UPJ 1960 - 1970 - UPJ Greek Alumni

Greeks at UPJ 1960 - 1970

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Presidents of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
1958-1971 Dr. Theodore W. Biddle

1927 -1959

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1960 - 1961

August 1960: Dr. Theodore Biddle and Mr. Charles Kunkle, Jr. announce the intention to launch a public campaign for a Building Fund for development and building purposes. Dr. Biddle also announces that a gift from the Wilmore Coal Company of 136 acres in Richland Township, a suburb of Johnstown, might be used as a potential college campus.
April 7 1961: Lambda Sigma Rho, the FIRST Greek social fraternity, is chartered.

1961 - 1962

October 1961: Johnstown College celebrates its 35th anniversary. Chancellor Litchfield speaks about the University’s goal to erect a large building for classroom and administrative purposes and several student dormitories within the next three years on the Richland Township property.
Johnstown College opens its first residence hall, Dillon Hall, on Osborne Street for seven women students.

1962 - 1963

The Student Education Association for pre-education majors, a branch of the National Education Association, is chartered.
November 20 1962: The first Johnstown College student yearbook, The Sentinel, is published.

January 22 1963: Phi Delta Psi social fraternity is chartered.
March 1 1963: Delta Sigma Chi social fraternity is chartered.
March 27 1963: Chi Lambda Tau leadership and scholarship social fraternity is chartered.
August 4 1963: Alpha Kappa Pi the FIRST Greek social sorority is chartered.

1963 - 1964

The Fort Stanwix Hotel is deeded to the college for use as a co-ed student dormitory.
The Wilmore Coal and Real Estate Companies, as part of the Berwind Corporation, gave the University of Pittsburgh a land tract of 136 acres, on which the current campus was built.
The original campus was constructed between 1963 and 1967.
When buildings were being constructed, then-President Dr. Theodore W. Biddle insisted that the utility companies lay their lines around many of the large trees.
The stone used on the buildings is a quartzite, originally deposited about 600 million years ago. The stone weighs about 180 pounds per cubic foot and will withstand pressure of 280,000 pounds per square inch.
The campus contains one of the largest private cemeteries in Richland Township.

1964 - 1965

April 12 1965: 316 additional acres are purchased for the Richland Township campus with a $70,000 grant from the Richard K. Mellon Foundation. An additional three acres are donated by members of the Jacob Hoffman family. Total acreage is 455.

Johnstown College hosts eight adult men and two adult women from India, arranged through the “Experiment in International Living” program. In 1966, the same program sends seven young people from Italy and two from Spain to Johnstown.

1965 - 1966

November 12 1965: Chi Epsilon Nu social sorority is chartered.
December 16 1965: Ground breaking ceremony for the new Richland Township campus is held.
January 26, 1966: Dr. Stanton Chapman Crawford, The First "Executive Head of the Johnstown Center of the University of Pittsburgh" from 1927-1933 dies
1966 Total enrollment is 1,150.

1966 - 1967

September 21 1966: Cornerstone-laying ceremony for the Richland Township campus. Walter W. Krebs, publisher and editor of the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, receives an honorary doctorate for his community leadership and service to the college.

1967 - 1968

September 26 1967: The $8 million Richland Township campus is dedicated. Phase one of the campus includes the North and South Halls, three dormitories (Oak, Laurel, and Maple Halls), and a Student Union & Gymnasium. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the guest of honor, is conferred an honorary doctor of laws degree and speaks at the ceremony.

January 10 1968: The campus’ heating system was featured in Look magazine in 1968 as a state-of-the-art system, theoretically recycling body heat. NEWS: Student Talk Warms a Campus Tags; UPJ

President Dwight Eisenhower presided over the campus' dedication on September 26, 1967

1968 - 1969

1969 - 1970

Omega Alpha Tau Sorority founded???
July 1970: Professor N. Lewis Buck is transferred from Oakland with the title Associate Dean for Engineering Technology to plan the curriculum for a new four-year bachelor’s degree in Engineering Technology.

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Original List Compiled from "The Evolution of a College" by Robert J. Hunter, Delta Chi, The Advocate, The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, and various other sources in the Pitt-Johnstown Archive at Owen Library.