ACCREDITATION

The University was first accredited by the Association of Colleges and Universities of the Middle States in November, 1921.

AFRICAN AMERICANS

Louis L. Redding, the civil rights pioneer of Wilmington, is credited with leading the effort to desegregate the University of Delaware in 1949.  Mr. Redding, a graduate of Howard High School in Wilmington and an alumnus of Brown University and Harvard Law School, was Delaware's first black lawyer.  He supported efforts for civil rights during his distinguished career and was instrumental in the desegregation of the University of Delaware.  He also argued a case on behalf of black school children in Delaware that was one of the cases leading to the Supreme Court's decision in 1954 to desegregate U.S. public schools.  Mr. Redding is memorialized at the University of Delaware by the Louis L. Redding Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy.  The purpose of the Redding Chair is to recognize and to teach others about his legacy--the use of law to influence public policy and to educate future leaders about the impact that the law can have in making constructive and important policy changes.

In 1951, Kathryn Hazeur (MED) and Cora Saunders (MS) were the first African American students to receive master's degrees at the University.

In 1952, Letitia Empson Boyer (BSED), Esther C. Porter (BSED), Helen Handy Powell (BSED), and Elbert C.Wisner (BEE) were the first African American students to receive bachelor's degrees.

In 1953, John H. Taylor was the first African American student to receive a doctoral degree.

In 1970,  Jay Saunders Redding became the first African American to receive an honorary degree.

AGRICULTURE

The first Farmer's Day was held in 1907.

ATHLETICS

The first athletic contest on Joe Frazer Field was a football game between Delaware College and Haverford College, October 4, 1913. Haverford defeated Delaware 7-0.

AWARDS

Charles W. Bush became Delaware first recipient of a Rhodes scholarship in 1904.

The first Curtis Prize for Work in Freshman English was awarded to Benjamin W. Ward, June 19, 1909.

The first Professional Progress Award was given to Allan Philip Colburn in 1948.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The first governor of Delaware to be an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees was Peter F. Causey, 1855.

The first graduating senior elected to the Board of Trustees was Ralph Douglas Cope, 1978.

Prayer was first used to open Trustee meetings in 1844.

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR

The first Business Administrator was William Langhorne, who served as assistant to the Committee on Grounds and Buildings, 1917-1918.

CLASSES

The first Civil Engineering class was taught in 1870.

The first Summer School for Teachers was held in 1913.

Grade point averages were first used in the Fall of 1923.

COMMENCEMENT/CONVOCATION/HONORS DAY

The first commencement was held September 28, 1836.

The first Commencement exercises held in the Stadium were in 1966.

The first Convocation at the University of Delaware was September 22, 1922. The Faculty were notified that they were "...required by recent ruling of the Board of Trustees to report before Wolf Hall at 2:30 o'clock on Friday, September 22, 1922. Academic costume, with hood wherever possible, will be worn."

The first time that earned degrees were given at Convocation was September 24, 1924.

The first graduating class was 1836.

The first Honors Day was May 22, 1947.

COURSES

The earliest education courses appear to have been offered in 1914 in the Women's College and in Delaware College's School of Arts and Science in 1917-1918.

The earliest extension offerings appear to have been offered in 1914-1915. The trustees officially thanked the faculty for their cooperation April 20, 1914.

The first year of instruction was 1834.

The Pass/Fail option appears for the first time in the 1970-72 Undergraduate Catalog. It was approved at the March 17, 1969 Faculty meeting.

Instruction in swimming was first given in the fall term, 1914.

DEGREES, EARNED

The first B.A. Degrees were awarded to William S. Graham, John Martin, Erastus B. Foote, and Isaiah G. DeGrasse, September 29, 1836.

The first graduate in Chemical Engineering was Frank Haley Buck, who received his B.S. June 14, 1916.

The first Baccalaureate Degree in Home Economics was awarded in June 1918.

The first recipient of the Ph.D. degree was James William Westwater, June 7, 1948.

