College of San Mateo - Historical Timeline

Historical Timeline

1922 to 1996:

• 1922 With 35 students, San Mateo Junior College opens in several rooms of San Mateo High School on Baldwin Avenue.
• 1931 Charles S. Morris takes over as the new dean (and later becomes president) of the college. He transforms the institution from a “junior” to a “community” college.
• 1947 Enrollment skyrockets after the war. The college leases old U.S. Merchant Marine Academy buildings at Coyote Point. Classes are now held there, at Baldwin and at a $350,000 science building on Delaware Avenue completed in 1939.
• 1954 Students vote to change name from San Mateo Junior College to College of San Mateo (CSM) in part to honor Charles S. Morris.
• 1956 Innovative educator Julio Bortolazzo begins a 12-year tenure as college president and district superintendent, initiating a plan for a new campus site.
• 1963 Present-day CSM hilltop campus opens with 15,000 students.
• 1968 Racial discontent leads to a student protest and riot on campus.
• 1979 Lois A. Callahan becomes the first woman president of CSM.
• 1980 Vice presidential candidate George H. W. Bush speaks to faculty and students at CSM.
• 1980 Monday Morning Blues first published.
• 1989 The 7.2 Loma Prieta earthquake leads to significant earthquake retrofitting on campus, including work done on the college’s library in 1996.

2000 & Beyond:

• 2001 San Mateo County voters approve a $207 million bond measure for the repair and restoration of CSM, Skyline College and Cañada College.
• 2002 CSM celebrates its 80th anniversary with a Book Fest featuring guest speakers including noted authors and speakers.
• 2005 San Mateo County voters approve another bond measure, this one for $468 million for continued construction, repair and restoration for CSM, Skyline College and Cañada College.
• 2005 CSM hosts the first-ever community college football bowl game in San Mateo County.
• 2006 CSM’s new Regional Public Safety Center opens on June 14.
• 2006 CSM’s state-of-the-art science building opens for classes on August 16.
• 2007 CSM’s state-of-the-art planetarium opens for classes and the public in January.
• 2007 Michael Claire becomes one of CSM’s youngest presidents, succeeding President Emerita Shirley J. Kelly.