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1933-1973
1935 | With 47 students, the Northwestern Theological Seminary opens its doors to equip men to fill larger pastorates whose congregations do not want to draw from Modernist seminaries. Appeals to the School for pastors are multiplying faster than the growth of both the Bible School and Seminary.
1941 | The annual budget for the School is $80,000 with an enrollment of 514 and a faculty numbering 17.
1944 | Northwestern Schools becomes the single name for the institution, which now includes the Bible School, the Theological Seminary and the four-year College of Liberal Arts.
1947 | Dr. Riley passes away at age 86. From his sickbed he points his finger at a young evangelist he has chosen to succeed him as president. "You are the man!" he proclaims to William Franklin Graham, better known as Billy Graham.
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1948 | The campus moves to Memorial Hall on Loring Park. The Robert L. Moyer gymnasium is a boon for the burgeoning varsity sports program for both men and women.
1949 | Radio station KTIS goes on the air. Hawthorne Hall is purchased for freshmen and Plymouth Hall is leased for married students.
1950 | The Fine Arts Building (FAB) is purchased for the music and speech departments, and Mitchell Hall houses the department of missionary medicine and school infirmary.
1953 | Dr. Richard Elvee becomes the school's third president and begins laying the groundwork for accreditation.
1956 | Financial tension leads to the closing of Northwestern Theological Seminary and the Bible School. The surviving liberal arts college becomes known as Northwestern College.
1957 | Dr. Curtis B. Akenson, another First Baptist pastor in the tradition of Dr. Riley, becomes the fourth president.
1963 | McAllister Library is dedicated with 23,000 volumes and seating for 250 students. The library enables the College to build its Biblical literature collection as well as periodicals and audio-visual equipment.
1966 | North Central Association delays accreditation for two years, citing need for a stronger financial and constituency support base. Music department chair William B. Berntsen becomes president and closes the College while making plans for an emerging "New Northwestern."
1970 | The 87-acre Nazareth Hall campus is purchased from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul/Minneapolis for $2,579,000. The purchase comes 20 days after the sale of the Loring Park campus to the State Junior College System for $2,779,000.
1972 | After over $1 million in major remodeling and refurbishing, classes start at the "New Northwestern" with 186 students and 11 faculty.
1973 | Moyer Residence, a new concept in residential living, is completed to house 80 women as Northwestern's first on-campus residence. Remaining residential students are housed in four Centennial Apartment buildings located about a mile away. A shuttle bus system is used, employing both students and staff.
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