The first Chemistry Department M.A. degree was given to Daniel Ainslee Brown in 1937.

The first Master of Arts degrees were awarded September 25, 1839 to Erastus B. Foote and William S. Graham.

The first M.A. degree in History and Political Science was awarded to Carl Budin in 1933.

The first Master of Electrical Engineering degree was conferred at Convocation Exercises, September 22, 1948, to Donald Forrest Clements. Prior to that time, the degree "Electrical Engineer" was given.

The first undergraduate in Political Science was Louis H. Coxe, IV, 1949.

The first recipient of a Baccalaureate Degree with Distinction in Home Economics (Textiles and Clothing) was Mary Jane Guenveur Cox, June 1953.

The first Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology degrees were awarded to Dorothy Arlene Damon, Susanne Cecil Marshall and Sally Thomas, September 21, 1950. The degrees were awarded at Convocation.

The first recipient of a Master's Degree in Home Economics was Florence Cranston Clements, June 1951.

The first Ph.D. degree in Animal Science was awarded to Terrence J. Dougherty, May 30, 1971.

The first Ph.D. degree in Applied Sciences was awarded to Hernando De La Cuesta, June 10, 1962.

The first Ph.D. degree in Art History was awarded to Rebecca J. Ginnings, June 7, 1970.

The first Ph.D. degree in Behavioral Sciences was awarded to Roger A. Cutt, June 10, 1962.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Biological Sciences were awarded to Jay L. Harmic and Sheldon A. London, June 8, 1958.

The first Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering was awarded to James W. Westwater, June 7, 1948.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry were awarded to Richard H. Gale and Howard A. Neidig, September 22, 1948.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Education were awarded to Margaret A.B. Jones and Mary L.W. Wolfe, May 25, 1974.

The first Ph.D. degrees in English were awarded to Henry A. Robertson, Jr. and Jack C. Wills, June 12, 1966.

The first Ph.D. degree in Geography was awarded to Russell Andrew Ambroziak, June 1986.

The first Ph.D. degree in Geology was awarded to Bernard L. Oostdam, May 30, 1971.

The first Ph.D. degree in History was awarded to Nuala M. Drescher, June 7, 1964.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Marine Studies were awarded to Frederick K. Lepple, George Pararas Carayannis and Leslie E. Watling, June 7, 1975.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Mathematics were awarded to Harry B. Coonce and Francis J. Papp, IV, June 8, 1969.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Physics were awarded to William R. Miller, Jr., Paul F. Mullaney and Rein Taagepera, June 13, 1965.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Plant Science were awarded to Thomas A. Fretz, John C. Ryder, Jr. and Raymond W. Scheetz, June 7, 1970.

The first Ph.D. degree in Psychology was awarded to James M. Driscoll, June 7, 1964.

The first Ph.D. degrees in Sociology were awarded to Rodger A. Bates and Elizabeth H.R. Lenz, June 5, 1976.

The first Ph.D. degree in Statistics and Computer Science was awarded to Stanley Edmund Jones, June 11, 1967.

The first Ph.D. degree in Urban Affairs was awarded to Clyde Bishop, June 5, 1976.

DEGREES, HONORARY

The first alumna to receive an honorary degree was Lucile Petry, 1949.

The first African American to receive an honorary degree was Jay Saunders Redding, 1970.

The first doctor of civil law (D.C.L.) was awarded to Pierre S. duPont in 1922.

The first doctor of divinity (D.D.) degree was awarded to John Mines in 1841.

The first doctor of humane letters was awarded to Charles I. Carpenter in 1955.

The first doctor of laws (LLD) were awarded in 1845 to Louis M. McLane, GeorgeP. Marsh, and John Morrison.

The first doctor of letters was awarded to Violet Oakley in 1918.

The first doctor of medical science was awarded to George H. Wells in 1934.

FACILITIES

The first Campus Post office was in the Fall of 1923.

The first dial telephone service on campus was June 6, 1949.

