On January 30, 1889, Governor Edward Stevenson of the Idaho Territory signed the territorial legislature's Council Bill No. 20, championed by attorney Willis Sweet and legislator John W. Brigham, which officially established the UI as the upcoming state's land-grant institution. Nearly four years later, the university opened for classes on October 3, 1892.[1]
The choice of location for the University of Idaho was an "Olive Branch of Peace" by Gov. Stevenson for his actions in stymieing the nearly successful effort to detach the north Idaho Panhandle and join the state of Washington.[2]
original Engineering Building opens (originally Applied Science, then Mines, then Engineering) – (photo 1) – (photo 2) – demolished in 1951 (unsafe), on site of present Niccolls Building (Home Economics, opened 1952)
Department of Domestic Science (later Home Economics) established; first in Pacific Northwest – June 11 (photo)
1904 – present Art and Architecture South building completed; originally a gymnasium & armory – (photo) became Women's Gym in 1928, remodeled for Art and Architecture in 1976
1905 – First National Greek organization in Idaho (Kappa Sigma), arrives on September 30
1906 – original Administration Building (photo 1) (photo-2) burns down – March 30 [6][7][8] – (photo) – remains later dynamited – (photo)
Metallurgical Lab completed, became Mines (1950), Psychology (1961), Art and Architecture (2001) – Pine St. – (photo, left) – (photo, right)
Assay Building completed – (later Geology), 1955-84 gallery & museum, demolished in 1984 for Life Sciences North (Gibb Hall)
1907 – Morrill Hall completed – (photo 1) – (photo 2) – financed with insurance funds from destroyed Administration Building – (originally for Agriculture, then Forestry in 1950) – Idaho Ave. at Pine St.
College of Engineering established in cooperation with the College of Mines[9]
construction of new Administration Building begins
1914 – Football games moved to MacLean Field, west of Administration Building; previously at Main and E streets (SW corner) in north Moscow
1916 – South wing of Administration Building initially completed, extended in 1936 for library
1920 – School of Education established – June 7
Lindley Hall (first dormitory) opens in September – occupied site east of Life Sciences North (Gibb Hall), SW corner of Idaho & Ash; condemned in 1971, demolished in 1973[10]
1942 – Gauss ME Laboratory completed – southeast corner of 6th and Line St. – (original Kirtley Lab #1: Charles L. Kirtley was first UI engineering graduate, in first class of 1896, (photo), later a physician)[5]
1943 – Varsity football cancelled due to lack of turnout in fall, returns in 1945
Food Research Building completed – (orig. Dairy Building, photo), west side of Morrill Hall, NE corner Line St. & Idaho Ave.
1945 – student radio station KUOI (655 KHz) goes on the air – November; became 89.3 MHz in 1968
1950 – new Engineering Building (classrooms) – Janssen Engineering Classroom Building, named for Allen S. Janssen, Dean, College of Engineering (1946-1967), in 1951[9]
Administration Building Annex completed, later incorporated into Albertson (2002)
1951 – Music building completed – (photo) – (renamed for Lionel Hampton in 1987) -
original Mines, then Engineering Building, (1901) is demolished (unsafe) – (current site of Niccolls (Home Economics))
resident undergraduate fees: $47.50 per semester [18]
1952 – Home Economics building completed – (now Niccolls, photo) on site of old Engineering Building. (1901–51, photo)
New "I" water tower is installed (photo) 500,000 US gallons (1,900 m3) - old tower (1916) (photo) at 60,000 US gallons (230 m3) was directly east; relocated to the UI farm [19][20]
1954 – boxing dropped as a varsity sport in June – (national co-champs with Gonzaga in 1950)[21][22]
Arsonist was reporter for UI student newspaper Argonaut, responsible for other campus fires:[27][28][29] convicted of second-degree murder[30] and sentenced to 25 years,[31] paroled in 1968, & died in 1980.
1957 – UI Library completed – (photo) – dedicated Nov 2 – on former site of tennis courts – (library was housed in south wing of Administration Building)
Park Village Apartments completed (married and graduate housing) – 3rd and Home St. – demolished 2002
UI joins the new Big Sky Conference as a charter member, – retains university (later Division I) status for football with its non-conference schedule (all D-I) through 1977 (except for 1967 and 1968)[37][38]
campus radio station KUID-FM (91.7 MHz) goes on the air
resident undergraduate fees: $82 per semester, non-residents added $155 [39]
1964 – Physical Sciences building completed – (renamed for Malcolm Renfrew in 1985)
NCAA restores UI football to university division after two seasons in college division
Neale Stadium (1937) is condemned before football season; destroyed by arson after the season in November, – UI played its two Palouse home games at WSU's Rogers Field
1970 – Swim Center (photo) and Women's Gymnasium (P.E. Building) completed – (former center and right field of MacLean Field (baseball))
fire destroys south grandstand of WSU's Rogers Field in April, WSU plays all its home football games at Spokane's Joe Albi Stadium, UI remains at Rogers Field with reduced capacity.
