It was decided upon by the trustees to move the College to a more suitable location. Adrian was chosen over Jackson at the suggestion of Asa Mahan, who was then a pastor in Adrian.

Asa Mahan offers the use of North Hall and surrounding campus to the 4th Michigan regiment. In June, the soldiers went off to war.

Museum Building is constructed to house Dr. Kost’s collection of animal specimens.

Mahan ends his first term as president. Professor John McEldowney replaces him until 1867.

First woman graduates.

West wing of South Hall burned and rebuilt.

Mound is built by E.C. Chandler and thirteen other students from the class of 1872.

Methodist Protestant Church takes over Adrian College from the Wesleyan Methodists.

Theological Literary society is organized with sixteen members.

Adrian College Alumni Association forms constitution and is created.

George B. McElroy takes over for Lowrie as president, lasting until 1880.

Adrian College grants first Bachelor of Music degree in the United States to Mrs. Mattie B. Pease Lowrie.

Athletic Association, YMCA, and YWCA are founded.

North Hall has infamous fire.

Fine Arts department inaugurated

Electricity is introduced to the campus

Pipe organ is installed in Downs Hall. It is a replica of the 1892 World’s Fair organ from Dayton, Ohio.

To Sunthema is the first official yearbook put out by the senior class; it was only in existence for one year.

Adrian wins second place in M.I.A.A.

Radical changes to graduation requirements include: honor points (curricular and extracurricular), a major consisting of twenty-eight credit hours and a minor of eighteen hours.

The grading system is changed, now grades receive letters of A, B, C, D, E, and F instead of percentages.

First Homecoming is held.

Code of ethics is adopted by the student body, approved by President Feeman and the senior class. This includes unethical and improper behavior,

"Traditions that promote a wholesome college life; declared unethical any disfiguring of college property; improper, any violation of regulations governing association of men and women; the duty of every student is to foster democracy and discourage favoritism and to practice tolerance toward difference of opinion to the point of not jeopardizing the moral integrity of the student body (Noble Devotion, 105)."

“The Mound” is considered the first yearbook compiled by the junior class

“The Song of Solomon,” a musical opera composed by Dr. James Spencer, is performed in Downs Hall.

Second and third floors of North Hall are renovated, with dorm rooms that previously held men are converted into classrooms and a laboratory.

Local sorority Chi Psi Omega is established.

Land acquisition expands campus to Michigan Avenue.

College Christian Fellowship replaces the YMCA and the YWCA.

Willard M. Cornelius donates money to the College for the construction of a new men’s dormitory, Cornelius Hall, on Madison Street, to be occupied by the ATO fraternity. The building was named after his father, Professor James D. H. Cornelius.

Student government is officially organized as the Adrian Student Union Cabinet to promote social activities.

John Dawson, 1938 Adrian alumnus, is inaugurated as president. He impacts the college greatly, both aesthetically and academically, and holds the second longest term, lasting until the late 1970s.

Coach Fortunato takes Adrian College basketball team to the NAIA Tournament in Kansas City, and wins. He was named Basketball Coach of the Year by the UNICO National Athletic Association.

Curricular structure is modified into four divisions, separating faculty from the administration. Divisions were: Humanities; Natural Science; Social Science; and Philosophy, Religion, and Psychology.

Estes Hall is constructed as the first new Women’s Residence Hall; it is named after trustee Floyd W. Estes.

Ritchie Dining Hall is completed and Feeman Hall is built as the first men’s residence hall.

Metcalf Hall is converted into an academic building with two classrooms and seven faculty offices.

Enrollment breaks 600.

Beta Pi Theta is founded by Hope Lowry as the first academic honorary society on campus. The society honors French students.

Men’s dormitory, Steven’s Hall, Peelle Hall of Science, and the Administration buildings are constructed.

Sororities convert to national status; Chi Psi Omega becomes Sigma Sigma Sigma, and Delta Phi Theta, Chi Omega.

Ground was broken for Jarvis Hall, second women’s dormitory, on the north side of Estes Hall facing Madison Street. The building matches the architectural style of Estes Hall and was completed in time for the fall semester of 1961.

Eleanor Roosevelt comes to Adrian; her speech was designed to promote a better understanding of the work done by the United Nations.

WVAC radio, “the voice of Adrian College”, begins broadcasting from the basement of Metcalf Hall. Originally broadcasts could be heard within 300 feet of the speech department and sometimes, “when the atmospheric conditions” were right, across town.

Delta Eta chapter of Alpha Phi International Fraternity is installed on the Adrian campus as the third national sorority; it takes the place of local sorority Kappa Tau Delta.

Natatorium is finished, located at the south end of Ridge Gymnasium. It included underwater lighting, high and low diving boards, and a depth ranging from 3-12 feet. With this comes a variety of new sports, including women’s synchronized swimming, diving, and men’s swimming.

Enrollment breaks 1,000

Dawson Auditorium is completed with seating of 1,206.

Ground is broken for the third men’s dormitory, Davis Hall, facing Ritchie Dining Hall and next to Cornelius.

Herbert Robinson Observatory is dedicated. Robinson, a local astronomer and industrialist, felt that students needed an observatory in order to be educated in the new field of space exploration.

Jones Hall, named after Professor Emeritus and noted chemist, Elmer M. Jones, is constructed as the fourth men’s dormitory; in 1964 the name is changed to Powell Hall when Jones academic hall is erected between Peelle Hall of Science and Herrick Chapel.

Herrick Chapel, named after the mother of Ray Herrick, is constructed and several of the pipes from the original organ are moved and incorporated there from Downs Hall Chapel. The sixteen stained glass windows symbolically depict the history of Christianity; one is dedicated to the history of Adrian College.

Shipman Library is dedicated in honor of Dorothy M. Shipman, head librarian since 1954.

Alpha Sigma Alpha founds local chapter.

Hazel Herrick Hall is dedicated; it housed Alpha Phi and Sigma Sigma Sigma sororities. This complex was named after the wife of trustee Ray Herrick.

Robinson Planetarium is constructed.

Goldsmith Health Center opens as one of the “finest facilities for a college” the size of Adrian. It included: an isolation ward, three-bed wards, three examining rooms, and a doctor’s office.

College receives FM license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), enabling the Radio department to schedule regular programs for WVAC.

South and Metcalf Halls are demolished.

Pellowe Hall is opened as the last of the men’s residence halls.

The Student Activities Coordinating Committee (SACC) is organized to manage extracurricular activities. Other organizations inaugurated this year were, Kappa Phi Gamma, local social sorority, and Pi Kappa Alpha, social fraternity.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon house burns.

New organizations are founded: Social Fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia; and Phi Alpha Theta, History Honorary.

Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity is established at Adrian College.

Dedication of Deans Hall, women’s dormitory.

Many athletic venues were added or improved: Nicolay Field (baseball) added synthetic turf and the tennis courts, track and field outdoor complex, and softball field were updated.

Major academic renovations and department moves were also completed: Rush Hall became home to Communication Arts & Sciences; Goldsmith Health Center became the Modern Languages building.