Eastern Kentucky University Parent Guide
EKU History
The Kentucky General Assembly of 1906 enacted legislation establishing the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School. Governor J.C. Beckham signed the bill into law on March 21, 1906. On May 7 of that year, the Normal School Commission, meeting in Louisville, selected the campus of the old Central University, founded in 1874 in Richmond, as the site of the new school.
On June 2, 1906, Ruric Nevel Roark was chosen President of the Normal School and the training of teachers began. In 1922, Eastern became a four-year institution known as the Eastern Kentucky State Normal School and Teachers College. The first degrees were awarded by this institution in 1925. In 1928, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the College. In 1930, the General Assembly renamed the school Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College.
In 1935, a graduate program was approved at Eastern, leading to the Master of Arts degree in Education. In 1948, the General Assembly removed the word “Teachers” from the name of the college and granted the college the right to award nonprofessional degrees.
The most significant day since its founding came for Eastern on February 26, 1966, when Governor Edward T. Breathitt signed into law a bill renaming the institution Eastern Kentucky University and sanctioning the awarding of graduate degrees in academic fields other than education.
During this period, Eastern Kentucky University has increased rapidly in size and stature. Beginning with a few students engaged in short review and certificate courses, the University today serves thousands of Kentuckians. The curriculum leads to associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees, and an expanding graduate program that currently offers degrees at the master’s level in many other fields as well as the already well-established Master of Arts degree in Education and the various fifth-and sixth-year leadership programs in education, psychology, and technology. In addition to these programs, Eastern offers joint doctoral programs with cooperating institutions.
