1980

Southeast acquires a 90-acre tract known as the Springdale Farm. It is in northeast Cape Girardeau and adjoins the I.R. Kelso Wildlife Sanctuary, which is jointly owned by the University and the Audubon Society.

The first campus TV station, Community Access Channel 10, (CAC-10), is launched.

Fall enrollment is 9,102.

February 28
Dr. Bill Stacy is extended a five-year contract and becomes the 12^th president of Southeast. He was inaugurated on Oct. 5m 1980. His tenure continued through 1989, during which he left a lasting legacy through the adoption of the General Education program, the Honor Program, and the building of the Show Me Center.

The University receives the largest private gift to date in its history from Mrs. Mary Johnson Tweedy of Brewster, N.Y., daughter of a man who taught mathematics at Southeast for 44 years.  The $560,000 donation was invested and three to nearly $750,000. Dr. Stacy announced it would be used for an addition to the mathematics building. The Board of Regents voted to rename the redesigned and expanded B.F. Johnson Hall in honor of Mrs. Tweedy’s father.

The University purchases a luxury apartment building that adjoins University property near Houck Field that later becomes home to Robert A. Dempster Hall.

1981

May 7
The Board of Regents approves dropping wrestling as an intercollegiate sport and adding soccer to the University’s athletics programs.

July 22
President Bill Stacy announces at a Board of Regents meeting that a two-story log house built in 1854 has been donated to the University by Mr. and Mrs. Handy Moore of Sikeston, Missouri. The cabin will be relocated to University property, dismantled and reconstructed by hand on a new site by a group of historic preservation students.

September 24
Southeast’s first capital campaign is launched.

Fall enrollment stands at 9,165.

The University launches an active recruitment campaign to attract more black students. In fall 1981, minority enrollment accounts for about 4.5% of total fall enrollment at Southeast. The Office of Civil Rights and Southeast agreed the University’s goal ought to be to increase the number of black students on campus to 10 percent by 1985-1986.

December
Southeast is reaccredited by the North Central Association with the next comprehensive review scheduled for 1990-1991.

1982

April 27
The Board of Regents names a former apartment building Robert A. Dempster Hall in recognition of a personal donation of $100,000 by Robert A. Dempster of Sikeston, Missouri.

October 3
B.F. Johnson Hall of Mathematics and Computer Science opens. A dedication ceremony is held on Oct. 3. A gift from Mary Johnson Tweedy made the building possible.

Fall enrollment stands at 9,017 with black undergraduates accounting for 4.4 percent of the total. The goal to increase black student enrollment is revised to 4.7 percent by 1985-1986.

December 11
The Board of Regents approves the London Studies Program, extending an education opportunity to students in an international setting.

1983

The Southeast Missouri University Foundation and the Copper Dome Society are established.

February 24
The Board of Regents approves cable TV access for Southeast’s residence halls.

The Board of Regents reaffirms its commitment to a Multipurpose Building in cooperation with the City of Cape Girardeau.

March 24
In a letter to the University, U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson congratulates the University on its 110^th anniversary.

The Board of Regents approves increasing the value of the President’s Scholarship from $600 to $1,500.

Fall
The new Science Building, north and west of Magill Hall of Science, opens to students. The three-story, 46,000-square-foot structure is anchored by a modern lecture auditorium equipped with the latest in audio-visual equipment and dotted with laboratories and specialized facilities for teaching and research. It is connected to Magill by a second-story walkway.

April 1983
Cape Girardeau voters approve a $5 million bond issue to finance the local share of the cost of a multi-purpose building.

May 9
Construction is set to begin on an addition to Serena Hall.

July
The Board of Regents approves the establishment of University Archives “to ensure preservation of documents and materials important to an understanding of the University’s past and vital to future operations.”

Southeast’s teacher education programs are reaccredited by NCATE through Sept. 1, 1990.

September 22
The Board of Regents calls for the present Speech and Hearing Clinic be renamed the M.G. Lorberg, Jr., Center for Speech and Hearing.

Total fall enrollment stands at 9,081 up from 9,017 in fall 1982, with black undergraduate enrollment accounting for 5% of the total and black graduate enrollment for 3.7% of the total.

Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. is honored with the first Friend of the University Award.

1984

1984-1985
These are the best years in the history of Southeast sports. Collectively, 10 MIAA team championships and two NCAA Division II National Championships are won.

Southeast holds the inaugural campus-wide Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.

The Honors Program is established.

March 22
The Regents vote to maintain the current textbook rental fee at $5 per course for FY85.