2000 - Idaho Commons opens January 10, dedicated April 7 - east of UCC (now TLC)
College of Forestry, Wildlife, & Range Sciences (FWR) is renamed - becomes College of Natural Resources (CNR)
A doctored promotional photograph, where the faces of two minority students replaced the faces of white students, was found and removed from the website.[101]
2001 - Cowan Spectrum, an enclosed configuration for basketball in Kibbie Dome, debuts in February
Big West drops football after 2000 - UI becomes a "football only" member in Sun Belt for four seasons (2001–04)
College of Agriculture is renamed - becomes College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS)
Agriculture Biotechnology Laboratory dedicated - October 28
East entrance to campus completed - Sweet Ave. @ S. Main Street
2002 - Student Recreation Center - April - north of Theophilus Tower dorm; formerly the site of maintenance buildings.
Budget crisis forces reorganization of colleges - July 1
Letters & Science splits into College of Science and College of Letters, Arts, & Social Science (CLASS).
College of Mines & Earth Resources is eliminated, programs moved to either Science or Engineering
J.A. Albertson building completed (College of Business & Economics) - dedicated October 24 directly west of Admin. Building, incorporated Admin. Annex (1950)
Park Village Apts. (1957) demolished (married & graduate housing) - 3rd & Home St.
2003 - Living Learning Community - first 5 of 8 dormitories completed west of Line St., east of Theophilus Tower
Gault-Upham dormitory (1955) is demolished, site now an open area west of Living Learning Community
resident undergraduate fees: $1,522 per semester [100]
2004 - Vandal Athletic Center - March 19, dedicated April 30 - enhancement of Kibbie Dome's East End Addition (1982).
women's swimming reintroduced in fall - (orig. 1972-85) - Title IX balance for additional football scholarships in Div I-A
final three units of Living Learning Center completed - former Gault-Upham dormitory (1955–2003) becomes open area
infilled SprinTurf installed on varsity practice fields east of Kibbie Dome - August - replaced limited-use natural grass; - two fields, each 75 yards (69 m) in length with a goal post, lighting, & fencing; now available for intramurals and recreation.
Teaching & Learning Center opens, formerly the University Classroom Center (1965–2003)
resident undergraduate fees: $2,100 per semester, non-residents add $4,800[107]
2009 - first phase of safety improvements for Kibbie Dome (1975); west wall is replaced (wood to non-flammable translucent) and field-level exits are added.
2010 - first chilled water tank constructed at golf course's fourth tee, SW corner of Nez Perce Drive and Perimeter Road. Ninety feet (27 m) in height, volume of two million US gallons (7,600 m3)[108]
2011 - Navy ROTC building (1942) damaged by accidental fire in June; razed in August [109]
second phase of safety improvements to Kibbie Dome; east wall is replaced to match west wall (2009); new press box built above north grandstand, former press box above south grandstand is converted to premium seating (Litehouse Center)
Dan O'Brien Track Stadium (1972) undergoes major renovation in preparation for hosting the WAC championships in spring 2012
Ernesto Bustamante, assistant professor of psychology, killed graduate student Katy Benoit, then took his own life (August).[110]
2012 - During the vetting process in February, the State Board of Education removed the term "flagship" from the proposed mission statement because of a desire to not have comparative and competitive terms in mission statements.[111][112] Prior to this decision, higher education scholars and administrators outside the state considered UI to be the state's flagship university;[113][114][115] it remains to be seen if the removal of the state's official designation will alter wider opinions.
2013 - UI competes as FBS independent; WAC discontinued football after the 2012 season
resident undergraduate fees: $3,392 per semester (in fall)[116]
2016 - Sun Belt announces that neither the UI nor New Mexico State would be renewed after the 2017 football season,[117] UI announces return to FCS and Big Sky for football in 2018 (last in 1995)
UI Library (1957) completes a major renovation of the first floor
resident undergraduate fees: $3,616 per semester (in fall)[118]
outdoor practice field east of Kibbie Dome renovated with a new AstroTurf RootZone 3D3 playing surface.[121]
resident undergraduate fees: $4,170 per semester (in fall)[122]
2022 - Four UI students are killed in an attack with an "edged weapon" on Sunday, November 13; the case has garnered national and international media attention. WSU graduate student Bryan Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania on December 30 and charged in connection to the killings.[123]
2023 - University forms a new non-profit organization, Four Three Education, for the purpose of purchasing the University of Phoenix.[124] (Idaho became the 43rd state in 1890.) Initially, a new entity was created for the purchase by U of I named "NewU, Inc."[125] NewU University in Washington DC, which is not affiliated with either institution, filed a claim for trademark infringement of its registered trademark "NewU Inc.",[126] causing U of I to change of the name of its newly formed entity to Four Three Education.[127]
2024 - resident undergraduate fees: $4,542 per semester (in fall), non-residents add $9,618[128]