Woody Varner, was replaced by Donald O’Dowd, who became the first university president and would hold the spot until 1979. Twenty years after their first semester, OU was up to more than 11,000 students.

The 1980s

Joseph E. Champagne (with wife Emily) served as the third president of Oakland University from 1981–91

Going into the ’80s, the search for a new president was atop the priority list. George Matthews was the appointed interim president, until naming Joseph Champagne the new president in 1981. President Champagne faced quite an uphill battle, though. At the time of his inauguration, the United States was dealing with a recession. Economics Associate Professor Ronald Tracy arrived on campus in 1982 and says it was an unusually difficult era. “It was the worst recession we’ve had post-WWII. We had the highest unemployment rate since the 1940s,” he says.

When O’Dowd stepped down in 1979, unemployment in America was just under 6% and by 1982 it shot up to nearly 10%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite the outside pressures, the university, its faculty and the students persevered.

The Rochester Apple Amble was a five-mile road run that was part of Rochester’s Art & Apples Festival. Starting in 1982 the run was included in Septemberfest, OU’s series of back-to-school programs to welcome students every September. The run through campus was a way to bring the OU and Rochester communities together.

“When you were on campus, it was almost like its own world,” says Geri Graham, SBA ’86, project director for Oakland University’s Project Upward Bound, who was a marketing student in the early ’80s. “We were all in the same boat. The focus was getting funding for college and deciding how to best use our financial aid refunds.”

On campus, many students were not balancing work and education, they were full-time students. Isolated from the issues outside of OU, they worked closely with each other and faculty to get the most out of their classes and had fun doing it.

“Morale was really high on campus,” Tracy recalls, “for both faculty and students.” There was a great relationship between students and faculty. This was before email, so if students had questions, they’d go to their professor’s office and have a face-to-face meeting, helping to create lasting, impactful bonds.

Time to celebrate

By 1984, Oakland University had come out on the other side of the recession stronger than ever, exceeding 12,000 students for the first time in history, and was ready to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

In the 1980s, the Pioneers shone in men’s and women’s basketball, as well as swimming and diving. Cheering spectators proudly wore OU’s black, gold and white colors.

Over the course of a week in mid-September, Oakland University held events to honor the growth and prosperity of the college. A two-day Trivial Pursuit tournament was held on campus, old Tiger Stadium hosted OU Day and Meadow Brook Hall was booked with tours and had an art collection on display. All of the academic buildings and residence halls hosted open houses with pancake breakfasts. They also hosted the Fun Run to go along with the Lepley Sports Center.

During that weekend, the residence halls put on an afterschool party for the students. They had a hot air balloon festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and tailgate for the OU versus Michigan Wolverines soccer game that featured an ox roast and array of games.

Over 10,000 people came together to celebrate and honor the university for the strides it made for itself and the hard work from the faculty, staff and students over the first quarter century.