University of Michigan–Flint
The University of Michigan–Flint is a public university in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1956 as the Flint Senior College, it was initially established as a remote branch of the University of Michigan, offering upper-division undergraduate courses. The institution developed into a fully-fledged university and received accreditation in 1970. Subsequently, the name was changed to the University of Michigan–Flint. It continues to adhere to the policies of the University of Michigan Board of Regents without having a separate governing board.
UM-Flint is one of the five doctoral/professional universities in the state of Michigan. Together with Oakland University, the University of Michigan–Dearborn, and Wayne State University, UM-Flint is one of the four Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities members in the State of Michigan.
The university's student-athletes compete in intramural and club sports as the Michigan-Flint Wolverines. Notable alumni include former Best Buy executive Shari Ballard, former United States Senator Donald Riegle, and Oscar-winning film director Michael Moore, who was an editor for the student newspaper The Michigan Times.
History
Flint Senior College (1956–1964)
Former Flint mayor C.S. Mott first suggested bringing a full university to Flint in a meeting with then-President Alexander Ruthven in 1946. Mott pledged to give $1 million to the project if the voters would pass a $7 million bond issue. The University of Michigan initially opposed Mott's idea but, ultimately, agreed to create the Flint Senior College of the University of Michigan as an extension of the existing Flint Junior College, while the colleges remained separate institutions.Although it was founded in 1956, three years before the establishment of the Dearborn Center, the Flint Senior College was not the first branch of the University of Michigan ever established. The University of Michigan, established in 1817, historically held central authority and was granted the power to establish schools, colleges, and branches throughout the Territory of Michigan. The initial branch was established in Pontiac in the 1830s, and additional branches were subsequently opened in Kalamazoo, Detroit, Niles, Tecumseh, White Pigeon, and Romeo. The University of Michigan anticipated that these branches would eventually transition into independent colleges and universities once they had matured enough to operate as standalone entities.
For a number of years, the college shared the Court Street campus with Flint Junior College. This campus was part of the Flint Cultural Center with major donations from many Flint business leaders. Original donors included the Sponsors Fund of Flint and William Ballenger. The first building constructed in 1954 was The Ballenger Field House.
In February 1956, David M. French was named the first dean of the Flint Senior College. The college began classes in 1956 with 118 full-time and 49 part-time students. Degrees were offered in liberal arts and sciences and in the professional fields of education and business administration. The college's first class graduated in 1958.
Flint College (1964–1971)
The college became a four-year institution in 1964 and added its first freshman class the following year. The name was changed to Flint College of the University of Michigan.University of Michigan–Flint (1971–present)
In 1970, Flint College received its own accreditation independent from the main campus in Ann Arbor, from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1971, the Regents officially changed the name of the institution to the University of Michigan-Flint. The Regents later named William E. Moran as the first chancellor of the university. Two schools were formed at Flint in 1975, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Management.The community and city assisted UM–Flint in acquiring 42 acres along the Flint River. $5 million over five years was pledged towards a new campus in 1972 by the C.S. Mott Foundation. During September 1972, sixteen temporary buildings were erected to ease campus overcrowding, pressuring the Regents to move UM-Flint to its current location along the Flint River.
On September 1, 1973, the Regents passed the plans for the first building by Sedgewick-Sellers & Associates, originally planned for a site at Lapeer Road and Court Street. Instead, the first building was moved to a site on the Flint River, the current campus location. The university acquired the Ross House and the Hubbard Building. Its ground breaking ceremony was held on May 9, 1974, at the Willson Park bandstand. In 1977, construction ended on the Class Room Office Building, later named David M. French Hall, and the Central Energy Plant. CROB included a library and theatre. In 1979, the original Harrison Street Halo Burger location was vacated to make way for UM-Flint parking. While, the Harding Mott University Center was finished that same year and the Recreation Center in 1982.
William S. Murchie Science Building was completed in 1988.
University Pavilion
The Water Street Pavilion was a festival marketplace in Flint, Michigan, that has failed and closed after only five years in operation. It was developed by the Enterprise Development Company, a subsidiary of the Enterprise Foundation, founded by James Rouse after he retired from The Rouse Company in 1979. The Enterprise Development Company was founded specifically to bring The Rouse Company's festival marketplace concept to smaller cities like Flint, Michigan. Despite the name Water Street Pavilion, it is not on Water Street, but rather named after it. Its name is also a reference to the Harborplace pavilions in Baltimore, Maryland with similar names, specifically the Pratt and Light Street Pavilions.It once housed over 60 local tenants, but the majority of them closed in the late 1980s. It was famously featured in Roger & Me in 1989 as a symbol of failed development. The pavilion closed permanently as a festival marketplace in September 1990.
In 1991, UM-Flint took over ownership of the Water Street Pavilion as the University Pavilion keeping restaurants there while moving in administrative offices. The library moved to its own building in 1994 with the completion of the Frances Willson Thompson Library. The site across the river on the north side was acquired in 1997. Northbank Center was acquired in 1998.
While University Pavilion is no longer a festival marketplace, some of its current shopping and dining tenants include a Barnes & Noble bookstore, Subway, Jilly's Pizza, Sportlite Grill, Shawarma Bite, and O'Blendz.
The University Pavilion was renovated in September 2018, which involved removing the escalators due to costly maintenance, and it creates more open space for the dining area. The roof of the pavilion has also been refurbished to add new walking paths for workers and others in the area. Signs were also added to navigate people to the stairwells.
In 1989, the School of Health Professions and Studies was formed and later renamed the College of Health Sciences in 2018. The School of Education and Human Services was formed in 1997.