1925 September 24: The College opens its doors with 406 students and 16 faculty (seven who have moved from Clarksville).
The first structures on the new campus are complete: Palmer Hall for administration and classrooms, The Science Hall for laboratories and classrooms, the refectory, the gatehouse, Calvin and Robb Residence Halls and Ashner Gateway. Fargason Field house is under construction.
A Jubilee Celebration is held in November.
Chapters of Kappa Delta and Alpha Omicron Pi sororities are founded.
The yearbook becomes The Lynx.
1926 Eleanor Beckham is the captain of the first women’s basketball team.
The Pals Drama Club performs a full-length play, “The Importance of Being Ernest”.
The first Memphis Commencement is held in June.
1927 Louise Stratmann instructs the first women’s gym classes.
Chi Omega lodge is dedicated as the first Greek lodge, and Kappa Sigma breaks ground for the first fraternity lodge.
The Student Publications Board, the Ministerial Club and Omicron Delta Kappa are founded.
The city trolley system is extended to the corner of University and North Parkway and the students hold the first traditional bonfire on the new campus.
1928 The first issue of the Alumni Magazine is published.
Hugh M. Neely Hall and William T. Hardie Auditorium are dedicated and the infirmary opens in Stewart Hall.
The Glee Club gives its first performance and plans a tour; the Pals drama club becomes the Southwestern Players and the first April Fools Carnival is held.
President Diehl gives $100 for uniforms for the girls’ basketball team, the track team is organized by W. C. Rasberry and the annual 2-mile intramural run begins.
Future U.S. President Herbert Hoover awarded honorary doctor of laws.
1929 College Architecture in America, co-authored by Charles Z. Klauder, is published and features campus buildings. Campus architect Henry C. Hibbs receives architectural awards for campus buildings.
The first snow fell on the new campus.
Zeta Tau Alpha is installed and Delta Theta Pi is organized.
Radios are installed in Robb, Evergreen and Stewart Residence Halls. Field hockey is played indoors and a hand ball court is built in the south end of Calvin Hall.
1930 The first night football game is played.
Ninety-five automobiles on campus.
A P.B.X. telephone system is installed and telephone numbers are listed.
“Lil Nelle,” the outdoor bulletin board north of Palmer Hall, is provided by the Class of 1930.
1931 The Tutorial System begins.
The Women Undergraduate Board is established to oversee women’s sports and a press box is built at Fargason Field.
The first students are inducted into the academic Hall of Fame and their pictures are placed on the wall in Palmer Hall.
Pres. Diehl is charged with heresy.
1932 Beanies replaced the straw hats and bonnets worn by freshmen.
The first Lynx Lair, named by contest winner Eloise Brett, opens in the basement of Neely Hall as a coffee shop.
1934 February: Sigma Nu fraternity chapter installed.
1935 The Department of Music is established by Burnet Tuthill who also organizes a choir;
Economics adds Business Administration;
The first degrees “With Distinction” are awarded at Commencement.
1936 The choir becomes the Singers.
Sigma Nu and Kappa Alpha fraternities build lodges.
Tau Kappa Alpha, a national debate society starts a chapter.
The football team defeats powerhouse Vanderbilt 12 to 0.
1937 The Seidman Trophy in Athletics is established.
Margaret England is the first Homecoming Queen.
San Hedrin is abolished.
1938 The gatehouse is dedicated to as a memorial to Frank M. Harris.
1939 Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Alpha fraternities complete their lodges.
Thirteen segments on the history of the College are aired on WMC radio.
1940 Each student checked out an average of 60.4 books from the library and the library makes sixty-seven interlibrary loan requests.
The founding date on the College seal is corrected to 1848.
The College News Bureau opens.
1941 An alumni chapter is founded in California; honor scholarships begin.
A radio station is built with equipment donated by WREC.
1942 Intercollegiate football, track, tennis and golf are not played because of World War II.
1943 Anne Howard Bailey ’45 is the first women to edit the Lynx annual.
The first Commencement in the newly planted Fisher Garden.
The Adult Education Center is founded.
1944 Nominees for Student Government president are all women.
1945 Mary Ann Banning is the first female to be elected Student Government president.
The earliest class of “Search” are taught as Man in the Light of History and Religion.
Comprehensive examinations for majors are given.
Southwestern is renamed Southwestern At Memphis.
1946 Zeta Tau Alpha lodge is lost to fire.
Homecoming resumes after World War II hiatus.
George Monard is the Colleges first foreign exchange student.
1947 Faculty number increases to 59 people.
The drama honor society, Alpha Psi Omega is formed.
The College sells property for Evergreen Presbyterian Church.
1948 WWII temporary buildings are set up.
The Student Government gets a space for its office.
Students are given Friday and Saturday off at Thanksgiving.
Voorhies Hall and William Ires Hunt ’34 Memorial Gateway are dedicated.
Bach’s B minor mass is performed for the first time in Memphis by the Singers and the Singers make a phonograph recording.
President Diehl announces his intent to retire.