April 26
The Regents approve establishing a computer lab in the Towers Complex.

President Stacy announces that 33 microcomputers have been purchased for use in various academic departments.

May 16
The Board of Regents approves a resolution for the awarding of a contract in partnership with the City of Cape Girardeau to Hastings & Chivetta as the architect for the Multipurpose Building.

May 31
The Board of Regents announces that President Stacy has been named a Collegial Fellow in the Post-Doctoral Academy of Higher Education at Southern Illinois University.

Rob Thomas wins the NCAA Division I indoor 600-meter and qualifies for the Olympic trials.

The cross-country team wins the NCAA Division II championship and becomes the first team inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

1985

The college retires Chief Sagamore, a student who dressed in full Native American regalia.

The Indians win the 1985 Division II Indoor Nationals.

1986

Three hundred international students from 46 nations are enrolled at Southeast.

1987

Mid-1987
The Cottonwood Treatment Center is completed, providing a much-needed serve for the region and pre-professional training for students in nursing, psychology, counseling, recreation and education. The $3 million cluster of group homes with a central treatment building is located on campus and was financed by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. It is operated by the State Division of Mental Health.

August 20
The $13.5 million Show Me Center opens, serving Southeast Missouri State University, the City of Cape Girardeau, and the citizens of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois and western Kentucky by providing quality concerts, sporting events, top-notch family entertainment, and a first-rate banquet, convention, and meeting facility. The Show Me Center, built at a cost of $18 million, first opened with the likes of Tina Turner, Bob Hope, George Jones and Tanya Tucker.

The first Black member of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents, the Rev. Dr. Samuel W. Hylton Jr. of St. Louis, is appointed.

1988

U.S. President Ronald Reagan made a mid-day address, speaking at a Republic rally, to nearly 8,000 people at the Show Me Center.

January
Harry L. Crisp Bootheel Education Center opens.

Fall
A general education program called “University Studies” focused on understanding and enhancing the human experience is launched. The program focuses on nine learning objectives.

1989

The gum tree is replaced after the original gum tree dies.

June 13
President Bill Stacy’s resignation is announced.

Executive Vice President Dr. Robert W. Foster is named interim president.

World Events

1980
World Health Organization announces the eradication of smallpox.

The Iran-Iraq War begins.

Cable News Network (CNN) is launched.

“Empire Strikes Back” is released.

Best-selling arcade game, Pac-Man, is released.

John Lennon is murdered.

The Rubik’s cube is invented.

1981
Ronald Reagan is inaugurated the 40^th president of the United States.

Iran releases 52 U.S. hostages after being held 444 days in Tehran.

President Reagan and three others are injured in an assassination attempt.

First orbital flight of the Space Shuttle.

Reggae singer Bob Marley dies.

Assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II.

The AIDS epidemic officially begins in the United States after originating in Africa.

Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” released.

Prince Charles of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer are married.

MTV is launched.

The IBM personal computer is launched.

1982
Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial” is released.

Sony releases the first commercially-sold CD player.

Michael Jackson releases his “Thriller,” the best-selling album of all time.

1983
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut is bombed, leaving 63 dead.

The United States invades Grenada.

1984
American musician Marvin Gaye is assassinated.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated.

HIV is recognized as the cause of AIDS.

1985
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie release “We Are the World,” originally recorded by USA For Africa.

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Benefit concert Live Aid is held.

The Iran-Contra affair begins.

The wreck of the Titanic is found off the coast of Newfoundland.

The Macintosh 128K is released.

The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in North America.

The first Microsoft Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, is released.

DNA fingerprinting is used for the first time.

1986
The Challenger explodes in flight, killing all seven crew members.

Haley’s Comet returns.

The Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine kills about 100 people.

1987
The stock market crashes.

Windows 2.0 is released.

1988
End of Iran-Iraq War.

Pan Am Flight 103 crashes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 and leaving no survivors.

1989
George H.W. Bush is inaugurated president of the United States.

The oil tanker, Exxon Valdez, spills 10.8 million U.S. gallons of crude oil, causing severe environmental damage.

The Tiananmen Square massacre occurs in which troops fired at student-led demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, resulting in deaths estimated in the hundreds to thousands.

The hand-held Game Boy is released in the United States.

The Berlin Wall falls. Collapse of Soviet Bloc begins in Europe, leading to the end of the Cold War.

Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is released.

The Simpsons premieres on FOX.

The U.S. invasion of Panama begins.