Harrington was the first Co-ed dormitory, in 1971.

The first "fitting up" of furnished rooms for students "with appropriate charges for renting of same" was approved by the Board of Trustees on August 14, 1888. Prior to that time all rooms were furnished by the students themselves.

The first fraternity house on campus was Sigma Phi Epsilon.

The first motion picture projector on campus was installed in Wolf Hall auditorium in December, 1920.

The "Open Dorm" policy began September 19, 1969.

The first swimming pool at Delaware College was built in the fall of 1913, in Taylor Gymnasium.

The cafeteria system was first used for serving meals to resident students in 1919.

FACULTY

Frederic H. Robinson, who retired in 1916, was the first faculty member to receive a pension.

The first President of the Faculty Senate was Jon H. Olson, 1970.

The first Physical Education Instructor was Mr. Whitelock, 1891.

FOREIGN STUDY PLAN

The first study abroad program in the United States began at the University of Delaware in 1923. It was known as the Delaware Foreign Study Program and the Junior Year Abroad.

GRADUATE STUDIES

The first programs leading to the MA and MS are noted in 1895.

The earliest Master's Thesis was done in 1897.

The Division of Graduate Studies was approved by the Board of Trustees on December 12, 1936.

MARCHING BAND

The first band uniforms were given by H. Rodney Sharp, in 1949.

PUBLICATIONS

The first issue of Faculty Newsletter was published March 9, 1948.

The first issue of Delaware College Review was published June 1, 1882.

The first issue of The Review published in newspaper format was Volume 31, Number 8, May 15, 1915.

Our Sunbeam was the first student newspaper at the University of Delaware.

SONGS

The first appearance of the "Fight Song" by George Kelly and Harry Lawson is found in the Student Handbook, 1933.

STAFF/DEPARTMENTS

The first African American on the Professional Staff was Camille S. Washington, who was appointed Emergency War Food Assistant for Kent and Sussex Counties in 1944.

The first clerk-typist (referred to as a clerk and typewriter) was employed by the University in 1901.

The first professional Librarian was Dorothy Lawson Hawkins, 1921-1927.

The first Public Relations Office opened as the Office of Alumni and Public Relations, January 1, 1946.

STUDENTS

The first foreign student at the University was Joseph E. Cabrera of "Porto Rico" (then a possession of Spain) who enrolled in the Preparatory Department (Academy of Newark) in February, 1840.

Kappa Alpha, the first fraternity on the campus, was established in 1904.

The first fraternity house on campus was Sigma Phi Epsilon.

The first graduating senior elected to the Board of Trustees was Ralph Douglas Cope, 1978.

The first year that women were eligible to run for the office of SGA (now DUSC) President was 1951.

The cafeteria system was first used for serving meals to resident students in 1919.

Julia Langley Dutton Ingham became the first woman editor of The Review upon publication of the November 21, 1944 issue. Her marriage to Frederick L. Ingham was featured in the January 3, 1945 issue.

Frances Blackiston Cummins Megson became the first woman Engineering graduate, in 1946, when she received the Bachelor of Engineering degree.

In 1950, Ethel Irene Anderson became the first woman to receive a Ph.D degree. The degree was in Chemistry.

WOMEN AND THE WOMEN'S COLLEGE

The first class in the Women's College was taught in "The Hilarium" of Warner Hall (Residence Hall at that time) because the classrooms were not yet finished. The first class was a Latin class taught by Prof. Elisha Conover, in 1914.

Julia Langley Dutton became the first woman editor of The Review upon publication of the November 21. 1944 issue. Her marriage to Frederick L. Ingham was featured in the January 3, 1945 issue.

The first year that women were eligible to run for the office of SGA (now DUSC) President was 1951.

Frances Blackiston Cummins Megson became the first woman Engineering graduate, in 1946, when she received the Bachelor of Engineering degree.

In 1950, Ethel Irene Anderson became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. degree. The degree was in Chemistry.