1932-2007: Celebrating 75 Years

It all began on a Tuesday morning in the midst of the Great Depression — September 6, 1932, the day after Labor Day, to be exact — on a tree-lined Idaho Street near downtown Boise. Led by its founder and president, Idaho Episcopal Bishop Middleton Barnwell, Boise Junior College opened its doors for the first time. The numbers that first day: four buildings, 15 faculty members, 41 male students and 37 female students.

Despite the nationwide economic downturn at the time, Barnwell was undaunted in his belief that Boise was ripe for a two-year college — and he was right. Thanks to the clergyman's initiative and persistence, BJC survived the hard times those first few years and eventually gained solid community support.

Barnwell's fledgling two-year school is now Boise State University, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary in the fall of 2007 with a series of signature events and affiliated activities. The number today: more than 165 owned and leased buildings at various sites, a 175-acre main campus in the middle of Idaho's largest city and state capital, a full-time faculty of more than 500, and an enrollment of 19,000, the largest in the Gem State.