Lyndon State College - History

History

In 1911, the college was founded as a one-year normal school housed in rented space in nearby Lyndon Institute. The term "normal school" is based on the French école normale supérieure, a school to educate teachers. Consistent with education tradition of the times, the Lyndon Training Course expanded its curriculum in one-year increments, and the first two-year class graduated in 1923. In 1927, Rita Bole became principal of the school. The first three-year class, consisting of nine students, graduated in 1934. In 1944, the state allowed Lyndon to grant four-year degrees so long as it remained a teacher training institution. The first four-year degrees were granted to 18 students in 1944. It was during these years that the Northeast Kingdom began to depend on Lyndon to address the educational needs of its residents.

In 1961, the State Legislature established the Vermont State Colleges system, a consortium of Vermont's five public colleges governed by a common board of trustees, chancellor and Council of Presidents and Lyndon Teachers College became Lyndon State College. This marked the beginning of a period of rapid growth and, in 1964, the campus began to expand. A library, a dormitory, a dining hall, a science wing, a gymnasium, and a theater were built. These additions began meeting the needs of a growing student population that also brought a rapid expansion of the Lyndon curriculum. In the 1970s, new majors were developed in business administration, special education, recreations, meteorology, communications, human services, and physical education. It was also during this decade that the original Vail Manor was deemed unsafe and was replaced with the Theodore N. Vail Center that now houses the Vail Museum and preserves the name that has become an integral part of the Lyndon State tradition.

In 2005, a new residence hall was constructed near Wheelock Hall. The building was named The Rita L. Bole Complex, after the principal of Lyndon Normal School.

In 2009, the Academic and Student Activity Center, a LEED-certified, or "green" building, was constructed to house Lyndon's Business, Exercise Science and Meteorology majors. It also contains computer labs, classrooms and a student event center.

Bole, who led the school until 1955, encouraged the Vermont State Legislature to establish Lyndon Teachers College, saw the admission of the first male and first out-of-state students during the 1940s, and oversaw the move to the Theodore Newton Vail estate. Vail had been instrumental in the establishment of Lyndon Institute, and Bole recognized his vacant estate as the perfect place to house the growing school. The move to Vail Manor was completed on June 30, 1951, the final day of the school's lease at Lyndon Institute.