January 19, 2023
The Dancing Rockettes were formed by a local dancer at the request of UToledo’s sports information director, who wanted entertainment during halftime at basketball games. The dance troupe debuted on March 16, 1961, at the Kent State-Toledo basketball game, becoming the first recognized collegiate dance team in the nation. The Dancing Rockettes merged with the Rocket Marching Band in 1978.
December 15, 2022
In celebration of Saturday’s Commencement, we wind back the UToledo clock more than a century to students graduating from the College of Education circa 1918. For details on the celebration for the Class of 2022, visit utoledo.edu/commencement.
December 1, 2022
The University of Toledo’s football team played its first game in 1917 against the University of Detroit losing 145 to 0. The 2022 Rockets football team will represent the MAC West Division in the 2022 MAC Championship Game at noon Saturday, Dec. 3, at Detroit's Ford Field.
November 17, 2022
In 1936, the Works Progress Administration approved a $272,000 loan to UToledo to build a football stadium. With the University adding $51,000 to help fund the construction, a crew went to work, using hand tools to shape the ravine into a bowl shape, which prolonged the project but kept the workforce employed during the Great Depression. Originally called University Stadium, the facility had a seating capacity of 8,000 when it opened in 1937.
October 27, 2022
After an uncontested election, Alice Roulet, center, was the first female president of UToledo’s student council. She is pictured in this 1944 yearbook photo with the caption, “We must so constitute our government that every student or housewife can step in and run it.” During World War II, women assumed leadership roles in most campus organizations.
October 6, 2022
Groundbreaking for The University of Toledo’s new campus along Bancroft Street began in 1929. Two years later, construction was completed for both University Hall and the Field House. Learn more about UToledo’s 150th anniversary at utoledo.edu/150celebration.
September 29, 2022
In honor of Saturday’s Homecoming, we look back to this float circa 1970. As we celebrate UToledo’s sesquicentennial this year, we’re also approaching the centennial of our first Homecoming in 1924 when the Rockets played the then-named Bowling Green Normal School. The Rockets won 12-7. Learn more about UToledo’s 150th anniversary at utoledo.edu/150celebration.
September 15, 2022
As we begin The University of Toledo’s yearlong sesquicentennial, we look back at the University's centennial celebration in 1972, which included the issuance of commemorative license plates. Learn more about UToledo's 150th anniversary at utoledo.edu/150celebration.
September 8, 2022
Founded in 1915, the first fraternity at UToledo was called the Cresset Fraternity and later changed its name to Phi Kappa Chi. In October 1922, when this photo was taken, the group built the first fraternity house on the University’s campus, which was then located at Parkside and Nebraska. The fraternity has since changed its name to Pi Kappa Alpha, moved several more times and is now located in McComas Village.
August 11, 2022
With the start of fall semester coming up Aug. 29, we look back to when incoming UToledo students attended Freshman Camp in 1964 at YMCA Storer Camps in southeast Michigan. The camp was established by University President Asa Knowles in 1951 as an orientation where upperclassmen served as camp counselors and faculty and administrators visited to meet and answer questions from the new students.
