CSU 150 – Colorado State University Celebrating 150 years

The buildings are new. The purpose is eternal.

From the beginning, Colorado State University has been a place of purpose: teaching, research, service, and outreach focused toward building a better society. Now, 150 years strong, campus looks much different than the original, but our mission is still the same. Take a look at the places, people, and discoveries that define us.

Celebrating our past while looking forward.

In 1862, Vermont congressman Justin Smith Morrill introduced legislation, later signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, that donated public land to states to create colleges open to all throughout our fledging nation.

The aim of this land grant was to make higher education available to all social classes. Eight years later – and six years before it achieved statehood – Colorado chose Fort Collins as the home for the state’s land-grant school, and Colorado Agricultural College was born. Now, 150 years after that announcement, Colorado State University has become a leading research institution dedicated to the land-grant mission of educating students from across the globe with the goal of improving people’s lives throughout Colorado, the nation, and the world. So, join us as we celebrate our sesquicentennial with a look at our past and present and into a brilliant future.

Land Acknowledgement

Colorado State University acknowledges, with respect, that the land we are on today is the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations and peoples.

This was also a site of trade, gathering, and healing for numerous other Native tribes. We recognize the Indigenous peoples as original stewards of this land and all the relatives within it. As these words of acknowledgment are spoken and heard, the ties Nations have to their traditional homelands are renewed and reaffirmed.

CSU is founded as a land-grant institution, and we accept that our mission must encompass access to education and inclusion. And, significantly, that our founding came at a dire cost to Native Nations and peoples whose land this University was built upon. This acknowledgment is the education and inclusion we must practice in recognizing our institutional history, responsibility, and commitment.

Use this interactive photo slider to explore how CSU’s campus and the surrounding community have changed and grown from our beginnings in the 1800s to today!

How much do you truly know about CSU’s lesser-known lore? Take this short quiz to see how you rank as a Ram Fan.

Upcoming Events

FORTitude 10K

SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Celebrate our community with a 10K race through Fort Collins, ending in a celebration at Canvas Stadium.

President’s Fall Address and University Picnic

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

Join us on the Oval for President Joyce McConnell’s first public address to the entire campus —don’t miss a chance to picnic with our new President!

Ag Day and Orange Out Rams football game

September 21, 2019

Support our land-grant mission and agricultural heritage with a barbecue to benefit scholarships for students in the College of Agricultural Sciences, then cheer on the Rams as they play Toledo in Canvas Stadium.

TRADITIONS

Did you paint the “A”?

Lunch on the Oval?

Enjoy a Founders Day birthday cookie?